Faking it with Damian Black by Louise Jane

eyes.

“I did what I did for your own safety,” Damian murmured, stepping forward, tryin

g to reach foragain. The dimness of our surroundings couldn’t

conceal Damian’s affiiction as I matched his stride with a step backward.

“I need more than that, Damian…” I hugged myself, the temperature around me

suddenly turning arctic.

Silence swelled between us as I waited for his response. A battle was taking plac

e inside his head, and I helplessly watched as he drew back into the place wher

e tellingthe truth wasn’t his top priority.

“You hurt me,” I murmured. My voice was so small I wondered if he even heard

me. The clenching of his jaws confirmed it. “You broke my heart, Damian, and I d

on’t know how to get past that.”

Without waiting for his response, I jogged back towards the light of the villa, circ

ling on the side to Dad’s cabin to my room, locking the door as tears poured

down from my eyes in an endless stream. I pressed my back on the door, droppi

ng on the hardwood fioor as I hugged myself, wishing I could just unlove Damia

n with the snap of a finger.

‘Letlove you properly, Millicent.’ Is there a thing called last words syndrome?

Although Damian only said those words once, I kept hearing his gravelly voice fil

led with sincerity in my head over and over again. My heart hummed to the soot

hing sound of his promise words, yet my mind would liketo wake up and re

member how Damian ghostedfor a month.

I huffed, forcing my legs to push

beyond their limits, fighting the strain in my muscles as fatigue settled in. It was

the morning after Natasha and Jonah’s wedding. I had been out since four and

discovered this piece of paradise on the east side of Summerfield Acres.

Through the tree line behind the vineyard was a lake with ice–cold–

looking water. Fish were swimming and jumping onto the surface, playing and w

aiting for the sun to rise. Small animals crossed the trail, circling the lake a few t

imes as I jogged around it, but I hadn’t stumbled upon any souls since coming h

ere.

Clearing my head of Damian had been impossible.

One glance at him and all the efforts I put into moving

on went to waste.

I got used to having him around, and his sudden absence strucklike a thous

and bolts of lightning, burning everything I had, leavingwith nothing but thi

s gaping hole in my chest.

I was lost without him, waking up each day hoping I would finally forget about D

amian. With Hunter, I had my anger to hold on to while I was moving on, but wit

h Damian, all I had were unanswered questions, even to this moment.

Accepting his absence, that he won’t cback anymore, had been a struggle,

and now he and his sultry smile and s*xy ass would just waltz into my life and

askto let him loveproperly? As if I could just magically forget the past

four weeks.

I threw a pebble toward the lake. It bounced three times on the surface before p

lummeting to the bottom.

There’s something calming about the water

encompassed by

towering and lavish trees. It allows my mind to wander down memory lane and

weigh the pros and cons of allowing Damian back into my life. I

could fill a memoir and draw a map of how letting him back into my life would l

ead to another heartbreak. I could be wrong, though. We could really have a hap

py ending now. Yet one question lingered in all the chaos going through my min

d. ‘Am I obliged to give him the tof the day after what he’d done?‘

My shoulders went rigid when I heard a loud splash of water in the distance. Gas

ton, one of the farmers in Dad’s payroll, spoke of sighting a bear in nearby wood

s two weeks back. Chills coated my skin.

I have nearly zero knowledge about bears apart from the fact that they are huge,

scary, and can ripto pieces with their claws and teeth. Every scenamy mi

nd could think of wasending in blood and not breathing.

Quietly, I closed my eyes and pressed my back onto the nearest tree, counting al

l the things I would make up for if I made it out of here alive. Then, I heard wate

r splashing, a continuous disturbance on the lake as though someone was doing

laps.

I frowned. I’ve never seen an actual bear swimming before.

Swallowing hard, I followed the sound of splashing

water, peeking from the tree trunk towards the lake.

It wasn’t a bear, but a man swimming across the lake. The water looks ice cold. I

wouldn’t dare dip a finger into it at this tof the day. Eyes zooming on the rip

pling muscles of the man doing breaststrokes, I swallowed hard when recognitio

n hit me.

That back, those shoulders, corded forearms, and ash gray hair had been the en

core in my dreams for the last four weeks.

Damian.

I’d dreamt about scratching my fingers over the tanned skin on his back, leaving

my marks as I screamed his name. Those forearms cagingas he whispers

d*rty things into my ears, wicked and carnal images he’d do to my b*dy in that

gravely s*xy voice. Then I’d wake up berating myself for fantasizing about a man

who doesn’t wantanymore.

I was frozen in a trance, gazing

at Damian as he artfully weaved through the cold water. He maneuvered with su

ch grace like an Olympic swimmer would. He turned to his front, doing butterfiy

strokes, focusing back on the banks.

With a gasp, I hid behind the tree, unmoving, holding my breath.

Of all the people who would gracewith their presence this morning, why was

it the man who was also the cause of my dilemma?

I was ready to move on. I accepted that what we had was finally over. Why did he

have to cback?

Inwardly groaning, I looked up at the sky and dropped onto the ground, my ass

colliding with the pebbles and dirt. I stayed there, listening to Damian doing

laps with my eyes closed as thoughts of us swam in my head.

For sunknown reason, I dreaded Damian seeinghere. We will cross path

s at Dad’s party later, but we’ll have our family there. I feel a lot safer breathing

the sair with Damian if we had an audience.

It had been a struggle to fight the pull I felt for him last night. My b*dy and hear

t longed for his touch, his embrace, and k*sses. I nearly said yes to his insistenc

e on making things real between us.

Ten minutes later, the water splashing finally ended. Like a creep, I peeked from

the tree to the banks,

gasping when I saw him in nothing but his birthday suit, bent on the waist to pic

k up his clothes from the ground.

Warmth crept over my skin, turning my cheeks beet red as I watched him put on

his boxers first, then shove his legs into his pants one by one. My eyes were glue

d on his back muscles, the water from the tips of his hair rolling down his skin. T

hen he slowly dragged a shirt down his torso, his wet skin making a patch on his

clothes.

He turned his head to the side, eyeing his boots and socks scattered in the smal

l clearing by the banks. I swear I saw a smirk on his l*ps as he picked his shoes

fi. up.

I’m pretty sure I’d been quiet the whole time. He didn’t know I was watching him

like a creep, did he?

Then he waltzed out of the clearing, taking the path back into the vineyard while

whistling “Thinkin Bout You‘ by Frank Ocean.

Oh God. Why am I being punished like this? I just wanted squiet tbefor

e I face him tonight and gather my bearings. Seeing him n*ked rattled my resolv

e. My lady parts celebrating the little show

Damian unknowingly put on in the banks.

St*pid lady parts!

I sighed, and rose to my feet, jogging back to the villa, dreading seeing him later

at Dad’s birthday

celebration.

This is gonna be a long day.