Breathless (139 page)

“Wow!” he exclaimed as he looked me up and down.

“I was about to say the same thing.” A part of me wanted to ask if we still had a few more minutes to spare for a quickie because he looked painfully irresistible.

“I know you want to jump my bones—and normally, I’d let you—but we have to get downstairs now.”

I laughed at how in sync we were in our thoughts. “So can you finally tell me where we’re going?” I looked at him hopefully.

“As much as I’ve loved watching you squirm, I don’t think I can keep our plans a secret for very much longer.”

I hit him on the shoulder. “You tease! Spill it already!”

He laughed. “So my friend Emma is getting married today, and you’re going to be my plus-one.”

“So we’re going to a wedding right now?” I kept a smile on my face, but I felt conflicting feelings course through me. I knew that, for Damian, taking me as his plus-one to a wedding was a big deal, and it was certainly something people did in a real relationship. But a surprise with a private jet and a one-of-a-kind dress seemed a bit extravagant for just a wedding. And for some reason, I thought that there would be something more to this, something a little more special.

“Yup.” He seemed to be oblivious to my disappointment. “Just a simple wedding at a simple villa in Florence.”

“A simple wedding’s nice,” I said halfheartedly as I tried to mask my disappointment. Then something he’d said finally registered in my consciousness. “Wait, what? A villa? Florence? Where are we?”

I turned to Damian, trying to make sense of everything. I saw a wide smile spread across his lips. “We’re in Florence,” he said matter-of-factly.

“As in Florence, Italy?” I asked in disbelief.

“Is there another Florence?” He looked at me innocently.

“Oh my God! We’re in Italy?!” I shrieked in delight.
That just can’t be right!

Damian simply laughed at my excitement and nodded.

I wanted to jump up and down, but I was scared I’d rip my dress. Thoughts swirled around me as I tried to make sense of everything. “But how? I’m not prepared. But don’t I need a passport? What about my job?” A million questions raced through my mind.

“Baby,” he said softly as he held my hands to calm me down. “One thing at a time. I’ll explain everything. You said when we first met that you wanted to travel, and that one of the things on your bucket list was to visit all the continents by the time you’re thirty. So when Emma invited me to her wedding and told me she was going to have it at Villa La Vedette in Florence, Italy, I knew I wanted you to come with me. And you said that you already had your passport like you had those travel books, so I sneaked into your place to get your passport information for our travel plans.”

“You’re such a sweet man, Damian,” I whispered as tears welled up in my eyes.

“Only to you.” He held my face with his hands and gently brushed a tear from my cheek with his thumb. “Oh, one more thing. I also called your boss and told him about the surprise and asked if you could have next week off. He thought it was a great surprise. So you’re stuck with me for the next nine days.” There was a twinkle in his rich blue eyes as he looked down at me.

I met his gaze, and for the first time in my life, I was speechless.

“Say something.” He studied me, trying to figure out what I was thinking.

“I can’t believe you planned all this,” I finally said. I flung my arms around him and kissed him with desperate abandonment.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Damian

A CRISP EVENING BREEZE BLEW through the reception area, causing the loose strands of Alexis’s hair to dance in the wind as Nat King Cole’s “L-O-V-E” resonated through the speakers. There was a sense of magic in the air as we sat under a sky of string lights covering every inch of the large canopy tent ceiling. I watched as the soft lights illuminated Alexis’s face, making her look so unbelievably beautiful that it took my breath away.

I observed her as her eyes were glued on Brandon and Emma as they danced their first dance as husband and wife. I saw the twinkle in her eyes, the same spark I had become so addicted to—the look of amazement, love, and warmth I had come to live for. It was the same look she gave me, like I was some amazing person she could depend on, like I was someone she would never let go of, like I was the one she had been waiting for all her life.

I put my arms around her and pulled her closer toward me. She turned to look up at me and grinned widely. There were tears in her eyes.

“Hi,” she whispered softly as she gently rubbed her hand across my back.

“Hey, why are you crying?” I whispered back.

“No, they’re just happy tears,” she reassured. “I always cry at weddings. I just can’t help it.”

“Really? Why?”

“I don’t know. I guess because it’s such a special moment between two people at one of the most important occasions in their lives. And this is when we get to celebrate their love and the fact that they were able to find each other.”

God, she’s so beautiful
—
inside and out.

“You’re amazing, Alex. I never thought I could ever feel this way—I never thought such a feeling existed until now.”

“What feeling is that?”

“It can’t be described by words—but it’s a warm feeling that fills my entire body and my entire being. It’s like this flood of ecstasy that I’ve never felt before. And I can’t believe I’m going to say this—because I never thought I’d say such a thing—but this feeling is better than sex. The way you make me feel by being with me feels better than sex.”

I was surprised by my own admission because I knew it was true and I knew that I had meant every word of it.

I pulled her face towards me and kissed her lightly on the forehead. “What did I do to deserve you?” I whispered.

“You taught me how to eat sushi.” She giggled through her tears.

I chuckled. “You’re now a chopstick-using, sushi-eating pro.”

“Watch out, Japan. I’m visiting you next,” she teased.

“I hope you’ll decide to bring your ridiculously handsome boyfriend along with you to Japan,” I said.

She rolled her eyes and laughed. “You know what your middle name is?”

“Fun?” I asked as I thought back to the conversation we had on our first sushi night.

“Nope.”

“Perfect?”

“Wrong!” She laughed.

“Hey! Easy there. You’re hurting my ego,” I joked. “So I give up. What is it?”

“Cocky. Cocky is your middle name,” she said, barely holding back her laughter.

“God, you’re so fucking feisty! I love that about you.”

“I know,” she said with a smile.

“Now who’s cocky now?”

“Well, I learn from the best,” she shot back.

I laughed. I looked into her beautiful hazel eyes and realized that I hadn’t been this deliriously happy about life before I met this girl.

I pulled her hands into mine and smiled at her. “I love you, Alex. You feel inevitable to me.” It wasn’t a line; it wasn’t a lie. I’d meant every word of it. And for the first time in my life, I wasn’t scared.

Her eyes glittered with intense emotion as she looked up at me. Her hands were warm and soft between my hands.

“Really?” She looked at me, surprised by my declaration.

I was also surprised by my own admission. “Yeah, I know. News to me too.”

“Since when?”

“Hmm, you know what? Truth is, I think from the first time I saw you on the staircase that day when you moved in. Somehow you were different, and a part of me just knew I would never be the same again.”

“I love you too, Damian.” Her words radiated through me like a warm ray of sunshine and I was unable to stop smiling. I loved the way I looked through her eyes, because she saw me in a way no one else did, like I was someone special, like I was someone worth investing time into.

Alexis rubbed the back of my neck with her hands and I felt my body respond to her touch. When the song ended, Alexis got up from her seat and leaned down toward me to whisper, “Hey, I’m going to the restroom. Keep my seat warm for me, okay?”

“You got it, babe,” I whispered back. She kissed me gently and beamed at me when she pulled away. The sparkle in her eyes as she looked at me made my knees weak.

As I watched her walk out of the tent-covered reception area and disappear into the villa, the father of the groom got up to make a toast. Before he began talking, a cell phone close by started to ring. The ringtone sounded familiar and I realized the sound was coming out of Alexis’s bag. I grabbed her bag and dug through it to find her phone. Right when I grabbed it, the call went to voicemail. But before the caller ID disappeared, I thought the name that popped up on the screen sounded familiar.
Who’s Chris?

As I was about to drop her phone back into her bag, an incoming text message from the same Chris came in. My whole body froze and I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me when I read what the text said.

Hey hun. Did you get the results yet? You know I’ll support you no matter what.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Damian is, without doubt, my favorite book that I have written thus far. Many aspects of getting this book published have been challenging, while many other aspects of getting this book published have been immensely rewarding. This book is the product of many late nights, many tears, and many cups of vanilla latte as I conducted my “cafe circuit” around San Francisco.

There are so many people I must thank that helped me along the way. Without your support and encouragement, Damian “Cocky” Castillo would never have gotten his own book.

To my betas: thank you so much for always dealing with my crazy hours. While I did not share the entire story with you before I published this book, your comments to the first part of the story greatly helped me shape the rest. I value your opinions and time. You are my third eye, and I would be a little more lost without you guiding the way.

To my street team: you guys seriously rock and I love you! Thank you for dealing with my ever-changing schedule. I know I can often be a broken record. Thank you for being my cheerleaders through my ups and downs. I do not usually share my downs with you, but trust me, there are many and you guys were there to help me through many of them, even if you didn’t realize it at the time. A special thank you to Retta Rusaw and Kathy Corbett-Shreve for making so many graphics for me! I may not always get the chance to thank you each and every time, but I do appreciate them. 

Huge thanks goes out to Louisa Maggio for the countless hours and nights you’ve slaved away in order to help me with my book covers, swag graphics, banners, and advice on blog tours and blitzes. I know my emails could be detailed and demanding at times and you have always gone above and beyond what I’ve asked without expecting anything back in return. I owe you my deepest gratitude!

And as always, thanks goes out to J.S. Cooper for the many days and nights of writing, chatting, and mental support. While we may drive each other crazy at times, we have also kept each other sane.

To my family. You guys are my rock and I am nothing without your support. <3

AUTHOR’S NOTE

The exciting conclusion to Damian’s story,
Taming Damian
, which is part two of the two-part series The Heartbreaker, is now available
here
. If you would like to stay informed of Jessica’s book releases, teasers, and news on my upcoming books, please sign up for Jessica Wood’s
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidences are either a product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to events or actual locales, is purely coincidental. Rated NC17 for language and some sexual situations.

Brooklyn

Last night. It was amazing.

Cade and I had holed up in my hotel room to work on one of our love scenes. Could anything be more beautiful, exciting, arousing … or fucking
painful
? I mean; this was one time that being an actor really paid off. We were so in sync with each other; we practiced the scene ten times when we didn’t need to practice it at all. I could feel my skin flush with heat and excitement. We both knew what we were doing; which was finding
any
excuse to touch each other, to just be in the same room together. He made me tremble without even touching me, and I completely melted when he did.

I’d never wanted anyone so much in my life. Never wanted to hear a voice, feel a touch or see a face so much before.
Ever.
I’d seen him in some other stuff, did the research necessary to get familiar with his acting chops before we met, and I was worried. He was a huge star and I was basically nobody. Even knowing how amazing he was going in, I wasn’t prepared for how seriously screwed I’d be when we did. Sure, he was drop dead beautiful, more in person than on screen, but it was the chemistry between us that was turning my world upside down.