Caught in Us (Lost 3)

"Oh."

"Yeah. We had that talk."

A loud bang coming from the direction of the corridor makes us both jump. "Should we go outside and see what happened?"

"Nah, probably just someone who partied too hard tonight. You'll get used to it." We listen for a few more seconds, but no other sound comes.

"Do you think Chase meant it?"

Hazel throws up her hands in frustration. "How the hell do I know? He keeps giving me that stare and hangs out with me during all our classes—he insisted we take the same classes because he says I'm a good study partner. But when we go out, he makes it his mission to either ignore me or keep an embarrassingly large distance between us if we dance. You'd think I develop some incredibly dangerous virus as soon as I’m in party clothes, and he can't come closer than an arm's length."

"Hmm..." I make a mental note to study Chase closer.

"Do you want to talk about Damon?"

"Not really. I'm still trying to convince myself I haven't just imagined the whole thing," I answer. Hazel sashays across the room, returning with a new chocolate package. "Give that here. It's my favorite chocolate in the world."

"I know," Hazel says proudly. "Lucky your parents own the company producing it."

I lean my head back, closing my eyes as I take the first bite.

"God, I think I am in love with chocolate," Hazel announces. “I think Facebook should have the option to put as a status, In a relationship with chocolate, and it's not complicated at all."

Chapter Twenty-Four: Damon

I look at the glass and steel skyscraper for a few good minutes. Meeting James Cohen on his territory will be a challenge, but I’m up for it. The last time I saw him, I was beating someone and putting his sister in danger. I'd be surprised if he doesn't have his guards kick me out of the building or punch me. Doesn’t matter. James Cohen is the only person who has the resources to help me, and Dani's safety is more important than anything—including my damn pride.

"What can I do for you?" the receptionist asks.

"I'm here to see James Cohen." I use my best unapologetic, no-questions-allowed tone since I don't have an appointment. I lift my lip in a half-smile and look her straight in her eyes. She holds my gaze for a few seconds then looks away, blushing.

"Sixth floor," she murmu

rs.

What is it with women that this tone and smile always work on them?

"Thank you."

I slip in the elevator, surprised at the mix of business suits and ragged jeans and t-shirts inside it. When I step out on James's floor, a bunch of the fellow jeans-wearing dudes follow. So this is what an office full of techies looks like. There are more than three dozen people typing away on their laptops in the open-space office. The sound of typing is occasionally interrupted by cheering or laughter.

I spot maybe two people wearing suits, but everyone else looks as though they've just put on whatever they found first this morning before coming in to work. They look like me. The muscles in my neck loosen a notch.

"I'm looking for James," I tell a dude passing by.

"Corner office in the back. Are you new? Haven't seen you before," he says. I give a noncommittal shrug. There are enough people around that I can get lost in the crowd, and I look the part of a newbie, so I go along with it. "He's pissed. I suggest whatever you have to ask him, ask someone else or he'll eat you alive."

Just my luck. "Thanks for the warning." I head to the back office with determined strides. I knock twice and go in after I hear a brisk, "Later."

"I said later," James says. He sits at his desk, his head bent over some papers. He's not wearing a suit, either. There is a tall brunette next to him, gesturing heatedly and pointing to something on the paper. I've seen photos of the two of them in a magazine. That must be Serena, his fiancée. He angles his eyes at me then stands up so quickly he nearly topples the papers in front of him. "You have the nerve to show up here?"

Well, this is going as expected, minus the punch. "I have to talk to you."

"Are you Damon?" Serena asks. To my astonishment, she's smiling.

"Yeah."

"Excellent," she says.