My lips twitched. “But you did that some of the time?”
Dom leaned back against the wall and put his hands in his pockets. “That would be telling.”
I lowered my head on the pretence of checking theblurb, but in reality, I was hiding my smile. From Dom, or myself, truly I didn’t know. “This is one of my favourites.”
“I could tell by the creases in the spine. It’s why I picked it. Figured if you liked it, it must be good.”
“You can borrow it.” I held the book out to him. “Can’t leave a story half-finished.”
He smiled softly. “I know. It’s why I’m here.”
I swallowed hard. This was where I reminded him that I was engaged. That I’d never let him back in, because I wouldn’t survive him leaving me again.
But I stayed silent.
A pang of guilt hit me as something else occurred to me. “Did you miss work too?”
He gestured at a laptop on the floor. “I fit in some hours from here.”
“God, I’m sorry.” I slapped a hand over my face. “What must Taff think?”
Gentle fingers pried it away. “Taff knows who you are to me. There isn’t a world where he would’ve made me leave you. He’s a good man.”
I fiddled with the string on my pyjama shorts. Didn’t remember putting them on, which meant Dom had probably done that too. He really had thought of everything.
Dom cleared his throat. “You had a few messages from Xander. I didn’t read them, but the notifications flashed up.”
“Thanks.” I nodded, but didn’t go to check them. “He’s back today, so it’s probably about that. Thank god I came to in time.”
“He is?” Dom’s face lit up. “Going to introduce us?”
“Fuck no.” I shivered. “Trust me, that’s not a meeting either of you would enjoy. I certainly wouldn’t.”
“Is he staying here?”
“Yeah.” I double-checked the time on my screen. “His plane lands in a few hours at Heathrow. I’d better get a move on.”
Dom frowned. “Shadow, you can’t drive.”
“I’m fine now.” I rolled my eyes. “I feel great…thanks to you.”
His fingers twitched at his sides. “Let me drive you? Please?”
“No.” I smiled to soften the rejection. “I mean it—you and Xander being in a confined space isn’t good for anyone.”
“Hmm.” I half expected him to push, but he didn’t. Maybe he really had changed. “You didn’t get any messages from Kate.”
I blinked in surprise. I hadn’t?
Dom’s tone didn’t match the hardness in his eyes. “Did she know you were sick?”
Yeah, there was no way I was answering that. “She was probably busy. Or something might’ve happened. Shit, I should ring her.”
I lifted my phone, but Dom’s hand covered it before I could do just that. “Have you heard of the poem ‘A Marriage’ by Michael Blumenthal?”
An incredulous laugh broke from me. “You read poetry now?”
“Sometimes. This one taught me a lot.”
