“I still have the Irish girl curse.” I shrugged. “I’ve learned to live with the freckles. They always come, no matter what level of SPF sunscreen I buy.”
“I didn’t think they went higher than 100 before we went to Florida. When you’d squeeze the bottle, I always expected a sweater to come out.”
A real laugh fell from my lips, relaxing me for only a second before I caught the flash of heat in his gaze.
I shook off the chill, and the heat, from the intrusive memory of the best vacation I’d ever had. Our weekend in Florida was the happiest I’d ever been, and I’d never expected it all to crash so easily.
Maybe he was thinking of it, too. I always wondered if I should’ve fought harder for Dominic and for us, or at least checked on him more. Maybe I should have answered his calls and told him the real reason I’d spent a weekend in the hospital.
“Thank you for lunch. I should go. I told Violet I’d meet her back at the hotel around two, and there are some emails I have to reply to.” I took a long sip of the tea, trying to cool the swirl of emotions inside. I both couldn’t wait to leave and didn’t want to go. This would be a dangerous summer if I wasn’t careful.
“My pleasure.” Dominic stood as I rose from my seat. “This was nice.” He ran his tongue over his bottom lip.
I held back a smile. In the rare moments that he became nervous, that was always his tell.
“Maybe we could even be friends. I missed you, I’ve actually been thinking about you a lot lately.”
There it was again: the heat and the pleading in his eyes that made me want to forget all the nights I’d cried myself to sleep and the shameful moments I’d tried to fake it with someone else and only ended up feeling worse.
We’d never be friends, but in order to do my job, I had to pretend.
“Sure. While I’m here.” My hand shook as I slipped my phone inside my purse. “See you Monday morning?”
He nodded, and I turned to leave. I stilled when his hand slid around my arm.
“Thea?”
Why did he have to whisper my name like that? It brought too many things back, some wonderful, some plain excruciating.
“Yes?” I swallowed, my mouth too parched to form any more words.
“Thank you.” He leaned forward and pressed a kiss on my cheek. The familiarity of his lips singed my skin. The urge to cinch my arms around him and bury my head into his neck to cry again for the loss I still couldn’t get over washed over me, almost making my knees give out.
I rushed outside, taking big gulps of salty, humid sea air to get my breath.
Regardless of what either of us could have or should have done, it didn’t change what was. Here, in the present, we were possible business associates who had to navigate around a shared, sad past.
And as always, Dominic would be my biggest weakness. It was up to me to not let that weakness break me. Again.
9
Dominic
“So, what are we thinking?”I asked Joe as he reached into the back of his truck to unlatch Ava’s car seat from the base. Her mouth was full of a squeaky, plastic ring that Caterina had said was for teething. When her blue eyes met mine, a wide grin split her mouth as she squirmed in her seat.
“Look who’s up. Ready to take a tour, pretty girl?” She giggled, kicking her legs and wrestling with Joe as he tried to snap her seat into the stroller. Ava was a slobbery ray of sunshine and went nuts whenever I walked into a room. It had been a long time since a woman was that happy to have me around.
“Yes, I know you love Uncle Dom. You must see something we all don’t,” Joe said as he adjusted the straps on Ava’s seat.
“That’s not true, we all love Uncle Dom.” Caterina came up to me, dropping a hand to my shoulder. “Are you okay? You seem a little jumpy.”
“I’m not jumpy,” I denied a little too loudly. Truth was, I wasn’t looking at this expansion as objectively as I should have been. As long as the tour didn’t uncover any mold or asbestos, it was an easy yes for me. This was a great opportunity for us, and I’d do whatever I needed to build it up, just like I had with the original restaurant.
But instead of using it as an escape from my life as I’d done back then, I had another vested interest in this place.
“Our lawyer told me the contract checks out as far as terms and liability, and I had my dad give it a once over, and he said, from a financial standpoint, it’s a good offer.” Joe leaned over to kiss his daughter’s forehead. “All in all, it seems like a good investment, as long as the inside looks decent, and you can handle yourself.” He lifted a brow as he ambled over to me with Caterina wheeling Ava behind him.
“Thea and I are adults; we’ll be fine.” I said, narrowing my eyes at Joe. “I can handle myself.”
