Page 15 of The Naughty List

“I was just pissed about what Chad said to Oliver. It made me see red when I saw him tonight and I just wanted to make him hurt like he hurt you.” He takes a seat next to me and I turn to face him.

“You need to understand, Damon, this isn’t a situation that you can fix. In fact, pretending to be my boyfriend and now my fiancé—” I laugh when I say the word because it’s so ridiculous at this point. “It’s only making things worse because at the end of the day, I now have to explain to my family why a second relationship has failed in my life. They’re going to wonder what happened when I’m single next Christmas. I’m not mad at you; I went along with it at this point just as much as you have.”

“I know I just wanted to make things be—”

“No, Damon. No.” I reach over and grab his hand and squeeze it as he lifts his eyes to look at me. “I’m not yours to save.” I stand up and walk to the bathroom to change and take a shower. Before I walk in, I turn back to him. He looks wounded and I know he doesn’t want to hear it, but I have to say it anyway. “I don’t need rescuing. I can take care of myself, Damon.”

7

DAMON

I stare into the darkness of Kate’s bedroom, her words bouncing around my head from earlier tonight.

“I’m not yours to save.”

I want to save her, to protect her from all the harm in the world and the fuckboy assholes like Chad. I roll onto my side and pick up my phone. It is 1:14 a.m.

“Oh my God, if you light up your phone one more time,” Kate groans and slams a pillow over her face. Seems like I’m not the only one who can’t sleep.

“Maybe if I wasn’t subjected to sleeping on this floor,” I groan as I try to adjust myself.

“Your fault. You could have your own bed right now if you didn’t say we were together and now stuck in the same room.”

“Come on, let me in,” I say as I stand up and nudge her leg. She pulls the pillow from her face and glares at me.

“No way!”

“That entire side of the bed is completely untouched; you don’t even go near it.” I gesture toward the opposite side of the bed where the covers and pillows are still undisturbed. She doesn’t respond, just rolls over and ignores me.

“Fine,” I say and lie back down on the floor. I wait patiently until I hear her breathing deepen, and then I sneak into her bed and close my eyes, falling asleep almost instantly.

I wake to sunlight streaming through the blinds. I stretch my arms overhead and glance to my right to see Kate’s side of the bed is empty. I’m surprised I didn’t wake up to a punch in the face or even worse, my dick. I swing my legs out from under the covers and sit up, looking at the clock to see it’s almost ten thirty already.

“Kate?” I ask and see that the bathroom door is shut but I don’t hear any sounds. She must have woken earlier and went downstairs already for breakfast. I stretch again and walk over to the bathroom, grabbing the door handle and opening it without hesitation.

What I don’t expect to see is a butt-ass naked Kate fresh out of the shower. Her body is still dripping wet as her arms are stretched above her head, pulling her hair back from her face. I stand there in silence; it feels like time stands still as our eyes meet.

Holy fucking shit, she’s hot. I suddenly forget how to swallow as I take in the long, lean lines that run down her body. Are her boobs fake? They look too perfect. I narrow my gaze, not seeing any scars.

“What the fuck, Damon!” Her screech pulls me back to reality as she lunges for the towel on the hook and covers her body.

“Sorry!” I lie as I slam the door shut. “I didn’t hear you, I swear. I thought you went downstairs.”

Fuuuuuuck. Now I have to try and keep my fucking brain in control every time I look at her. I cover my face with my hands. “I need a Christmas miracle,” I mutter just as she whips the door open.

“Seriously? I wake up next to you and now you’re walking in on me naked? Fucking creep,” she mutters before walking into her closet and slamming the door.

“It’s not like I was looking through a keyhole or something,” I say back at her before walking into the bathroom to take a shower.

Kate has to finish up some Christmas shopping with her mom and sister-in-law, so I take the afternoon to head into town and get some work done. I find a local cafe and knock out a few hours of work before taking some time to walk through the small downtown.

I see a jewelry store and decide to pop in. I’m greeted by a sweet older lady with gray hair. “Hello, what brings you in today?”

“Just looking,” I say. I smile back and walk over to a small Christmas tree that holds several crystal ornaments. I’m about to walk away when one catches my eye. It’s a crystal rendition of Thalia and Melpomene with a beautiful red ribbon through the top. Without a second thought, I take it to the counter. They gift wrap it beautifully in a small gold box. I don’t know if Kate is still as into theater as she was when she was in high school but the images of her on the stage and with her theater friends looked like such a wonderful and happy time in her life. If I can give her something that even reminds her for a second of that time in her life, it’s worth it.

I walk back to my car just as three men in Santa suits and one in an elf costume come around the corner, laughing.

“Ho! Ho! Ho!” They laugh as they stumble down the sidewalk.

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