“This isn’t something you should ever need to thank me for. You can thank me for other things, though.” His lips lifted in a devilish smile. “Like when I make you come.”
I blushed. Of course, he went there, just as the waiter happened to come back with our drinks. I caught Damien's smirk before I closed my eyes, mortification tightening my cheeks. The waiter stuttered something incomprehensible. I wasn’t really paying him any attention, not with all the blood rushing to my ears. I knew he’d heard Damien.
“Baby, what do you want?” Damien asked.
I let out a sigh and peeked my eyes open. That stupid smirk was still on his face. I showed the waiter my menu and pointed to the first thing that caught my attention.
Poached eggs on top of potatoes, with a side of avocado and toast.
“Two orders of that,” Damien said.
I didn’t hear what our waiter said before he left. I kept my gaze on Damien, pouting a little. “We shouldn’t talk about such … dirty things in public.”
A wicked glint passed through his eyes. “Dirty?”
I nodded my head. “No more.”
He laughed. “How are you going to stop me?”
I frowned a little. That was a good question. How was I going to stop a man who towered over me by more than a foot and had at least a hundred pounds on me?
“You can always kiss me,” he said lightly.
My eyes widened, and a small smile came out. That … was not what I was expecting him to say.
I shook my head and looked away.
“No, pet? Is kissing me so unpleasant?”
Oh, he knew that wasn’t the case. I crossed my arms over my chest, refusing to answer.
He shrugged. “I can always talk about how you looked this morning when you—”
I let out a small gasp and reached over, squeezing his lips together with my fingers. His dark eyes laughed at me. He moved back until I let him go, and he nipped at my fingers.
I glared at him, taking my hand back.
He let out a small chuckle, making my breath catch.
I didn’t think he had ever looked so carefree. It was a good look on him.
Damien took a sip of his coffee, reminding me of the three drinks I had in front of me. Damien watched me as I chose the glass of orange juice and took a sip. He didn’t say anything for a moment, and I looked off to my left, out at the people all walking around. Most of them were either with another person or a group of people, but some people had come here alone.
There was a large part of me that envied their normalcy. Even if I was free from my father’s grasp, I wasn’t exactly free from this life.
“What are you thinking about?” Damien asked.
I didn’t turn back to him when I answered honestly, “How free these people all seem.”
There was a long, heavy pause between us that took up most of the oxygen.
“And that makes you sad?”
I shrugged.
“Catalina, look at me.”
I tried to compose my facial expression when I did as he asked. I probably failed. My being unable to hide my emotions was one of the things Father had hated about me most.