by Angel Steel
“So, I’m guessing you haven’t told her yet, right?”
“I was going to tonight, but by the looks of it, she doesn’t want anything to do with me. She kept avoiding me.” Why the hell was she doing that? She did it yesterday, too. He knew what was between them was going to be hard on her part, and especially his. Maybe he needed to rein himself in; it was all too much too quickly for her.
“I’m heading to bed, are you staying?” Dom asked as he stood up.
“Unless you want me to leave.”
“No, not tonight.”
Removing his jacket and tie, once he entered her room, he placed his clothing on the chair closest to the door. When he was down to his underwear, he slid in beside Chantal, put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, as Joey did the same on the other side of her.
Chantal rolled his way, throwing her leg over his and her arm over his waist, hand splayed over his abdomen. Her fingers lightly traced along the band of his boxer shorts, making him hard at just the faintest touch. That’s all it took, one single touch and he wanted her. Reaching for her hand, he placed it over his heart. Joey’s arm was over her waist. He was going to have to have a chat with Joey. He wanted to know what was between them two. He didn’t minding sharing sometimes, but not the whole time. Really, he wanted her all to himself. He was a selfish bastard, but she was his and only his.
******
Chantal got up early the next morning expecting Dom and Joey to have a chat with her, but neither of them was there when she woke up. She knew they had been, due to the clothes on her floor. She pulled up at the back of her building, expecting the shop to be trashed since she left early last night during the opening party, but as soon as she walked in, she saw it was pretty clean.
Maybe it wasn’t going to be as bad as she thought. Walking towards her office, she heard a noise to her left, coming from the supplies room. Picking up the closest thing she could use for a weapon, she slowly, very slowly, stepped her way to the door. The noise was getting louder from the room. She raised her hand, but couldn’t even look to see what she held; her eyes were glued to the door. Taking a deep breath, she ripped open the door and screamed.
“Damn, Chantal. Stop screaming, it’s me, Bryan,” he implored, covering his ears.
“You scared the shit out of me, Bryan.” She glanced around the room. “What are you doing in here anyways?”
“I came in early to help clean up. Your shop is opening to the public tomorrow, so here I am.”
“You didn’t have to do that, I set my alarm to get in here to do it myself.”
“Well, it’s done now. The only thing to do now is sweep the floor. You also have a couple of large packages in your office, guessing they’re for the store.”
“Yeah, I hope it is. I ordered several things last week that I wanted to add. I’m going to go in and check them out.”
“Sure thing, I’ll be out in the shop,” Bryan answered.
Walking into her office, she placed all her stuff on the spare chair and looked at the boxes. Damn, she didn’t expect that many. She giggled to herself.
First thing she had to do was call her mother. She really wasn’t looking forward to the charity ball that her parents were holding. The people that attended were too stuck up for her liking, but she loved how much they donated to the causes the ball honoured.
Dialling the house number, she waited for someone to answer.
“Winters’ residence.”
“Hi, Lisa. Is my mother there?”
“Hello, Miss Winters, she is, let me put you through to her.”
“Thank you.”
“Chantilly. What a pleasant surprise.”
“Hi, Mum. Since the charity ball is tomorrow, I was wondering if I could come and stay for a couple of days and help out.”
“You never have to ask to stay in the family home, Chantilly. This is your home, you’re welcome anytime. Is everything alright?”
“Yeah, Mum, everything is fine.”
“Ok, then. When do you think you will be arriving?”
“Um, I was thinking today, like in an hour or so.”
“That’s fine dear. I’ll get Gavin to drop over to your place and grab your things and he can pick you up.”
“Thank you, that would be great. I’m at my shop, so if you could let him know to pick me up from here. Also, I have a bag already packed in my closet.”
“I’ll let him know now. He’ll be there in an hour to pick you up. See you when you get here, dear.”
“Ok, Mum, bye.”
After she spent twenty minutes going through the boxes and placing the items in their separate piles to be stocked out on the racks, Bryan walked in with a funny look over his face.
“What?”
“There’s a truck parked out front, and you left your phone out in the shop. It hasn’t stopped ringing,” he said, as he handed over her phone.
Crap! “Thanks Bryan. What colour is the truck?”
Looking out the door, towards the front of the shop, he replied, “Dark red.”
She groaned. What was Dom doing here? Going over her text messages, she saw there were ten from Dom.
We need to talk!
Where are you?
Answer your phone, baby.
Why aren’t you answering? What the hell is going on?
And there was more. Shit! He was going to be pissed.
Quickly walking to the front door, she stood there watching as Dom climbed out of his truck. Oh yeah, he was pissed.
Storming over to her, he gripped her arms. “Where the fuck have you been? I’ve been calling and texting you all morning.”
“Excuse me? Are you my bloody keeper? I had to come in to the store to clean up after last night. I should be asking you, since you left way before I got up.”
Letting her go, he ran his hand through his hair. “I had some things to do this morning.”
“Well, so did I. I don’t have to report to you about everything I do, Dominic.” She knew by using his whole name it would get to him, but she didn’t care.
As they made their way back into the shop, Dom announced, “We need to have a chat, Chantal.”
Spinning around, she asked, “About what, Dominic?”
“Chantal.”
Both of them turned to the voice behind her. Gavin stood there at the door. Great! Just great. This was going to be interesting!
Dom glanced from him to her and frowned, then noticed the bag in his hand.
“What the hell is this? What is he doing here?”
“I am going to spend a few nights at my parents’ house,” she whispered.
“Why? What’s going on?”
Shit! Think quick! What do I tell him?
“My mom isn’t feeling good, and she wants me to stay for a while.”
“Ok.” He looked between them again. “But why is he here?”
“My mom sent him to grab my things and drive me over,” she replied. What was with all the questions?
“Why couldn’t you drive your car over? I want to know what is going on and I want to know now. Are you going away with him?”
Gavin stepped forward as Dom growled the last bit. She automatically placed her hand over Gavin’s chest to stop him and of course, Dom caught what she did.
He took a step forward and she quickly moved between them. It did not help that Gavin protectively wrapped his arm around her middle section, pulling her into him.
Seriously, did this shit have to happen now? What the fuck is with all this testosterone, alpha male crap!
What do I say? If I say no, then he is going to keep questioning me and if I say yes, then it will break us. He will leave me alone for sure, but it will end us and I don’t think I can live with that. Lord help me what do I do?
“Are you with him, Chantal?”
What! God no. How would he think that! “No. Why would you even think that, Dominic?”
“Well, to me you two look pretty damn cosy.”
&
nbsp; “When have I had time to see anyone, Dominic? I’m either here at my shop, or with you or Joey. I can’t go anywhere without one of you stuck to me. Gavin here works for my father, Dominic. He is head of security.” Tapping Gavin on his arm to release her, she walked over and stood in front of Dom.
“I’m going to my parents’ for a few days, ok. That’s it.”
Looking back at Gavin again, he muttered, “I need to tell you something.”
“Ok.”
“I’m leaving for business today. I won’t be back till either tomorrow or the next day, depending on how it goes.”
“You seriously just stood here and questioned me for going to my parents’ house, when all along you were going somewhere yourself?”
He rubbed his neck. “You know what, I don’t care. You do what you want, and I’ll do the same. Hope you enjoy your business trip.” She stormed past him, but his arm shot out and grabbed her, spinning her around to face him.
“Listen to me, Chantal. Joey will be watching you while I’m gone, don’t do anything stupid,” he barked.
The bloody nerve of him! Really, he wants to go there!
“Dominic, you’re not my keeper. Neither is Joey. This between us is just hot, steamy sex. That’s it. No relationship. Just sex,” she bit back. How dare he stand right in front of her and say that.
“You really believe it’s just sex?”
“Yes, I do. That is all that is between us, nothing more.”
“Fine, have it your way then. I’ll see you when I get back.”
After that, he walked out of her shop. Was it stupid of her to say it was just sex between them? Or was it more? She wanted more, but knew he wasn’t the commitment type, never has been, never will be. Did she screw it up by voicing that? Maybe she should have told him how she really felt. No. He had his life, she had her own.
“Miss Winters, your mother is expecting you,” Gavin reminded her.
“Let me grab some things from the back, and then we can go.”
“Very well.”
Walking into the back of her shop, she leaned against the door. God, what have I done? What if he actually stops seeing her, or being in her bed? Did she want that? Could she move on from him? Why couldn’t she keep her mouth shut? She never could do that, always had to say what was on her mind at that time.
Throwing several things into a bag, she walked out to meet Gavin by the door.
“Ready?”
“Yeah, let’s go before my mother sends the rest of the team.” She laughed.
Making their way to the car, she glanced around hoping to still see Dom’s truck out front, but found nothing. What did she expect, for him to still be here, waiting for her to exit her shop? No. She made it clear, well to him, where they stood. If she weren’t so afraid that he would run, she would have been honest and confessed she wanted there to be more than just sex. But, she hadn’t, and he ran regardless.
She really needed to think before she spoke.
Chapter 29
Skylar was lying on her couch when someone knocked on her door. Lifting herself up, she waddled to the door. Opening it, she sobbed at who stood there.
“Baby, don’t cry,” Craig said.
“I missed you so much, Craig,” she said as she wrapped herself around him as much as she could.
“How long are you back for?” She sobbed, as they walked back to the couch.
“Well, depending on how this meeting goes, I won’t be leaving on trips anymore.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, Sky. They are opening their own company here in Glacier. That will be the furthest I go.”
“Thank God, you’re back.”
He stood up. “So, what’s been going on, you haven’t said much over the phone?” he asked as he helped her off the couch. “Damn, you’re getting big.” He laughed.
“I want this baby out soon,” she groaned.
“Sweetheart, you have nearly three months to go. Stop changing the subject. What’s been going on?”
Taking a deep breath, she admitted, “Well, I went to a therapy session the other day. That went well, I think.”
“What about Nate, how are things going there?” he asked as she sat at the table.
“Um....”
“Skylar.”
“There was an incident, and I had to go to the hospital.”
“What incident. Why didn’t you call me? And what does it have to do with Nate?”
“Well, there was blood after I got out of the shower. Nate rushed me to the hospital, I thought I was losing the baby.” She wiped the tears from her eyes.
“What? Is everything alright?”
“Yes, thank God. Then, when we were at the hospital, Nate proposed,” she whispered. The next part was going to be hard to explain.
“That’s great news, Sky. Where is the ring, better yet, where is Nate?”
“Nate’s at his house.”
Craig frowned at her. “What happened?”
“After my appointment with Dr. Clark, the therapist, I decided I need to deal with all that has happened by myself. I gave the ring back to Nate. I need to move on, and so does he. After everything that has happened, and what he has done, I can’t just jump back in and trust him, Craig. What happens if he does it again?”
“Skylar, everyone fucks up, but they all have a chance at bettering themselves.”
“I know that, Craig, but it’s hard to believe it.”
“So, you gave him the ring back. What else happened?”
“We broke up. Well, I broke up with him, told him we needed to move on from each other, see other people.”
“Sky—”
“Please, don’t Craig. It’s done.”
Kneeling down in front of her, he urged, “Are you sure that is the best thing to do?”
“It is for me. I can’t be in a relationship with him, every time he’s not with me the first thing I’ll wonder is who he is with and what are they doing.”
“You have to trust sometime, babe.”
“I did trust him, Craig, but he blew that right in my face.”
“Ok, enough of that. What are your plans next Saturday? There is a new action movie playing, can’t remember the name of it though.”
Looking back into the lounge room, she whispered, “I have a date that night.”
“With who?”
“Jack.”
“Skylar, don’t you think it’s a little early to be dating someone else.”
She stood up and put her hands on her hips. “Craig, I deserve to be happy, not treated like crap.”
“Of course I want you happy, but you just came out of a relationship.”
“I don’t want to talk about it anymore. I’m moving on. I need to, Craig.”
“Ok, ok. Do you want to do something tonight?”
“I have a couple of things to do for Chantal’s shop, and then we can do whatever you like.”
“Sounds good. I’ll go over and see Alex, then be back around lunchtime, ok?”
“That’s plenty of time for me to do what I have to.” Walking over to him, she wrapped her arms around his waist. “I’m so glad you’re back.”
“So am I, darling.”
After Craig left her house, she walked into her office and sat down at her desk. Did she do the right thing in breaking up with Nate? Could she watch him be with someone else, rather than her? She had no idea if she could, but it needed to be done. She couldn’t handle thinking whether he was doing what he said. It was hard to trust someone after they cheated, and treated you like he had. Why did it have to be so bloody hard? She couldn’t think about him right now. She had cried every night over him; it was too much for her. Moving on was the best thing to do, whether her heart agreed with it or not.
******
Craig knocked on Nate’s door and waited. He could not believe what had happened. Alex had told him they were on talking terms but nothing about a proposal or that they could have lost the baby.
Once
the door opened, a gorgeous redhead stood in Nate’s doorway. Didn’t they care that much for each other? It never ceased to amaze him.
“Nate home?”
Looking behind her, she answered, “Yeah, he is.”
“Can you tell him Craig’s here.”
“Nate, you have a visitor,” she yelled as she left him at the door.
“Craig!” Nate said, shocked. “What are you doing here?”
“I was going to ask you the same thing, Nate,” he growled.
Raising his hands in front of him, he protested, “It’s not what it looks like.”
“Really, and what would that be.” Craig’s tone was clipped as he stepped into his house.
“Jasmine is my sister-in-law. After hearing about me and Skylar, she came over and hasn’t left me bloody alone. She’s giving me a headache.”
“I heard that!” Jasmine yelled.
Growling, he stormed off into the kitchen. “Do you want a beer?”
“No, I’m good.”
“So, what brings you here?”
“Skylar.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t come home earlier.”
“I didn’t know till now. Skylar’s been keeping it to herself. Alex didn’t even tell me that you guys nearly lost the baby, or about the proposal. I knew you were going to do it, but I didn’t expect it to be now, after everything.”
“I was saving it, but after being in the hospital and almost losing our child, I wanted her to believe me that I wasn’t trying to be with her just because she was carrying my child. Everything was fine after, until she went for that bloody appointment.”
“Nate, she needs to sort this out on her own. It’s not just about you and Lucas. She didn’t have the best upbringing. The only reason I know about it, is she was drunk one night and told me everything. And I’m not about to talk to her about it till she decides to start that conversation.”
“I know she does, Craig, but I want to be with her when she goes through it all. She shouldn’t be doing it alone,” Nate mumbled.
“I know that, but you have to let her. On another note, why didn’t you fight for her?”
“What the hell do you think I have being doing? Playing with myself?”
“Well, you obviously didn’t do that good of a job; did you know that she is going on a date with someone?”
