Page 44 of Miss Treated

“Name it.”

“Get some rest.”

He flipped my wrist and kissed the inside in an intimate gesture. “I have a confession.”

It hardly seemed fair to listen to it when he was drugged, but I couldn’t resist. “What is it?”

“I think you’re really special.”

My breath caught at his complete seriousness.

Then he lightened it up. “By the way, not sure what your plans are for the rest of the day, but your hand is staying here with me.”

Cradling my hand with both of his, he laid it alongside his handsome face. Then he was out.

I found myself reluctant to leave him. Movement caught my eye as Lady snuck in through his door. She jumped up on his bed and curled up in a tight little ball at the foot.

After extracting my hand from Dominic’s, I moved slowly to see if she’d allow me to pet her. Much to my delight, she did. “What a good girl.”

I left the door open a crack in case Lady needed out and returned to the living room. Seemed strange to be in his space with free license to look around. A note on the dining table caught my eye, and I couldn’t resist reading it since it was signed with “I love you.” Imagine my relief to find it was from his mom. She must’ve watched Lady while Dominic was away. According to the note, the dog had been dropped off an hour ago, so she wouldn’t need to go back outside for a while.

Next, I went into his kitchen and opened his refrigerator. Dozens of hot sauces and other condiments lined the outside shelves, while the inside had milk and a variety of fruits and vegetables. I took out a pitcher of water and, after searching his top cabinets, found a glass.

The next order of business was to take in the ocean view. Holy crap. It was everything. Stepping out on his balcony, I breathed in the ocean air and let the sun fall on my face. Peace settled over me whenever I was near the water.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. Ruby had returned my earlier text asking if she had time today. She was available in ten minutes. In light of what had happened with Joel in New York, I wanted to tell my therapist everything while it was still fresh.

I set up my laptop outside on the round table on Dominic’s balcony. I only hoped he didn’t wake up while I was on my video call.

Ruby’s face came up on the screen, making me smile. She often wore a new wig, and this week she’d ditched the red for platinum blond.

“Hello, Kelsey, nice to see you.”

My smile was genuine. “Nice to see you too. Love the hair.”

She fluffed up the sides. “Thank you. If I could get away with bleaching my hair this color without ruining it, I’d do it in a heartbeat. Now your hair, I’d kill for. Your text indicated something happened in New York. What happened?”

I decided to get straight to the point. “I saw Joel. He ambushed me at a charity gala sponsored by the company I’m working for. Then he surprised me again at my hotel room later.”

Her jaw about dropped. “How did he find out you were there?”

“I told my mother where I was and about the gala.” I sighed, wanting to get something off my chest. “I didn’t stand up to him the way I’d hoped.” I went on to give her all the details, including how Dominic had come to the rescue.

Normally, she would write a lot of notes, but this time she simply stared. “I’d like to talk about this Dominic in a moment, and your mother. But for now, I want to say that standing up for yourself isn’t always a television moment where you get to completely tell off the person who wronged you. In this case, you established your boundaries. You disengaged, which is what you have to do with a narcissist. I am concerned about his temper, though.”

“Me too. To be cautious, I’m at Dominic’s place for the weekend instead of at my hotel across from Chambers Tech.” I was on the fence about switching hotels.

Her brows went high. “I see. And where is Dominic?”

“He is a nervous flier, so he took a Xanax and is napping now. I’m on his balcony.”

“Why don’t you tell me more about him? Last time we spoke you’d said no to dating him.”

I couldn’t keep from blushing. “He’s still a lot. But in New York, he was sweet. He offered his guest room and didn’t do it in a way where I felt pressured if that makes sense.”

“It does make sense.”

“I’m scared.”