Peeking out through the door curtain, I watched Dominic’s broad back as he left the store. It was foolish of me to be excited that he was taking me to dinner, but I was. There was no future for us—stupid me, even considering future with a man like him—but he stirred feelings inside me.
For a moment there, when he was asking me out, I’d forgotten about my baby. I couldn’t make that mistake again. My baby would have to come first.
Whatever he thought he saw in me, he wouldn’t be interested after he found out I was pregnant. I’d have to tell him. Tonight.
Dread and anticipation fought inside me all afternoon. I dropped two cans, denting one so bad it was unsellable. Sophie banished me from the market early, telling me to go take a nap. I obeyed.
At least, I left the market and lay down. My head was overloaded with thoughts. Not just Dominic, but what Mr. Bruin and the others had promised. My baby would be safe. Nobody like Biter would ever be able to hurt my baby.
When six o’clock came around, I was ready. I didn’t really have any clothes to change into, but Sophie had found a silky scarf with metallic threads. Tucking it over my shoulders, I felt a little more festive, like I was on a real, actual date.
A date.
My stomach fluttered, from nerves and not my baby this time. I’d never been on a date before. I’d gone out to lunch with Dominic, but that didn’t count, did it? This probably didn’t count either. He just wanted some company.
That made sense. A lot more sense than him liking me. It was a disappointment, but I was lucky he wanted that much. My thinking he was the most handsome man I’d ever seen didn’t mean he thought anything like that about me. I was just convenient.
When the knock came, Sophie was still at the market. Squaring my shoulders, I opened the door.
Despite knowing it was going to be Dominic, seeing him gave me a little shock. He loomed over me, but somehow he felt safe and not scary. Despite the cold, he wore his jacket unzipped. His dark polo shirt hugged his rippling muscles. A hank of his straight brown hair had fallen in front of his blue eyes. He brushed it back, grinning at me.
Unable to meet his eyes, I stared at his lips. That was no help at all, because I started imagining what it would be like to kiss them. A sudden surge of desire swept through me. A part of me I’d thought frozen forever melted. I wanted him to touch me. I wanted his lips all over me. I wanted—all sorts of things I shouldn’t even be thinking about.
Abruptly I turned away, afraid he could read my face. I was imagining how it would feel to be wrapped in those big strong arms. I inched a safe distance away from him before turning.
His eyes staring at me were so intent. His face—I had to be misreading him, but I thought I saw yearning. For some reason my cheeks got warm. It wouldn’t be me he was yearning for, if that was even what he felt.
Looking away from him, I slipped on the jacket Sophie had given me.
With a flourish, he gestured at the door. “After you.”
A thrill went through me. It was okay to pretend for one evening that he was taking me out on a real date. It would be something to remember when I was changing diapers and wiping up baby barf. I smiled, thinking of my baby.
He caught my smile, and his face glowed with happiness. I stumbled over Sophie’s throw rug, taken aback by his emotion. Catching my elbow, he steadied me. He kept his hand on me until we were out the door and down the front step.
The walk to the diner was only a block and a half. I didn’t know what to talk about, but he didn’t seem to mind the silence, and after awhile I relaxed. Maybe it wasn’t necessary to talk.
It was a little embarrassing to go inside the diner. Mac and his wife had always been really nice, but they were going to think things that weren’t true if I kept going there with Dominic. I realized abruptly they might think Dominic was my baby’s daddy.
Mac was delivering an armload of plates to one of the tables, and he called for us to sit where we wanted.
His hand on my lower back, Dominic guided me to the one empty booth. “Is this okay?”
I nodded and slid into the booth. I missed the warmth of his hand, but he couldn’t be allowed to touch me anymore. I couldn’t let people get the wrong idea even though he seemed completely oblivious of what people thought.
He leaned back, his arms spread wide along the back of his seat. He’d taken off his jacket before sitting, and his arms below the short sleeves were heavily muscled. I liked sitting in the booth. It made me feel safe to have that solid cushion behind me. But the booth was too small for him, despite his pushing the table toward me. He was just so big.
“We can sit at a table,” I said. “You’d be more comfortable.”
He grinned at me. “I’m happy here.”
“Are you sure…” I glanced at the tables. They looked so exposed.
“I’m sure.” His voice was solid with conviction.
While I was shrugging out of my jacket, Mac brought us a couple of menus. I had trouble concentrating and ended up just ordering whatever Dominic got.
“What do you want on it?” Mac asked me.
I frowned at the menu. “The normal stuff.”
Mac took our menus and left, and I was alone with Dominic again.
A date. I couldn’t shake the thought. Lunch with him that time had been different. He’d just wanted more information from me, even if he didn’t bug me with questions.
Tonight my feelings were getting in the way. I wanted him to want me. Worse, I wanted him.
I shouldn’t, not pregnant like I was. But it wouldn’t hurt to pretend for an evening that I wasn’t, right? Like I was out on a date to have a fun time. I wasn’t showing yet. He didn’t have to know.
He was watching me, his smile gentle. A rush of desire for him shook me. My insides quivered, and the heat traveled down to my pussy.
Embarrassed at my raw need, I fiddled with my fork and knife, straightening the paper napkin they rested on and centering them.
Dominic took my hands, covering them completely in his big warm paws.
“Laleesha.”
My name had never sounded so sweet.
“You never have to be afraid with me.”
My eyes flew to his face. “I’m not scared of you,” I said earnestly.
His smile was so bright it hurt to look at it. His grip on my hands tightened. Thoughts about how they might feel stroking my back and cupping my tits made the blood rush to my head. I dipped my head, not wanting him to know how he affected me.
Except he might go away before anything happened between us. He would go away eventually, but before he did I wanted to feel his hands on my naked skin and run my hands along his rippling muscles.
I forced myself to meet his gaze, and fell deep into his blue eyes. My lips parted involuntarily. I may have panted a little. He leaned forward.
“Here’s your chow!” Mac said cheerfully.
Dominic released my hands. I jerked them back into my lap.
Mac set down my plate with a thump. I’d ordered a hamburger, a giant double patty with two kinds of cheese, bacon, and topped with what looked like a full salad.
“I’ll never be able to finish this,” I told Dominic after Mac had gone.
“They can box up your leftovers,” Dominic reassured me. “Just eat what you can. You need to take care of yourself.”
His protective tone was slightly jarring. He couldn’t know I was pregnant. Nobody knew except Sophie, Val, Cara, and Mr. Bruin and his wife. They wouldn’t have told him, would they?
The burger did smell good. I managed to eat a quarter of it before giving up. Dominic ate all of his before I was done. It was amazing to watch him put that food away.
I pushed my plate to the side. “You must spend a fortune on food.”
“Something like that.” He grinned, but there was a flicker of something in his eyes. “I come from a line of hearty eaters.”
I wondered about his family, even though they were none of my business. “You come from around here?” I asked tentatively.
“Central Valley,” he answered. “The town where I grew up is bigger than Nowhere, but just barely. I left as soon as I could. The city for me.”
“Oh.” I never wanted to go back to a city again. Well, Arquinta maybe couldn’t be called a city, just a big town. I still didn’t want to go back.
“You like it here.” His voice was tender.
“Yes,” I admitted. Suddenly brave, I added, “Mr. Bruin promised to build me a cabin. For when—for my—”
Before I could finish, Mac swooped down on our table. “Here’s your tab.” He left the bill in front of Dominic and grabbed my plate. “I’ll box this for you.”
I shrank back in my seat, the moment broken. Thank goodness Mac came before I said too much. Dominic wouldn’t be interested in my being pregnant.
“Bear’s a good guy.” Dominic smiled reassuringly.
“Yeah,” I agreed without conviction. It was so strange that they wanted to help me, but better them than Mama and Biter.
“Ready to go?”
I nodded.
After I slid out from the booth, he helped me put on my jacket. The attention confused me so I didn’t know up from down. I liked it and wanted more, but it all had to be a mistake. He thought I was something I wasn’t.
I didn’t care. I could pretend for a little while. He’d find out what I really was and leave, but I’d have something to remember.
He paid the bill and took my boxed leftovers from Mac, and ushered me out of the café. “Would you like to go for a walk?”
When I nodded my head vigorously, he turned in the direction opposite the market. We strolled along the line of darkened storefronts. Everything was closed now except the café, and it would be closed in another hour.
The only lights were the ones over the shops’ front doors and the lampposts at the two intersections. Dominic strode along as though he had cat eyes, guiding me around puddles and warning me of uneven steps in between asking me about the different shops and the people who ran them. When we got to the end of the block, we crossed the street and came back on the other side.
Dominic was so polite, only touching me on my hand or elbow, and his talk all pleasant and distant. I didn’t want distant. I wanted him breathing hard and squeezing the breath out of me. I wanted all sorts of things I shouldn’t be thinking about. Walking beside him, I felt the energy coiled up inside his body. I wanted all that energy pouring inside of me.
I’d never felt this way for anyone. Those other times had been about them, not me. Something about Dominic set off an avalanche of need inside me.
My footsteps dragged the closer we got to the store and Sophie’s house. “Dominic,” I whispered.
“Yes?” His voice, sharp with question, rumbled through me. A string of lights framing a shop window cast their glow on his face.
“I—” I raised my hands helplessly. I didn’t know how to say it.
Setting the bag of leftovers down on the windowsill, he took my hands. “What is it?”
The concern in his voice brought a lump to my throat. I shook my head, unable to talk past it.
“What’s wrong, Laleesha?”
I could almost die happy, if this were my last moment on earth. Greedy me, it wasn’t enough. I squeezed his hands. I forced out the words, “I want to be with you.”
“Be with me…” He tilted his head as though he misheard. His eyes raked my face.
I didn’t know how to be any blunter. “You and me, alone…”
He sucked in his breath. “Laleesha, you don’t have to. I’m happy just to spend time with you.”
I recoiled. Stupid, stupid, stupid me. Of course he didn’t want me. I blindly stepped forward, and off the high curb.
For an instant I felt the empty space beneath my foot. My whole body tilted, tumbling forward. Before I could touch ground Dominic had scooped me out of the air.
He held me tight against his chest. My arms crept around his neck. I clung to him.
And his arms wrapped tighter, squeezing me. Something hard dug into my thigh, through two layers of jacket. His breath was warm against my ear. So close to him, I could smell his aftershave, faint against the earthy scent of him. Being so close to his heat made me a little giddy.
“I want you, Laleesha,” he whispered in my ear. “I’ve wanted you since the first moment I saw you. It’s just—I don’t want to rush things. You had a rough time. I don’t want to take advantage of you.”
“Please take advantage of me,” I mumbled into his neck.
His arms jerked so tight around me I squeaked, unable to breathe. He immediately released me.
Setting me back on my feet, he stepped back and thrust his hands in his pockets. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“You didn’t!” I wailed. “I want—”
“What do you want?” His blue eyes glinted.
“I already told you.” I looked away from him.
Taking his hands out of his pockets, he gripped my shoulders. “No,” he said, “I mean do you want it like this—”
He kissed me, his lips soft and warm against mine. I swear, my heart fluttered. My lips parted, and so did his, and he matched his breath to mine. As we breathed in and out together, my pussy melted. Whatever he wanted…
His eyes bright on my face, he pulled away from me. “Or like this?”
He kissed me again. His lips were harder, demanding. My mouth went slack. He thrust his tongue inside my mouth. With long strokes against my tongue, his tongue pulsing in and out.
I moaned. His tongue felt so delicious. I wanted all of it, I wanted—I groped under his jacket.
“Which is it?” he asked, his voice hoarse.
“Both,” I gasped.
He stared into my eyes. “Are you certain?”
I nodded my head, and when his eyes continued to burn into me, I said faintly, “Yes.”