4. Este #2
Dom’s smile is charming, splitting his face and displaying his dimples.
“Not my usual second date, I’ll say, but I can’t tell you I’m not enjoying the serendipity.
” He sends me a wink that releases fluttering butterflies in my stomach, and I inch closer to him, arm over my bare chest, the bottom of my body obscured in the water.
“How long have you had that property?” I gesture with the arm not covering my breasts.
“Oh, just about two years. When I found the property, I immediately closed my business in Houston and started a new one here. That’s how much I fell in love with the twenty-five acres.
It’s so peaceful here. Nothing but the sound of insects and owls at night.
Maybe the occasional wild pig.” Dom gestures to the trees and nature surrounding us. “It’s a beautiful area.”
I try to keep my eyes trained above his neck, despite my natural curiosity.
And it’s been so long since the last time Cole and I had been intimate—God, even back then, I’d never felt like this.
Like I might come out of my skin. Nervous, heart palpitations, with a sudden sense of longing to know what Dom thinks of me as I stand nearly bare before him.
I finally gather my wits to speak. “This is my grandparents’ place originally, but I inherited it last year.
Grew up here, really, and I remember all our campouts in tents and the chorus of frogs and owls.
We’ve always had a ton of those here. You’re right, it’s peaceful.
Reminds me of so many good times.” My heart pangs a little with the remembrance.
It was hard to lose my grandparents; in many ways, I had been closer to them than to my parents.
I hear a noise and glance overhead. The clouds look threatening, and I bite my lip between my teeth. This isn’t the ideal place to be in a thunderstorm. If it’s going to rain here, I hope the storm skips the campground where Reed is staying a few towns over.
Maybe I should be closer to my phone in case she needs me. I tell myself I’ll get out in a minute. The warmth of Dom’s gaze pins me down, and I don’t want to move.
“Seems we both had the same idea tonight,” I tell him as I brazenly drop my arm.
Dom tries not to stare, but it’s a losing battle. I see defeat in his eyes as they slowly glance down from my face to my chest and back up with obvious approval.
“Dare to come a little closer?” Dom winks, and he really needs to stop because two winks in two minutes have melted me like silly putty on a hot day. I’m practically incinerated on the spot.
“Only if you’re a gentleman.” I narrow my eyes at him, and Dom laughs jovially and promises to be good.
Maybe I’m the one who needs to behave, because I feel a pulse at the apex of my thighs and heat gathers in my belly. Arousal is a feeling I haven’t experienced in quite a while, and it’s all-consuming, not to mention the guilt that sets in for feeling this way about a man who’s not my late husband.
As he lurches forward, I take a few steps closer, and suddenly, we’re face to face. I reach up and, without thinking one bit, I slide my hand onto his pec and feel the hardened muscle.
“Hi,” I whisper, glancing up at those clear-green eyes that make my knees weak. “I was going to call. Just had a lot on my plate, and to be honest, I was scared.” I’m embarrassed, maybe ashamed, to admit that nerves had gotten the better of me despite thinking of Dom damn near constantly.
“Shh,” Dom whispers, his hand caressing my cheek as I continue to stroke his chest errantly.
My guard drops, and I feel vulnerable as Dom’s thumb gently moves across my lower lip.
I close my eyes to the sensation, feeling my body suddenly relax and melt into his.
My mind reminds me we haven’t even been on a proper date as I let my arms encircle his neck, our bodies moving ever closer, and then we both startle when thunder booms nearby.
“Shit!” I jump back. “My clothes are on my side.”
“And mine are back on my porch,” Dom chuckles. “Bye!”
“Bye!” I call.
We rush out of the creek to our respective sides, and I can’t help but watch his sculpted ass as he climbs and emerges on the other side of the bank.
I wonder what the thunderstorm interrupted. Maybe I’m a little glad that lightning struck when it did, because throwing myself at Dominic would have been a mistake. Hell, I barely know the man, and he’d be the first since…
I’m sure I’d enjoy it, but I might regret moving too fast.
I’d say, “I’m not that type of woman,” but I don’t know what kind of single woman I am in this post-husband era.
When I get back to my grandparents’ house, I drip dry on the covered porch and dig the business card out of my wallet. I hurry to send a new text. “Dom, it’s me.”
He has to know that I want to see him again, and that, despite being afraid, I still want to move forward.
There’s still intensity flowing through my body when his return text arrives. I’m surprised when it reads two simple words.
“Turn around.”
Whipping around, I see his familiar Jeep pull up my grandparents’ driveway. Despite the pouring rain, he throws open the door, slams it shut, and jogs up to the porch where I’m sitting on a swing and he hoists me up into his arms.
Dom breathes in deeply as my hair falls into his face, and he whispers, “Thank you, Este.”
“For what?” I wonder breathlessly, my arms encircled tight around his neck, which I’m currently nuzzling.
“Being brave,” Dom whispers into my ear as I touch the smooth locks at the base of his skull. “Now, how about you agree to a real second date?”
“One where we keep our clothes on?”
“If that’s what you want.” His breath is hot on my cheek, and I pull back just enough that our lips are mere inches apart.
While I pant with longing, Dom sets me down and takes a big step back, his hands on my shoulders.
“Leaving a little room for the Holy Spirit?” I joke, pressing a fingertip to one of his dimples that pops when he gives me a grin.
“I know what I want, Este Evans, but only when you’re good and ready. Can I see your grandparents’ place?”