Mr. Lawson's Assistant

Chapter 50

I followed Damon down the path, and as we moved further away from the loud music, Damon gently released my hand and let me walk freely beside him. As we walked, I noticed that even with heels, I still wasn't eye-level with Damon.
The paved path through the park that we walked on made a quiet clicking noise from my heels, almost like a muted padding. It filled the silence with a comfortable noise, helping me relax.
Finally, Damon spoke.
"I'm going to take a wild guess," He glanced over at me, amusement dancing across his face, "and say you were forced to come to this."
I raised my eyebrows and glanced down at my dress and heels. "Not completely-" I started, frowning, but Damon chuckled.
"I'm glad the girls got you out," He looked me over once more, "I've never seen you look so...nice..." He paused, seeming to think for a second, "except maybe in your bathing suit on the beach." He smirked at me and I felt my cheeks flush.
"A guy would say that," I retorted, reaching down to pull my dress down again. Walking was causing it to ride up above my knees. Damon watched me, mildly amused. When I straightened, he turned back and smiled at the path in front of us.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "What?"
He shook his head, waving my question aside. "Why were you smiling?" I pressed, crossing my arms. Damon's eyes flickered in my direction, and snagged on my narrowed eyes. His lips twitched and he looked away again. I pursed my own lips and tossed some of my hair behind my shoulder.
"I was smiling because you look so beautiful." Damon said quietly. The way he said those words made my stomach tighten, and I snapped my eyes up to his face, searching for jest. There was none. "Why are you looking at me like that?" Damon turned to look me in the eyes. That alone threw my heartbeat off rhythm and I faltered.
I started to say something, but two people appeared in front of us on the park path, laughing and talking to each other as the made their way towards us. I fell silent and so did Damon.
It turned out to be two guys, probably a little younger than Damon. As they drew close enough for me to see their faces, both of them looked from me to Damon and then back to me, before they exchanged glances. Slowly, they passed us, but when I brushed shoulders with the taller of the two, he turned and gave a low whistle, smirking at me.
The second one said to Damon, "You lucked out with her, brother," He cocked an eyebrow at me, looking back over his shoulder. "She fine!" He called back with a wink.
Damon shifted closer to me, suddenly wrapping his arm around my waist without a single trace of amusement on his face.
"I know," He smiled, nodding at the two. Both the guys laughed, turning back and continuing their banter as they walked. Then, we were walking alone again, Damon with his left arm wrapped gently around my waist, his fingers lightly grasping my left hip, and his shoulder brushing mine. "You're tense," Damon murmured into the silence, and I felt my shoulders tighten another notch.
"You're touching me," I answered, trying to sound accusing, but it came out as more of a statement.
Damon made no move to remove his hand, "Is it making you uncomfortable?" He asked quietly, as we came around a bend in the park path. I could make out the party tent just ahead, and realized that we'd made a circle.
I swallowed and inhaled, "Yes. Very."
Damon smirked, and I felt his fingers tighten slightly around my hip, "Really?" He let his hand slide up a fraction. My steps faltered, and I cursed my heels for making every movement I made so obvious. Damon noticed and smirked even wider.
"Hands off." I snapped, but Damon only cocked an eyebrow in defiance. "You're a jerk," I pursed my lips, reaching down to pry Damon's hand off my waist as we drew closer to the tent.
Damon copied an innocent expression. "Am I?"
I stiffened as he pulled his hand away from my waist, dragging his fingers across my the slit in my dress on the back before he let his hand drop at his side. "You're blushing, Oana," Damon said into my ear as we arrived at the tent, and the music started to drown out voices. I turned to Damon to send him a deadly glare, but he just smirked and leaned closer. "Now, I'm winning..." He whispered, pulling away and putting a step between us.
I glared at Damon long and hard as we stopped just outside the tent. "You have no-" I was cut off mid-sentence when Soma appeared out of nowhere and came to my side.
"Oana, where have you been-" she stopped, seeing Damon, and her almond-shaped eyes widened. "You must be Mr. Lawson?" She asked above the music. I was still glaring at Damon, but he ignored me and offered his hand to Soma.
"I'm one of them." He smiled, and Soma giggled. "You're Oana's housemate?" He asked her, and Soma grinned.
"Yes, I am," She glanced at me with wide eyes and mouthed 'ohmygosh' before she turned back to Damon. "I was just giving Oana permission to head back to the car, but I see there's no need for that," Soma said coyly.
I frowned, "Where's the keys?" I asked her, ignoring Damon and holding out my hand.
Soma hid her closed hand behind her back quickly, "No ma'am. I'm not letting you go now that I see you're not completely miserable!" She sent Damon a look and stepped back. "I'll see you two in in a couple hours." She winked at me, turning and threading herself back into the crowd. I took a step after her, but hearing Damon's laughter made me stop and turn on him.
"Why are you laughing?" I snapped.
He raised his eyebrows at me, "Looks like you're stuck with me for a couple of hours." He winked, copying Soma and chuckling when I scowled at him.
I narrowed my eyes at Damon, "You just ruined my only chance to leave!"
"Why would you leave? We haven't danced yet," Damon grinned, taking a step forward. My eyes went wide and I started to back away from Damon quickly.
"Absolutely not! You're out of your mind if you think-" I ran into a table behind me and stumbled over my heels. Damon reached out and caught my arm, keeping me from falling.
I jerked away from him and shook my head. "No way in heaven am I dancing with you!"
"Fine, why don't you just dance with him." Damon raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms, glancing behind me. I checked over my shoulder to see Trey, the redhead from the beach party, heading in our direction. He hadn't spotted us yet, but in seconds I was sure he would. I spun around and tripped on my shoes, falling forward into Damon and using his chest to catch myself. Quickly, I pushed away from him and rushed towards the crowd of people on the dance floor. My only goal was to be invisible- and to find my car keys. Damon followed me into the crowd of people, and by the time I was at the center, he was directly behind me, being pushed against my back by the people around us. I covered my face with my my hands and groaned, still not seeing Kenya or Soma anywhere.
"Oana," Damon called my name, "Oana, it's fine, he can't see you." He reached out and grabbed my shoulder to pull me out of the way of a spinning couple.
"I don't care if he can see me, I want to go home!" I yelled at Damon above the music, and his green eyes scanned my face. I looked away quickly.
"Where's your phone?" Damon asked me gently grabbing my elbow and steering me clear of another dancer.
I inhaled and glanced around, not even feeling Damon's grip on my arm anymore. "I left it in the car," I lifted my eyes to Damon's, no longer seeing amusement on his face.
Damon pulled me closer to him and started making his way through the crowd, sheltering me at his side. "Come on, I'll give you a ride."