“You’re going to marry her without first hitting that? Man, you’re a fool. You don’t even know if she can give good head. Hell, you don’t even know if she’ll be willing. You’re taking an awful risk marrying a virgin. Don’t do it. Make her give up the drawers, or tell her to take a hike. Besides, she could just be leading you on. How the hell do you know she hasn’t been had? Man, you could look up on your wedding night and just fall into a massive hole that’s been used by more men than you thought. This is a stupid move you’re making.”
That had been his father. And his mother had not been much better.
“Mia must be a fool to be planning on marrying you. Damien, you’ve had so many women that she should be afraid your little thang is going to fall off. That girl is too good for you. She’s not going to understand your perverted ways. Don’t you hurt that girl, Damien.”
Then she’d changed direction and had thought of another way to taunt him.
“Why should I warn you? You’re just like your no good ass
father. How can I expect you to know how to treat a woman?
“You know what?”
His mother had laughed then
. “It would serve you right if you marry the one woman in the world that you want, that you think you want and she doesn’t get turned on by your ass. God, what a joke if you can’t even get it up. That would be your punishment for whoring around, for not listening to me. You deserve to not be able to satisfy her. You and your father both deserve to have that happen.”
Damien had not bothered answering his mother. She was bitter and the thought that Damien was finally getting married didn’t seem to matter. Although she’d told him his fate for years, he’d thought she’d at least be happy that he was changing. Well, she wasn’t and neither was his father. One thought Mia was too good for him. The other thought if she wasn’t putting out she wasn’t good enough.
Damien laughed to himself. Neither of them took into consideration how much he loved Mia, that for him it wasn’t just about the sex. True, he could barely wait to make love to her. She kept him in a constant state of arousal and he was forever walking around with at least a semi-erection.
But that wasn’t why he was in love with Mia. Even he couldn’t explain why the moment he saw her he knew she was the one. Somehow he’d known in his heart. After their first time together when she’d walked away from Ashleigh’s after purchasing a wedding gown to marry James, he’d known she was the one. They’d sat in McDonald’s, of all places, for five hours.
She’d smiled at him and listened to every word he had to say with real interest. It hadn’t bothered her in the least that he didn’t have a job. Damien laughed to himself at his musings. The job thing
had
bothered her. She’d told him to get one. But still, the fact that he didn’t have one hadn’t stopped her from falling in love with him.
Damien was grinning widely, glad no one was around to see him. It seemed like all he ever did was think about Mia. How could he not? She amazed him. And the most amazing thing of all was it hadn’t even bothered her that he was a dog. He’d never forget the words she’d said to him when he let her out at her apartment after their first meeting. “Damien, I’m glad that I met you. You have a very good heart and a good soul.” He’d been taken aback and had teased her. “That’s not what my mother says.”
“Then she should look into your eyes,” Mia had said. “You’re very special.”
He hadn’t known how to answer her and she’d gotten out of his car without kissing him and shoved him away, laughing.
“I think you behave as a dog so that no one will know how truly wonderful you really are.”
He’d never heard these words spoken about himself before. He’d wanted to run after Mia, beg her to tell him how she knew he was special. But he’d only sat in his car thinking,
Wow she
thinks I’m special
.
I must be
. He knew without a doubt that she was special. And if she thought he was also, it had to be true. Damien had set about trying for all these months to prove her right and his parents wrong.
During the months they’d been separated, his mother had laughed every time she saw him, repeatedly reminding him that she’d warned him. But he hadn’t given up on them. If some other woman had told him to wait around for her, Damien would have had a different woman the moment the words left her mouth. But not with Mia. With Mia he’d not wanted anyone but her. And he’d waited for her, the wait tearing him apart, his mother’s taunts piercing him afresh each night and day. Still, he’d waited.
And now, he thought with a smile, she was going to marry him. He grinned. He had to be special for her to marry him. He couldn’t wait to touch her in all the ways he’d wanted, to kiss her body from bottom to top, to make her scream out his name. The one thing he’d listened to his mother about was how he would need to be patient. He would remember that Mia was a virgin. He would take his time. She was inexperienced but she wanted him, she always had. That much he knew. He could hardly wait until the day they became man and wife.
* * *
“Are you ashamed of us? Who in the hell do you think you are? You think because someone’s letting you get your ass up on stage and sing that you’re a hot shot now? You’re still Damien Terrell, my son, my blood, and you can stop this act. We both know as soon as you hit
it
, you’re going to be back in the streets looking. God hasn’t made the woman who can take care of us the way we need.”
Charles leered across the table. “There is not one woman that can keep men like us satisfied. I ought to know, you’re my son. Hell, it’s in your blood.”
Damien glanced at his mother, wishing for more times than he cared to remember, that his father wouldn’t just say whatever the hell he thought. But the man had no moral filter. And it didn’t help that his mother had been content to play his door mat since way before Damien was born. Still, he wished that his father didn’t constantly throw it in her face that she’d not been enough for him.
“Okay, I’ll set it up with Mia. She’d love to see you again,” Damien lied. “Dinner tomorrow night.”
He got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach and hoped that Mia would still think him special after spending an evening with his parents. How he’d kept them apart all this time had taken a bit of ingenuity. Now he’d been called on it. He didn’t have a choice, for despite his misgivings, he did love his parents.
Damien was nervous as he closed the door of the car and walked around to the driver’s side. His father was bringing his mother and meeting them at The Pasta Place, a new trendy restaurant with great food, reasonable prices, and a dance floor. He was hoping all of that would make for a fun evening.
“It’s going to be okay.” Mia stroked his arm. “We should have done this already. Keefe’s been after me to meet your parents.”
“Can you just imagine what would happen if the six of us got together, Keefe and Ashleigh joining us? Naw, Mia, I think it’s going to be hard enough with the four of us.”
“Who are you avoiding, Ashleigh or Keefe?”
She was teasing and he knew that but he glanced over at her just to make sure. “Baby, you know that I don’t…that it doesn’t bother me being around Ashleigh. Does it bother you when we’re all together?”
Mia squirmed. She’d only been kidding and now he was asking her a direct question and they’d promised not to lie. “Maybe a little. I’m working on it.”
“You have nothing to worry about. Believe me, if I didn’t look at another woman once while I waited for you I’m definitely not going to look now.”
An unwelcome thought flashed across Damien’s mind and he remembered his father saying that he would. Well, he wouldn’t. He didn’t want anyone but Mia.
“I know. I just think that as we get closer to the day it gets a little scary and I worry.”
“Do you worry that you’re making a mistake?” He held his breath waiting for an answer.
“Of course not. But I suppose I worry that you might think you’re making one.” She laid her head on his shoulder. “Damien, I want to be married for keeps,” Mia whispered. “I have no plans on ever getting divorced.”
“Divorced, Mia? Damn baby. Where did that come from? We’re not even married yet.”
“Come on, I’m serious,” Mia insisted. “I hate the word
divorce
. My mother was divorced so many times that…I…I just want you to be sure I’m who you want. Am I?”
He glanced sideways at her, then pulled into the drive of the restaurant and parked. “Come here, Mia. He looked into her eyes, took her hand and placed it over his heart. “What do you think? I love you, Mia. I promise you that that will never change, no matter what.”
* * *
“Mia, it’s good to see you again. We’ve been asking Damien to bring you over.” Kathy smiled at her.
“What are you talking about,
we
? The way you sound Mia will think we live together or something.” Charles cocked his head in Kathy’s direction. “That’s not true. We get together and kick it every once in a while, nothing more, just a little sex. No big deal.”
Mia glanced at Damien and saw that he was trying to behave normally. The only thing that gave him away was the tenseness she detected in his jaw.
Okay Mia
, she thought to herself,
this is going to be your new family. You’re going to be an expert at familial
relationships.
She laughed to herself. Oh yeah, she was an expert alright. The only thing she knew for sure was how to get good grades and give the right answers—enough to earn a degree. She doubted if anyone could ever really understand people. Still, she had to do something.
“Kathy, that’s a beautiful necklace that you have on,” Mia remarked, attempting to change the conversation. “It’s very unusual.”
She saw the grateful smile Damien gave her and the sneer that Charles cast her way. Him, she didn’t care about. The man was continuing to be unpleasant and this time he didn’t even have the excuse of too much to drink.
Kathy fingered her necklace. “Damien gave it to me several years ago for Mother’s Day.”
There was a pleased look on Damien’s face. His gaze fell on his mother and he smiled warmly at her until he caught his father’s glance and looked hurriedly away. Mia took a bite of her salad, wondering if by changing the conversation she’d inadvertently made it worse.
“Why would your mother need jewelry? She doesn’t go anywhere but to work.”
“Lay off, Pop,” Damien muttered. “I think it looks nice on her and so does Mia.” He turned to smile at her. “I’m glad you like it.” He leaned in closer, kissing Mia’s ear. “Be nice and for your first Mother’s Day, I’ll buy you one.” he whispered low, so that only Mia heard.
Mia felt the inevitable heat sear her as surely as if Damien had caressed her. Smiling at him, she wanted to tell him to stop his wicked looks but she loved them and she loved him. And in time she would learn to at least tolerate his father.
“Kathy, I was wondering if you’d like to get together with me one day next week, just the two of us, so we can get to know each other better, maybe take in a movie or something?”
“I’m sure you have a thousand things to do before the wedding. You don’t have time to spend with me,” Kathy answered.
“Of course I do. You’re going to be my mother-in-law. I’ll make time.”
“And what about me?” Charles asked. “Are you going to make time for me also?”
Mia knew he was baiting her, and her mouth dropped just a little. She took a sip of her water, her eyes searching out Damien’s.
“Why are you looking at him? Can’t you answer for yourself?” Charles insisted.
“Of course I would like to get to know you better, but next week I want to spend time getting to know Kathy a little better.”
“I don’t understand why I can’t be included.”
“Chuck?”
“Don’t Chuck me.” Damien’s father turned to Kathy. “What? He’s my son as well as yours, probably more so. He’s more like me than you. He has balls. Or at least he used to until about a year ago.” He sat back in his seat and glared first at Mia, then Damien.
“Pop, stop picking at Mia. You’re spoiling for a fight and you’re not going to get one. Not tonight anyway. Mia asked Mom out for a movie, not you. Leave it at that. God, I don’t get it, if you and Mom hate being around each other so much, why do you bother?” He shook his head. “I pray before I die I can figure it out,” he said disgustedly.
“Come on, Mia, let’s dance.” Damien said as he stood and held his hand out.
She gladly accepted. She was literally trembling with anger. On the dance floor she asked, “What in the world does your father have against me?”
“It’s not you, baby. He’s just being ornery. Usually he charms women. I don’t know why he’s not trying to charm you.”
“He couldn’t if he tried.” Mia spoke without thinking and her words sounded harsh. She looked away when Damien stared at her.
“Mia, I don’t blame you for being pissed. I’m just asking you to try, okay?” Damien sighed. “I’ve taken a lot more from your brother,” he said in a firmer voice.