Being kissedby Dominic when I was thirteen absolutely puzzled me. Being kissed by Dominic, for no explicable reason, at twenty-eight? Beyond baffling. Especially since he seems determined to carry on as if nothing has ever happened.
As frigid March bleeds into cold, rainy April, I do my best to throw myself into distractions. I started my book club and doubled down on my gym visits with Chloe. My body has never been more sore and, while the weight I promised I’d lose in January hasn’t come off, I feel better about myself. I even take Carl for daily walks, much to his dismay— it’s the perfect time to listen to audiobooks and I’m blowing through dark romances within days.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a sexier voice.” Leaning against the register, I watch Grace as she moves around the store, reshelving books. I find myself wishing for an excuse to hole up in the back room and continue listening to the audiobook I started on my walk this morning.
A few customers are hanging out in the store, but we haven’t been anywhere close to busy. None of them pay attention to theconversation Grace and I are having, too engrossed in their own books.
“Remind me the name of your newest obsession?” Grace drops a stack of books on our tiny “reshelf cart” with a huff.
I let out a dreamy sigh and prop my chin up with my hand and say, “Teddy Hamilton. He has the kind of voice that just... ugh! It's not fair. It's unbelievably attractive. Deep and hypnotizing--"
“What are you guys talking about?” Dominic strolls out of the back room and I jerk forward in surprise, nearly knocking my chin on the counter.
“Oh, thank god you’re here!” Grace cries out, dropping the books in her hands on the couch and practically racing to the back room. “Sorry Pen, but I have a date to get to!”
Dominic doesn’t miss a beat as he walks to the mess Grace just left, scooping up the books and beginning to reshelve them from the pile rather than stacking them on the cart. He pauses near the register, giving me a smirk.
“You never answered my question.” As he speaks, embarrassment washes over me, realizing what it is about Teddy Hamilton’s voice that I find so alluring. “Pea?”
That nickname combined with our conversation makes me stumble over my next words.
“Just… discussing the audiobook I started this morning.”
“Oh yeah? Which one?”
I can’t think of a good lie off the top of my head, so I tell him the truth. He nods, as if banking this information, and walks away to shelve the books. It’s not until a few days later, when I head into the back room to search for a book, that the consequences of sharing said information come to light.
Dominic headed to the back room just before the end of his shift to receive a shipment, unpack the boxes and enter the new inventory into the system. Usually he plays music from aBluetooth speaker while he works in the back, but today I walked into something completely unexpected.
“Oh, fuck, yes. Right there!” I can hear a woman’s breathy moan before I can even walk from the break room to the back room. What the?—?
I push the back room door open so hard, it bangs against the metal shelves inappropriately placed too close to the entry. We have too many of these metal shelves back here and there’s no logical way to order them to keep this door and the back door clear.
However, if Dom is back here with someone, I want to make as loud of an entrance as possible so they have time to… untangle themselves. But then, the thought of Dominic back here with someone else– anywhere with anyone else, doing anything that would elicit moans like that? The thought turns my stomach.
“Are you okay?” Dominic appears from behind one of the shelves, his cheeks flushed, dark hair tousled.
Before I can respond, a deep, gravelly voice says, “That’s my good girl. Your cunt feels so good. Fuuuuuck.”
Embarrassment burns on my face and coils in my gut. I know that voice. I know that line. Eyes wide, I hiss, “Are you listening to my audiobook?”
To his credit, Dominic looks just as shocked as I feel. He ducks behind the shelf, and seconds later the audiobook stops playing. I follow the cramped path between the shelves and emerge in the widest open space, which is really only big enough for two pallets to be delivered.
“Do you have any idea how loud that was?” I ask, placing my hands on my hips and leveling him with a stare.
Dom’s eyes flash to mine. “You couldn’t hear that on the floor, could you?”
I shake my head. “No, but I could hear it in the break room.”
He raises his brows, a smirk on his damn face. “Huh. So it wasn’t really bothering anyone?”
“That’s not the?—”
“And what do you mean?Youraudiobook? I didn’t realize you claimed rights.”
Heat rises on my face, but also within me. Dominic stands there, sexy as usual, wearing the hell out of some worn, dark jeans and a white shirt that showcases his tattooed arms.
“That’s not… that’s not the point,” I sputter, suddenly feeling likeI’mthe one who got caught listening to an explicit scene in my audiobook.
