Chapter 9
NINE
may
PENELOPE
I am, without a doubt, completely, irrevocably in love with Dominic Miller. Or whatever the hell Bella said in Twilight. My crush on him when we were kids lay dormant for so long, but it had zero problem snapping into sizzling action upon his return.
I wasn’t lying to him when I said that that night— creating that display and the deliciously hot moment between us afterward— was the best night of my life.
It may go without saying, but I don’t see a lot of action.
In fact, the last guy that I hooked up with was Preston Donahue, who is exactly as pompous and narcissistic as his name sounds.
The man never gave me an orgasm and would only fuck me in the dark because “I don’t want to see everything when we do it. ”
Yes, I know, I’m worth more than that, blah blah blah. But my love life has been a very short series of hookups followed by years of nothing. Preston was four years ago now, and I haven’t been with anyone since then.
Dominic Miller dry humping me against the shelves in the bookstore was simply the hottest and most exciting thing to ever happen in my love life.
Okay, sex life, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.
Chloe would not stop gushing about it that night; and, after two bottles of wine, we formulated a plan to seduce Dom.
But then he was gone. The next day, Gloria informed me that he had some business to attend to in Kentucky and he’d be away for a few days.
While that disappointed me, I tried my best not to mope through his absence.
A few days turned into a few weeks, and then I really started to feel depressed.
Like I had been so close to tasting the forbidden fruit before it was snatched up, right from my hands.
To make matters worse, Gloria had to let the other two employees at the store go. This left me, Gloria, and Grace, which might have been painful, but then Gloria announced she was reducing store hours.
Needless to say, I went from feeling like Twilight Bella to New Moon Bella real fast.
“You haven’t heard from him at all?” Chloe asks for the third time.
“No,” I sigh, as if I wouldn’t have told Chloe the moment I heard from Dominic. The truth is, I don’t have his number and I’m too nervous to ask Gloria for it. So, suffering and waiting for him to return has become one of my favorite hobbies.
It’s an absolutely gorgeous spring day, with the sun shining and the temperature leveling out into a warm fifty-five degrees.
Okay, that’s not typically warm, but in the Midwest, after a brutal winter?
Anything above forty is cause for folks to break out their shorts and sandals.
Though we’ve opted for leggings and sweatshirts, Chloe and I are taking Carl for a walk to soak up the beautiful day.
It is the slowest walk imaginable, because Carl is old but mostly because he hasn’t been out in nice weather in forever, so it’s imperative that he stop and sniff every damn thing.
“Damn,” Chloe mumbles. “And he never said what he had going on back in Kentucky?”
“Nope. Not really any of my business, you know?”
Chloe laughs. “Come on, Pen. He left you high and dry after a scorching hot makeout session, and you’re not the least bit curious?”
We turn the corner onto my block. Carl has made our usual fifteen-minute walk into a forty-minute affair, and I’m looking forward to getting home and enjoying the rest of my day off.
“I didn’t say I wasn’t curious,” I reason. “It’s just… not my business. If he wants me to know, he’ll tell me.”
“Uh, Pen?”
Carl begins to pull on his leash, an unusual sign of excitement in my senior pup, before he turns to me and jumps up, paws flat on my chest. He barks twice, then twists around.
I can’t help but laugh at his seemingly spontaneous exuberance.
The leash is all tangled now as he continues to pull towards home.
“Pen?”
“Listen, Chloe,” I say as we reach my house and head up the front walkway.
Carl barks again as I look back at my friend.
“Maybe the reason I’m trying not to think about it so much is because I’m scared.
Scared he realized he made a mistake, and is too nice to tell me to my face.
Maybe he’s not as into me as I’m into him. Or you know what?”
“Pen!” Chloe’s eyes dart behind me to my front door.
“Maybe he’s just embarrassed I made him come in his pants.”
Carl jumps forward, the force whipping me around and nearly off my feet, but a strong hand reaches out to steady me. “Oh… shit,” I mumble.
“Hey, Dominic!” Chloe says, giving an awkward wave. “Welcome back! I’ll just, er, I’m gonna go. I’ll talk to you later, Pen.” She steps back and heads to her car, then hisses over her shoulder, “Call me!”
Taking a deep breath, I turn to face Dom for the first time since our steamy night at the store.
He looks the same, obviously he wasn’t gone that long, but something about him is different.
We stand in awkward silence, Carl trying desperately to jump up for attention, before Dom asks, “Mind if I come in?”
“Yes, please.” Giving Carl’s leash a solid tug, I step past Dom and open the front door.
Once he’s inside, Dom closes the door and gives me a judgemental look. “You don’t lock your door when you leave?”
Shrugging, I unclip Carl’s leash from his collar. He immediately goes to Dominic’s feet, tail wagging uncontrollably, and slides down to flip on his back— belly straight in the air, no shame. “It’s a safe neighborhood. I’ve never—”
“Going forward, lock the door. Please.” Dominic’s arms are folded over his chest. He glances around at the messy piles of books stacked throughout the room and adds, “And maybe buy yourself a bookshelf?”
“Yes, sir!” I mock a salute, but my smile falters when I see the ultra-serious look on his face. “I will. Sit down.” I pivot, gesturing to the couch. “Can I get you anything to drink?”
“No,” he grumbles, stepping over Carl to sit down on the center of my couch.
It’s only been a few weeks, but I’m caught off guard at the sheer size of him in my home.
Broad shoulders, muscular arms, tattoos peeking out from the pushed-up sleeves of his henley.
Carl follows him up onto the couch, laying his head on Dom’s lap, tail thumping aggressively against the cushions.
“Okay.” Taking a deep breath, I say, “I’m sorry, Dom.”
His brows knit in confusion. “Why? What for?”
Now I feel confused. “Um, I assume you heard what I said to Chloe?”
Dominic’s cheeks flush but he offers me a small smile. “Not my finest moment,” he acknowledges. “But she’s your best friend. I’d be surprised if you hadn’t told her.”
My heart stutters in my chest. “You’re not pissed that I said something?”
Carl paws at Dom, who reluctantly lowers a hand to pet him. If I wasn’t so unprepared for his nonchalance at my apology, I might be laughing at how obscenely needy my dog is for him. “Did you tell anyone else?”
“No!”
“Then, no. Why would I be pissed?”
Holy bananaballs. It’s like, at every turn, Dominic Miller continues to prove to me he’s not what I expect. “Oh. Okay.”
“Now, you sit,” Dom says, patting the empty space on the couch on his other side. “It’s my turn to talk.”
A flurry of nerves assaults me as I settle into the spot next to Dominic, tucking one leg underneath myself and leaning back against the arm of the couch. He takes a deep breath and I feel reciprocating nerves radiating off him.
“I left suddenly, and I’m sorry I didn’t reach out to explain why,” he begins.
“It’s none of—”
“Pen, please,” he begs, his eyes pleading.
Nodding, I let him continue. “I don’t know what Gloria told you about me moving back here, but I ended a really difficult relationship.
Two, actually.” A bitter grin graces his face, tension clearly still simmering from these relationships.
“I was fully ready to leave them both behind, but…” Dom sighs, running a hand through his hair. “I was engaged.”
The statement rocks me slightly, but I’m not surprised.
Dominic Miller is sexy, funny in a dark, sarcastic kind of way, and he’s just a good guy.
In half a second, I compare what I now know of his brief past to mine— and it’s laughable.
I don’t date, I haven’t had boyfriends… my love life pretty much begins and ends with my romance books.
Up until this point, I hadn’t considered the women Dominic must have been with during our missing years.
And now, finding out he was engaged? My cheeks heat with the reality of the major differences between our experiences.
“She supported me in ways I’ve never had before in my life.
I think, in hindsight, I just latched onto that and kept us going, long after we should have ended.
We were together for eight years.” I’m unable to control my gasp.
Dom gives me a sad smile. “Yeah, crazy, huh? I didn’t even realize we were falling apart.
My best friend and I were working on funding to start a cocktail bar in our town.
The concept was solid. He ran the numbers, I crafted the cocktails.
And then I was blindsided when I found him fucking my fiancé on the bar of the place, weeks before we were supposed to launch. ”
“What the hell?! Geez, Dom, I’m so—”
“Don’t you dare say you feel sorry for me.” He glares, his broody side flashing through. “It’s just a shitty situation. One I technically ran away from. I had to go back and sign some legal docs, essentially giving my ex-best friend total ownership over the bar.”
“Completely?” Dominic nods, wincing. His pain causes my heart to physically hurt. We sit quietly for a moment, the only sound being Carl’s tail thumping consistently against the cushions. Dom stares at his hands and I stare at him.
I can’t fathom how poorly his so-called best friend and fiance treated him. Dominic isn’t showy or flashy with his feelings; he may be stoic but he’s intentional. He shows how much he cares through his actions. And he deserves the very best kind of love and friendship this world can offer.
“Fuck them,” I murmur.
“Strong words from a relatively tame mouth like yours. But yeah, basically.”
Before I can overthink, I straddle him, wrapping my arms around his neck. My knee nudges Carl’s nose and he hops off the couch with a huff. Startled, Dom looks up at me, his hands hovering over my hips, but not touching me.
“Who said I’m tame?” The words, spoken low and seductive, are out of my mouth before I can process.
This isn’t me. I must be having an out-of-body experience.
Maybe I fell on the walk and hit my head, and this is all a dream?
My fingers twist in the hair on his neck and I suddenly feel a flush of shame.
“Shit, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. I’m sorry.”
Closing my eyes, I move to shift off his lap, but his hands grip my hips tightly, holding me in place. “What did I tell you about saying sorry?” His tone is low, dangerous, and I’m afraid to open my eyes.
“I don’t know what I was thinking,” I admit. “In my mind, it made complete sense to get on top of you. But, now that I’m here… I feel like an idiot. Is this really how I’m following up your story?” Leaning back, I cover my face with my hands.
“Don’t do that,” Dom whispers gruffly, his fingers flexing against my hips. “Open your eyes, Pea. Look at me.” I shake my head. “Please?”
Reluctantly, I lower my hands and slowly open my eyes. I am completely unprepared for the blazing fire of desire in Dominic’s eyes. “There she is.” He breaks into a warm smile and I simply melt.
“I’m so—”
“Ah-ah.” Dom flexes his fingers again, pinching my fat rolls and I yelp because damn— that tickles.
“Okay, okay!” I can’t help the giggle that erupts, the smile that arrives so naturally on my face. “I’m very much not sorry now!”
Dominic rubs his hands on my sides, keeping a solid hold on me. “Good girl.”
Tilting my head knowingly at him, I ask, “Oh really? And just how many audiobooks have you listened to now, Romeo?”
Smirking, he responds, “You’ve created a monster.”
Shifting my hips in his lap, I can feel how hard he is beneath me and he groans. “Dominic, I… I don’t know how to do this.”
He rests his head against the back of the couch, an expression of pain on his face. “Really? Because it feels like you know exactly how to do this.”
Unable to resist giggling again, I give him a soft smack on his chest. His incredibly firm, toned chest. “I’m serious. I’m not good at being with anyone. It’s not exactly like I have guys lining up to—”
Dominic acts swiftly, scooping me up into his arms and laying me down on the couch with him above me. I struggle to catch my breath, his gaze is so intense that it causes a lump to form in my throat from all the emotions swirling inside of me.
“Penelope Elizabeth Adams.” His voice cracks with raw emotion.
“You were the one I could never shake, no matter how much time passed. Always in the back of my mind. And honestly…I never thought I was good enough for you.” Dom gently caresses my cheek as tears well up in my eyes.
“I don’t care about any guys from your past. I just want to be the one for you.
The fanfic Draco to your Hermione. Can you give me that chance? Please?”
Words are impossible so I take his face in my hands, pulling him down for a kiss. And that’s when Dominic and I begin our relationship, making out in a desperate, passionate frenzy on my couch in early May.