Body Language (Part 10/12 of Almost Lovers Series)

This is continuation of my Damien X MC pre-book series, now caught up to present time and mainly following the canon story line. Some events and dialogue come directly from the book, and some are my own vision to fit the story I wanted to tell. Perfect Match Book Timeline – Chapters 6-7

wo weeks had passed since Steve disappeared and Nadia was still a wreck. She seemed on the verge of a nervous breakdown, spending all her time and energy trying to put the pieces together to figure out what happened. Kai was growing more concerned about her every day. Luckily Damien had come through and was finding some leads. The more information Kai learned, the more things didn’t add up. Steve’s social media accounts were wiped clean; his work had never heard of him. Damien promised to keep working on the case to see what else he could find.

In the meantime, Kai felt guilty that things were going well with Hayden. Nadia was still falling apart, but she couldn’t let that be a reason to put her relationship on hold. Hayden took Kai to the opera and the date was amazing, it really was. Hayden got box seats for them and even showed his rebellious side, sneaking Kai backstage after the show. So why did Kai still feel like something was missing?

Hayden made a comment about feeling sometimes like he was outside of himself, just going through the motions. Kai joked about it, asking Hayden if he was an alien or something, but the truth was, she actually did kind of feel like she was going through the motions with Hayden. When he was going down on her, making her come backstage at the opera house, she should have been in the moment with Hayden. Instead, she was imagining it was Damien. She couldn’t get him out of her head and she had to do something about it.  Exactly what, she wasn’t sure, but she had to start pushing Damien to see if there could be something real between them. She felt bad stringing Hayden along, but he really was a great guy. Maybe once she had an answer either way on the Damien situation, she could make a clear decision about her future with Hayden.

Kai mulled over all of this on the ride to Philadelphia. Damien was cryptic about why they were going, but it had something to do with Steve. Kai wanted to get to the bottom of this for Nadia’s sake, but truthfully she was happy to spend whatever time she could with Damien, and standing on the street watching Damien in intense defective mode was hot. She thought there was no time like the present to start testing the waters with him.

“Damien, it’s cute to see you in full detective mode. All intense and mysterious with your clues and sneaking and–”

Before Kai could finish Damien cut her off. “Get Back!” He held out an arm and pressed Kai against the wall, his chest to her back. He whispered in her ear, his voice quiet but commanding. “Keep quiet and watch.” Probably only seconds passed but it was enough time for inappropriate thoughts to float through Kai’s mind. She knew she should be focusing on whatever they were there to see, but all she could think about was the length of his firm body pressed to hers and his warm lips grazing her ear sending shivers down her spine as he gave directives. Damien then lifted his arm and pointed across the street “There.” Kai looked and couldn’t believe what she saw. It was Steve but he looked nothing like he did just a few weeks ago; now with green hair, piercings, and a leather jacket. What happened to the straight-laced looking Steve that Nadia knew?

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Damien was glad his leads paid off and they had found Steve, but nothing made sense. He changed his looks and truly seemed to not know who they were when he cornered them. Damien would have thought he Steve had an identical twin if the scar from the car accident hadn’t given him away.  All of this added to the fact that Cecile from Eros was in the background of the picture of Steve with his dad in high school pointed to something suspicious. Poor Nadia was devastated all over again because she now had more questions than answers. At least she had taken Damien’s suggestion to take the self-defense class with Kai. Getting some of that aggression out had to help.

Speaking of Kai, Damien was starting to get some more mixed signals from her. She seemed to be going strong with Hayden, but there were little things that he would normally interpret as flirting going on between Kai and himself. He didn’t even have a chance to process or respond when Kai called him cute when they were in Philadelphia looking for Steve. And her telling him he was the Watson to her Sherlock and gushing about how good he was at his job after interrogating Steve. Her nudging him back playfully when he nudged her with his elbow. Like Kai said, he was good at reading body language and analyzing demeanor, but he was second guessing himself with her because he was so scared to get it wrong.

The confusion with Kai coupled with the mystery surrounding Steve led Damien to do something he never thought he would do in a million years. He decided to try and get matched up through Eros. He told himself it was mostly so he could get a look at Eros from the inside, but if Kai was going to be with Hayden, he hoped maybe he could find someone too. He didn’t want to die alone if Kai would never love him back the way he loved her.  Unfortunately he was rejected by Eros. Maybe they were onto him because he asked too many questions, or they figured out what he did for a living, but maybe he just wasn’t good enough, and the thought of this really had him down.  He did have some investigative findings to share with Kai, so he called her up and asked her to meet him in front of Eros.

Kai met Damien just as he walked outside. He explained what he found: cameras all over the place, security patrolling every floor, key cards for all employees, and a loading dock out back. It was more locked down than a government research facility. Kai did agree that this was strange, but she seemed more interested in Damien’s motives for taking the Eros quiz.

“The Perfect Match Quiz? Why?”

Damien grabbed the back of his neck and groaned. “I don’t know. Curiosity maybe?”

“And?” Kai pressed.

Ugh, he had to say it out loud. “They said, and I quote…I’m ‘ineligible for a perfect match.’

“Damien…They’re idiots, I think you’re great”

“Oh, I know.” As soon as he said it, he felt like an asshole. Kai was being sincere; maybe even insinuating Damien was great in a more than just friends way. He couldn’t just accept the compliment and have a moment with her. He had to deflect with sarcasm to avoid real feelings like he always did.

“Wow, never again am I playing the compassionate human card with you.” Kai had a smile on her face, but there was a hint of disappointment there. “I just don’t understand why they would reject you?”

“Heh, who knows? It seems my skeptical reputation precedes me. I guess I didn’t make the exclusive cut.” Damien laughed and tried to play it off like he wasn’t bothered but he wasn’t sure Kai was buying it. “I’m fine Kai…Yeah, let’s not waste time talking about this. Anyway, I’m about to head to a nearby pub for a drink. You’re welcome to join me if you’d like.”

“Don’t tell me…Archer and Hopps? Nadia says that’s where you go for some serious brooding time.”

“Dammit Nadia…” Shit, he didn’t mean to say that loud. “No, I mean yeah. But only come if you want to.

“Do you want me to?” Kai asked expectantly.

“I wouldn’t say yes if it was anyone else, but…Yes, I’d like that. Shall we?” And he truly meant it. There was no one else Damien would rather be with at that moment.

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Kai looked around at the decor in Archer and Hopps. She didn’t know why she had pictured some dive bar, but this place was actually nice. The bartender Flynn clearly knew Damien well. If he came here to brood, maybe Flynn would be the one person Damien actually opened up to. Kai wondered if she could get anything out of him.

“So…any deep dark secrets about Damien you’re willing to share Flynn?” Kai saw a look of panic cross Damien’s face as his eyes went wide. Flynn had to know things about Kai. What else would Damien be so afraid of?

“Nope, Bartenders code of conduct. Though you’d be more than welcome to pry…if you can beat Damien at the Nazario chug.”

“Why? Why would you bring up the Nazario chug?” Kai sensed Damien was starting to regret brining her here. Flynn brought out a deck of and poured two Dark and Stormys. Basically, the game was just truth or dare with a deck of cards, which meant Damien was bound to have to share some secrets and Kai was all for it. “I’d suggest not playing a game named after me. But seeing you do a few dares would make me feel better.”

Kai was up first and drew a red card which meant truth. Damien went straight for a big one. “How are things going with Hayden?”

Kai had not had enough alcohol yet to answer this truthfully. What was she supposed to say? ‘He’s great but I’d dump him in an instant if you told me you wanted to be with me?’ And she didn’t want to say things were going well and discourage Damien, so she decided to dodge the question and drink.  “Not your business, cheers!”

“Scared you’re going to hurt my feelings?”

“Didn’t think you had any.”

Damien laughed as Kai took her 5 sips per the number on the card. “You won’t Kai, I’ll sort out my love life eventually. On my own terms. My own pace.”

Kai didn’t know what to make of Damien’s reaction. He was the one who brought up his feelings being affected by Kai and Hayden but then he played it off like he didn’t care. What did ‘I’ll sort out my love life eventually’ even mean? Was it possible it really did have something to do with her and he would get around to dealing with it when he was ready? At this rate, Kai and Damien would be dead before Damien got up the courage to say anything.

Damien drew a three of cluns, so Kai came up with an idea to embarrass him by making him yell a list of compliments about her to the whole bar, including how hot she was. If Damien wasn’t going to say what he really felt, she would make him do it, even if it was just for show.

Much to Kai’s surprise, Damien chugged his drink and hopped up on the bar, asking for the whole room’s attention. This is not what she expected from the Damien she knew. “I’d like to take a moment to celebrate my friend who’s here with me tonight. Kai is the most brilliant, funny, and not to mention hottest person in this room. So cheers to Kai, whom I adore very much.” Damien jumped down from the bar with a grin. “Happy?” Kai really was happy. She made Damien smile, but it was also good to hear him say those nice things about her, even if it was forced. He said he adored her, and it felt genuine.

The game went on for a while with Kai and Damien downing nearly three quarters of a bottle of Bacardi between them. Flynn came over to check in and shuffled the deck with a mischievous look on his face. He handed the deck to Damien who drew a queen of hearts. Damien glared at Flynn who had obviously set him up.

“It’s a special draw.” Flynn explained. “Can’t be skipped. And the question must revolve around one’s love life.”

Kai though carefully. She wanted so bad to ask about Damien how he really felt about her, but she still wasn’t feeling brave enough. She asked about his last serious relationship instead.

“Don’t think anyone’s asked me that before…” Damien laughed nervously, averting his eyes and twirling his drink. “She was my partner when I worked at NYPD. Fierce, incredibly smart. Difficult…some would say. We worked together at Interpol overseas, and it was good…for a while. Then our case went south. I was shipped back home, and she had a choice. Me or the job. I…I really though she’s choose me for a second.” Damien moved on to joking about Eros, saying he was glad he got rejected up front rather than facing heartbreak or divorce later, but Kai could tell he was hurting.

“Eros has got stats and science, but they don’t know you, Damien.” Kai reached for Damien’s hand “You’re a good guy…and an even better friend. You’ll find the right person.”

“Thanks, Kai. Means a lot.” Damien gazed into Kai’s eyes briefly but then abruptly stood up. “It’s getting late. But I’m…glad you came with me.”

The look in Damien’s eyes told Kai more than his words had all evening, and for a moment she found the courage to say what was on her mind.  “Me too. But wait, before we go, I need to ask you something. I need to know before things get more serious with Hayden; do you still have feelings for me?”

Damien was taken aback and fumbled for words. “I…uh…why…” Before he could come up with a coherent response, a woman walked into the bar and his attention was focused on her. She walked right up to the two of them. She appeared a bit rough around the edges but she was pretty and about the same age as Damien, maybe a couple years older.

“Hey Damien! How have you been? I was hoping you would call me again after the other night. We had a lot of fun together.” Did this woman have no tact?

The woman was facing Damien and away from Kai. Kai mouthed to Damien. ‘Is that her?’

Damien nodded almost imperceptibly. “Kai this is Amber. Amber this is my best friend Kai.”

Amber turned to face Kai and looked her up and down. “Oh, so this is Kai.”

How did Amber know who she was? Did Damien talk about Kai with everyone except Kai herself? Whatever moment she and Damien were having was now over, and she didn’t feel like playing nice with Amber. “Damien, I’m going to catch a cab home. “

“Wait just a second. I’ll walk out with you.” Damien grabbed his coat.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine. Stay and hang out with your friend. I’ll talk to you soon.” Damien opened his mouth to object but Kai turned and walked out the door, and he didn’t follow.

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