One Last Promise (A Bedford Falls Novel Book 2) Read online

  “No. I’m curious, though.”

  That remark, coming from a man who almost threatened to fight Damon if he attempted to date his sister, irritated Damon more than he would have expected. Alex had no problem with some other guy, who could be a serial killer, going out with his sister. But he drew the line when his best friend, a person who helped him win the girl of his dreams, tried to do the same.

  Another text message appeared on Alex’s phone.

  This time, Damon leaned back and tilted his head to read it…

  Kelsey’s at a nightclub named Within Temptation. Do you want to go?

  Before Alex had a chance to catch him peeking, Damon looked away and cocked his head to the right, pretending to relieve some pressure in his neck. Hearing Alex type in a response, he said, “What now?”

  “I’m telling Marisa that since it’s almost ten, I’ll be leaving soon.”

  “No worries,” Damon said, now that he knew how to find out more about Paul. “Go see your girlfriend. I don’t mind.”

  Alex grinned at him. “You found someone, didn’t you?”

  “I sure did,” Damon said, thinking of Kelsey.

  “Good luck with that.” He pulled out his wallet and extracted a ten-dollar bill. “The beers are on me. Talk to you later, buddy.”

  After his friend exited the building, Damon pulled out his phone, got directions for Within Temptation, and made his way for the door.

  * * *

  The nightclub that featured a decent-sized dance floor but seemed too small for the number of couples dancing on the hardwood floors, had a DJ engaged in a slow jam from atop a stage while working from an Apple iMac, providing mixes that fused Rihanna, Pitbull, Katy Perry, and dozens of other chart topping artists. This being the suburbs, three or four burly bouncers slipped between the tight-knit dancers while directing flashlights into the crowd, looking for spilled drinks on the floor or men they might need to toss out.

  Kelsey did her best to overlook the less than hospitable environment, but the overpowering scent of perfume and the stench of sweat, were overwhelming. Too many men walked across the floor scanning for women and bobbing their heads while sipping from the mixed drinks in their hands, which also detracted from her enjoyment.

  Although she guessed eighty percent of the couples dancing just wanted to let the loud, thumping music erase the worries of the work week, she got the impression that based on the number of single females wearing short skirts and tube tops (really?), this place also served as a meat-market. Thankfully, she hadn’t seen any couples grinding or displaying other blatant sexual activity on the dance floor. Then again, it was still early. Who knew what the next half hour might hold? Kelsey didn’t consider herself a prude by any means, but she felt that such behavior should be limited to the privacy of one’s bedroom.

  For his part, Paul seemed to be having a good time. While not much of a dancer (he kind of bounced around in place while pumping his elbows forward and backward, which had the unintended side effect of knocking into two men and a woman), he didn’t hesitate when told by the bartender at the back of the room that each drink costs $10 and had even bought them a second round of cranberry vodkas. Better yet, he didn’t give the impression that he wanted to take her to bed. Perhaps, he was telling the truth about wanting to wait until his wedding night. So while she mostly enjoyed herself, after almost ninety minutes of dancing non-stop, Kelsey wished they had a better opportunity to talk and get to know each other.

  As she spun around, she could have sworn that she’d momentarily locked eyes with Damon Durant. But she brushed off the idea as absurd. She had seen his face a number of times during the week; most of which were her imagination, since she couldn’t get him out of her mind. Once again, she felt like a horrible person for thinking about one man while on a date with another. Even worse, she didn’t know why she found Damon so attractive: she didn’t even know him.

  Kelsey counted off the characteristics that she liked best about him: a carefree personality that made him so easy and fun to talk to (whereas Paul seemed to need to get through a warm-up period before settling down), a smile that needed a little encouragement to surface (Paul seemed a little too eager to please in that area), he had amazing body (Paul looked average in this category), and the intensity with which Damon looked at her, exuding so much sexual tension (Paul tended to get distracted by outside stimuli) that made her feel like he’d never even noticed another woman.

  In addition to understanding her inclination to “see” Damon during the week, Kelsey now confessed that she wanted to see him, which called for some mental punishment in the form of a silent tongue lashing, featuring a flurry of swear words, demanding that she drag her mind out of the gutter and focus on the quality man dancing beside her. She gave Paul her full attention, watching him continue with the same hokey dance that he’d applied since they hit the floor. She used the term “applied” because, based on the tight angles he’d used while moving his body parts, it seemed that he’d picked up this rhythm (if she could call it that) from a book – and did a poor job at that.

  Then she understood why it seemed so out of place: it seemed too telegraphed, too purposeful, almost as if he was trying to conceal his true dancing ability for some reason. It made part of her doubt his authenticity. But what was he trying to hide? She didn’t care if he knew how to dance or not. That he took the time and effort to invite her out on the floor proved his good intentions. Still, something at the back of her mind nagged her not to disregard this red flag.

  * * *

  Damon didn’t want to drop by the club without a date. If Kelsey spotted him standing alone, knowing that he wanted to date her, she would think that he was stalking her, so he called Cassandra Quinn, a stunning woman in her early twenties with bobbed red hair and a dash of sprinkles across her nose to accompany him.

  While at a bar recently with Alex, Damon suggested that Alex introduce himself to Cassandra. They hit it off, ended up at her apartment, and had a short make-out session, but Alex couldn’t get Marisa out of his mind. He told Cassandra that he was in love with his best friend, and he ended up apologizing to Cassandra for accidentally leading her on.

  Soon afterwards, Damon met her at the Halloween party and enjoyed their fun, easy-going conversation, so they’d exchanged contact info through Facebook.

  When he’d reached out to her to accompany him tonight, she’d agreed on one condition: that he owed her a favor. When he inquired about the nature of the favor, she said, “I’ll know when the time comes.” So he’d picked her up in his Grand Prix and outlined his plan.

  “Do you see Kelsey?” Damon asked.

  “Not yet. I just met her last week at the Halloween party, but I already count her as a friend. Is that weird?” A middle-school teacher, Cassandra probably had most of her students lusting after her, just as the majority of the single men standing on the dance floor at Within Temptation, seemed to be doing, based on the stares directed her way.

  Even if he didn’t have feelings for Kelsey, Damon still wouldn’t have pursued Cassandra. In the short time they’d known each other, he’d immediately recognized that a strictly platonic friendship had formed, and he looked forward to calling her his friend. But to discourage others from coming on to her, Cassandra asked him to act as her date. So whenever men looked her way or attempted to approach her, Damon gave them a heavy stare until they got the message.

  “Any questions about my plan?” she asked.

  “I don’t like it. I don’t want to—”

  “If you want Kelsey to notice you, then you’ll follow my plan.”

  Damon scanned the room for Kelsey.

  “Stop that. You look like a lost puppy.” She took his hand and led him toward the middle of the dance floor. “Trust me; it’s better if she sees you first.”

  He went along with it and began dancing to the Timbaland song blasting through the speakers.

  “You look so nervous,” Cassandra said. “You must really like her
.”

  He shook his head. He had no intention of letting Cassandra know how deeply he’d fallen under Kelsey’s spell.

  “Wow! You are hooked. I can see it in your eyes.” She turned away. “Oh, there she is.”

  Damon’s pulse quickened, but he didn’t attempt to locate her.

  “She’s looking into Paul’s eyes. Oh, she’s smiling now. I think she likes him.”

  “I could do without the play-by-play commentary.”

  “Sorry. Okay, she turned away from him. Now she looks a bit sad. Hmmm, I wonder what that’s about.”

  Damon had no idea what would convince a woman to smile at a man, only to follow that expression with sorrow. In contrast to what he’d told Cassandra, he actually wanted to hear everything Kelsey did, but he didn’t want to hear anything related to Kelsey having feelings about her date. “Does she see us?”

  “Not yet. But it’s just a matter of time.”

  “I don’t like playing these games.”

  Cassandra nodded in agreement. “I’m with you there. Why can’t dating be easy? Why does there have to be such confusion and uncertainty and pain?”

  “You must be a fun date.”

  She jabbed him in the side with an elbow. “I’m serious. Why do we have to feel that before we get to be happy?”

  “How else would you know happiness – unless you’ve experienced all that pain?”

  “And all of your pain tells you that Kelsey must be pretty special.”

  “Something like that.”

  “So why can’t men just say what they feel? Why can’t you just go up to Kelsey and say, ‘I like you; would you like to join me for dinner?’”

  “I already did something like that. She said no.”

  “Did you try—”

  “I asked her twice and got shot down both times. The next time I ask, she’s going to say yes. But I won’t rush it. I won’t ask again until she’s ready.”

  Cassandra slowed her rhythm and gave him deep-set consideration. “You’re an okay guy.”

  “Thanks for the enthusiastic endorsement. Now what’s Kelsey up to?”

  “She looks a little down for whatever reason. Oh, wait. She’s looking in this direction. That’s right, girl. Keep going. We’re right here.” Cassandra turned back to Damon. “Okay, I’m 80 percent certain she’s spotted us, so don’t look her way.”

  Knowing that Kelsey had noticed him, while he purposely avoided her upset his stomach. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d engaged in behavior this sophomoric, but Cassandra remained convinced that he needed to follow this script. It felt devious and cowardly – two adjectives that didn’t sit well with him. So he trusted her instincts, no matter how much he wanted to do otherwise.

  “I’m looking,” Damon said, hitting Cassandra with a look of irritation.

  “Not yet!”

  He looked over her shoulder and, as if drawn in by an alien beam, his eyes connected with Kelsey’s. His head pounded to the beat of his heart. For the first time in over a decade, he felt so self-conscious that he almost looked away. But the moment he decided not to, he regained a rush of courage rushed.

  Kelsey’s mouth opened as if caught in the act of stealing a glance that shouldn’t have been reciprocated. And although she twisted her neck to the side, her eyes didn’t follow. She lowered her head a bit but remained locked on his gaze.

  “She’s looking, isn’t she?” Cassandra asked with joy in her tone.

  Her voice sounded far away. “Uh-huh.” He felt himself getting lost in Kelsey’s eyes, but she had rejected him twice, and he would not allow her the opportunity to deny him again. This time, without looking as if he cared one way or another about her, Damon moved his gaze onto his dancing partner. But when he met Cassandra’s gaze, why did he expect to see Kelsey standing beside him?

  “Smooth,” she said with pride. “Very smooth. Perfect even.”

  Cassandra might approve, but only now did Damon realize that he’d used this tactic dozens of times in the past – to build sexual tension with a woman. It had never bothered him before. In fact, he’d quite enjoyed it. But now that he’d developed feelings for Kelsey, something he’d never had for those other women, he felt like a fraud. More than that, he felt ashamed, unworthy of her interest.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “This isn’t right. I can’t do this.”

  “It’s only their second date. They’re not exclusive.”

  “It doesn’t feel right.” In the past, even while using this strategy, Damon had never misled a woman; he’d applied it to build attraction. And while he used it now for that same effect, he didn’t want to win Kelsey’s affection the way he’d persuaded every other woman into bed. Those occasions called for a concoction of duplicity and insincerity, which now made him feel inconsequential. And while he’d romanced those women with the hope of beginning a relationship built upon love and trust, none of them turned out as he’d hoped. But Kelsey was different. He already had strong feelings for her. She deserved better. Since she thought of him as nothing more than a dirt bag who manipulated women, he didn’t want her to misunderstand his intentions. He needed Kelsey to see him as sincere and trustworthy.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  When Kelsey laid eyes on Damon, she knew that, unlike her imagination this past week, he truly stood fifty feet away while dancing with Cassandra; a woman whose beauty should have graced the cover of Vogue or Elle magazine. That they hooked up didn’t surprise her; they made for a hot couple. It made her want to take a snapshot with Damon to see how they would look together.

  That thought sent her mind racing in opposite directions: on one hand, she couldn’t deny her attraction to Damon, although she couldn’t overlook his playboy ways; on the other hand, Paul had been a complete gentleman who deserved her respect.

  Then Damon broke their connection, sending their heightened sexual chemistry plummeting. It felt like she’d just come off a sugar high and fatigue had just settled in. The tingling sensation stretching across her skin also faded.

  Paul leaned close and shouted in her ear to be heard: “Everything okay?”

  She nodded and forced a smile she didn’t feel. “I need a restroom break. Be right back.” Realizing that she’d just lied made the situation worse. Not looking in Damon’s direction made her feel insecure, fake. She made her way through the clumps of couples, squeezing past elbows and avoiding knees, getting a whiff of alcohol-scented breath here and an overdose of cologne there, until she exited the room and headed down the steps.

  “Kelsey?”

  Knowing that Cassandra had tracked her down, Kelsey stopped on the staircase, a lump in her throat. She turned around with another plastered-on smile, although if Cassandra hadn’t been dancing with Damon, her smile would have been authentic.

  “It’s good to see you.”

  “You too.” Cassandra came in for a hug, which surprised Kelsey since they’d only talked once before, but she couldn’t deny that Cassandra felt like a new friend, so she went along with it. “What’re you doing here?”

  “Remember Damon from the party last week? The guy who wore the Rocky boxing trunks? Muy caliente! He called me.” She shrugged. “We’ll see where it goes. How about you?”

  Kelsey did not need another reminder how sexy Damon looked last week. His well-toned pecs and six-pack abs now entered her mind for the hundredth time. “I’m with an architect named Paul.” Great! Could she sound more enthusiastic?

  “I was just heading to the ladies’ room to freshen up. Want to join me?”

  Now removed from the dance floor and standing in place, Kelsey realized that she’d worked up a bit of a sweat. “Definitely. But I’ve got to be honest; I don’t much care for this place.”

  “Tell me about it. Damon suggested another nightclub, but I’ve heard a lot about Within Temptation, so I twisted his arm. Bad decision. There’s nothing worse than drunken men walking through the crowd trying to find out if you’re with someone.”

/>   “I hear that.” She touched down on the floor and turned left. “Is this your first date with Damon?” Why did she hope to get an affirmative?

  “Yes. But so far, so good.”

  Kelsey’s smile faltered. She stopped near the coat-check area but away from prying eyes.

  “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

  “It’s just that I have doubts about this guy I’m with.”

  “Oh.” She looked supportive. “Sorry.”

  “I’m just sick of dating. It’s exhausting. Here’s my life Monday through Friday: wake up at 5:00 a.m., work out at home, then take a shower, eat, and get ready for work. I get to the diner at 7:00 p.m., work for about four hours, and take a quick lunch in time to stop by The Witching Hour, where I work until after 10 PM. And Saturday and Sunday, I don’t give myself much time off, either. I don’t know why I never realized this before, probably because I love what I do, but…I’m a workaholic.” She shook her head. “Right now, I’m exhausted. I’m stressed out. I’m with a man who deserves better than me. And I don’t have the time or energy to find someone I need.”

  “But you’re a great catch. You’re successful and smart and funny and you’re so pretty.”

  The flurry of compliments made tears surge into Kelsey’s eyes. It felt so good to have someone recognize what she had to offer.

  Cassandra swept forward and hugged her.

  Although she hadn’t expected the gesture, Kelsey found that she really needed it. And because she found it difficult to find friends, she opened herself to the possibility that Cassandra could be a trusted confidant. It made a smile appear. It also released some of her anxiety. The tenderness of this moment encouraged moisture to tip between her lashes.

  “Feel better?” Cassandra asked, parting from her.

  “Actually, yes.” She slid a finger below her eyes to wipe away the tears.

  “Good. The first one’s free. After that, it’s $4.95 a hug. Or three for $10.00.”

  Kelsey broke out laughing. “Oh, I needed that.” She chuckled.