AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thanks, Mel,” Tara called as I exited her minivan. “Thanks for indulging an adult-deprived mama and venturing out into the world with me.”
I waved. “Thanks for asking me. And thanks for the girl talk.”
Tara winked and drove off.
I stood there in the parking lot for a moment. It was a weekday, and everything was quiet. Somewhere close on an unseen balcony, a woman laughed.
There were no new texts on my phone. I could have just sent him a message saying, “Hey, I’m at your place. Let’s stay here tonight.” He’d have no reason to say no. I didn’t know why I was afraid to do it. Maybe the reason had something to do with the fact that he’d apparently already had an important talk with his brother about me and hadn’t seen fit to mention it. Instead I heaved a deep sigh, got behind the wheel of my car, and drove home where Luke and Lando waited. I slipped off my pinching heels, knelt down, and rubbed their furry heads.
Forty-five minutes later Dominic rang my doorbell, even though he didn’t need to. He had a key now. But when I opened up, he was standing there with a dozen roses, a cardboard box, and a rather shy grin.
“For me?” I asked when he held the flowers out. My instant smile was genuine. Other women might receive flowers all the time, but I’d never been one of them.
“Of course it’s for you,” he said, amused.
I sniffed the flowers. “What’s in the box?”
“Open it.”
Dominic followed me when I carried the box and flowers to the kitchen. I set the bouquet down and carefully pried open the cardboard edges of the box. I opened the lid and stared at what was inside.
“Told you I had a friend,” he explained. “Rafael. He owns Picayo’s Mexican Restaurant up on Camelback. He made these for you on special order. He said he’d be happy to host a cooking lesson.”
I was still staring wordlessly at the neatly packed tamales lined up in the box, so Dominic might have felt like he needed to keep talking.
“I know it won’t be exactly the same as your dad’s recipe,” he said, sounding a little uncertain, “but I thought it would make you happy.”
“It does,” I whispered. “It really does.”
He grinned. “Did you have fun tonight?”
“Yes. We had a great time,” I said, intentionally leaving out the part where we’d tried to sort through the mystery of him.
He nodded, somewhat absently. “Good,” he said. Then he cleared his throat. “Remember what I said earlier?”
“About what?”
“About how I wished I was the one taking you out on your night off. I meant it, Mel. I don’t want you to ever think there’s only one reason I’m here every night.”
So that’s what this was about. The flowers, the tamales. It was nearly midnight now, and Dominic had headed to the restaurant just after dawn this morning. He must be exhausted. This was the closest thing to a date Dominic could offer tonight.
“I don’t think that,” I said as I reached up and kissed him, lingering on his mouth as his hands circled my waist. The kiss quickly turned deep, passionate, our tongues playing an erotic game that our bodies ached to join. He pressed against me, and I felt the whole hard length of his arousal.
“Been thinking about you all day,” he groaned, hitching my dress up and bending his head low enough to teasingly run his tongue along my neckline. He smelled like the wood-burning ovens at Esposito’s. He felt as hot as fire itself.
“Show me,” I begged, and hastily pushed my panties down.
Dominic lifted me with a grunt. We didn’t go slowly. We tore and pushed and stroked and licked. We consumed each other wordlessly again and again. We’d fall asleep for a little while, then he roused me for yet another round. Once, while I was riding him and feeling the slow rise of my own personal tidal wave, I looked down into his eyes and lost all sense of place and time. It seemed like I’d never felt this connected to anyone, not ever.
There were still unsaid things between us, but they could wait.
For tonight they could wait.
