Chapter 27 – Stone
I know how pissed Damien had become when the rain came pouring in. His plans for the night had to be cancelled. Right after rowing the boat to the empty cabin in the middle of the lake, we went straight inside, and Damien started making a fire in the hearth. I look for blankets to warm us from the cabinets, and luckily I found enough to make our stay here less uncomfortable. I am quite sure the rain won't stop right away. It is havoc outside. I could hear the waves angrily smashing against the poles that hold the cabin solid on the lake bed. The heavy downpour clouds the windows with mist. It almost looked like it was snowing outside.
I wrap one blanket around his shoulders when I am done putting the spare ones in layers on the floor.
"Come on, Damien," I say, drying his hair with the tails of the blanket, "This is still romantic."
His lips are still on a rigid, thin line. I'm beginning to think it won't be easy getting rid of it.
"They told me it wasn't going to rain," he answers, turning to face me. He reaches for my blanket and tightens it around me. He must have seen I am shivering in the cold. "You're freezing. Come here." He pulls my arms together and leads me close to the hearth. Then he positions the makeshift bed near us. He adds more wood to the fire, and the room feels warmer and brighter.
"You sure know how things work here," I say.
"When I was a kid, my brother and I used to play here every afternoon."
"Like a playhouse?"
He nods. Finally, a gleam of delight shows on his face.
"But no dolls," he replies. "I know what you have in mind, Angel. I was no sissy. We played treasure hunting."
"Oh, so manly!" I tease back.
Damien reaches for the hem of his shirt and pulls it over his head. His washboard abs glisten with moist and the muscles on his arms bulge every time he moves. Suddenly, I feel the cold leaving my shaking body and replaced with a growing heat. If I continue staring at him, I think he'll notice the tinge of mortification spreading all over my cheeks.
I turn my back and pretend that I am in no way affected by his godlike features.
"Where are you going?" he asks.
"I'm going to see if the rain has calmed down." I can hear my voice shaking.
He smirks. "It's chaos outside," he says. "I can hear it from here."
"I think it's going to stop anytime soon."
"Angel..." I hear him moving. "Come here. I promise I won't do anything you won't like."
Before it rained, he was tempting me to respond to his carnal cravings though he was doing it rather gently.
"Or do you want me to resort to my infamous ways?" I am glad Damien is back to his old self after being so disappointed tonight.
I slowly turn to face him, still preventing the blush from growing worse. His smile is tempting, enticing me to fall straight into his arms and be consumed by this moment. I reach for his hand, and he slowly positions me close to him. Face to face, I kneel in front of him with the blanket tightly secured around me.
"I don't think this is too bad," he whispers so close to me, our faces only inches apart.
"I know what you are thinking, Mr. Etheridge," I say, smiling.
"Oh, yeah?"
"But I know you're not going to take advantage of me." I caress the side of his face with my thumb.
"Unless you ask for it," he adds.
"Of course." I lean closer and tenderly kiss him on the lips.
When I woke up the next morning, I found myself glued to Damien. He is sleeping like a child. His arms around me, his torso bare and beautiful. We kissed all night. He kissed me everywhere until we both fell asleep, but it didn't go beyond that. I was amazed at how much patience he'd drawn out to himself to not take advantage of my weakness and vulnerability. He brought me to a new world, and if he only took one more step farther, I would have let him make love to me, but he is more than the asshole everyone thinks he is.
Damien drives me home after we had breakfast in his house, then I go straight to Max's for work.
"Are you not coming to the party tonight?" Ray asks while dumping the ice cubes for a strawberry flavored sludge into the bucket. "I'd be there. I can be your date. I'm sure Charles won't mind," he adds with a smirk on his face. I remember Joanna Sloane invited all of us to her birthday party. "And there's still our graduation ball."
I managed to keep my relationship with Damien a secret from Ray for three grueling days. I feel like killing myself for keeping secrets from my best friend. Every time Damien comes to the school cafeteria or to Max's to check on me, I can't help rejecting every candid and thoughtful deeds he wishes to do for me just to keep Ray from suspecting us. I wish I can freely tell him, but every time I try to, something comes up, and I end up not telling him.
Maybe this is the time to tell him, I thought.
"Ray, there's something you must know," I say after taking a deep breath. I turn to face him. "Damien and I are together."
"What?" The cup of iced water he is holding fell straight to the floor. Ray's mouth widens like a piranha's. "Since when?"
"Three days ago."
"And you're just telling me now?" The shock has completely turned his face pale.
"I know. I'm sorry. I should have told you right away, but things just happened and... I don't know."
"Oh, my God! I thought you hated the man!"
"I was an idiot."
"I know." Ray quickly gives me a hug. "You owe me one night of storytelling."
"So no party for tonight?"
"Definitely no!"
After three hours of nonstop storytelling in Ray's place, Damien came by and treated us with the best burgers in the city. Ray couldn't stop teasing us, and all I could do was shoot him with glares.
"Who would have thought?" Ray kept on saying while eating his burger.
After the date, Damien couldn't drive me home because his mom called and said that the mayor had a mild heart attack. Damien would have introduced me to his family tonight weren't it because of his dad falling sick. He insisted on bringing me to the hospital anyways, but I told him it would be a little rude to introduce me when his family is stricken with fear for the mayor's life.
On my way home, I notice a black car parked across our house. There is a man in a business suit leaning against the car's door.
It's Hunter Stone.
I cannot be wrong. His midnight black hair matches the color of his car and tie.
"Mr. Stone?" I literally take a lungful of air when blurting out his name. I think I know the reason he is here.
"Miss Mohr." He straightens himself up at the sight of me and bows his head slightly.
"What are you doing here?" I ask despite knowing his intentions. "How long have you been here?"
"Paul conveyed to me the bad news," he says.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Stone, but I don't think I can do it again. I'm just not the right girl to be your Angel Grant." I remember how I made a fool out of myself that night.
"No, you are just perfect."
I smirk. I swear I feel my heart lurch to my throat when he uttered the word perfect. He wasn't serious when he said that, was he? Or is he just trying to persuade me with flattery?
"You played the part so well. I will be pleased to work with you again." Finally, he's making some sense now.
"Did Paul tell you what we talked about before I even agreed to that?"
"Yes, it was all my conditions."
"You have the answer right there, Mr. Stone," I say confidently.
"I can modify the contract. Hell, I could even write you a new one."
He's too adamant, isn't he? I thought. He's not anymore the cold and snobbish Hunter Stone I met before. He's not intimidating and all-powerful anymore. Now I realize, I possess the power over him this time. What made him so desperate by the way? To think there could be hundreds of girls who are more than willing to take my place. I am not even a very good actress to begin with.
"I could raise your pay," he goes on.
"I'm sorry, but I don't need your money," I answer immediately.
"I didn't mean to offend you by saying that. I just meant I am willing to make some financial compromise just to get you back."
"Mr. Stone, I don't get it." I shake my head. "You have all the resources to find a better substitute. You know I can't be the refined lady you are asking me to be. I almost blew my cover back there."
"You do not know what you are talking about," he says. "They were mesmerized by you. The media adores you. You are different from the girls I dated, and my office is always in disorder every time they call me to ask about you. I have to end this. You have to come with me tomorrow."
Tomorrow?
"Ms. Mohr, my aunt is throwing a party tomorrow. My entire family and the media will be there. After you showed up with me that night, my entire family had gone crazy to meet you. Just this one time. I have to do this for my dad."
"What happened to your dad?"
His face turned unexplainably sad.
"I didn't know he's sick. Now he wants to me to come tomorrow with you."
All of a sudden, I feel Hunter's pain. He reminds me of myself. I could do anything for my family, and so is he. I bet he is just doing this to do his dad a favor. Who knows, maybe his man is on the verge of saying goodbye forever? With the way he's pleading to me, it seems that there is no other way to make him happier than to see his son happy with a woman.
"After tomorrow, what happens next? What happens to Angel Grant?" I ask.
"He won't suspect. Eventually, I'll tell him that we didn't work, and you chose to leave the state."
"When are you going to tell him?"
"When he's all better."
His raven eyes are so serene and gentle, and they are pushing me to accept his request.
"So do I get a yes now?"
I still don't know.
I am afraid I'd be worse tomorrow than the first time I was with him. I don't know anything about the rich's party. I don't even know anyone from his circle. What if this time my disguise fails me? It wouldn't just be my end but Hunter's and his dad's too.
"Ms. Mohr?"
"Okay, but this is the last time, Mr. Stone."
"I promise."