Noticing you
938 Words
Iris avoided Damon for three days.
Not intentionally at first.
Okay, maybe intentionally.
But in her defense, how exactly was she supposed to act normal after I don’t know how to stop it?
That sentence had been haunting her entire existence.
So naturally, she did the mature thing and disappeared.
Unfortunately, Damon King was apparently not a man who enjoyed being ignored.
Which was why Iris nearly dropped her coffee when she walked out of work Friday evening and found his black SUV parked across the street.
“Oh, absolutely not.”
The driver’s window rolled down slowly.
Damon looked at her calmly. “Get in.”
She stared at him in disbelief. “You can’t just appear places.”
“I texted you.”
“I ignored you.”
“I noticed.”
Iris tightened her grip on her bag. “What are you doing here?”
“Picking you up.”
“I have legs.”
“You also have a terrible sense of direction and a car held together by delusion.”
“My car is recovering.”
“Your car is a public safety concern.”
She narrowed her eyes while he opened the passenger door remotely.
People walked past them on the sidewalk, some glancing curiously at the very expensive SUV and the very attractive man inside it.
Iris hated how unfairly good Damon looked leaning back in the driver’s seat like he owned the entire city.
Which honestly—
He probably did.
“I’m not getting in,” she informed him.
Damon tilted his head slightly. “You’ve said that before.”
“That was different.”
“You still got in.”
…That was annoyingly true.
Iris walked toward the car before she could rethink her decisions.
The second she sat down, Damon pulled away from the curb smoothly.
She frowned immediately. “Where are we going?”
“To dinner.”
“With who?”
“With me.”
Her heartbeat instantly became problematic.
“Damon.”
“You’ve been avoiding me.”
“No I haven’t.”
“You ignored eleven messages.”
“I was busy.”
“You posted a picture of coffee and a sunset.”
“That was emotionally important.”
A quiet laugh escaped him.
Iris looked out the window immediately before she started smiling like an i***t.
The city lights blurred outside as silence settled between them.
Not uncomfortable.
Never uncomfortable.
That was part of the problem.
“You know,” Damon said after a while, “most people are nicer when someone buys them dinner.”
“You didn’t ask me. You kidnapped me politely.”
“You got in voluntarily.”
“You’re manipulative.”
“And you still came.”
Iris turned toward him. “Do you enjoy being right this much?”
“Yes.”
“Evil.”
His mouth twitched slightly.
God.
It should’ve been illegal for someone this emotionally repressed to suddenly become charming.
“You’re staring again,” he said.
“I hate that you notice every single thing I do.”
“I notice you.”
The words came easily.
Naturally.
Like he didn’t even realize how dangerous they were.
Iris forgot how to respond for a second.
Damon glanced at her briefly before focusing back on the road.
“I meant what I said the other day.”
Her stomach tightened.
“Damon—”
“Iris, look at me.”
She shouldn’t have.
She really shouldn’t have.
But she did.
And that was mistake number one.
Because his expression wasn’t teasing anymore.
It was steady. Certain. Too honest.
“I’m done pretending nothing is happening between us,” he said quietly.
Her pulse stumbled hard.
“You make that sound simple.”
“It isn’t.”
“Clara would lose her mind.”
“She’ll survive.”
Iris let out a nervous laugh. “Easy for you to say.”
Damon parked the car outside a quiet rooftop restaurant before finally turning fully toward her.
“No,” he said softly. “It isn’t.”
Something in his voice made her chest tighten.
Because suddenly he didn’t sound like the untouchable Damon King everyone feared.
He sounded tired.
Careful.
Like this mattered to him more than he wanted it to.
“I spent years making sure Clara never lost anyone else,” he admitted quietly. “She’s my responsibility.”
Iris’s expression softened immediately.
Damon rarely talked about his parents.
Actually—
He almost never did.
“She worships you,” Iris said softly.
A humorless smile touched his mouth. “That’s exactly the problem.”
Silence filled the car.
Heavy this time.
Emotional.
Then Damon looked at her again.
“And you,” he said quietly, “have always been the one thing capable of distracting me from everything.”
Iris’s breath caught.
Dangerous.
Every single thing about him was dangerous.
Because Damon didn’t flirt carelessly.
When he said something, he meant it.
Which meant he genuinely saw her this way.
After all these years.
“You really need to stop saying things like that,” she whispered.
His gaze dropped briefly to her lips.
“No,” he said softly. “I really don’t.”
Then someone knocked on the driver’s side window.
Both of them jumped slightly.
A grinning valet stood outside.
“Sir,” he said politely, “you’ve been sitting here staring at each other for ten minutes.”
Iris wanted to disappear instantly.
Damon closed his eyes briefly like he was reconsidering all his life choices.
The valet smiled wider.
“…Should I come back later?”
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD