18. Este
ESTE
W hen I wake up for the second time, sunlight streams through my curtains. I sleepily walk out to the kitchen, where Dom’s clacking away at his phone.
“Hey, angel.” Dom smiles when he spots me, and it’s only then I realize I’m still entirely nude from our escapades earlier this morning. And last night. God, have I turned into a nymphomaniac, or is this normal for an adult relationship?
“Think the teens are up yet?”
“I think the teens probably went to bed three hours ago.” I laugh, padding over to the coffee machine. “Is this fresh?”
“Half an hour, so it should be hot and ready,” Dom tells me before he turns his attention to his phone. “Got all the background checks done, got all the necessary records, and made my choices. I’ve been on the phone all morning trying to track down the guys I selected for the first tiny homes.”
“Wow, that’s great! Did you find them?” I pour the coffee, dump a bunch of creamer into it, and yawn again as my eyes adjust to the sunlight in the room.
“Found two of them at shelters, but one is just…” Dom makes a “poof” noise and groans.
“That’s too bad. Maybe you’ll find him yet. It wasn’t terrible out last night. He could have decided to sleep on a park bench or something. Try again tonight, hopefully you’ll find him.”
“It’s this young guy, Mac. He’s been deployed to Africa for the last four years, and he witnessed the aftermath of a terrible attack on a village. So much stuff he can’t unsee. Women and children butchered, you know? I’m worried about him.”
“Jesus,” I mumble. “That’s horrific. You see that kind of thing, too?”
“Here and there, but not an entire village.” Dom frowns. “Anyway, I’ll try to track him down tonight and wait a few days before I give his spot to someone I can locate.”
“We could visit a homeless camp or two,” I suggest, sipping my coffee. “Maybe right at dawn, before everyone packs up and moves on for the day?”
Dom scoffs and shakes his head. “That’s no place for a lady.”
I glance around exaggeratedly, trying not to roll my eyes. “Where’s the lady?”
He stands, makes his way to me, and spanks my ass, hard. I let out a surprised noise and giggle, set down my coffee, and whimper, “Again.”
“Oh, really? You liked that, honey?” Dom’s voice is supremely sexy as he drawls the words to me. “Shit, we’ll have to experiment with that later. When do you think Reed will be home?”
“Not soon enough that I think she’ll catch you spanking my naked ass in my kitchen.”
After a couple of hours, Este got a close-up view of the terribly dusty baseboards beneath the cabinets and went into cleaning mode with a dusting cloth and some spray.
She bends over, and I make a lewd comment about how hot that ass of hers is.
That’s when she collapses.