Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
D ominic paid for my bid. I took a deep breath, my shoulders dropping.
My coworker Lori waved at me, and I went over to her table.
“Wow,” she said, slurring a little. “Congrats.”
“Thanks.”
“A little confusing—I thought you were low on money. Is this what you were saving for?” she asked, her eyes narrowed.
“No,” I blurted, then took a breath. “Dominic promised to pay if I bid on him. I…well, decided to do it at the last minute.”
“Really.”
I held my hands up. “Strange, isn’t it? Did you have fun?”
She shrugged. “I bid a couple times. They should have had more bachelors.”
“Hopefully there’s another one of these sometime. See you tomorrow.”
She nodded and reached for her glass.
I walked away, staring at the ground, my arms stiff. What would Lori say at work?
Dominic waited for me by the doors, the gold, purple, and red balloon arch behind him. My steps slowed. For a disorienting flash, I had a vision of him as a dad—at a school function. My chest tightened. Wake up. The man obviously doesn’t want a family.
We looked at each other. He’s too controlling. You don’t want another Gerry in your life. One side of his mouth quirked up. He put his hand on my back, and we walked out.
His fingers explored the cutout of my dress, dipping into the low curve over my bottom. I shivered, heat pooling low in my belly. He smirked at me, a wicked glint in his eyes.
“Come with me,” he said as we stepped outside. “You won’t regret it.”
My ears were burning. I could picture it—both of us impatient and going too fast. Between my legs throbbed and clenched. Dominic and more wine? Dominic and a dim hotel room with a wide bed in the center…
“It’s Thursday,” I croaked. “Work starts at eight tomorrow.”
His hand left my back. “Right. My aunt told me that you’re in accounting.”
I tried to take a deep breath. There was a side of me that couldn’t wait to get in bed with a man—and she would stay pushed down inside me. Dominic brought her closer to the surface than anyone ever had before.
He led us to the far side of the parking lot. The lights flashed on a sleek dark blue sedan with the words Lucid on the front.
“Kelsey.”
I spun around, my head jerking at that voice.
“You and I are talking,” Gerry said, his face red and his eyes squinted. “Right now.”
The hair lifted on the nape of my neck. My breath burst in and out. I crossed my arms, steadied by Dominic standing next to me. “You can email my lawyer,” I said shrilly.
He looked odd—his hair mussed up and the collar on his polo shirt crooked. His face was puffy, and there were dark bags under his eyes. He’d probably been drinking at his country club down the road.
“Damnit, Kelsey. I need you back. This is fucked up.”
I shook my head, lowering my eyes to his shoulder. “No.” This is your fault. You let him get worse and worse. Why would he respect you?
“I am not fucking giving up,” Gerry said, stepping toward me. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”
Dominic moved closer to my side and put his arm around my waist. “You’re being recorded,” he said levelly.
“Who is this prick?” Gerry staggered away a couple steps. “We’ve been separated for two seconds. Fucking unbelievable.”
Dominic pressed lightly on my spine and guided me around Gerry like he was a mere inconvenience. My heart raced in my chest. Gerry spit on the ground behind us.
Ignoring him, Dominic opened the passenger door and waited until I was seated inside to close it. I pressed on my chest where it ached, bending forward to try and take a deep breath.
“Touch her,” Dominic said, “and I’ll end you.”
“What the fuck?”
“Your career. Your investments. The people you think you’re in with won’t speak to you. Back off. Act like a man.”
Gerry sputtered. I pressed a hand to my forehead.
Dominic got into the car and drove us away. Gerry stood there with his mouth open and his fists clenched.
“Are you alright?” Dominic asked.
I gazed at him—my head was pounding. Sucking in a shaky breath, I clenched my hands around the clutch in my lap. “That was…thank you. I, um—sorry, I can’t…”
“Breathe.”
I had to close my eyes and put my face in my hand. Cringing, I tried to press away the stinging in my eyes. What Dominic had said… Why did it make me want to curl into a ball?
“Thank you,” I said, around the lump in my throat. “I never thought—he’d do this.”
Dominic nodded, his face hard. “And you hate conflict.”
“Y-yes.”
“Tissues are in the glove compartment.”
“Thanks.”
At an all-night convenience store, he insisted on running inside to buy juice and a hot drink for me. I stayed in the car, staring at my red and splotchy face in the visor mirror and dabbing away the smears of eye makeup.
Dominic opened the driver’s side door and slid into the car. He handed me a bottle of juice and put a to-go cup of tea into the cup holder.
“Sorry.” I twisted off the cap on the grape juice. “I’m not normally this bad.”
He rested his head against the car seat behind him. “Is he scaring you at work?”
I gulped, then had to cough. “Sorry.” I turned away from him. God, you’re embarrassing.
Eventually, I cleared my air passage enough that I could give him Maria’s address. The car rolled almost silently onto the road and zipped up to full speed in seconds.
“Is this an electric car?” I asked, desperate to distract us both from my meltdown—and his question.
“Yes.”
“How many miles on a charge?” Small talk—I really didn’t want to say Gerry’s name again. Ever.
“The Lucid Air can get about four hundred twenty miles on a charge. Sometimes more or less, depending.”
“That’s high.”
“Good for touring.”
We wound our way up the hill to the Adamos’ home while I sipped on my tea. “Park on the street, please. I don’t want to wake anyone up. It’s Maria’s parents’ home.”
“You’re living here?”
“For now.”
“I’ll walk you closer.”
He seemed withdrawn—the electrifying sexual tension gone. On his side, anyway. Realized what a limp rag you are.
There wasn’t any lingering in the car—as I’d half hoped there would be. He helped me gather up my things and carried the juice for me.
We walked in silence to the locked gate between the house and garage. Maria’s apartment looked dim and empty. I stopped and turned to him.
“That was a fun night,” I said. “Surprising. Thank you.”
He stared down at me, reaching out to brush my hair off my face. “I’m…realizing my ideas about us aren’t right for you.”
“Oh.” I swallowed, dropping my gaze to his shoulder. Don’t you dare start crying again.
His finger lifted up my chin. “We’re hiking on Saturday. I’ll pick you up at ten.”
“Okay.”
“Kelsey.” His hand cupped my cheek. He bent over, and my mouth lifted—that tingling finally back. He kissed my forehead. “Get some rest.”