He ducks his head like he was hoping I forgot about his mysterious injury. “Before she left my room, she…threw a picture at the wall. The frame broke, and I was in such a rush to get back to you that I wasn’t paying attention when I clea—”
Every emotion I’ve been feeling since he started talking boils over and spills out of me with anger and disbelief at the forefront, mixing to make a volatile cocktail I wish I could shove down Kristen’s throat.
“She didWHAT?!” I gape at him, not caring one bit about how ridiculous I must look with my mouth hanging wide open in outrage. “Please tell me you weren’t anywhere near the wall shethrew a fucking pictureat!”
Surprise replaces every other emotion on Dominic’s face as a delighted smile curves his lips. I almost smile back at him, but I’m too pissed off todo so. Kristen threw a picture at him because he wouldn’t sleep with her? Of all the ridiculous, outlandish, abusive,toxicthings for someone to do in the face of rejection…and it’s especially gross given the environment Dominic grew up in.
He reaches over and cups my jaw in his hand. A tender finger brushes over my cheek. “Calm down, angel. I don’t think she was trying to hit me.”
“Don’t defend her, Dominic. Even if she wasn’t aiming for you, there’s nothing okay about her throwing things at or around you. Who does that?”
I’m seething, my blood boiling in my veins as I picture a glass frame shattering against the wall, narrowly missing Dominic’s head, while Kristen sat in his bed with no damn clothes on like she belonged there.
“I’m not defending her. Honestly, I’m just trying not to think about it. Kris can be intense, but I’ve never seen her like that.” He shakes his head, worry flickering in the inky depths of his eyes. “As crazy as it sounds, I’m more concerned about her than anything. The stress from work must be getting to her.”
I scoff. “You can’t be serious right now. She broke into your apartment and propositioned you, and when you turned her down, she got violent. That’s not stress from work, Dominic. That’s a reason to file a restraining order.”
He laughs and holds up his hands in mock surrender when I glare at him. “I’m sorry for laughing, but your reaction is just not what I expected.”
“You thought I was going to be upset with you because of what she did?”
He shrugs. “I thought you were going to tell me to take my shit home because I’ve got too much going on.”
“That would be pretty rich coming from the woman who had a full breakdown the first time you gave her an orgasm.” I flush as the words leave my mouth. “We’ve both got stuff, but, besides the stalker ex-girlfriend and your tendency to be an asshole sometimes, you’re pretty perfect.”God, did I just call him perfect?“I think I’m the one with too much going on. No onewants a heartbroken widow who…”
“Don’t finish that sentence, Sloane.” His warm hand covers my fingers, which are busy spinning my wedding band around in anxious revolutions. “Don’t talk about your love for Eric like it’s an obstacle someone has to overcome to be with you. You are who you are because you loved him. Anyone who doesn’t understand that doesn’t deserve to know you.” Dominic spins my band back around to the front of my finger and brushes the pad of his thumb over the stone gently. “No real man is going to make being with you about erasing what you had with him, and a major part of that is helping you through those hard moments, not making you feel like shit because they happen.”
The words are soft but there’s no mistaking the command in them. The severity of his gaze is enough to devastate me, making my breath turn shallow as I meet it. Eyes the color of the night sky look right through me, and I feel paper-thin under his stare.
How is it possible for this man to see me so clearly, to say the things I need to hear even when I don’t know I need to hear them?
Tears sting at the back of my eyes, but I fight them back because I don’t want to cry, I want to throw myself in his arms and show him how much I appreciate him. And just like that, all of the irritation from the mess with Kristen falls away, leaving only an empty ache in my core.
Dominic catches the shift in my mood immediately, and he pins me with a lazy, sultry gaze that makes my whole body feel like it’s blushing. Pinpricks of awareness have my skin tingling in every place his eyes touch. My face. The curve of my neck. My breasts. My belly. The bit of thigh peeking out from the slit in my skirt.
I’m about to spontaneously combust, so I dig through my purse and pull out my garage opener. “Okay. If you’re done trying to make me cry, can we go in now? I can think of a few things I’d rather be doing.”
He watches the door lift but the car doesn’t move. “Are you sure youwant me to stay?”
I don’t even have to think about my answer. “Yes, I want you to stay. If I recall correctly, sleeping together every night was one of your rules.”
His lips tip up into a smile as he pulls into the garage. “Since when do you play by the rules, angel?”
“Since doing so gets me orgasms and cuddles.”
The garage door slams down, and Dominic cuts the engine. His dark chuckle fills the quiet around us, and another rush of liquid heat gathers between my thighs. I’m so anxious to get in the house that waiting for him to get out of the car and open my door doesn’t feel like a remote possibility. I flash him a smile and hop out before he can say a word.
I’ve already unlocked the back door and kicked off my shoes inside of the mudroom by the time Dominic catches up to me. The door slams behind him, and I hear the lock click into place mere seconds before his bag hits the floor and muscular arms circle my waist. He presses a kiss to my shoulder and trails more up my neck. I sigh happily and tilt my head to the side, giving him access he gladly takes advantage of, using the opening as a chance to breathe me in.
His warm breath tickles my skin. “You always smell so good. Like mango and tangerine with maybe a bit of coconut?” His hands go to my hips, spinning me around to face him, and I drop my purse and keys so I can run my hands down his chest. “I’ve spent every day for the last few weeks trying to nail it down, fighting the urge to ask you what the exact combination is so I can bottle it up and put it everywhere until my entire world is nothing but you.”
The observation startles a laugh out of me, and I feel his smile against my lips. I want to tell him that he smells amazing too, like cinnamon, oranges, and clean soap, but I get distracted as he bends and plants a kiss on my collarbone. He makes his way down to my breasts and nuzzlesthem gently before pulling away.
I’m about to complain about the loss of contact when he starts tugging my camisole out of my skirt. It comes up easily, and I lift my arms to help him get it off completely. It’s over my head and fluttering to the ground in a matter of moments.
When he finds me bare underneath my top, his gaze darkens. He backs away, finding a seat on the built-in bench by the door and spreading his legs wide. Both of his big hands are clasped together loosely, resting in front of his crotch but doing nothing to hide the growing bulge pressing against the seam of his jeans.
“Take the skirt off. I want to see all of you.”
