14. Este #2
God, I love the way Dom doesn’t stop until I ask him to, and then he pulls me carefully into the tub and his waiting, strong arms. When I taste myself on his lips, I don’t mind, because it tastes sweet as I slide my tongue into his mouth.
“I’m going to take you to lunch out in public,” Dom promises. “I swear I’m not trying to keep you like some personal love goddess, doing nothing but fingering and eating you all day long.”
“Oh, that sounds like a terrible life,” I tease.
“You couldn’t possibly live like that. How oppressive.
” This time, I wink, and he leans over and sucks my bottom lip into his mouth.
It’s at this moment that I know I want Dom inside of me.
Soon. I want us to sleep together, and it’s going to happen today.
When he makes love to me, I want it to be my last first time—as well as his.
“What are you thinkin’?” Dom asks.
“How much I hope things work out between us.” I move my hands up his abdomen to his chest as I slip into his lap and sit on the top of his thighs.
“They will, Este. We will.”
His faith in us means everything to me.
Eventually, the hot tub becomes way too warm, and we run inside to the air conditioning.
With lunch time on the way, Dom suggests a few fancy places, but instead, I talk him into going to the local diner, so that’s where we go next.
And there are glares. All around me, women are glaring at me like I’ve shot their dogs as I stand hand-in-hand with Dom in line for a tuna melt. He doesn’t seem to notice the crestfallen and jealous stares I’m being peppered with, or the disgusted look the cashier glares me down with.
I feel their collective animosity, and then I glance over at a pretty redhead, probably ten years my senior. She has tears in her eyes.
Oh my God. Is she okay?
“Dom.” I nudge him and nod in her direction. His eyes open wide as he says, “Oh, hello, Cindy.”
“Hi, Dominic.” She tries to smile, but I see the sadness in her eyes. “Weird to see you anywhere but outside your office.”
“Yeah,” Dom agrees. “How’ve you been? Those muffins you sent me home with a couple of weeks ago were delicious. I hope I properly thanked you. Oh, Cindy, this is my…” Dom trails off, unsure if he should say, “girlfriend.”
“I’m Dom’s friend, Este,” I tell the woman, extending my hand to shake hers. She holds it a little too tight, but I refuse to break by wincing.
“Oh, I think I remember seeing your name in the news. You’re the other young widow around here.”
I cringe. How is that at all appropriate to utter to another human being?
“Yes, The Dead Husband’s Club. I hear we both belong to it.” I give her a little smile, but her face falls, and I feel like an asshole. “I’m sorry we have that in common, Cindy.” I soften my reply.
“Me too. Anyway, have a nice lunch.” She whirls away and disappears.
“Who the heck was that?” I ask Dom.
“She works next door at a bakery and likes to send me home with leftover baked goods. Guess I figured she had a thing for me, but I didn’t expect me being with you to hurt her. I swear, I never led her on.”
“I believe you. But a girl can dream, and it looks like we shattered hers.” I frown as we reach the girl glaring at me from behind the counter. Somehow, she makes me feel like a supervillain.
“Tuna melt, bacon burger, fries with both orders, and two chocolate chunk cookies,” Dom orders, since I already mentioned what I wanted back in the Jeep.
“To go,” he adds, saying nothing else to the cashier who has finally turned her eyes from me to the screen.
I’m not altogether sure my tuna melt won’t have spit in it.
“Cancel that,” I tell her, grab Dom by the hand, and lead him back to the car. Once we get in, I can’t help but cry a few angry tears.
“Okay, that was a little dicey, I admit, but they can’t hate you because you’re with me. That’s not an acceptable reason.” Dom gathers me in his arms, and I lean my head against his shoulder.
“You should have told me half the town was in love with you before you made me fall head over ass.” I mock glare.
Dom kisses my head. “First, I had no idea I was adored. I haven’t dated anyone in this town since I got here. Secondly, head over ass? Are you trying to tell me you’re falling for me?”
I grumble against his shoulder. “I’m trying to tell you that I want a tuna melt nobody has spit in, and I want to go out with my boyfriend without getting the stink eye from women I don’t even know.”
Dom makes a popping noise with his lips and then sighs. “I think I can solve, uh, one of those issues. Hang on.”
He leans away and composes a text on his phone, and then he holds out my phone and asks me to unlock it. I don’t question it, and I glance over in time to spot Dom typing up a message to Mallory.
His phone pings twice, and he holds it up victoriously. “There we go, m’lady. I think I can solve the tuna melt conundrum a little later. For now, how ‘bout I get us a pound of turkey or brisket from the place on the corner while you, uh, stay in the car away from prying eyes?”
“Sold!” I bang my head back against the headrest and groan.
An hour later, we’re stuffing our faces in Dom’s kitchen, and I’m starting to feel a lot better about everything. Women may not like me because I’m standing beside the hottest man in town, but brisket has a way of making a mood turn around.
“Are you happy now, baby?” Dom leans in to trace his tongue over my top lip, where I’ve missed some barbecue sauce.
“Yes. Brisket for the win.” My lips curve into a relaxed, satisfied smile as I pat my belly, and Dom sighs in relief.
“I’ve never seen you upset before. Never seen Bad Mood Este. The good news is, I know what to feed her to keep her from getting vicious. You’re my Southern girl.” Dom gives me an exaggerated wink that makes butterflies perform a race in my stomach.
“Hey, I don’t bite hard.” I poke Dom’s stomach, momentarily forgetting I’ve already learned this lesson. The muscle is as rigid as I remember it last time, and I rub my finger in my hand. “You’re not fun to poke. How do you stay so in shape?”
“I have a treadmill desk and weights at the office. Try grabbing my ass instead,” Dom suggests, biting his lower lip, so I reach around and squish it between my fingers.
“Yeah, okay, that works.” I squeeze again for good measure, using my other hand to shovel more meat into my mouth. Dom gives me an unreadable look with his eyebrows arched and bursts out laughing.
“What?” I ask through a mouthful of brisket.
“I dunno what to do with you, honey. You’re covered in barbecue sauce, and I think maybe you need something more powerful than a shower to clean you up.
Out to the creek with you!” I think Dom says the last sentence like a pirate or something.
I’m not good with accents, but he adds something like, “Hardy-har!”
At first, I wonder if Dom’s joking, but then I see a spot of barbecue sauce on my elbow.
My first thought is to lick it off, ‘til I remember you can’t physically lick your elbow.
I’ve fallen for this joke before. May have even checked to make sure “gullible” was in the dictionary—whatever, I don’t want to talk about it.
After several long gulps of sweet tea, I take off through the back door and jog my way to the creek with Dom at my heels.
When he reaches me, I’m nearly at the rope swing, but he picks me up in his arms and tosses me in.
It’s not a far drop, but I’m relieved when I flop into the clear water and come up in one piece.
Unfortunately, I’m fully dressed, so I’ll have to change back into yesterday’s dress if we go out later.
Dom falls near me using the rope swing, and he lurches forward, lets me take one breath, and then dunks my head underwater. I feel his hand around my mouth as he wipes the mess off my face.
I come up sputtering and laughing. “Hey! I’ll get you back for that!”
“I’d like to see you try!” Dom flashes his white smile at me, and then swims off toward the shallower water.
I follow him, but instead of formulating a revenge plot, all I can think about is his gorgeous body, how much I want to touch him, and the yearning I feel to get him inside of me.
Despite our light-hearted banter, I know the feeling of falling when it’s happening.
And I am. Falling.
I’m a goner.
When I stare at Dom, he seems to know the mood has changed.
I reach up and cup my breasts through the wet material of my dress, squeezing them and moving my fingers to my nipples that ache for his touch.
I put on a show for him, flicking my thumb over my nipples and letting out pleasure-filled moans as his eyes turn into pools of molten lava.
Dom steps forward and yanks my wet dress up over my head.
It’s tight against my skin, so he has to wrestle with it a bit, and I giggle while he does.
He discards it easily onto a nearby rock, his gaze never leaving mine as I continue to pinch and pull at my now-naked, pebbled nipples.
He leans in, captures one between his teeth and tugs.
I screech into the afternoon sky and shudder as he continues to delicately torture me.
“I need you.” I groan low and throw my head back.
“Yeah?” Dom’s flirty voice replies as he tightens his hold on me and traces his tongue around my collarbone. “Where?”
“Inside me, Dom. Need this. You,” I reach out and caress his erection through his soaked shorts, “inside of me as soon as humanly possible.”
“You’re ready for that?” Dom whispers as he stands back up and cups his hands on my flushed cheeks. I nod in confirmation, and Dom kisses me deeply, stirring feelings up inside me I haven’t felt in decades—maybe ever. The need is entirely new.
“Need you so bad,” I pant, pushing my panties down, losing them somewhere in the water as I trudge over to the ladder and hold on tight, bending forward as far as I can while keeping my face out of the water.