It Hurts When It's True (Affaire de Coeur, #1)

Chapter 5: It's not a date

Believe it or not but Damian Williams was remarkable conversationalist. He was more than just someone for a magazine cover or a lead actor in a movie. No, definitely not. No doubt that he was attractive, but his mind was extremely brilliant that it could actually overshadow his physical beauty.

From their dinner, Maggie discovered that Damian was a wide reader. As a matter of fact, he had a collection of books by Stephen King and James Patterson in his bachelor’s pad. A reader that she was, they were somewhat different in terms of their choice of genre. As much as Maggie had tried to deny it, she was a romantic through and through; thus, her preference leaned more towards the romance and fairy tales.

“How about you? Who is your favorite author?” Damian inquired.

Maggie folded her hands on her lap, her eyes rolling to the left as she considered his question. She suddenly felt ashamed of her choice of reading materials, thinking that hers were childish and unappealing for someone like him.

“Kevin O’Brien!” she exclaimed, her eyes darting to the left so as to avoid eye contact.

“You? Kevin O’Brien?”

“What’s wrong with my favorite author?”

A hint of smirk graced his thin lips, as he eyed her more closely than during the earlier part of the dinner. She had gradually became more aware that he was scrutinizing her a tad more seriously after stating the author’s name in that unconvincing tone of hers. Her easy-to-read face was not helpful in her present situation either.

“Seriously?” The actor asked, his mocking smile of his had grown in intensity.

“Well…” she started, her mind racing as to how she was going to save herself from embarrassment.

“Well?” he pressed.

“Okay, you got me. It’s Sarah Maclean!” Maggie interjected, her face turning beet red from mortification.

“Sarah Maclean?”

“Historical romance author.”

“Oh.” The mockery on his expression had finally subsided.

The nurse could not actually tell whether that serious expression he was wearing was also a sort of contempt for her reading preference. However, she had a stronger feeling that he was taking her seriously despite their apparent differences.

“I thought so.” He finally muttered, then he took a sip of from his half-full glass of iced tea.

“What?” she asked in obliviousness.

“You have this certain air of being a romantic, you know.” Damian commented, looking directly into her eyes as if he could read all her thoughts from there.

Maggie tried not to avert her gaze from his, but the feeling of being stared at was downright disturbing for her. Though her profession involved dealing with and caring for people, she had the abhorrence for being in close contact with people beyond the perimeter of what was considered to be as professional.

“Truly?”

The blue-eyed man nodded in confirmation, his vision still focused on her face. An involuntary shiver travelled from her toes to her head due to the unwavering gaze of the beautiful man seated across from her. After all, it was not always that someone as alluring as him would find it a pleasure, if it was truly pleasure, to look at someone as plain as she was.

Of course, she never had any delusion about her appearance. She was quite taller than most women, but quite petite when standing next to Damian Williams. Her dull brown curly hair was not at all delightful to gaze at. Moreover, she knew that her ordinary brown-black eyes were nothing compared to the striking eyes of the lovely women she had encountered in her 25 years of existence.