And the worst part is: I kind of do.
Of course, I still have questions. Like if he never hated me, why did he always insist on treating me like the most annoying person on the planet? And if he thought I was so amazing for all these years, why couldn’t he have told me? It surely would have saved us both a lot of time and aggravation. Not to mention the peace it would have brought to Eric, Mal, and Mama.
“You could have told me, Dom—”
Loud vibrations coming from his phone cut me off, startling me and chopping his name in half so it becomes an overly familiar nickname with all kinds of sexual innuendo attached to it. I blush furiously as he picks up the phone and moves to decline the call again.
“Don’t!” I shake my head. “Whoever it is, they need to speak to you, so please take it.”
“Are you sure? It’s just Kristen, and I can call her back later.”
Hearing Kristen’s name on his lips makes me second-guess my suggestion, but backing down now will only make me look petty and insecure. Two things I certainly am not.
“Yes. Take the call, Dominic.”
He rises from his chair, phone in hand and a smirk on his lips. “I think I like it better when you call me Dom.”
“I didn’t call you Dom,” I call out to his retreating back. “Your phone cut me off.”
I roll my eyes and admire the way those tight black jeans hug his ass and muscular thighs perfectly. His broad shoulders line with tension as he puts the phone to his ear. Nothing about his situation with Kristen makes sense to me. He says they’re over, that their relationship and the friends-with-benefits situation has been done for quite some time, but she still touches him like she owns him, still calls him like he’s supposed to be on his way home to her.
She’s possessive of him, and it bothers me more than it should, because Dominic isn’t mine. At least not in a real way. Not in the way he belonged to Kristen when they were together. Not in the way Eric belonged to me when he was here. Whatever we have now isn’t the same as what we shared with them, and I don’t think it gives me the right to question why Kristen feels the need to call him back-to-back any more than it gives him the right to question why I sleep in Eric’s shirt every night.
Not that he would ask. Apparently, Dominic doesn’t struggle with the same jealousy issues I do when it comes to Eric. Other men, like Ash and James, are a different story altogether though. Seeing me with both men brought out the same green-eyed monster he accuses me of having on my back, and even though I’ve never admitted it to him, Iamjealous.
Because Kristen gets to call him whenever she wants. She gets to run her greedy hands all over his body in public and call him “babe” no matterwho’s around. And worst of all, she knows what it feels like to have him inside her. She’s experienced the things I’ve only dreamed about doing with him firsthand, and it makes me want to claw her eyes out.
I take another sip of my water, hoping the cool liquid will soothe the ugly, hot envy burning inside of me that’s aimed squarely at the woman who’s currently monopolizing the time Dominic should be spending with me.
Over my shoulder, I hear Sarah’s heels clicking on the concrete as she approaches the table with several plates expertly balanced in her hands and along her dainty forearms. Behind her, a stunning woman with rich ebony skin and eyes the color of whiskey waits patiently for the plates to be set with a glass of wine in her hand. One look at her perfectly tailored, designer pantsuit and the sleek, but sexy, ponytail her wavy tresses are secured in tells me she’s not a server like Sarah even though their name tags are identical. Hers says Nadia, and she’s probably Sarah’s boss, which would make her the manager and the one person working who has better things to do than personally deliver a glass of wine. Still, she sets it in front of me with a smile before turning on her heel to leave.
Sarah wipes her palms on her apron and glances at me. “Does everything look good? Can I get you anything else?”
“No. I think we’re okay for the moment. Maybe more water for him.”
I indicate Dominic with my chin, and both of our eyes go to him. He’s still on the phone, but his back is turned to us, so I can’t tell how the conversation is going. Judging by the continued tension in the line of his shoulders, it’s probably not good.
“Of course,” Sarah says breathlessly, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes at the red flush creeping up her neck. She clears her throat and drags her eyes back to me. “You’re so lucky to have a boyfriend like Mr. Alexander. He seems like an extremely thoughtful partner.”
Keeping the disbelief from lining my features is a challenge.Aregirls always this bad at hiding their interest in the man currently buying you dinner?
“Yes,” I agree, pinning her with a look I’ve seen my mother use on overly friendly women who fawn over my dad at the country club. “Dominic is a very thoughtful man.”
I don’t feel the need to tell her he’s not my boyfriend. The last thing this dinner needs is Sarah throwing herself all over Dominic while she refills his water glass.If he ever makes it back to the table, that is.
A flicker of uncertainty passes through her cornflower blue eyes, and I only hate myself a little bit for channeling my mother to make her feel uncomfortable.
“Right. I’ll be right back with that water.”
I nod, mixing the dressing into my salad without looking at her. “Sounds good. Thank you, Sarah.”
The sound of her heels clicking back to the server’s area ring out and then subside quickly, leaving me in near silence. Dominic’s voice carries from the other side of the dining area as he turns his head to look at me. I feel his gaze, but I keep mixing my salad. Whatever they’re discussing doesn’t have anything to do with me, but my heart still lifts when I hear him tell her he has to go.
When his heavy footsteps are heading back toward the table, I finally allow myself to look up. His brows are pinched together and the muscle in his jaw is fluttering rapidly. Obviously, the phone call with Kristen has made him upset. I open my mouth to ask what’s wrong, close it because my brain is screaming that it’s none of my business, then open it again because it kind of is my business since she interrupted our dinner.
“Is everything okay?”
Dominic sits down with a sigh. “Yeah. She’s just…” He scrubs a hand over his face. “I don’t know what’s going on with her lately. There’s thiscase she’s handling at work that has her stressed out, and she’s used to venting to me.”
