Chapter 7
SEVEN
april
PENELOPE
Being kissed by Dominic when I was thirteen absolutely puzzled me. Being kissed by Dominic, for no explicable reason, at twenty-eight? Beyond baffling. Especially since he seems determined to carry on as if nothing has ever happened.
As frigid March bleeds into cold, rainy April, I do my best to throw myself into distractions.
I started my book club and doubled down on my gym visits with Chloe.
My body has never been more sore and, while the weight I promised I’d lose in January hasn’t come off, I feel better about myself.
I even take Carl for daily walks, much to his dismay— it’s the perfect time to listen to audiobooks and I’m blowing through dark romances within days.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a sexier voice.” Leaning against the register, I watch Grace as she moves around the store, reshelving books. I find myself wishing for an excuse to hole up in the back room and continue listening to the audiobook I started on my walk this morning.
A few customers are hanging out in the store, but we haven’t been anywhere close to busy. None of them pay attention to the conversation Grace and I are having, too engrossed in their own books.
“Remind me the name of your newest obsession?” Grace drops a stack of books on our tiny “reshelf cart” with a huff.
I let out a dreamy sigh and prop my chin up with my hand and say, “Teddy Hamilton. He has the kind of voice that just... ugh! It's not fair. It's unbelievably attractive. Deep and hypnotizing--"
“What are you guys talking about?” Dominic strolls out of the back room and I jerk forward in surprise, nearly knocking my chin on the counter.
“Oh, thank god you’re here!” Grace cries out, dropping the books in her hands on the couch and practically racing to the back room. “Sorry Pen, but I have a date to get to!”
Dominic doesn’t miss a beat as he walks to the mess Grace just left, scooping up the books and beginning to reshelve them from the pile rather than stacking them on the cart. He pauses near the register, giving me a smirk.
“You never answered my question.” As he speaks, embarrassment washes over me, realizing what it is about Teddy Hamilton’s voice that I find so alluring. “Pea?”
That nickname combined with our conversation makes me stumble over my next words.
“Just… discussing the audiobook I started this morning.”
“Oh yeah? Which one?”
I can’t think of a good lie off the top of my head, so I tell him the truth.
He nods, as if banking this information, and walks away to shelve the books.
It’s not until a few days later, when I head into the back room to search for a book, that the consequences of sharing said information come to light.
Dominic headed to the back room just before the end of his shift to receive a shipment, unpack the boxes and enter the new inventory into the system. Usually he plays music from a Bluetooth speaker while he works in the back, but today I walked into something completely unexpected.
“Oh, fuck, yes. Right there!” I can hear a woman’s breathy moan before I can even walk from the break room to the back room. What the—?
I push the back room door open so hard, it bangs against the metal shelves inappropriately placed too close to the entry. We have too many of these metal shelves back here and there’s no logical way to order them to keep this door and the back door clear.
However, if Dom is back here with someone, I want to make as loud of an entrance as possible so they have time to…
untangle themselves. But then, the thought of Dominic back here with someone else– anywhere with anyone else, doing anything that would elicit moans like that? The thought turns my stomach.
“Are you okay?” Dominic appears from behind one of the shelves, his cheeks flushed, dark hair tousled.
Before I can respond, a deep, gravelly voice says, “That’s my good girl. Your cunt feels so good. Fuuuuuck.”
Embarrassment burns on my face and coils in my gut. I know that voice. I know that line. Eyes wide, I hiss, “Are you listening to my audiobook?”
To his credit, Dominic looks just as shocked as I feel. He ducks behind the shelf, and seconds later the audiobook stops playing. I follow the cramped path between the shelves and emerge in the widest open space, which is really only big enough for two pallets to be delivered.
“Do you have any idea how loud that was?” I ask, placing my hands on my hips and leveling him with a stare.
Dom’s eyes flash to mine. “You couldn’t hear that on the floor, could you?”
I shake my head. “No, but I could hear it in the break room.”
He raises his brows, a smirk on his damn face. “Huh. So it wasn’t really bothering anyone?”
“That’s not the—”
“And what do you mean? Your audiobook? I didn’t realize you claimed rights.”
Heat rises on my face, but also within me. Dominic stands there, sexy as usual, wearing the hell out of some worn, dark jeans and a white shirt that showcases his tattooed arms.
“That’s not… that’s not the point,” I sputter, suddenly feeling like I’m the one who got caught listening to an explicit scene in my audiobook.
“To be honest, I’m surprised you listen to books like this.” Dominic’s suggestive expression has me sweating.
But I refuse to let him shame me. “Oh, please. You work at a romance book store with me. You know exactly what kind of smut I read!”
“Maybe, but listening to smut is a vastly different experience,” Dominic argues, a dark smirk on his face. “I can’t believe you’ve been gatekeeping this for months.”
“Wh-what?” I want to argue back, but can’t seem to find the words. In all honesty, he’s not wrong. Listening to audiobooks is an entirely unique and special experience, especially when I listen to my favorite narrators.
Dominic's laughter bubbles up from deep within, carrying a warmth and richness that instantly brings a smile to my face. It's a rare sound, one that I don't often hear from him. Despite the embarrassing situation that caused it, I can't help but appreciate this moment of levity with him.
He takes a few steps closer to me and my body immediately goes into high alert. His masculine scent surrounds me, making my knees weak. "I see what you mean though," he says as his voice deepens, "the voice really elevates it, doesn't it?"
"For me, it does," I manage to say without my voice shaking, although my whole body feels like it's trembling.
"Do you remember that scene?" His words make my pulse pound loudly in my ears.
"Yes," I whisper.
"Hmmm." He takes another step closer, the warmth of his breath is on my skin as he exhales.
Thank goodness I'm wearing this sweater; he can't see the goosebumps rising all over my body from this conversation or how hard my nipples have quickly become.
"Do you want a man like Drake?" Dominic asks, referring to the character in the audiobook.
“Who wouldn’t?” I barely choke out the words, my mouth suddenly feeling like it’s full of a Nature Valley granola bar.
I take a step back but bump into a shelving cart.
Dominic follows, leaning down and bracing his arms on the top shelf near my waist, trapping me.
"Tell me, Pea," he whispers. I can barely breathe under his heated gaze, "you want a man to talk dirty to you like that?
Tell you exactly how they want you? Promise to make you come so hard you scream? "
Oh. Dear. Lord. I might pass out. My heart begs for me to say yes but my brain is too busy short-circuiting. Dominic leans even closer, his face just inches from mine. "When you're ready to admit it, let me know."
Suddenly, Dominic steps back and I immediately feel the loss of his dominating presence. Frozen in place, I watch him walk through the back room towards the break room.
"Everything's entered in the system. I'm clocking out.
And Pen?" His words snap me out of my trance and I see him with his hand on the break room door, ready to leave.
That damn smirk is still on his face— how is he so unaffected by the moment we just shared?
Meanwhile, my heart is racing, my cheeks are burning, and sweat is dripping down my lower back.
Not to mention the flood happening between my thighs.
"Send me some more audiobook recs when you have a chance."
Fuck. Me.