Page 54 of Lumi

When we came downstairs, Nathan took a right to find Charles in his office while I went straight ahead through the living room and out to the pool area. Damian was swimming laps but stopped when he saw me.

Since I was seventeen, I’d drooled over Damian whenever he came over to use our pool. I’d gotten good at hiding it, but the sight of him getting out of the pool with his hair and body wet gave me a case of butterflies. I couldn’t even count how many times I’d fantasized about him just like this. I fixed my gaze on his shoulder and hoped that my face wasn’t glowing red.

“Ye look good for someone with food poisonin’.” Damian’s pointed stare told me that he was annoyed with me. “Or am I not supposed to say that? Was it too much of acompliment? Are ye goin’ to run away again?”

“No.”

Walking over to the group of sunbeds, Damian grabbed a towel that he spread on one of them. “It’s ridiculous that I can’t tell ye that I find ye stunnin’ without ye gettin’ cross with me. How is that offensive?”

“I never said it was offensive.”

“Thenconfusin’. There’s nothing confusin’ about it. I think ye’re pretty, and that’s it.”

I picked up the handcuffs, which were on a side table. “It’s your turn to have it on your right wrist.”

“Fine.” Damian sat down while holding out his hand to me. “But I’m dryin’ in the sun, so we’re stayin’ for another half hour at least, and it’s not up for discussion!”

“I didn’t argue with you.”

“No, but ye were about to. I could tell.”

It was rare for Damian to be annoyed with me, and something about his anger made me smile a little. “How many laps did you swim?”

“Ninety-six. Ye were gone for almost an hour, Lumi.”

“How come you didn’t swim the last four laps? Ninety-six feels incomplete. You were so close to a hundred.”

Damian helped me hold the handcuffs together while I locked them. “Because I’m not obsessed with numbers like ye. Ninety-six is as good a number to me as a hundred.”

“I could never do that,” I declared. “I like order. A round number brings me peace.”

Damian narrowed his eyes and used the heel of his hand to dry away water from his eyebrows. “Good, because if you continue to be rude to men who compliment ye, then all ye’ll have left are numbers. We’ll see how peaceful ye’ll be then.”

“Why are you so upset with me? I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen you so angry.”

“I’m not angry, Lumi. I worry about ye.”

“Me? Why do you worry about me?”

“Because there’s somethin’ broken about ye. It’s like ye’ve locked yer heart away in a chest guarded by cynicism and fault-findin’. And I feel… I feel…” Damian raised his hand to his heart while looking deep into my eyes.

“You feel responsible?” My words came out in a whisper.

“I do!”

For a moment, we just stared at each other until we were interrupted by the sound of the patio French window opening and closing.

“I brought some cold drinks,” Nathan said and came over to sit on the sunbed closest to Damian. “I figured you could use a cold beer.”

“Thanks.” Damian took the bottle.

“Here.” Nathan handed me a wine glass.

“What’s this?”

“I found an open Prosecco in the fridge. Liv always says to help ourselves, so I did. And I brought you a gift.” Nathan was smiling widely.

“What gift?”