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“You took over my house? My family?” He’d looked everywhere for her, and she was right here? He’d driven for twelve straight hours, gotten a speeding ticket and been hit on by a redhead named Flo whose age was somewhere between fifty and a well-preserved ninety. He’d been frantic, sure he’d lost Lara for good. Sure he’d ruined the best thing in his life he wasn’t positive he wanted.
All the time, she’d been here.
His head was spinning. Dominic didn’t know if he should grab her, strip her naked and celebrate finding her again. Or grab her and shake her crazy.
Either way, he wanted his hands on her—fast.
“I told you, I’m visiting.”
“Don’t you usually let the host know you’re visiting?”
“Right,” she said, laughing. “Like you’d have let me stay here without bugging me if you knew where I was.”
“You realize you just proved my point, right?”
Her sigh was a work of art. And it did amazing things for the black sweater she was wearing. Which he told himself he wasn’t noticing. He refused to let himself get distracted by sex. His body didn’t agree, but Dominic figured he had enough anger to override its wishes.
“You’re grumpy,” she observed before leaning over to lift a plate from the coffee table. “Want a churro? Your aunt dropped them off this morning. She made them for the wedding and had extras.”
“My aunt...” Dominic couldn’t take it all in.
She’d claimed his paranoia about her using him for his family had been a lame attempt to push her away. And she’d been right.
Yet here she was in his house. Spending more time with his family than he did. Dominic didn’t think he’d ever been this confused in his life.
“Look, you said you thought I was using you. You said you thought I had some deep-seated need for family. So I figured I’d try yours on and see if you were right.”
“This is an insane invasion of privacy,” he said, throwing his hands in the air as he paced from one end of the room to the other.
“Like you’re one to talk?” She laughed. “You hauled me off under false pretenses, kept important information from me, then tried to run my life. All I did was sleep in your bed.”
Images of Lara in his bed did a tempting dance in his brain. Dominic stopped pacing so fast he was surprised his feet didn’t kick up smoke.
No sex, he reminded himself.
Not even in his imagination.
Dominic forced his thoughts back on the straight and narrow, promising his body an ice-cold shower if he could get through this without grabbing Lara.
“Seriously. Why are you here?”
Lara sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, sending his thoughts flying right back to the image of her, naked on his bed. Dominic almost groaned.
“You ignored everything I said. I told you about my career goals and I told you how much I’d hated my upbringing,” she said quietly, looking at her fingers instead of at him. “I opened myself up to you. So when you blew off my feelings, it hurt me.”
God.
Dominic scrubbed his hands over his face, two days’ whiskers scraping his skin.
He’d been such a jerk.
“I know. I’m sorry,” he told her. Whatever happened between them—and he figured it’d probably be goodbye—he owed her that. “I figured it out the day after you ran away.”
“I didn’t run away,” she snapped, hurt clearing from her face as she glared. “I told you I was leaving. And if you knew, then why didn’t you do anything? Why’d you wait a month to find me?”
“You think I haven’t been trying?” This was it. This was what was going to push him over the edge. “I was on duty, which means I can’t traipse off chasing a woman who tells me we’re through. I left messages, though. I called the casino. I talked to your brother. Hell, I even went by your old apartment.”
She got to her feet, tucking her fingers into the front pockets of her jeans while she frowned.
“You went to Reno?”
“Yesterday.”
“That’s why you’re late for the wedding?”
“For the fourth time today, the wedding isn’t until Saturday. I’m not late,” he ground out.
“So why’d you go looking for me?” she asked.
“Why don’t you tell me why you’re in my house?” he shot back.
“You first.” When Dominic just glared, Lara wrinkled her nose and shrugged. “I was back east, but I figured we had some things to settle between us. And Lucas had invited me to the wedding, so I figured this was as good a time as any to settle them.”
