Chapter Six
Dominque’s breath caught in the back of her throat. The snapping limb had sounded like a gunshot in the relative quiet of the night. It had certainly drawn the unwanted attention of Pierre.
Her heartbeat thundered as Pierre stared in their direction. Could he see them? The moon was fairly bright overhead. Fear kept her half breathless and utterly motionless as she waited to see what was going to happen.
A rush of intense relief shuddered through her when his gaze tracked past where they were hidden. He gazed around for another long minute and then continued on his way.
She felt the sigh of relief from Luke on the back of her neck. Thank God Pierre hadn’t decided to come and investigate the source of the loud sound.
They continued to follow Pierre. He wound up at the same area. He uncovered the boat, got into it and then disappeared in the darkness.
Luke remained hidden with her and thankfully didn’t speak as they didn’t know the exact location of the gator-hunter. She was still shaken up by the close call they had had.
If Pierre found them spying on him, what would he do? Would he just scream and yell at them? Or would he try to kill them? There was no way of knowing and in any case, she didn’t want to find out.
This time, Pierre was only gone about an hour. He returned to the shore, unloaded the boat and hid it, and then began the trek back to his shanty. Apparently, the fish and gators hadn’t cooperated with him tonight because he’d come back empty-handed.
Once he was back in his shanty, she and Luke returned to her place. When they got inside, she collapsed on the sofa and drew several long, deep breaths.
Luke sank down next to her. “God, I’m so sorry,” he said.
She immediately knew what he was apologizing for. “There’s no need for you to apologize. It could just have easily been me who stepped on the branch and snapped it.”
“Damn, it was so loud and I was sure Pierre was going to find us.”
“All’s well that ends well, right?” She drew another deep breath and felt herself finally relaxing. “Do you want to eat something?”
“No, thanks. I always eat—”
“I know, you always eat around six o’clock each night.” She looked at him curiously. “What would happen if you ate at seven or midnight? Would you suddenly go mad and bay at the moon?”
He laughed. “No, nothing like that.” He sobered thoughtfully. “I’m the first one to admit that I’m tied to my schedules and routines. Rationally, I know it’s baggage from my childhood. But I’m working on it. After all, I did dance in the rain with you.”
She smiled at him. “Yes, you did.” Her head filled with the memory of being held in his strong arms and dancing as the rain came down to caress them. Then he’d kissed her and she wanted him to kiss her again right in this moment.
She leaned toward him as their gazes remained locked. He angled his body to her and a hot anticipation simmered inside her. Closer and closer he came toward her and then he suddenly snapped back and straightened up.
“I’ll just get out of here and head home,” he said as he rose from the sofa.
Disappointed, she got up as well. She’d been so sure he was going to kiss her again, but it hadn’t happened. She walked with him to the front door.
“Good night, Dominique,” he said as he opened her door. “I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
“Good night, Luke.” As he walked out into the night, she closed and locked her door behind him.
She could have sworn he’d wanted to kiss her. She had seen a flame of desire in the depths of his green eyes. What had stopped him? Had she misread the desire? With a deep sigh, she turned off all the lanterns in the shanty except one, and that one she carried into her bedroom.
She’d thought she was hungry, but she decided just to go to bed instead. It was late and she was on duty at the café for breakfast the next morning.
It wasn’t long before she was in bed and asleep, and having dreams once again of dancing with and kissing Luke. Her alarm blared its wake-up call early the next morning and she got out of bed, dressed and got ready to go.
As she drove into work, she couldn’t help but think about that moment when she’d thought Luke was going to kiss her again. There was no question that she was physically drawn to him and she believed he was to her, too. She saw it in his eyes when he gazed at her and felt it in his very touch.
Was she mistaken? She didn’t believe so. She truly believed his desire for her matched her desire for him. Would it be so awful if they acted on it and slept together?
She smiled to herself and wondered where on his schedule making love fit in? The man couldn’t even adjust the time he ate, for crying out loud. And that reminded her of why he would never have a place in her future.
If they did fall in bed together, it wouldn’t be making love. Rather, it would just be an act of physical desire. Passion could come without love, right?
As she pulled up and parked behind the café, she shoved all thoughts of Luke and passion out of her head. It was time to go in and serve the good people of Dark Waters.
“Hey, girl, long time no talk,” Sunny said as Dominique walked into the break room.
“I know. I’ve just really been busy lately,” Dominique replied.
“Yeah, busy with the handsome Officer Madison. What is going on between you and Luke?” Sunny gazed at her with open curiosity.
Dominique opened a locker and put her purse inside before replying. “Luke and I are just friends. He’s…uh…helping me out with a personal problem.”
Sunny’s gaze turned sardonic. “It sure didn’t look like just friends when the two of you had lunch together the other day. That man looked at you like he wanted to eat you up.”
Dominique laughed. “He was probably looking at me as if I was an alien being. The two of us are very different.”
Sunny shook her head. “Nope, that wasn’t it, but obviously you’re being tight-lipped about your relationship with him. I get it if you’re not wanting to share it with me right now.”
“Sunny, I promise you there is nothing to share and you know I’d tell you if there was anything,” Dominique said with a small laugh. She slammed the locker and pocketed the key. “Now, it’s time to get to work.”
Minutes later, Dominique was taking orders and delivering food to the people in her section. There were several of her regulars there, including Burt and Austin.
“Hey, Jacob. What can I get for you this morning?” she said, greeting another one of her regulars. Jacob Benoit was a fisherman. He was single and rather attractive, and often blatantly flirted with Dominique.
“I’ll take a serving of you on a silver platter,” he replied with a bright twinkle in his dark eyes.
“Sorry, Jacob, unfortunately we are all out of our silver platters this morning,” she replied.
“Damn,” he replied with a grin. “Then I guess just give me my regular number two breakfast special. Hopefully, tomorrow morning there will be some silver platters in the house.”
She laughed. “We’ll have to see about that.”
“Maybe you could save one for me,” he replied.
“Sorry again, but we aren’t allowed to save the silver platters.”
“Oh, Dominique, you’re absolutely breaking my heart,” he said with mock melancholy.
She laughed once again. “I’m sure eating your breakfast will heal it right up. I’ll be right back with your food.”
She was still smiling as she moved away from his table. She had to admit, she enjoyed some of the teasing and flirting as long as it didn’t go too far and get creepy. It was all in good fun.
She also enjoyed it when the café was busy. Although it kept her on her feet, running from the pass where she picked up the food and then carrying it to tables to be served, it also made the time go very quickly.
Before she knew it, it was three o’clock and her day at work was finished.
She couldn’t wait to get home and take a shower.
She always felt like she smelled of fried onions when she left work.
Since it was a hot day with the sun bright overhead, she knew the rainwater she showered in would be nice and warm.
It didn’t take her long to arrive at the swamp’s entrance. She got out of her car and then began the walk in toward her shanty. As she walked, her thoughts were a jumble with Luke at the forefront.
How long would he be willing to continue backing her up at night when she shadowed Pierre?
He’d mentioned that he was on vacation. When his vacation time was over, would he still continue the nightly quests with her?
More concerning was without his presence as backup, would she be willing to do it all alone?
All of a sudden, from behind her a burlap bag fell over her head. She instantly stiffened as abject fear torched through her. What? Dear God, what was happening? She couldn’t see and danger screamed in her head.
The person behind her attempted to pull the large bag farther down her body and she knew if he managed to do that, then she would either be dead or she would never be seen again.
LUKE PUSHED BACK in his recliner. The plan was to get a short nap in before meeting Dominique later that night. It was just after three so he should be able to sleep for about an hour and a half, and then get up and fix himself some dinner.
He thought about the brief conversation he’d had with Dominique about his meal times. Logically, he knew the world wouldn’t explode if he ate at a different time. But emotionally it was difficult to give up on the schedules that had made him feel safe and in control after his tumultuous childhood.
He closed his eyes and tried to empty his mind as he sought sleep. But a vision of Dominique danced through his brain. She had wanted him to kiss her the night before.