"You'll like it, I promise." I held out my hand again. "Come on, Heidi, it's just a walk."
She chewed on her lip for a few seconds, then she placed her hand in mine. "Okay. Show me your secret place."
Chapter Three
Heidi
Damian led me around the edge of the lawn, where my friends were playing volleyball, and along the tree line until we came to a narrow trail that headed into the woods. He strode down that path. I'd never seen this trail before, despite having visited the resort many times over the years. Had I somehow missed it every single time I came here?
The path might've been narrow, but we still managed to walk side by side. I didn't mind that. Company was nice, even if my new "friend" wanted to get me naked. He hadn't said anything overly suggestive since he tried to talk me into dating with a possible upgrade to sex.
Damian was hot, but I had a plan and I would stick to it. Maybe it was more like penance than a plan. I had some serious penance to do to make up for all my mistakes.
So yeah, no sex. Not with Damian. Not with anyone. No kissing either. And absolutely no flirting, not even if Damian started it.
"Where are we going?" I asked. "I've never seen this trail before."
"That's because it didn't exist until recently. I talked Eve and Val into starting a pilot program for something new we can offer to our guests. It's still in the developmental phase."
"I hope you're not taking me to your secret sex house."
He chuckled. "Interesting that your mind went straight to sex. But no, this is G-rated entertainment."
"Okay. That's good." I considered him for a moment while we kept strolling down the trail, and my brain kept dreaming up questions I wanted to ask him. Before I did that, I needed to decide if I wanted to be friends with Damian. If not, then I didn't need to ask him personal questions. But my curiosity was pushing me to find out more about the man who liked to dress like a sexy vampire. Not that I would ever admit to him that I liked his Dracula-gypsy shtick.
Right now, he was wearing his work uniform. But damn, he looked hot in that too.
Stop thinking about how hot he is. No sex for six months, remember?
"You look like you want to say something," Damian told me. "Go on, I don't mind. You might've noticed I'm not shy. Shameless might be a better description."
"No kidding? I never would've guessed, Mr. I Love to Talk Dirty."
"Would you want me to lie and say all I want to do is hold your hand and recite sonnets to you? I'm honest and upfront about what I want. You can feel free to slap me if you don't like it."
Feel free to slap him? Damian was the weirdest man I'd ever met.
"No thanks," I said, "count me out. Emotional torture is more than enough for me to handle."
He raised his brows. "Torture? I don't want to do that."
"Oh. Good." Maybe he meant that, maybe he didn't. I had no idea. But my brain kept urging me to ask questions and satisfy my curiosity, so I gave in. "What did you do for a living before you took a job here?"
"I was a corrections officer at a state prison in Idaho."
My feet stopped moving. My eyes refused to blink. I stared at him for several seconds, trying to digest his response. Damian seemed like the type of guy who would be a massage therapist or the owner of a cigar shop, not a prison guard. Maybe I had misjudged him.
"Wow, that sounds crazy stressful," I said.
"It could be, but there were never any incidents at the facility where I worked." He smirked. "You expected me to have some kind of sleazy job, didn't you?"
"No, I was thinking either massage therapist or cigar shop owner."
"Hmm. That's better than what most people assume I would do for a job." He swept his gaze over me from head to toe and back again. "What do you do? For work, I mean."
"I'm a pharmacy technician."
"Really? I never would've guessed that."