AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It was cute.
“Lucas figures you’re gonna nail the security tech internship.” Waiting for the light to signal that they were clear to turn onto the freeway, Dominic reached over to flick Lara’s scarf, just there by the tip of her breast. “He’s trying to figure out how to change your mind and get you to come on board with Castillo Security instead.”
He grinned when he saw that her nipple had hardened against her T-shirt. Damn, she was delicious.
Lara twisted around, one knee on the seat between them as she reached over to grab his arm. She didn’t seem interested in her body’s reaction, though.
“He really said that?” Lara’s laugh sounded more stunned than amused as she reached over to lay her hand on his arm.
He looked at her fingers with a frown, realizing this was the first sign of vulnerability he’d seen in her. After everything she’d been through, this got to her?
Dominic prided himself on knowing women. What made them tick, what got them happy, what turned them to mush.
But Lara kept on surprising him.
“Yeah.” He shot her a glance. “Why the disbelief? Didn’t you say you’re top of your class? That means you’re good, right?”
“Well, sure,” she said with a shrug. “But good and good enough for a company like Castillo Security are two different things. Why didn’t you tell me before that your family owned the biggest security company on the West Coast?”
“Sorry. I rarely think to share that with women.” Or his assignments.
“Well, you should. It’s pretty impressive.”
Dominic gave her a baffled look.
“Lara, I’m a Navy SEAL. You really think I need to work to impress women?”
Lara’s laughter burst out, filling the cab of the truck and making him grin.
She was tough, savvy, strong.
She was sexy, gorgeous and demanding.
And she had one hell of a sense of humor.
And that was why he was falling for her.
No.
Dominic stopped that thought in its tracks.
That was crazy thinking. It was just the novelty of seeing a woman around his family.
The ultimate challenge of fixing her life so it was as great as she deserved.
It was sex.
Just sex.
Dominic settled into the seat, one hand on the wheel and the other arm stretched across the bench seat so he could play with the short ends of Lara’s hair. As the miles passed, he plotted.
She needed family.
He knew where she had one.
Time to fix that little rift, whatever it was, and give her that connection she craved.
Then he could get over this crazy idea of sharing his.
Because thinking like that, it was purely stupid.
That was the kind of thinking that led to expectations, sharing closet space and, God forbid, long-term commitment.
Nope.
Tension faded, leaving Dominic to focus on his fallback emotion toward women: affectionate lust. Yeah. That’s all he felt for Lara.
And as long as he ignored that laughing voice in the back of his head, everything would be just fine.
* * *
“SO TELL ME about your family.”
Lara’s gaze ricocheted off the soothing view of fields and trees to stare at Dominic. Frowning, she gave him an irritated look he didn’t see because, of course, he was driving.
“Why?” Talking about them would ruin the nice mood she’d been in.
“Because I’m curious. C’mon, you know everything about mine. Don’t tell me my grandmother didn’t show you that picture frame with all of my school photos. Kindergarten to graduation, with a story for every year.”
Lara’s annoyance faded a little as she recalled his second-grade picture. He’d been so cute with his front teeth missing and his hair in little-punk-boy spikes.
“I liked your prom pictures better,” she said, shifting in her seat and reaching over to tap his thigh with her fingers. “So did you get lucky with that cute little blonde?”
“Which one? I went to three proms.”
“All with blondes?”
“What can I say, it was a phase,” he said with a shrug. Then he shot her a laughing look. “I’m partial to brunettes now, though.”
“You’re partial to anything female, you mean. Don’t try to deny it. I talked to at least twenty members of your family this week and every one had a story about you and a girl. But no two were the same girl.”
“So I know how you went from Maryland to New York, but how did you end up in Reno?” he asked, surprising her.
“You want to know how I ended up a showgirl, you mean?”
“Sure, maybe. I’m not criticizing, I’m just curious. Broadway indicates some major dedication. So why would you leave it?”
“I had to.” Lara shifted in her seat, wishing he’d talk about something else. She hated thinking about what she’d given up. It wasn’t that she was so dedicated that she mourned leaving something she’d spent most of her life training for. No, she just hated the reminder of why she’d lost it all.
