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I roll my eyes and admire the way those tight, black jeans hug his ass and muscular thighs perfectly. His broad shoulders line with tension as he puts the phone to his ear. Nothing about his situation with Kristen makes sense to me. He says they’re over, that their relationship and the friends with benefits situation has been done for quite some time, but she still touches him like she owns him, still calls him like he’s supposed to be on his way home to her.
She’s possessive of him, and it bothers me more than it should because Dominic isn’t mine. At least not in a real way. Not in the way he belonged to Kristen when they were together. Not in the way Eric belonged to me when he was here. Whatever we have now isn’t the same as what we shared with them, and I don’t think it gives me the right to question why Kristen feels the need to call him back to back any more than it gives him the right to question why I sleep in Eric’s shirt every night.
Not that he would ask. Apparently, Dominic doesn’t struggle with the same jealousy issues I do when it comes to Eric. Other men, like Ash and James, are a different story altogether though. Seeing me with both men brought out the same green-eyed monster he accuses me of having on my back, and even though I’ve never admitted it to him, I am jealous.
Because Kristen gets to call him whenever she wants. She gets to run her greedy hands all over his body in public and call him ‘babe’ no matter who’s around. And worst of all, she knows what it feels like to have him inside her. She’s experienced the things I’ve only dreamed about doing with him firsthand, and it makes me want to claw her eyes out.
I take another sip of my water, hoping the cool liquid will soothe the ugly, hot envy burning inside of me that’s aimed squarely at the woman who’s currently monopolizing the time Dominic should be spending with me.
Over my shoulder, I hear Sarah’s heels clicking on the concrete as she approaches the table with several plates expertly balanced in her hands and along her dainty forearms. Behind her, a stunning woman with rich ebony skin and eyes the color of whiskey waits patiently for the plates to be set with a glass of wine in her hand. One look at her perfectly tailored, designer pantsuit and the sleek, but sexy, ponytail her wavy tresses are secured in tells me she’s not a server like Sarah even though their name tags are identical. Hers says Nadia, and she’s probably Sarah’s boss, which would make her the manager and the one person working who has better things to do than personally deliver a glass of wine. Still, she sets it in front of me with a smile before turning on her heel to leave.
Sarah wipes her palms on her apron and glances at me. “Does everything look good? Can I get you anything else?”
“No. I think we’re okay for the moment. Maybe more water for him.”
I indicate Dominic with my chin, and both of our eyes go to him. He’s still on the phone but his back is turned to us, so I can’t tell how the conversation is going. Judging by the continued tension in the line of his shoulders, it’s probably not good.
“Of course,” Sarah says breathlessly, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes at the red flush creeping up her neck. She clears her throat and drags her eyes back to me. “You’re so lucky to have a boyfriend like Mr. Alexander. He seems like an extremely thoughtful partner.”
Keeping the disbelief from lining my features is a challenge. Were girls always this bad at hiding their interest in the man currently buying you dinner?
“Yes.” I agree, pinning her with a look I’ve seen my mother use on overly friendly women who faun over my dad at the country club. “Dominic is a very thoughtful man.”
I don’t feel the need to tell her he’s not my boyfriend. The last thing this dinner needs is Sarah throwing herself all over Dominic while she refills his water glass. If he ever makes it back to the table, that is.
A flicker of uncertainty passes through her corn-flower blue eyes, and I only hate myself a little bit for channeling my mother to make her feel uncomfortable.
“Right. I’ll be right back with that water.”
I nod mixing the dressing into my salad without looking at her. “Sounds good. Thank you, Sarah.”
The sound of her heels clicking back to the server’s area ring out and then subside quickly, leaving me in near silence. Dominic’s voice carries from the other side of the dining area as he turns his head to look at me. I feel his gaze, but I keep mixing my salad. Whatever they’re discussing doesn’t have anything to do with me, but my heart still lifts when I hear him tell her he has to go.
When his heavy footsteps are heading back towards the table, I finally allow myself to look up. His brows are pinched together and the muscle in his jaw is fluttering rapidly. Obviously, the phone call with Kristen has made him upset. I open my mouth to ask what’s wrong, close it because my brain is screaming that it’s none of my business. Then open it again because it kind of is my business since she interrupted our dinner.
“Is everything okay?”
Dominic sits down with a sigh. “Yeah. She’s just…” He scrubs a hand over his face. “I don’t know what’s going on with her lately. There’s this case she’s handling at work that has her stressed out, and she’s used to venting to me.”
My lips roll inward as I try to school my features into an expression of understanding I don’t feel. I want to give Kristen the benefit of the doubt because I can’t imagine the stress she’s under as a defense attorney. My dad just handles real estate law, and he’s got high blood pressure directly related to his job, so I believe dealing with high-profile cases where people’s lives are on the line can take its toll on you.
But I find it hard to believe Dominic is the only person in her life who can understand what she’s going through. I mean, she must have friends from work, family members, or a therapist she can call on Saturday night when she’s having a breakdown.
And who’s sitting around thinking about work on a Saturday night? Not anyone I know.
I study Dominic as he takes a sip of water and fight the urge to tell him his ex-girlfriend is full of shit. She might be stressed at work, but that doesn’t have anything to do with the back to back calls to his phone on a Saturday evening when most single, attractive men are either out on a date or preparing to go out and find someone to spend the rest of their night with.
It kind of feels like she’s determined to get in the way of him moving on, and I can’t help but wonder if she was the one calling him back to back that night at Club Noir. Judging by her behavior tonight, that seems extremely likely.
“It’s nice of you to be there for her,” I say before taking a sip of my wine to wash away the bitter taste of the lie.
Dominic’s eyes burn into mine as he cuts into his steak. “You don’t mean that.”
What’s the point of lying when the man sees right through me?
“No.” I bite my lip and hold his eyes. “I don’t.”
His gaze drops to my mouth. “You never told me what you need from me, angel. We’re not leaving this rooftop until we both lay out what we need to make this relationship work.”
