Chapter Nine
Tessa couldn’t get the smile off her face as they drove to Dominik’s. She’d had so much fun with him at the grocery store and loved that he had a hand on her most of the time.
They turned down a street she’d never been to, making her sit up and look around. The houses were bigger in this part of town, and each sat on an acre or more of land.
Her eyes widened when he drove to the end of the road and turned into a long driveway. Her eyes darted around as she tried to take in everything. The land was left natural, but when the house came into view, she saw the yard around it was lush grass, and several trees and bushes were scattered about.
The house itself was large, two stories high, and had a wraparound porch. It was made of rock on the bottom and stained wood on the top floor. It fit in perfectly with the natural surroundings.
She hadn’t realized they’d stopped until her door opened. She looked at Dominik. “Your house is amazing.”
Dominik looked around. “Stan left this to me after he passed. I’ve done some renovations, but I wanted to keep it as close as possible to how he had it.”
He unsnapped her and lifted her to the ground. Before she took another step, he had his arms wrapped around her and held her tightly against his chest.
“I’ve imagined you here so many times, Angel. I never thought it would happen.” He tipped her head up. “The feeling is better than I ever imagined.” He bent and pressed his lips to hers.
Tessa wrapped her arms around his waist and gave herself over to him. She had no idea how much time passed before Dominik lifted his head.
“As much as I’d like to lay you down and fuck you blind, we have frozen food we need to take care of.”
She was disappointed but understood. He released her. “Go up to the porch. I’ll grab some of the bags.”
“I can help.”
He shook his head. “No, I’ve got it.”
“I can at least take my bag. It’s not heavy at all.”
He looked like he was going to say no, but then just nodded. “That’s fine.”
He followed her up the stairs and stood off to the side while he unlocked the door. He motioned her in first and then followed.
“The kitchen is back here, Angel.”
She set down her bag and followed. Dominik had set the bags down on the counter.
“I’ll be right back,” he said.
Tessa started to unload the bags and set everything in groups. He came back and dropped more bags down.
He came back the third time. “This is it.”
She grinned. “I would hope so. Is there going to be enough room in the refrigerator and cupboards for this?”
He chuckled. “We’ll figure it out.”
“Where does everything go?” she asked.
He opened a few of the top cupboards. “I shove what I can in here, and there’s also a pantry right there,” he said and pointed at a smaller-sized door.
She walked over and opened it, finding it so cluttered she knew she would never be able to find anything. It was bigger than she expected, but she knew if something wasn’t done, she’d never use it.
He must have caught her look of dismay because he just pulled her into his arms.
“Angel, I want you to arrange this any way you want. I didn’t know how to organize it, so I tossed shit everywhere. We also have a freezer on the back porch.”
She glanced at the refrigerator/freezer in the kitchen and had never seen one so large. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”
He laughed. “Mind? Hell, no. I’d appreciate you taking over. I’m afraid you’ll find cans that expired years ago because I didn’t know they were here.”
“Put the frozen things in the freezer in the back. I’ll organize that last,” she said.
He grabbed the things and walked off. By the time he got back, she had cleared out a few of the cupboards and set the things on the kitchen table to be sorted.
She glanced over to see his expression of dismay and laughed.
“Are you sure you want to deal with this?” he asked.
“You’re going to think I’m weird, but I love organizing.”
He smirked. “Yeah, that’s a bit weird, but thank God you do.”
She smacked his arm as she passed him for more things.
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
She looked at his expression and had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at the confusion and dismay on his face. “No, I’d like to do it myself. Do you have work to do?”
“Hell, yeah, there’s always paperwork to do and things around the house to get done.”
“Then go do that. I’ll work in here and make a quick lunch in a few hours for us.”
“This is going to take you a week to do,” he said.
She snorted. “No. I’ll have the majority done today.”
He shook his head. “I’ll get out of your hair. If you need me, yell. My office is down the hallway and to the left.”
“I will.”
She turned to get to work but gasped when he tugged her against him, turned her head, and kissed her until she was breathless. He released her and then chuckled.
She scowled because she knew he was teasing her. “Go,” she said. “Or I’ll never get anything done.”
She heard him chuckle as he walked away and couldn’t help but smile.
Tessa cleared everything out of the pantry and cabinets. There was so much that she’d had to set things on chairs and even the floor. She already had a pile of expired food. She also unloaded the rest of the top cabinets and decided to work on the bottom ones later.
She filled the sink with soapy water and climbed onto the counter to wipe the cupboards out. She bit back a scream when she felt hands grab her waist.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Dominik growled.
She looked over her shoulder at him. “Cleaning.”
“No. Why are you kneeling on the counter?”
“Because I couldn’t reach.”
He closed his eyes before he lifted her and set her on her feet. “Angel, I don’t want you to put yourself in danger.”
She almost snorted but didn’t want to upset him more than he already was. “I was being careful.”
He gripped her shoulders. “It doesn’t matter. You need to call me if you need something up high.”
“I didn’t want to bother you,” she told him.
“You’re never a bother. My main job in life is to keep you happy and safe.”
She didn’t like that he thought her so weak she couldn’t clean without him.
“I can see from the look on your face that you don’t agree, but please let me do that. I know we’ll disagree on things, but I want us to talk them out. I can compromise on some things. Your safety isn’t one of them.”
She sighed and nodded.
“Good girl, now tell me what you need.”
She explained what she wanted and concentrated on wiping the shelves down in the pantry. The food closet looked a lot bigger empty than when things were shoved in.
“Do you need anything else, Angel?”
She turned to him and shook her head. “No, are you hungry yet?”
“Yeah, but let me help.” He started to pull things from the refrigerator. “I don’t want to go to the site today. I talked to my foreman. I told him I’d stop by in the next few days.”
“I hope you’re not going because of me.”
He shook his head. “No. I’ve got a lot of paperwork to do, and I want to spend time with you.”
He put everything down as she made some space at the kitchen table.
She set plates and silverware down and then went back for glasses. “What do you want to drink?” she asked.
“I’ll take a beer.”
She came back with a can for him and a glass of water for herself.
Tessa studied him as they ate, and she couldn’t get over how much he turned her on. Her whole body felt alive when he was around. It was something she’d never heard of before meeting him.
The thought of not having him in her life flashed through her mind, and she fought to keep the desolate expression off her face. She just had to pray nothing would ever happen to take him from her.