by Cora Brent
I didn’t want his word. I didn’t want his promises. I didn’t want his apology.
I just want him.
“Thanks, Dominic,” I said, rather mechanically. “You have totally set my mind at ease.”
His expression was full of pity. I wanted his pity about as much as I wanted a root canal. Yet only Dominic Esposito could make sympathy seem sexy. “Mel.”
“You should go now.” I turned the ignition. “It looks weird, the two of us sitting out here in my car at dusk.”
He didn’t leave. He sat there in the passenger seat of my Prius, taking up a ridiculous amount of room with his broad shoulders and muscles. If he hadn’t just—sensibly—blown me off, I might have been tempted to climb into his lap.
Who was I kidding? I was tempted no matter what. I crossed my arms tightly across my chest so that I couldn’t accidentally discard my dignity and straddle him with abandon.
“All right, you get home safe, and I’ll see you in the morning,” Dominic said in a friendly voice as he opened the door. Then he climbed out and waved to me as if we were two old bosom buddies who’d just met for coffee.
I thought about flipping him the bird, but I didn’t. I just drove away.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
DOMINIC
Dammit, she was angry. Even worse, she seemed hurt. I should’ve guessed she would be. I had tried to tell myself she’d be relieved rather than wounded. But Melanie wasn’t the kind of girl who messed around casually and then blew it off with a laugh. Touching her had consequences, and I knew it.
When I’d arrived at Espo 1 earlier, Melanie was so busy working that she didn’t notice my entrance. That might have been a good thing; I couldn’t really talk to her in the middle of all the chaos. Somehow I didn’t think it was a good idea to approach her at the display counter with fifty pairs of eyes on us and say, “Hey, I know I got you off in the kitchen at Espo 2 last night. Yeah, that was totally uncool of me.”
Instead I kept to the kitchen and watched her when she didn’t know I was watching her. Today she’d paired a restaurant logo T-shirt with a loose black skirt that moved freely when she walked and came down to her knees. On another woman that getup might have looked cheap, but Melanie made it work, adding a touch of class with a silver bracelet and matching delicate necklace. Her long dark hair was tied back loosely with a red ribbon, and a strand of hair escaped, brushing over her left cheek as she moved purposely from one task to another. She was about the best-looking thing I’d ever laid eyes on. God, how I wished I’d met her at another point, in another place where there were no rules to break, no restaurants to open. A place that included only us and the luxury of time.
I was in the kitchen giving some of the new staff tips on speeding up the assembly line when I heard a crash followed by something that sounded like a cat getting stepped on.
Just outside the kitchen I found Melanie cleaning up a tray of drinks that had been dropped by one of the new servers. She didn’t seem happy to see me. She grew even more pissed off when I suggested that she’d put in enough time for the day. I wasn’t trying to be an asshole, but I couldn’t very well bring up subjects like orgasms in the kitchen with half the staff listening.
Melanie didn’t argue with me. She straightened up, walked her tight little ass in the opposite direction, and emerged from the break room a moment later with her purse. She didn’t even look my way when she stalked out the door. I threw a wad of soggy napkins down and chased her. I knew it might attract some attention, but I couldn’t let this go for another minute.
She was sitting in her car and punching the steering wheel. She jumped when I busted into the passenger seat. I tried to say the right thing, but she gave me tight-lipped answers, and, in her narrowed eyes, I saw hurt and confusion. I told her the truth, that it had all been my fault. I apologized. I told her I would do anything to resolve this so that she was comfortable working with me.
In the end I got out of her car and waved, feeling every ounce the brainless jackass as she ignored me and peeled out of the parking lot. It was tough to remember when I’d felt like such a big pile of shit.
The rest of the night was uneventful, and I was glad to close the doors at ten. When the staff was gone, I turned the lights off and sank into the nearest chair. Tomorrow Melanie might walk into work all forgiving and coolly professional. We might get over this little bump in the road and manage to eke out a typical working relationship with no lusting and no touching and no sexy gazes and no shower time jerk off fantasies.
Yeah, things might work out that way. I just didn’t want them to.
I had to follow through with my decision and leave Melanie alone. She wasn’t just important to me, she was important to Esposito’s. It would be tough pulling off the grand opening without her full participation, not to mention the disastrous effect on the staff if she suddenly left. As far as I could tell, every one of them adored Melanie. They needed her. We all needed her. What we didn’t need was a heavy dose of drama and gossip right now. I had to put Esposito’s ahead of my own personal desires. I owed it to Gio and to the staff.
But there was more than that. The problem wasn’t Melanie. The problem was me. In my twenty-eight years I’d never had a meaningful relationship. The one time I’d ever come close was something that never should have started in the first place and then ended so badly I couldn’t even stand to think about it. I didn’t give a damn if I got hurt. If Melanie shrugged and decided I wasn’t worth all the trouble, then life would go on. But I couldn’t stand the idea that she might be the one who ended up devastated. I could be a real bastard sometimes, and I knew it. Selfish, stubborn, and driven to the point of tunnel vision. Work had been my primary companion for so long I didn’t know if I had the ability to be normal, to be a man who walked through the front door in time for dinner, and enjoyed lazy Sundays on the couch eating nachos and watching football or whatever the hell regular men did. And she deserved better than that, she deserved normal. I didn’t know if I could put energy into anything other than Esposito’s at the moment.
While I was sitting in the dark dining room and brooding over my inner struggle, a young couple came to the door. It was already locked, and the “Closed” sign was on display.
“Oh, it’s closed,” I heard the girl say in a voice of disappointment. I could see her through the glass door. She was pretty, with long brown waves of hair cascading over her thin shoulders. The guy beside her had college jock written all over him with his backward baseball cap and university football jersey.
“Sorry, babe,” he said. “How about we go to IHOP? I’ll buy you the biggest stack of pancakes on the menu.” He slung an affectionate arm around the girl’s shoulders and pulled her close.
“Pancakes won’t really fill my extreme pizza craving,” laughed the girl. Then she reached up and kissed the guy on the cheek. “But I’ll go anywhere with you.”
He grinned and tugged on a strand of her brown hair. “How about I bring you back here again tomorrow night? When they’re open, that is.”
“Sure, but I’ve heard Esposito’s is super crowded on the weekends. Might be quite a wait and I know you don’t even like pizza.”
He kissed her forehead. “I don’t mind waiting. You’re worth it, babe.”
They walked off into the darkness together, and I couldn’t hear them anymore. Two kids, hand in hand, either in love or something close to it. Somehow I was reminded of Tara and Gio who were as close to perfect when it came to couples as anything I’d ever seen. Gio managed to have it all. Love, family, work. So maybe it was possible after all.
A surge of sudden determination launched me to my feet. I couldn’t leave things this way with Melanie, not if there was even a vague chance that we might figure out how to make this work.
Suddenly I heard the echo of my own words inside my head.
“I will never touch you at work again.”
And I wouldn’t. That wasn’t a promise I planned to break. Work was still work, and
it needed to be kept separate.
But I was going to break a different promise. I was going to break my earlier promise to Gio. I didn’t have any intention of getting a good night’s rest tonight.
As I locked up and made a beeline for my truck, I figured I would be at my destination in fifteen minutes. And I knew sleep wasn’t going to be a priority once I got there.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
MELANIE
The apartment where I’d lived with James had a boxy shower that required serious acrobatic skills whenever I shaved my legs. Considering everything that was wrong with that marital misstep in the first place, a lack of bathing space should seem like a small thing. Yet whenever I thought about that confusing and ultimately lonely time in my life, I could still feel the painful strain in my hamstrings when I propped my foot up on the soap dish and scraped away at a hairy ankle with a dull razor.
Anyway, when I was newly single and apartment hunting, I figured that escaping a bad marriage ought to entitle a girl to a comfortable bathtub. And tonight as I eased my body into the hot water, that tub officially became my favorite inanimate object. I allowed my tense muscles to relax an inch at a time as I settled into the lavender-scented bubbles.
Dominic Esposito had been sincere and earnest when he apologized. He swore he’d never touch me again. Maybe he was afraid of a sexual harassment suit or something.
Maybe he just doesn’t want me.
Feeling frustrated in more ways than one, I dipped a fluffy, white washcloth in the perfumed water and then wrung it out slowly, watching the water dribble over my bare breasts. What did I expect Dominic to do, sweep me up in his absurdly well-defined arms and carry me out of Esposito’s restaurant like he was Richard Gere in An Officer and a Gentleman?
Nope, I hadn’t expected that at all. The idea had never entered my mind. Not once.
“Mommy’s so bad at lying to herself,” I grumbled to the cats. Luke and Lando had crept through the open bathroom door and were crouched three feet away from the tub. They watched me warily, two pairs of ethereal, yellow eyes blinking in unison at their batshit crazy human.
On the drive home I had thought briefly of quitting. I pictured confronting Dominic first thing tomorrow and handing over my resignation letter with a flourish. He would be shocked. He would be stunned. His handsome jaw would drop, and his sinful, dark eyes would cloud with dismay. He would probably blurt out something like, “Dear god, what have I done?” or “Don’t leave me, Melanie. I can’t live without you!” as he groveled at my feet.
Or he might just smile with relief and hand me a box so I could pack up my office.
No, I wasn’t quitting. And it didn’t have anything to do with Dominic. I wasn’t quitting because I liked my job. I was good at it. The whole experience had been a welcome confidence boost after being fired from the resort. I believed in the Esposito brothers, and I was proud to be part of their team. Dominic had made it clear enough that he regretted touching me and wasn’t about to let it happen again. I could deal with that. I could be professional. The whole thing was just as much my fault as it was his. Hadn’t I moaned like a porn queen right there in the kitchen?
Fresh waves of lustful humiliation gripped me as I remembered it all. I groaned out loud and sank down farther into the bathwater. The heat felt so good, too good. My body betrayed me, nipples hardening, core throbbing as I conjured a vision of Dominic at his sexiest, when he was sweaty and serious and unshaven. My hand strayed over my belly and then lower, dipping two fingers inside.
Dingdong.
The ringing of the doorbell caught the cats’ attention. They strolled out of the bathroom, probably to go stare at the door. I didn’t know who could be out there at ten thirty at night, and I didn’t care. I was in the middle of something.
Dingdong.
“Go away!” I shouted, gritting my teeth and giving up on pleasuring myself until my unwanted visitor disappeared.
Dingdong.
“Son of a bitch,” I muttered. Chances were my needy neighbor, Mara, had suffered another dating disappointment and was standing out there with a bottle of wine, searching for someone to commiserate with her. Since I didn’t have any advice for the lovelorn, I stayed right where I was in the bathtub.
Then my phone buzzed over on the bathroom counter. What was this, some kind of damn conspiracy to keep me from enjoying myself for two minutes? It certainly seemed that way. All I wanted to do was get myself off and go to bed. That shouldn’t be too much to ask. But usually the only person who called me this late was my sister.
I sighed and grabbed a large turquoise towel, wrapped it around my body, and dried my hands before irritably picking up my phone.
There was a text. It wasn’t from Lucy.
Are you home?
I stared at the words sent by Dominic. Of course both he and Gio had my number for work-related reasons. Gio would often communicate via text if he had a quick question or some brief news to share, but Dominic never did. Until this moment I didn’t even know if he knew how to text. I hesitated and then answered.
Yes. I’m home.
The air left my chest and my heart stopped when he responded immediately.
Then come to the door and let me in.
My heart resumed beating. Furiously, like a hummingbird’s. It was a good thing the toilet seat was closed because I plopped down and stared at my phone in dumbfounded disbelief.
Dominic Esposito was the one ringing my doorbell.
Dominic Esposito was standing out there in the cool night air, waiting for me to let him in.
I yanked my orange terry cloth robe from the door hook. It was a nice robe, cozy and warm and utterly unsexy. I replaced the robe and selected the one that had been hanging beneath it. Short, light-pink, and satin, it wasn’t my favorite loungewear. I’d bought it on a whim last year at a post-Christmas Victoria’s Secret sale and kept it hanging on the hook ever since because there’d been no excuse to do anything more exciting with it.
Before I left the bathroom, I wiped the mirror clear of steam and scrutinized my reflection. The thick black hair I’d inherited from my father had the slightest hint of red and it was damp, so I hurriedly secured it with a clip, pulling a few wavy tendrils down to frame my face in what I hoped was semiexotic fashion. The blue eyes that peered back at me were a gift from my mother’s side of the family, the Irish side. Despite my olive complexion, I had always managed to blush easily—and I was blushing now. My phone buzzed again with an impatient message from Dominic.
You coming?
Now I was vaguely annoyed. Who did he think he was? What the hell did he want anyway?
I tossed my phone aside and took my sweet time walking to the door in my sexy robe. My hand was still on the knob of the closed door when I blurted out the question.
“What do you want?”
Then I flung the door open dramatically. Dominic stood there on the other side. He stared at me.
“What was that?” he asked.
“What was what?” I answered.
He cocked his head. “You said something before you opened the door.”
“Did I?” I stammered, standing on the threshold with my arms crossed, wondering why my IQ tended to dissolve at inconvenient times.
Dominic wasn’t even slightly discreet, looking me up and down as I stood there in my skimpy robe. Then he put a hand to the back of his neck and gave me a rather sheepish grin. “You’re probably wondering what I want, coming here so late.”
“No.”
He raised an eyebrow. “No?”
“No. I wasn’t wondering that. I wasn’t wondering anything. I wasn’t thinking about you at all, Dominic.”
He stared at me. Then he laughed. It was a nice sound. Often I’d thought that Dominic laughed too infrequently. “Melanie,” he said with a chuckle as he shook his head. “You are one of a kind.”
Why did he have to go and say something like that mere hours after he told me he wasn’t ever going to touch me agai
n?
“Well?” he said.
“Well, what?”
“Are you going to let me in?” he asked gently. I wavered and took a step back so he could fit through the door.
Dominic entered my apartment, and immediately the place felt smaller. Whenever we were in the same room, I was always so aware of him; the width of his shoulders, the minty pine scent of his aftershave. As he casually stood in the middle of my living room, his presence seemed overpowering.
“Nice place you’ve got,” he said, looking around with the frank curiosity of a visitor to a foreign land.
I shut the door so the cats couldn’t escape. “How did you know where I live?”
He flashed one of his knowing, sexy smiles. “Rocket science.”
“You mean you raided my HR file?”
“Precisely.” He took a knee in front of the cats and made a friendly clicking noise in his throat as he held his right hand out. They went right to him, and he petted them affectionately. Lucky cats. They purred and rubbed against his legs when he stood up again. “What are their names?”
“That’s Luke on the left and Lando on the right,” I informed him.
Dominic raised an eyebrow. “Star Wars fan, huh?”
“Along with half the planet.”
“Then you’re in good company.”
The conversation stalled, and we just stared at each other. He looked as gruff and sexy as ever. Meanwhile, I was barefoot, and the robe clung to wet patches on my body. Even though the robe technically covered everything, I had never felt more naked than I did as those dark eyes slowly swept over me with obvious hunger.
I cleared my throat and pinched the belt of the robe a little tighter. “I could make coffee if you want. Or tea.”
He smiled briefly, and then his face grew serious again. “Thanks, but I don’t want coffee.”
