Page 43 of Lumi

Damian reached over the table and picked out two pieces of paper. “Do ye think Jolene will be upset that we missed yesterday? We’ll need to do two rounds of questions today.”

I shrugged and put my phone on camera and positioned it to record us. “What is the first question?”

Damian read aloud.

“Day two

Today, we’re asking you to reflect on the first day of being handcuffed.

Question 1: What’s the worst part about these past twenty-four hours?”

Damian looked up to meet my eyes, waiting for my answer.

“It’s the lack of privacy,” I said. “I want to rip these handcuffs off and hide in a book for a whole weekend with silence around me. My weekly quota for social interactions ran out within the first day.”

Damian shifted in his chair and scratched his stubble.

“What about you? What’s the worst part for you?” I asked.

His fingers fiddled with the papers on the table. “To be honest, up until this mornin’, it’s been pretty good. If anythin’, I’ve had the feelin’ a few times that it’s a shame that we don’t hang out more.”

His answer made me feel bad for having been so harsh. I gave him a small smile. “That’s nice of you to say.”

Damian didn’t reply but read on from the discussion questions. “Have you learned something about each other that you didn’t know?”

I thought about it. “Yes. I didn’t know that it was a rule for a man to sleep closest to the door.”

A line appeared between Damian’s dark brows. “It’s the same as a man walkin’ closest to the street on the sidewalk. Ye always keep yerself between yer woman and what might harm her. Parents do the same thing; it’s instinctual.”

I smiled at Damian. “I’ll put away my modern independent woman for a minute and admit that it’s very chivalrous of you.”

“What’s the purpose of being bigger and stronger if we men don’t use it to protect our women?”

I was aware that many women would argue that they didn’t need men to protect them, but Damian had saved my life, and I would never dismiss what he’d done that day.

“What about Spencer? Didn’t he do those things?” Damian asked.

Spencer and I had dated for almost a year when I was twenty-three, but I had no recollection of his talking about protecting me. “It’s been too long. I don’t remember what side of the bed he slept on.”

“He did sleep with ye then?”

I lowered my brow. “Spencer was my boyfriend for eleven months. Why wouldn’t he sleep with me?”

Damian kept moving in his seat. “I don’t know. Ye mentioned that ye don’t like closeness, and I just got a sense that there was more of a friend vibe between ye two than wild lovers.”

Crossing my arms, I spoke fast. “Not every couple eats each other’s faces in public. Spencer was secure enough in our relationship that he didn’t need to touch me in public constantly. That doesn’t mean nothing happened in private.”

“Did ye love him?” Damian’s question had a weird edge to it that I couldn’t decipher.

“Yes, I loved him.” My voice was a bit high-pitched, and my heart was hammering.

Damian watched me closely before giving a small nod. “All right.”

There was a moment of silence, but then I cleared my throat and brought us back on track. “So, did you learn something new about me?”

Damian looked to the camera on the phone. “I did, but since yer brother might see this, I won’t tell.”

I smiled and tilted my head. “What are you on about?”