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

Chapter 10: Sucker punch

Damian was sure that they had been chased by a number of women, their smart phones directed towards him. It was a good thing that Maggie's oversized sweater came with a huge hood, covering her entire head and avoiding any possibility of her being identified. He knew that if someone had taken a shot of her face then it would spread quickly like fire in different social networking sites. It would also be feasted upon by the media, something that he found to be totally distasteful.

For the first few minutes, the actor was being led by the plump nurse, his wrist held tightly by her freezing cold hand. Noticing that the woman seemed to have been getting tired, he took the role of guiding them in the street crowded with people who appeared to be unaware of their escape.

Finally finding a secluded and dark alley, Damian tugged at Maggie's arm and pulled her in. Unthinkingly, he wrapped his muscled arm around her torso and he was taken aback by the feel of her fleshy abdomen.

With her back pressed tightly against his body, he did not notice that he had been breathing down her exposed nape. Being in close proximity, he felt her shudder once or twice causing him to unconsciously loosen his hold on her.

His breathing finally slowed down, but the woman's seemed to have remained rapid even after being at rest for half a minute. "You seriously need to work out."

"What?"

"You're kind of thick around the waist." Damian spoke before he could stop himself from insulting her.

Maggie quickly stepped away from Damian, putting a foot or two of space between them. The sudden loss of body heat coming from the nurse causing his body to shiver.

"That would have earned you a knee to the groin, but causing you bodily harm would just put me in more trouble." the lady huffed, her brows knitted together.

Damian could not prevent himself from snorting, which had intensified the ire that the woman must have been feeling at the moment. He felt a bit guilty about his insensitive comment yet getting a profound reaction of that sort from her seemed to have made the action worth it. Then again, it was quite ungentlemanly of him to actually throw such remark to someone he had asked out.

 "I never thought of you as someone having a violent streak." Damian commented.

"Then you don't know me long enough."

"Gives me a reason to know you better." And that had slipped so smoothly against his tongue, making him cringe inside.

He had a way with women, especially those with beautiful faces and bodies like bottles. But he astonished even himself when he realized he was flirting with this flabby-waisted nurse. Having actually described her in such a way in his head, he suddenly had the urge to punch himself in the face.

And the thought of inflicting harm on his own person had his mind reeling in confusion.

Hearing a burst of laughter coming from Maggie had almost made him jump. With a puzzled look on his face, he gazed at the woman whose face was etched with undeniable humor.

"What?"

"You're so funny." Maggie shook her head, allowing some wisps of hair to escape the hear neatly tied hair.

Damian was flabbergasted at how the woman was acting at the moment. His mind had turned into a hodgepodge of bewildering thoughts and she was laughing at him. The worst part was that he did not know what exactly she was laughing about.

"It pisses me off that you're cackling and I have no idea why." He crossed his arms over his chest, meaning just what he had said.

"Wait," the dark-haired nurse stood straight, her arms dropping to her sides. "You're getting serious all of a sudden."

"I don't like being made fun."

"Alright, this is getting out of hand." She appeared to have clasped her hands behind her.

Leaning a bit forward, she attempted to take a glimpse of his serious face through the shadows of the alley. Seeing how grim his feature was, she suddenly stepped back with a frown growing steadily on her face.

"I give up. Sorry about that." She heaved out a deep sigh.

Hearing her breathing air out heavily as if she was displeased by a misbehaving kid had caused him to have an unexplainable feeling of irritation. The thought itself that he was getting all riled up by something as childish as what had been happening between them brought about a fresh feeling of vexation.

"Hey," Maggie said, touching his arm a little.

There was an electric sensation where she touched him on his leather-covered arm and he knew that she felt it, too. Their eyes had instantly met, his blue to her deep brown ones. For a moment, he was unable to control his eyes from dropping towards her full lips which were slightly opened, perhaps from being startled.

Maggie was the first to break the silence and said, "This is rather anti-climactic. Thanks for taking me to the food bazaar."

"Let's go somewhere else. Our night did not go as planned, after all." Damian replied upon clearing his throat.

"It's getting rather late. I think I'll head home now." She took one step back, moving just enough to get away from his reach.

Without thinking, Damian reached out for her arm and held it in his large hand. She was definitely flabby on some areas, but he noticed just how right her body parts fit perfectly with his. And thinking about just that had nearly made him literally punch himself in the face.

"It's not." he started. 

"Huh?" 

Keeping his hold on on her arm, he raised his other arm to check on his wrist watch. "It's five past nine, still early."

"It's not safe for women to be out at this time of the night." Maggie said with all sincerity that had almost made Damian resort to making violent reactions.

"What are you? A minor with a curfew?" He could not help but throw her a vexing retort.

"No, you don't understand," her voice had noticeably pitched higher. "It's just that I really do not like staying out late when it's not really necessary."

Damian's hand itched to ruffle her hair when she lowered her head like a child being reprimanded for being naughty. It took a lot of energy to actually stop himself from doing just that.

"Don't worry, Margaret. I'll take you back to your doorstep safe and sound." He tried to sound teasingly, but it almost irked him to find the woman to be such a kid about late hours.

Finally lifting her head, she took a peek at him from her lashes and said, "Okay, where would you like to go?"

The actor had another urge to take her into his arms just by seeing how adorable she was looking at him. Going through his thoughts, Damian could claim that she was neither beautiful or attractive in a "super model" kind of way. However, there was that 'something' about Maggie that drew him towards her. 

It could be her eyes which had seemed to hold so much expression. During his time of confinement, he had already noticed how much she could wear a blank mask on her face. But her deep brown eyes overpoured with emotions, betraying the lack of feeling on the rest of her face.

"How about a nearby park?" Damian suggested.

"With a cup of coffee." The woman smiled, making the actor feel as if he took a sucker punch to his face.

"Brilliant."

"Let's go." Maggie said, nodding her head at him.

~-~

Thank you dear readers for always reading and voting. You don't know how happy I am to know that someone actually reads my story.

See you in the next chapter! :)