He looked the same, yet completely different. A short beard dusted his chin and cheeks and his hair was a bit longer than I remembered. It was slicked back but a stray lock draped over his eyebrow. His shoulders seemed bigger than the last time I’d seen him, when worry and grief had left him a shadow of himself. His black T-shirt pulled across his broad chest and black lines from a new tattoo, new to me anyway, peeked out from under his sleeve.
Dominic’s olive skin was a rich bronze like it’d been every summer, always a laughable contrast to my Casper the Ghost paleness, but all the color drained from his face as his eyes widened.
“What…what are you doing here?” he stammered, looking me up and down as if I were some kind of illusion.
“I’m the relationship manager for the investment group funding the hotel.” I said the words slowly not to give away the quiver in my voice.
His brow furrowed before I caught him sneak a quick glance at Joe. Joe replied with a tiny shrug in my periphery, and I would have laughed if not for the adrenaline coursing through me. They still had their own silent code.
He took a shaky step toward me, blinking a few times before his gaze slid back to mine. His dark eyes were hazy, but intense. In those last weeks we were together, it was as if he hadn’t even known I was there, and now, the very sight of me left him speechless.
If I’d seen Dominic on the street, I wouldn’t know whether to run up and wrap my arms around him or cross to get away from him. His arms raised slightly at his sides as he inched closer then plopped back down, almost defeated. I wondered if he had the same confusing inclination.
I didn’t know what to expect from him today. Part of me thought he’d pull me into a hug like we were old friends. Like he was completely oblivious to breaking my heart. But I never thought I’d get this kind of reaction. It was almost as if he couldn’t handle my presence any more than I could handle his. The longer our eyes locked, the thicker the air was between us.
I couldn’t deny all the feelings I still had for Dominic. They ranged from hurt, anger, and a soft spot of love I couldn’t will away. There was more than tension radiating off of him as we stared at each other, that connection we had still pulsing between us. That same connection I’d never found with anyone else. Combined with the rapid flow of blood to my brain, the plethora of emotions caused the room to spin around me.
Both of us were rooted to the floor, unable to move. Our reaction to each other wasn’t what I expected, and I was embarrassed to be at a loss as to how to move on from it.
“Hi Dominic, I’m Violet. I heard all about you from my call with Joe yesterday.” She stepped between us, extending her hand for a few awkward seconds before Dominic took it. He muttered a “nice to meet you,” while his eyes remained fixated on me.
“Thea said you all were old friends.” I spied Violet’s narrowed eyes as she looked between us.
“Yes, old friends.” I nodded, running my hand over the sweaty nape of my neck before I sat back down. “Let’s talk about the new space.” I tilted my chin toward the empty seats on the other side of the table, now using the energy I was exhausting to stay upright to crack a tense smile.
“I’d like my wife, Caterina, to join us,” Joe said as he slid into the seat across from me. “She handles our marketing.”
“Of course,” she told Joe, still giving me a side eye. I promised her my history with Dominic wouldn’t be an issue. But as soon as we saw each other all the oxygen sucked out of the room. As I slid my damp palms over my dress under the table, I hoped I could recover and prove that it wasn’t a lie.
“Sorry I’m late!” A pretty woman with long dark hair rushed over, pulling one of the chairs from the other tables and placing it next to Joe’s. “I’m Caterina.”
Violet and I stood to shake her hand.
“Is this everyone we need to speak to?” Violet asked as she glanced around the table.
“Yes, this is it.” Joe smiled at his wife before extending his arm along the back of her chair. “I’m the owner, but Dominic runs things around here with the staff and events. Caterina takes care of all our social media and promotion.”
“It’s a simple offer,” Violet started before handing Joe a folder of paperwork and pricing. “Halston is an independent hotel and can lease out any of the spaces inside without needing higher level corporate approval. The restaurant would be separate from the hotel kitchen and essentially be your property to set up as you wish. Pentier Beach has seen the same upturn as Ocean Cove in recent years, and we have investors who believe in the property and opportunity.”
“Which is where I come in,” I said, forcing a smile. “As I mentioned earlier, I work for the investment group sponsoring the hotel. And for the next eight weeks…”Good lord, eight weeks.My body almost folded from the inward cringe.“I’m the company’s eyes and ears on the ground so to speak. I’ll be working closely with Violet to set up permits, finalize decor, and all that fun stuff.”
Joe and Caterina nodded while Dominic sat stoic, leaning back in his chair. If I could, somehow, ignore the tingle of his stare for the rest of the meeting, I’d be just fine.
“The hotel is mostly finished, but the restaurant space is empty for the moment. We were waiting on the new tenant’s direction on what equipment they’d need and how to wire accordingly.”
“We actually took a drive over there yesterday.” Joe smirked. “We have a few questions, but I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we’re definitely interested, for the right price of course. Right, Dom?”
Dominic didn’t answer, trapped in the same trance he’d seemed to be in when he’d laid eyes on me. In all our time together, I’d never seen him so unglued. If he felt a fraction of what I was feeling, I understood. But he leftme, so in my silly jilted mind, I was the only one who had the right to be so unnerved. To stop my hand from shaking, I had to slip it between my knees and squeeze them together, but he looked catatonic.
“Dominic!” Joe scolded, as if to verbally slap him across the face to snap out of it.
“Yeah, sure,” he stammered. “We’re interested.”
“I’m sure you’ll be happy with our proposal.” Violet reached into her purse and handed out her business cards to all three of them. “And Caterina, we’re actually looking for a part-time social media manager as we get ready to open. If you have the time, maybe we could cross promote when the lease is official. It sounds like you’re already taking care of that here, would you be willing to talk about maybe working for the hotel?”
“Sure. For the right price, of course.” Caterina’s gaze darted to Dominic, and I spied a tiny grin drifting across his lips, his first sign of life.
I sipped my water, hoping the cold liquid sliding down my throat would make it easier to breathe.
