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Dominic
Dom didn’t think his cock had ever been this hard before. Lula Stanley was turning out to be quite the surprise. In all the right ways. Who would have thought she’d be such a capable flirt? And bright and funny and so fucking beautiful that it hurt to look at her.
Good Lord, he couldn’t wait to explore every inch of her.
“My place,” she told him as soon as their cinnamon rolls arrived in their to-go box.
“Yes, ma’am.” He would have taken her wherever she wanted. The car was good enough for him. Hell, a closet would work. As long as he had his hands on her ass, it didn’t matter.
They rushed to his car, half giggling, half desperate, and she growled at him when he fumbled with his keys.
“This century, Adams,” she murmured.
Had he any control, he would have teased her but he couldn’t. He needed that luscious body in front of him, he needed her nipples in his mouth, and he needed to feast on her pussy until she came all over his face. There was no time now for banter.
As they buckled into their seats, he looked down at his lap, cock fully erect, and then at her. “This is what you do to me, Miss Stanley.”
She grinned. “Just wait and see what else I can do.”
“Fuck.” He turned the car on. “Hold on tight, I might exceed the speed limit.”
“I should hope so.”
He laughed, maneuvered the car out of the lot, and sped off down the street, trying his damnedest not to think about how wet she was, about how her breasts were heaving in anticipation. How he was going to take her over and over and over. And definitely over her couch.
Her phone rang.
Fuck.
She jumped a little at the sound and fumbled for her phone with shaking hands. “Hospital,” she mouthed to him.
In an instant, he felt his chances of sinking his cock into her fade.
“Yes, this is Tallulah.” She gave him an apologetic look. “Really?” Her voice rose three pitches in excitement. “That’s amazing! I’ll be right there. Thank you for calling.”
“She’s awake,” she squealed once she hung up.
“Lula, that’s awesome,” he told her. Despite his hard-as-a-rock cock, he was thrilled Nan was okay. An evening of frustrating hard-ons was worth the joy in her eyes.
Her face fell after a moment. “Oh, Dom, I’m sorry, I really need to go back up and see her.”
“Don’t apologize, it’s okay. Your grandmother is more important.”
“But I really wanted to ... I don’t want you to think that I—”
He cut her off by wrapping his fingers around hers. “Lu, there will be another time, it’s okay. She needs you.”
She caught his eyes and nodded after a moment. “Thank you, I’m just so happy I ... I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to talk to her again.”
“I’m happy too, for both of you.” Christ, what was wrong with him? Old Dom would have been beyond irritated by the situation. But he wasn’t. He was truly happy for her. It might take bashing his head against a brick wall to take away his throbbing erection, but for Lula, it seemed, he’d do just about anything.
Jesus, nothing made sense anymore.
He pulled up to the hospital entrance. “Would you like me to come up?”
She smiled at him. “I think I’ll go up alone. I don’t think I can focus with you there.” She was blushing delightfully. “I’m likely to jump your bones in a utility closet.”
He laughed. “You know I had that exact thought earlier.”
“Great minds,” she answered, tapping her forehead. “I really am sorry, Dom.”
“Stop it.” He leaned forward and kissed her. It wasn’t sensual in any way—he couldn’t have handled that without exploding. “We’ll have another chance.”
“God, I hope so.” She groaned.
“Get out of the car,” he growled, “or you’re just going to have to figure out a way to sit on my lap.” He imagined her pussy sliding over his cock, her ass on his steering wheel, and his brain nearly short-circuited.
Her cute, “A tempting thought,” didn’t help.
“Out.” He shooed her away, “And keep me updated, okay?”
“I will,” she promised. With a shy smile, she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for everything. You’ve been wonderful.”
That kiss. That tiny, simple kiss made his entire world shift. Everything was sideways. Dazed, he cleared his throat. “You’re welcome.”
Sighing sadly, she opened the car door and stepped out. “Goodnight, Mr. Adams.”
“Goodnight, Lu,” he breathed.
He watched her walk into the hospital. Her, not her ass, and drove off shaking his head. For the love of God, what was he doing?
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Lula
“Lula,” Nan whispered when she walked through the door, her voice crackled through dry lips. She tried reaching out to her, but her arms were tethered by a myriad of IVs and other medical wires.
“I’m here, Nan.” Lula rushed forward to grasp her hand. She kissed her forehead and relief filled her, she was so very grateful that her grandmother was awake and lucid. She hadn’t been sure how the stroke was going to do to advance her dementia, and just having the chance to talk to her again was more than she had hoped for.
“Lula,” Nan said again, clearly using all of her energy to communicate. Her fingers curled weakly around hers. “Love you.”
“Oh, Nan.” Tears slipped from her eyes. She pressed her lips to the hands she had known her whole life. “I love you too, so, so much. I thought you were leaving me.”
With a feeble hand, Nan reached up and touched Lula’s cheek and whispered, “Not ... ready,” before she rested back into the pillow again. She was asleep again in seconds.
Letting out a breath, Lula wiped her tears, pulled up the chair, and settled next to her for the night. Now that Nan was awake, she wasn’t going anywhere.
Around six the next morning, Nana woke again and was in surprisingly good spirits. Her mind was clear and she joked with the nurses as they poked and prodded her.
The nurses kept telling Lula that Nan had made an astounding recovery considering her dementia and the severity of the stroke. The doctor had even better news; she was going to be able to go home the next day. Nan clapped her hands together like a little girl and Lula fired off an excited text to Dom.
LULA: Nan gets to go home tomorrow!
The speed of his reply made her smile. She could just picture the smile crinkling the corner of his eyes.
DOM: That’s amazing! I’m so glad.
LULA: Me too!
What did she say next? How did she thank him for saving her from the sweeping loneliness that had threatened her? He answered her before she could think of anything worthwhile to say.
DOM: Will you be at school tomorrow?
LULA: No, I need to make sure she gets checked out and transferred.
DOM: School’s not the same without you.
She blushed. Deeply.
LULA: Because you have no one to torture?
DOM: I think you might have this situation backwards, beautiful.
She shivered with happiness.
LULA: I’ll be back for good Monday as long as everything goes as planned.
DOM: I’m not sure I can wait that long to kiss you.
Her entire body trilled and she smiled as she typed.
LULA: I’m not sure you’ll have to.
DOM: That is VERY good news.
LULA: Have a good day, Dom.
DOM: You too, Lu.
The next morning was a flurry with all the paperwork that would release Nan back to the memory center. But it was a happy one. Dom had messaged her through the night and she felt like a giddy schoolgirl as she signed on all the dotted lines and thanked the hospital staff until her throat ached.
Nan was in good spirits, if a little less focused, but she knew who Lula was and her vitals were perfect. Before noon she was settled back into her room at the memory care center and Lula snuggled up with her to watch John Wayne.
It was perfect.
And every time she thought about Dom, she would beam. He wanted her. Of that much, she was certain even if she couldn’t quite understand it. And she wanted him. Lord did she want him. All she could think about was running her hands down his abs, licking the curve of his neck, running her fingers through his hair ...
“Lula,” Nan said later in the evening, pulling her thoughts from the thousandth fantasy she had that day. Her eyes looked a little brighter. “Lula, you’ve been smiling all night.”
Embarrassed, she tried to wipe said smile from her face but couldn’t. “I’m just so happy you’re feeling better, Nan. That you’re back here and settled.”
“Hogwash,” Nan tossed a hand through the air and searched her face. Her voice was still weak, but it had enough punch to get her point across. “That is the smile of a woman who is thinking about a man.”
Lula blushed. Why did she ever think she could hide anything from this woman? It hadn’t worked a day in her life, it wasn’t going to work now. Even after a stroke and dementia the woman could read her like a large print novel. “Okay, fine, I might have been thinking about a particular man.”
Nana smiled brighter than she had seen in ages, her pale blue eyes danced. “Lula Jane, did you really think you could hide anything from me?” She chuckled when Lula shook her head and said, “You know that means you have to tell me about him.”
With a deep breath, Lula laced her fingers together and tried to find the words. She was aware that she was smiling like an idiot but couldn’t help it. How did one describe such a man?
“I work with him at East,” she started. “I’ve known him for a while, but we’ve never really interacted much.” She took a breath. “He’s handsome, Nan, so handsome.”
“He’d better be smart too.” She pointed at her. “You deserve no less, you hear me?”
Lula smiled. “Of course, Nan.”
“And what is this handsome man’s name?”
“Dom.” She knew the word came out reverently because Nana’s eyebrows shot up to the ceiling.
“Well, now I must know everything.”
For the next several minutes Lula tried her best to outline how things had progressed with Dom. He was so easy to talk about, so easy to like. Defining what they were to each other, on the other hand, was extraordinarily difficult.
“He sounds perfect,” Nana said when she finished her very lengthy account.
He was. And that worried her. He had a reputation for being the perfect man right up until he wasn’t interested anymore. What if they took this farther? “He’s pretty great,” she finally answered with a sigh and didn’t add why she was worried about that.
She would inevitably fall in love; it was a bad habit of hers. And when that happened and he inevitably moved on, would she just have to watch him from the sidelines at school day after day?
She wouldn’t survive it. Not a chance.
She knew it would destroy her. She also knew there wasn’t a chance in hell she could stay away from him at this point. It was likely just the beginning of another lap around the heartbreak track.
She let out an audible sigh that Nan noticed but didn’t comment on. She was grateful.
She knew she was going to move forward and let this burning energy between them finally find its climax, but she needed to do it with a clear head, an understanding that he would eventually move on.
Dominic Adams wouldn’t be any more hers than he had been two weeks ago.
She wished that didn’t hurt quite as much as it did.