Until He Is Mine (Affaire de Coeur, #2)

Chapter 4: Messy

Yes, Damian had to punch him. And he did.

He had been into many fights before and this had been the most satisfying of them all. He did not even have to break a sweat because Arnold was such a puny fighter if he could even be called a fighter. 

Watching the blabbermouth on the floor, he considered whether he should pounce him to death. But that punch on his eye must have already done the job. Nobody called Margaret fat —  well nobody but him anyway. It was not like he would insinuate Maggie's chubbiness to demean her and she knew that all too well. Nobody humiliated his woman within his hearing. No one.

But that look in Margaret's face made Damian feel like his heart was ready to break free from his chest.

Oozing with satisfaction, he quickly made his way towards the exit yet he was instantly halted by a hand on his upper arm. Tilting his head, he was taken aback by the glaring grayish-blue eyes directed at him.

"You fool." Catherine said exasperatedly.

"What?"

"If you don't want to be accosted by the media then I suggest you go the other way." She said, motioning to the other exit that seemed to be used by the hotel staff.

"Ah, right." He muttered, making a full turn towards the direction of the door.

Damian stopped himself from running to the door just so he could avoid any more unwanted attention than his punching scene had already attracted. But the faster he walked, the quicker he could get to Maggie. He did not have to explain anything to her, but he felt that he had to say something, anything.

He made it to the back door without paying attention to the guests whose eyes were all directed to him. He instantly found the nearest exit where he knew he could easily catch the fleeing Maggie.

He strode rapidly until he caught a glimpse of Margaret in her quite-feminine dress. Forcing his legs to take speedier steps, he was able to reach the lady he had been after.

Grasping her bare arm, Damian forcibly turned her around. He was mesmerized by the fierceness in those dark eyes of hers, something he was surprised to see given the circumstance. These were the eyes of a woman who had fought difficult battles, brave eyes that could see a victorious path before her.

"Wait up." He said forcefully, earning him a ferocious glare.

"I don't want to talk to you right now, Damian." Maggie replied, before pressing her lips into thin line.

"If it would ever give you any comfort, I punched him in the face." Damian said proudly.

"I didn't expect anything else." She averted her gaze.

"Then why are you running away?" He asked.

Maggie shimmied out of his hold and stepped back as if she needed to put so much space between them. Damian did not like that, not at all. He wanted her near him all the time and the space that she had put between them already felt like thousands of feet. Crazy it might seem, but that was exactly how he felt about Margaret.

"I am not running away."

"Yes, you are."

"I am walking. Fast, though."

"Semantics." Damian just could not believe his ears. 

It was unthinkable to even put 'Maggie' and 'sarcasm' together but it just happened — within his hearing range, even. But if she had resorted to a sarcastic reply then something must have really ticked her, and it must truly be serious.

"Okay, what's wrong?" 

"Nothing's wrong." She was still not meeting his eyes.

"There absolutely is. Come on, tell me." Damian said as gently as he possibly could.

He did not get any response, which was quite frustrating to say the least. It was like going back to the time when Maggie was all about pushing and pulling. And he thought that the clear waters would be muddled if he did not clear things up with her right then and there.

Watching her closely, he observed the shifting of her gaze from his chest to the ground and back. She was also nibbling her plump lower lip and all he could think of was kissing her worries away. It also seemed that she was lost in her thoughts seeing how she was picking on her bubble skirt.

Damian was about to stop her from overthinking when he suddenly heard clacking of heels behind him. Turning around, he saw a gasping Catherine running gloriously along the sidewalk towards them.

"What the—" He was about to call out to her when he found a large crowd of reporters and cameramen running behind him.

Catherine finally reached them and said, "Your little punching scene inside quickly reached these guys."

They were coming closer and he could not just let them take pictures of Maggie. He did not know whether to hide her behind the bushes or ask her to run as far away as she could. The hungry-looking media men were now a couple of feet away and all he could do was grasp Catherine's nape and press his lips on hers.

It was going to be messy.

Damian heard the simultaneous clicking of the cameras as well as the questions being asked one after another. But he would never forget the sound of Maggie's gasp from behind him. 

He had lots of explaining to do, but he did not even know where to start.

~-~

A short chapter for you, Dear Readers. I hope you enjoyed reading this new chapter.

The Bliss Forest