Chapter 15
Five days later
Today was Joan's birthday. It was her 70 th , and her kids had planned a luncheon party.
I had not seen Dominic these last five days, and it had been five days too long. Emotionally, I had gone from zero to a thousand with him. I missed him so much. We had that whole day together, and since then we had grown so close over the phone. We talked every day. We had gotten to know each other so much in recent days that I felt close to him now. In some ways I was closer to him… but in other ways, I felt distant. I wondered what it would be like to see him again. I ached to see him again. It had been a long morning because I knew he was in Chicago all day, and I had stayed home to celebrate Joan's birthday.
Lunch was just wrapping up and I would see Dominic any minute. He had texted me when he was on his way from his apartment, and that was fifteen minutes ago. I had to freshen up, so I excused myself from the luncheon.
"Happy Birthday, Joan!" I said.
"Are you leaving?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm going back to my room for a minute before my ride comes."
I had already told Joan that Dominic was coming to get me this afternoon. She knew that I was talking to him and that he would be picking me up. He and I had plans to go to a matinee movie that afternoon, but I hadn't told her any of that.
"She's leaving with that Decker boy. Eddie Decker's son who came in my store that time." Joan spoke proudly to her son and the other men in the room, thinking they would be impressed.
"No kidding!" Brandon said, looking at me with new interest.
"Yeah, supposedly Dominic Decker found her lost scarf and gave it back to her," Deb said chiming in from the other side of the kitchen. She said it in such a way that she sounded unamused and bored like they should all drop the subject.
"You know Dominic Decker?" A woman asked, turning to me. It was Patrick's friend. Patrick often talked about her, but this was the first time I had met her. She was a lady in her thirties named Emma. She seemed excited, smiling at me. "Patrick told me he came in the store one time. Do you know him?"
"She's been talking to him every night," Joan said.
"Supposedly. Mom's never seen him," Deb said under her breath, talking to her husband.
She said it just loud enough for me to hear, and I could feel resentment and anger welling inside me, so I decided to walk away.
"Okay, well, it was great seeing you guys," I said, fake smiling and looking around at all of them while conveniently not making eye contact with Deb or her husband. "And Happy Birthday to you!" I said to Joan again.
"Thank you for my sunglasses," she said. "I can't believe you heard me tell Patrick about those."
"Listening to everything…" Deb said sarcastically. Her remarks were just within range for me to hear them. She hated me, and I had done nothing to her. It took all of my willpower to ignore her comments and walk away.
I went into my room and did a few things to freshen up since I knew I only had a few minutes before Dominic would arrive. I headed outside to meet him as soon as he texted saying he was waiting on the street. I tried to leave out the side door without being noticed, but Joan hollered at me from the kitchen.
"Bye, Marley!"
"Bye Marley," Patrick said.
"Bye Marley," Deb said. A few others said it too, but Deb's stood out. She was being fake with me.
"Bye!" I said, with as sincere of a fake smile as I could manage. I did great. None of them seemed to realize anything was wrong when I glanced their way.
Dominic was parked on the street and his vehicle was visible once I reached the edge of Joan's front yard. I walked down the sidewalk past two houses until I reached his truck. I opened the door and peered in to see him. He was such a vision. I had a bitter taste in my mouth from Deb, and it disappeared the instant I laid eyes on him. I smiled and let out a sigh of relief as I climbed into his truck. It smelled like Dom, clean and masculine, and I closed the door, feeling like the cab of this truck was some kind of magic oasis. My smile was big and genuine as I looked at him leaning in for a kiss on the cheek. I pulled back.
"Hey," I said, loving the sight of his face.
"Hey, I didn't see you coming, or I would have opened the door." His head tilted and he stared at me. "You okay?"
"What? I am soooo happy. You have no idea. I've been so excited about seeing you!"
"No, I thought… when you first opened the door… it looked like something was the matter."
"Oh, I'm sorry. That was… Joan's daughter was just… you know what? Never mind. She was just being her miserable self in there, and I don't even need to think about it anymore. I'm so happy you're here."
"Is it something I could go in there and take care of for you? Because I would be happy to. I'll walk in there and set them straight." He had a hold of my hand, and he brought it up to his mouth. The back side of my hand, that sensitive flesh, was touching his glorious lips. I could just die.
"No. I don't want you to give them the pleasure of going in there," I said. "Even though it would really put Deb in her place."
"Why's that?"
"She thinks I'm lying about knowing you. But that's not saying much because she thinks I lie about everything. I'm sorry. I said I was going to leave it alone. Hello! How are you? I've been missing you! I'm so happy to see you."
He still had a hold of my hand, and squeezed me. "I'm missing you too. Did you say that lady thinks you're lying about knowing me?"
"Yes, but it's not a big deal. I don't care what she thinks."
"Joan?"
"Her daughter."
He sat up and put a hand on his door handle, letting go of my hand.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm going in there."
I shook my head. "No, it's okay."
"No, it's not. If someone's giving you a hard time about knowing me, that's something I can deal with. Is she in here?"
"Yeah, but I don't really care what she thinks."
"I do. I don't want anyone calling you a liar. And I'm not just going in to prove that to her. I'm going to look her in the face, to see who you're living with. I want to meet Joan and see these people and your place."
His door was open by then, and I knew there was no talking him into staying in the truck. I got out, and he came around the front of the truck and met me on the sidewalk. He was wearing dark jeans and a light blue and navy jacket that looked amazing on him. He smiled and leaned in to kiss me on the cheek as soon as we converged on the sidewalk.
"We do not need to go inside," I assured him.
"Come on, didn't you forget something? I think you have to go back in your room for some chapstick or something you forgot."
"I did forget my chapstick," I said, walking with him toward the house.
"You don't have to explain that," he said. "Just tell them you're getting something from your room, and I'll go with you."
I was nervous as we went up the path, but Dominic took my hand and grinned at me. "Do we need to knock?" he asked.
"No."
He grabbed the door handle and opened it. He held the door for me so I could walk inside before him. He never let go of my hand. Dominic was huge, and it really showed in Joan's living room. All conversation stopped, and everyone turned to stare at us when he walked in.
"Hey everyone! Who's Joan?" he asked.
Joan raised her hand, and Dominic waved at her. "Happy birthday! It's nice to meet you." He adjusted the grip he had on me, holding me with his left hand, making it obvious that we were connected while he reached out to shake Joan's hand with his free hand.
"Marley had to come back inside, and I told her I wanted to tag along and wish you a happy birthday."
"Thank you, I'm honored," Joan said with a hand to her chest.
"I'm a huge fan," Patrick's friend said. She was so excited it looked like she was about to burst.
"Me too," Brandon added.
"Me too, but we've met before," Patrick said. He waved guiltily because of the ordeal the last time they met. "We are all big fans of your dad and you," he added.
"Thank you, I appreciate that. Any friend of Marley's is a friend of mine." Dominic glanced at me and then back at them. "I didn't mean to crash your party. Marley just had to grab something. Like I said, I wanted to meet you guys. Marley's told me how nice you all are."
"It's such a pleasure to finally meet you," Joan said.
Mitzy was whining and jumping on Dominic's leg, and he leaned down and petted her, never letting go of my hand. He stood, glancing at me as if to ask if I was ready. I smiled at Joan and we walked off, headed toward my bedroom.
"You two are welcome to stay and visit!" Joan called at our backs.
Dominic held onto my hand while we went back to my bedroom. I was the first inside, and he followed me. I watched as he locked the door, and then he smiled at me when he turned my way. He took me into his arms, holding me.
"You're beautiful."
"Thank you, Dominic. You're beautiful too, or whatever you say to a guy."
"You don't have to say anything."
He pulled me closer, staring down at me, his face only inches from mine. His eyes were searching. It seemed like he might say something but he didn't. We stared for what must have been ten full seconds.
For the last five days, we had been building anticipation, and the locked door was like permission for us to give in and finally connect. He was a large man, and he held onto me with his big arms like I was precious to him.
We stayed in that room for no more than five minutes but, honestly, it seemed like longer. There was a significant amount of passion exchanged. To call what happened a kiss would seem like an unfortunate understatement.
He had missed me, and that was obvious. It was five days coming, and we were in the electric phase of our attraction, so this kiss was more than a kiss. It was possessive and reassuring. It was just what I needed at that moment. I felt achy and spent and utterly distracted from Joan and her kids by the time we were finished.
"Obviously, I missed you," he said, stepping back a little and smiling. "Let's get out of here so we can go to that movie."