Surrender Under His Command

what is she getting herself into

This was like looking for a needle in a haystack. He had no idea where to start first. Why hadn’t he walked her to her door?

She’d insisted that she’d be fine walking to her apartment on her own and he hadn’t pushed her. She’d been wary and he’d understood. They didn’t know each other, after all.

The building only had about 250 apartments.

Piece of cake, right?

He snorted. “Well, I’m not going to find her sitting here,” he muttered and opened his car door.

A small female stepped out of the apartment building and he paused, heart racing. No, her hair was longer than Jessa’s, darker. He watched as the woman walked down the block, entering a diner.

Well, why hadn’t he thought of that? No doubt a lot of people around here frequented this diner, hopefully Jessa did as well.

Damien crossed the road and entered the diner.

He came to a standstill, shock holding him immobile as he spied a waitress across the room. Her back was to him, but he’d still recognize her anywhere.

“Excuse me,” someone said behind him.

“Oh, sorry,” he said, moving out of the way. Satisfaction filled him.

Damn, his luck was looking up.

Jessa longed to sit with her feet up, sipping a glass of iced tea. She’d been working for close to ten hours and she was exhausted. Not that she would complain.

More hours meant more money and she needed every penny. One of the other waitresses had called in sick and she’d snapped up the extra hours.

She only had about twenty minutes of this shift left, she could get through it.

“Jessa.”

She stilled. This voice had been keeping her awake at night. “Jessa.” His voice shivered down her spine as need flooded her, pooling between her legs, making her c**t throb.

She had never reacted to Victor like this. Slowly, she turned, hardly daring to believe her eyes.

Damien smiled at her. “I was hoping I’d get to see you again.”

She cleared her throat. “You were?”

He nodded. “Are you due for a break soon? Maybe you’ll sit with me for a moment?”

What to do? She should turn him down. There was no way she could take things further, there was just no room in her life for anyone, especially someone as dominant and powerful as Damien.

And yet, there was something so irresistible about him. Like a whole container of Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey when she was on a diet.

Bad idea. Oh, but it would taste so good.

“I’m finished in twenty minutes. Can I get you something to eat or drink?”

“I’ll take some iced tea.”

Jessa nodded with a smile, watching as he slipped into a booth. Shaking off her surprise, she walked over to the kitchen and grabbing the jug of iced tea and poured a large glass.

“Wow that is one hunk of man sitting in your area, girl.” Frankie stepped through the door into the back, fanning herself. “If I was a few years younger, I’d be drooling all over him.” Frankie had to be at least sixty.

Jessa smiled at her. “What are you talking about, if you were younger? You don’t look a day over twenty-five.”

“If only,” Frankie replied with a laugh, flicking her hand at Jessa.

Jessa picked up the glass of tea and carried it out to Damien. Frankie was right, he was definitely a hunk with his dark hair and intense eyes.

The last part of her shift went by in a blur and she soon found herself out the back, in the small storage room, changing into her own clothes.

Due to a high employee turnover the diner’s owner kept a few spare uniforms in the back. She wasn’t sure how often he washed them, but she was grateful that she didn’t have to carry it around.

She fingered the uniform as she hung it up. Things would be so much easier if she had a permanent job. But that would mean tax forms and social security numbers and Victor on her doorstep. He had the resources to find her.

Jessa grabbed her backpack out of one of the lockers then stepped back into the eating area of the diner. A wave of queasiness rushed over her and she took a deep breath, putting a calming hand on her stomach. She needed to eat.

“Go sit down,” Frankie called out to her. “I’ll bring you a burger.”

She smiled her thanks then made her way over to Damien.

“Hi,” she said as she stood beside his booth. Damien quickly slid out and stood.

“Have a seat, love. Can I get you a drink or something?”

“It’s okay. Frankie is bringing over something for me.” She’d started her shift at six this morning and had only managed a few bites of a sandwich during her shift. She was now shaking with hunger and fatigue. Frankie bustled over with a large burger and glass of iced tea. Jessa looked over at Damien awkwardly. “Sorry, late lunch. Would you like something?”

She owed him for the pie the other night.

He shook his head and leaned back. “Please, go ahead.”

She forced herself not to wolf the food down. Eating too fast when she had an empty stomach would only make her sick. She’d learned that the hard way.

Damien was silent as she ate, but it wasn’t an awkward silence. In fact, she was surprised by how at ease she felt around him.

“Go out to dinner with me,” he finally said.

“Umm.” She glanced down at her near-empty plate.

Damien’s lips twitched. “Maybe not tonight. Tomorrow night. I’ll pick you up.”

“Damien, we don’t even know each other.”

“Which is why we need to go out to dinner. To get to know each other. You’re a hard woman to track down, I couldn’t believe my luck when I walked into this diner and saw you. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you and I want to get to know you better.”

She stared at him in surprise. This wasn’t what she had expected. Not at all.

“Ahh, Damien.”

He held up his hand. “I can tell you’re going to say no, so I want you to think about it. When’s your next shift?”

She had a lot of shifts this week to cover for one of the other waitresses.

“I’m working the breakfast shift every day this week.” She probably shouldn’t have told him that. Yet there was something about Damien that made it near impossible to lie to him.

“Good.” He grinned and pulled out his wallet, leaving more than enough money on the table to cover the bill and a generous tip. Standing, he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Oh God, what was she getting herself into?

Shaking herself out of her stupor, Jessa picked up the cash he’d left, gaping at it in disbelief. Fifty dollars? The iced tea had cost $1.50.

Shaking her head, she placed the fifty into her pocket and grabbed some change for the tea. She’d give him the money back tomorrow.

She was actually looking forward to it.