I place my hands over his. “I believe it.”
His answering smile is enough to quell every doubt I’ve ever had about us. He leads me to the car with his hand on my back, and it’s the only thing keeping the rapid flutter of the butterfly wings in my stomach from carrying me away.
Once we’re in the car, I don’t bother asking where we’re going, because I know he won’t tell me, but I can’t help but notice how nervous he is as he maneuvers the car through the streets. I tap my fingers on my knee and study him. I’ve missed him so much, and it’s good to see him, especially in a tux that somehow matches my dress despite Mal having just bought it for me…
Wait a minute.I knew there was something weird about how Mal showed up out of nowhere with a sexy dress for me. She knew Dom was going to be waiting outside the door for me, so it’s not crazy at all to think she might have helped him plan our coordinated outfits.
I narrow my eyes at him. “You look nice tonight. I can’t help but notice your tux matches the dressMalbought for me.”
“She went to the store and picked it up.” A smirk plays on his lips as he glances at me. “But I ordered it for you weeks ago.”
My heart does a little flip. “She’s such a little liar. I should have never believed her whole speech about wanting me to feel beautiful tonight.”
“Don’t be mad at her. She was just helping me out, and you do look beautiful tonight, angel.”
I blush. “Thank you. For the compliment, the dress, and everything else.”
“You don’t have to thank me. It’s the least I could do.” He glances over at me, eyes lingering on the swell of my breast. “I was probably being a little selfish when I chose the dress though.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because it’s our color. I wanted you to see it and remember you belong to me.”
Liquid heat rushes down my spine, and I shift in my seat, unable to speak past the lust clogging my throat. It’s been weeks since we’ve been together, and the hungry possession coating his words is making it hard to focus. I turn my attention back to the road. I thought we were heading toward my house, but Dom bypassed the turn for my neighborhood a while back.
Moonlight bathes the winding road in front of us, illuminating a sign for Medford Hills—a quiet area that became popular when the family that’s owned it for over a hundred years decided to section it off and sell the lots to the highest bidder. Most of the land has been bought up by developers looking to build luxury homes and sell them for a nice price tag, or homeowners looking to cut out the middleman and have their dream homes built themselves. There’s been tons of competition for the lots that are left, huge plots with plenty of trees and space to build.
Dom’s leg starts bouncing, his jaw going tight when he turns down a freshly paved driveway lined with trees. I try to hide my smirk, but I thinkit’s cute how nervous he is about me seeing whatever it is he has to show me. He stops the car before we reach the end of the drive and hops out, coming around to open my door.
“Close your eyes, angel.” I look at him, surprised by the soft rasp in his command. He reaches over and cups my jaw, keeping my gaze trained on him. Whatever is at the end of the road, he doesn’t want me to see it just yet.
“Fine, but this better not be the part of the night where you murder me and bury my body in the woods.”
He rolls his eyes, and I can’t help but laugh as my eyes fall shut. He grabs my hands, helping me slide out of the car and fixing my skirt when it gets tangled around my legs. I suck in a breath when his fingers sneak under the tulle and brush the skin bared by the split in the fabric. Dom laughs softly and the sound soaks into my skin. “We’ve got a short walk, but it’s a relatively easy path. It shouldn’t take long, even in your heels.”
“Okay.”
He closes the car door behind me then places one of his hands on the small of my back while the other stays in mine. I squeeze his fingers as we walk. There’s a gentle breeze blowing, and I can hear the leaves on the trees around us rustling. I wish I could open my eyes and see where we are because I’m sure it’s beautiful.
“Right here is good,” Dom says, slowing his steps. “Don’t open your eyes yet though.” He lets go of me, and it’s a struggle to obey his command when I don’t know where I am or what’s going on around me. I can feel that he’s still close though, so I keep them shut.
“Look at me.”
When I open my eyes, my jaw drops. Dom is a few feet away from me—dashing as ever in his tuxedo and giving me a wolfish smile—but it’s the scene behind him that steals my breath.
There’s a grove of trees with lights wrapped around their trunks and branches surrounding an expansive clearing. And in the middle of theclearing, right in front of where Dom and I are standing, is a foundation for what’s going to be a huge house. The sun has already gone down, and there isn’t much light coming from the trees, but every inch of it is visible thanks to the lit candles outlining it.
Oh God.My heart stutters to a stop when I realize what he’s done. It’s the house of candles from my favorite episode ofGrey’s Anatomy. Dom and I watched it one night while we were cuddling on my couch. I told him how romantic I thought it was, and the glow in his eyes as I gushed over Derek’s reaction to Meredith’s vulnerability was so intense I jumped his bones before the scene was over.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Dom moving toward me and reluctantly drag my eyes from the amazing sight in front of me to him. And thank God I do, because otherwise, I would have missed my chance to see him sink down on one knee in front of me with a ring box he must have pulled out of thin air open in his hands.
“Dom…” I don’t even know what to say, because I don’t know what it means yet. I know what Ithinkit means, but I want him to say it. “What is all of this? What are you doing?”
“Making it up to you.”
“With ahouse?” I can’t even mention the ring, haven’t even been able to bring myself to look at it yet.
He laughs. “Yes. One I hope you’ll share with me for the rest of our lives. I want you in my bed every night, Sloane. In my arms, in my home. You said we couldn’t be us in my place, so I thought maybe we should have our own place. Something we built together, something that belongs to us.”
