When Thea gave me an inch, it was impossible not to try for a mile.
She rolled her eyes but couldn’t hide the flash of heat. Getting to her had always been my favorite pastime. After we shed some of the hurt that lingered between us, I felt us growing into who we used to be. If only I could get her to take that last jump.
“Are you free for dinner tonight?” She said each word slowly, and the urge to devour that mouth almost made me stumble.
“I’ll be at your rental at eight. Wear the red dress you wore for the budget meeting last week.”
She flinched back. “That’s a little formal.”
“I have plans for us.” I pulled her flush to my body. She stiffened in surprise for a moment, but leaned into me after.
She cocked her head to the side, an exasperated breath falling from her lips.
“Already?”
“Always.”
“Seriously?” She pursed her lips and shook her head.
“I told you,” I cupped her cheek and ran my thumb along her jaw. “All you had to do was say the word.”
I pressed a long, light kiss to her lips, loving it when a whimper slipped out of her.
“I’m all yours. Go back to your paperwork.”
She glared with a tiny smile playing across her lips. A blush stained her cheeks before she turned to leave.
Maybe I was pushing a little bit now, but being this close to having the love of my life backinmy life, there was no way I could stop.
26
Thea
After I slippedinto my red dress, I looked myself over in the bedroom mirror for a long minute. The skin under my nose and around my eyes had thankfully healed from how chafed it had become when I was sick. I gazed into my smoky eyes before touching up my crimson lips, the deep red almost matching my dress perfectly.
What the hell was I doing?
I’d sworn to myself I wouldn’t get too close to Dominic, and here I was meeting him for dinner. More than dinner: a date.
A dateI’dasked him for.
Twirling the ends of my hair so they would fall the right way on my shoulders, the one thing that surprised me the most was that I wasn’t filled with panic or self-doubt. Don’t get me wrong, it was still there, along with the blinding fear of closing the protective distance I’d put between us.
When I thought of Dominic and me now, all I felt was tired. Putting up so many walls and denying my feelings exhausted me. I craved him the same way I always had. And if I didn’t, at least, pursue what was still between us, I’d regret it. I already had plenty of regrets to keep me up at night, and I owed it to myself to try to avoid one more.
Even if we crashed and burned a second time, at least, I’d know—and not spend the next fifty years of my life wondering, just like the last four years I’d second guessed myself for not returning his calls.
At seven-fifty-eight, I grabbed my purse and locked the door behind me. It was silly to bounce off the walls inside when I could enjoy having a front porch for once. Looking eager was a moot point, and I was too jumpy to care.
Before I sat down on the bench outside, I noticed Dominic’s truck pull up. I guessed we had jumpy in common although I doubted he’d show it at all tonight.
I came down the stairs at the same time he shut the engine off and climbed out.
“You’re early,” I told him, not able to stop my smile as he made his way toward me.
The cocky grin faded from his lips when his eyes met mine. “Thea, you’re…wow.” His eyes raked over me, heat singeing my skin along the path of his gaze.
“Thank you,” I whispered, my cheeks flushing hot. “You aren’t so bad, either.”
