by Jenny Siegal
I listen to her cell ringing and wait for it to go to voicemail when she answers.
“Hi, honey. How are you?” she greets me cheerfully. Something’s put her in a good mood.
“I'm good, just wanted to see how you are. I haven’t spoken to you in ages.”
She laughs her tinkly laugh. “Oh, Charlie, that's silly. I've just been busy. How are things going with you? How is Iris? School? Any boys?” Yeah, she is definitely hiding something. She doesn't normally go this long without talking about herself.
“It's all fine, Mom. Iris is fine; she has a boyfriend. School is okay, and there are no boys on the scene,” I fib, though it's not a complete lie; I just don't want to tell her about Dominic. I can almost picture her face falling in disappointment.
“Charlie, I need to go. I've got a date, and he's waiting to take me out for dinner.” Her voice quivers slightly. My stomach sours at her rush to get off the phone.
“Is he waiting in the car for you?” I ask sarcastically because most of them do.
“Eh, no, actually he's waiting for me in the living room. I was just putting the flowers he brought me in a vase.”
This is a first for her, and I fight to contain my surprised gasp. “Well, he's a keeper,” I mutter.
“I'll give you a call in the week, honey. I love you.”
“Love you, too, Mom.” I press end and sit motionless in the car. Well, that was odd.
• • •
While I sit thinking about the strange call with my mom, a bang on the passenger window makes me jump. Startled, I look up as Dominic opens the door to duck his head inside. A lazy grin spreads over his face. His arms rest on the doorframe and the roof, affording me a good look at his tattooed muscles.
“Whatcha doin’, beautiful?”
I roll my eyes at him. “You obviously need to get your eyes tested.” Although I manage to keep my voice steady, my stomach is anything but and clenches violently in response.
“Nothing wrong with my eyes, I’ve got perfect vision.” His gaze roams down my body, taking in the dress, which is unusual for me. It shows more cleavage than normal and his eyes linger on my chest before moving down my bare legs. When I clear my throat, they flick up to meet mine, not bothering to hide the fact that he's looking down my top. The fire in his eyes takes me by surprise, and a flash of want hits low down in my stomach before traveling somewhere much further down.
“Where did you come from?”
“Practice, we've not got a gig for a few more weeks.” He looks behind him and then back at me.
“What are you doing?” The playfulness in his voice disappears along with his smile.
“Nothing much.”
“It’s not safe for you to just be sitting in your car.” His eyes darken. “Do you even have your phone with you?”
“Yes.” I tilt my head to the side, “Why don’t you come with me?” Oh, my God, did I really just say that out loud? I'm flirting with him, and I can’t seem to stop myself, but his smile is back.
“I thought you’d never ask.” He pushes off the roof and slides that gorgeous body of his into the passenger seat. Tingles spread all over my body from his close proximity as my car fills with his scent. Every time I’m near him, I have to take a moment and inhale, memorizing his smell. I hope he hasn’t noticed or he’ll think I’m nuts.
“What?” I ask when I catch him looking at me oddly.
“You don’t have any shoes on.”
“I can’t drive in these sandals. I prefer bare feet.”
He shakes his head and laughs. “Let’s go and play pool and get something to eat.” I arch my eyebrow at his suggestion.
“We’re friends; that’s what friends do.” The innocent look he gives me, accompanied by a wicked smile, does things to me that don't feel particularly friendly.
The weight of his stare makes it hard to concentrate on driving…., why is it so warm in here, even with the window open? It doesn't improve any when Dominic stretches his arm to rest it behind my seat.
“When will you let me drive your car?” His finger trails lightly down the column of my neck spreading a chill through me despite the heat I'm experiencing.
“When you prove you are worthy.” My breathing stutters under his touch.
“Tell me what I have to do.” His voice drops, just at my ear, and his breath tickles strands of my hair. I glance to the side and find him staring intently at me. I force my eyes away before I crash. We're definitely not just talking about my car anymore.
“Okay, let me see.” I bite my lip in concentration.
“First, you have to respect her and look after her. Second, no cheating on her and three, show her a good time.” I chance another sidelong look at him.
“Oh, I think I can manage all of that.” He winks at me, full of confidence, and my stomach does another somersault. It doesn't settle down when Dominic reaches for my hand, taking it from where it rests on the gearshift.
“What are you doing?” I ask as his warm hand envelops mine and his thumb strokes my knuckles.
“I like holding your hand when you’re driving.” His voice is quiet; I bite back a sarcastic comment and leave my hand in his. After all, who am I trying to kid—I like it being there.
I follow his directions until we pull up outside a rundown pool hall. I kill the engine and turn to look apprehensively at him.
“Don’t worry, it’s okay inside. I'll look after you.” Dominic waits patiently while I put on my sandals and finally get out the car. His arm wraps around my shoulder and holds me protectively against his body. Not even trying to fight how safe I feel with his arm around me, I sink into his side.
• • •
Dominic leads me into the dilapidated building, where there are arcade machines and three pool tables. Teenagers are playing the games but the pool tables are free. No one pays us any attention and Dominic strides over to pick up two cues.
“Can you play?” he asks, handing one to me.
“Yeah, but I haven’t played in a long time.” As I say it, his eyes light up. He's definitely up to something.
“Well now, do you want to make it interesting?” The wicked glint is back in his eyes as he takes a step closer to me.
“What did you have in mind, Hudson?” I ask cautiously. “I’m not going to sleep with you,” I add quickly.
“Damn,” he mutters. “That’s what I was going for.” Although he is grinning at me, I’m not entirely sure if he is joking or not.
“You get to drive my car,” I offer and his face lights up. He obviously likes that idea; maybe I’m off the hook.
“That’s a good start.” He thinks or at least pretends to and I wouldn’t be surprised if he has this all figured out.
“Okay, if I win I get to take you out in your car,” he says, pleased with his idea. As much as I want him to take me out, I can’t get in too deep.
“Dominic, I don’t know.” I hesitate, unsure.
“It’s not a big deal, just friends going out somewhere. Kind of like what we’re doing tonight, but I get to drive. So, really I’m just getting to drive your car because we hang out all the time anyway.” He makes it sound like no big deal, and I let myself go along with it, even though I know that it is.
“Wait.” I hold up my hand. “What about if I win?” It is doubtful that I will, but I don’t want him thinking I’m a complete pushover. He smiles widely and I can see the gears turning in his head.
He moves closer to me.
“If you win, you get to take me out.” He smiles and his eyes challenge me. The only difference I see is who pays, but I let it slide.
Without noticing, he has backed me up against the pool table, and his hands rest on either side of me, keeping me there. Green eyes sparkle with mischief as he lowers his head, stopping inches from mine.
“Deal?” His minty breath brushes softly over my cheeks.
“Deal,” I whisper, mesmerized, letting him press a kiss to my forehead before he moves away. With
legs like jelly, I step away from the pool table and exhale a shaky breath. This is not going to be easy.
“You break,” he says, smiling as if nothing has happened, so confident that he’s going to win this. Hmm, we’ll see. Although I’m not great at pool, I have a few distraction techniques that I'm ready to put into practice.
Slowly, I walk around the table and chalk the cue before I bend over the table to break. Taking aim, I shoot, and by some miracle, I manage to sink a ball. Stripes. That's good—I like stripes. They remind me of Daisy.
My triumph is short lived when I miss the next shot and Dominic flashes me a cocky smile. Stepping up to the pool table, he takes his time to position himself. Shit. How could I have forgotten how sexy he is playing pool. Duh! Especially because he was playing it the first time I saw him.
Now I am rendered speechless, breathless, and motionless as he bends over. Dammit, he has turned the tables, and it is now him distracting me. Unable to drag my eyes away from him, I watch, biting my lip, as I fight the urge to run my hand over his ass. The noise of the cue striking balls and rolling into a pocket sounds faraway and I am enthralled at the way the muscles in his back ripple as he straightens.
Dominic turns around and he catches me with my mouth hanging open and quite possibly some drool on my chin. The corners of his mouth tip up into a knowing smile and his deep, rich laughter brings me out of my lust-induced trance.
“Babe, you’re staring.” His voice rumbles softly and I wilt against the pool cue.
Laughing and shaking his head, he moves round the table, lines up another shot and sinks that ball and then another. There’s no way I can win this now. Lucky for me, he misses his next shot.
“Your turn.” He tips his cue in my direction and hooded eyes follow me as I walk around the table taking my time to plan my next move. Standing on the opposite side of him, I lean over to take the shot. I look down the length of my cue, concentrating on knocking the ball into the pocket and catch his eyes widen. The hunger in them as he stares at my cleavage, enhanced thanks to my push-up bra, makes me reckless. Without breaking eye contact, I take the shot. By a stroke of luck, the ball rolls across the table to drop into the pocket, leaving the next clear shot directly in front of him.
When I move around the table, Dominic stands his ground, refusing to budge, eyes daring me to ask him to move. He is trying to make this harder and dammit, he's succeeding. I lean over the table and my neck tingles from his gaze burning into me. Just as I pull back my arm, the cool tip of his pool cue runs up the inside of my leg. The tickling sensation stops me and I turn to rest my bum against the table.
“Hudson, stop trying to distract me.” He ignores my breathy protest and moves closer.
“I can't help it. You're very distracting.” The air between us crackles with electricity as he continues to stare.
“Babe, you’re staring.” It's my turn to say that for a change. A wide sexy grin spreads over his face, showing off his perfect white teeth.
“Do you blame me? Especially when you're wearing this.” He touches the thin material at the neckline of my dress. Fingertips brush softly against my warm skin and the butterflies in my stomach go wild.
“The way your dress swirls around your gorgeous legs, and when you bend over it's... it's distracting as hell.”
Excuse me? Does he even know how distracting he is with those hard, lean muscles, wild, sexy good looks, and amazing green eyes?
“I could say the same about you.” I give him a small laugh and tilt my head.
“Oh yeah, so you were totally checking me out that first day in the union.”
“You got me.” I shrug. There's no point in even denying it when he knows it's true.
The surprised look on his face is priceless. I suppose he wasn't expecting me to admit it. His warm palms slide to the small of my back, and he pulls me against his body, like a rag doll, limp and compliant. Our faces are now inches apart. With some satisfaction, I feel his erection pressing into my thigh and my hands come to rest on his chest.
“I was totally checking you out that day, too,” he whispers. The words dance over my hot cheeks. Flushed, not from embarrassment, but from him turning me on like a light switch.
“I think you need some help with your next shot.” He turns me around and finally I manage to drag my gaze away from him and focus on the table. The game and our bet are the last things on my mind when I lean over the table and make contact with the erection in his jeans. To test him further, I wiggle my ass, brushing against it and listen as his breathing accelerates.
“Charlotte,” his husky voice warns. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
His warning only encourages me to do it again. Leaning forward, I push my rear end further into him, teasing him. His erection presses back, and he places his hands on my hips. Curving over my body, an agonized groan is followed by muttered curses.
“Are you going to take the shot?” he whispers in my ear before nipping the lobe with his teeth. It sends a chill through me that has me a mixture of hot and cold. And now it is impossible to concentrate on taking the shot with his rock-hard body curved over mine. Heat radiates through me as his smell surrounds me and his hard dick presses against me. Dominic’s breath dances along the back of my neck, and if that wasn’t enough to contend with, he runs the tip of his tongue down the sensitive skin of my neck to the curve of my shoulder before resting his lips there. As he sucks gently on my warm skin, the pulse between my legs beats furiously and makes me squirm.
The shot is a half-assed attempt, and un-surprisingly, I miss. Dominic’s lips don’t leave my neck right away. Although he is driving me to distraction, I tilt my head, allowing him better access because I can't fight it. When his tongue takes another swipe at my feverish skin, I swallow the moan that is building inside and close my eyes, willing myself to stop trembling as he lifts his lips to my ear.
“Do you want to keep playing?”
Not trusting myself to speak, I shake my head. I don’t think my resolve or willpower could take any more.
Slowly, he moves away and takes hold of my wrists to turn me around. Brushing strands of hair from my face, I fight to breathe evenly as my heart beats furiously. He has me all worked up, and he damn well knows it. With some satisfaction, I realize his hard-on hasn’t abated. Not that I'm in any position to gloat—my panties are soaking. Dazed, I finally look up at him.
“You know what this means?” His eyes sparkle with mischief.
“Yeah, yeah. You get to drive my car,” I say, the sarcasm lost because I’m so breathless.
“Not just that, I get to take you out in it.”
“Not on a date,” I mumble.
“As friends,” he clarifies. “Are you hungry?”
I nod. Although, after that performance, I am only hungry for him.
“Come on.” He puts his arm around me and leads me outside. The air is cooler and I’m glad of the change in temperature because my dress is sticking to me. Why does my body have to react in this way when I’m around him? It betrays me every time I’m near him.
• • •
Dominic sits on the hood of my car watching me, his long legs stretched out in front of him and his palms resting beside him.
“You can’t sit on her.” I stand in front of him, hands on my hips. “That’s not showing her respect.”
With a laugh, he lunges for me, catching me off guard. Dominic grabs my waist and pulls me to stand between his legs. My hands rest on his thighs and I move them up dangerously near his crotch, liking the feel of his soft jeans and his muscular thighs.
“I’m showing her a good time. You think I have a nice ass. I’ve seen you checking it out,” he says with a cocky smile on his face.
“I do not.” But we both know it’s a lie.
“You’ve got a gorgeous ass,” he murmurs, sliding his hands down before grabbing it with both hands. I gasp and jump at his touch. He flashes me his sexy smile and if my panties weren’t already soakin
g, they would be now. I'm screwed; he knows exactly how he affects me even if I try to pretend otherwise. Against my better judgment, I wrap my arms around his waist and lean my head against his chest, listening to his racing heart.
“You know, you are really small.” His chin rests on the top of my head.
“Thanks,” I grumble, but it's the truth.
“No, I like it.”
“I used to wear heels all the time to make myself taller, but I can’t be bothered now.”
“I’ve never seen you in anything other than sneakers or sandals. I like the way you dress. You don’t bother trying to impress people.” How little he knows.
“You’re not like other girls. You don’t seem interested in appearances, and you don’t need to, you’re beautiful.”
I blush and hide my face in his chest. Okay, so maybe I am just looking for an excuse to inhale his scent.
“Come on, let's get something to eat.” He moves off the hood and leads me into the diner. Despite all my protests about not wanting to go out with him, I am more than a little bit happy that he won the game.
• • •
The diner across the street is quiet at this time of night, and we find a table near the back. I slide into the booth and Dominic surprises me by sitting next to me. He places a hand on my thigh which I try my hardest to ignore and study the menu instead. The heat from his palm radiates through the flimsy material of my dress and all the way up my leg as if I wasn't hot enough already. He pushes the fabric of my dress up and trails a finger along the inside of my thigh. The feeling is electric and I start to imagine it was his tongue. That mental image doesn’t help any and I have to squeeze my legs together.
I close my eyes tightly, and try to control the direction my thoughts are headed, “Move around and sit on the other side,” I order him, mustering up every last bit of self-control I have left. He cocks an eyebrow in surprise.
