“I’m going out,” I say as I turn and start towards the door. “Your lunch is in the fridge. Peach and I already ate.”
“Where are you going?”
“I told you this morning. I’m going to find another job.”
“Em,” he says, and my name sounds more like a plea than anything else. I pause, but instead of saying more, I hear him exhale a long breath.
I open the wooden door, and the chill outside brushes my face.
When he still doesn’t speak, I glance at him over my shoulder, and the confusion I see on his face tugs at my heart.
“You shouldn’t go out alone.”
“You can’t keep me locked inside forever. I’m not a little kid.”
He shoves his balled-up fists into the pockets of his jeans. “Nobody is keeping you locked up anywhere, Em.”
I look away. “It feels that way,” I admit.
“I’m just trying to keep you safe. Don’t confuse that for control. I’m not him.”
I open my mouth to argue, but Peach’s big brown eyes flicker between us, so I close it again. I’m not getting into this in front of her.
“I’ll drive you,” he says, stepping closer. “Wherever you need to go. I’ll take you.”
I swallow hard. Part of me wants to refuse, to insist I can manage, but another part—the part that’s been scrambling to hold everything together—knows he’s right.
“Okay,” I whisper.
I blow out a frustrated breath as I slide back into the passenger seat of Dominic’s vehicle.
“No luck?” he asks as he reaches for the ignition.
“No. And none of them are hiring either.”
I’ve been to six different businesses this morning and haven’t managed to secure so much as an interview.
After I click my seat belt into place, I glance into the rear of the vehicle. Peach is out cold in her booster seat, her head tipped at that weird angle kids seem totally fine with. It makes me feel guilty for dragging them out with me. She should be curled up in her own bed right now.
Dominic’s been so patient, driving me anywhere I need to go, even tossing out a few suggestions along the way. Mick never did anything like this for me.
When I first moved back and needed to find work, I asked him to drop me off in town. His answer?“There’s a bus stop at the end of the street.”
“What kind of work were you doing before you moved here?” Dominic asks as he pulls out into the traffic.
“I was working part-time as a dance teacher during the day, and at night?—”
“You’re a dancer?”
I lift one shoulder. “In my past life, yes.”
“What kind of dancing?”
“Ballet.”
“You worked nights as well?”
I nod. “At a club. That’s how I reconnected with Mick. He and his bikie friends came in one night.”
