Things were different here than they were in the club. I felt less in control on his turf, and now that I knew he was okay, exhaustion threatened to overwhelm me.
“No.” I was usually direct, but my sleepy state made me honest. “I wanted to see you again.” Holy shit, saying that out loud was scary. What was happening to me?
He reached a cautious hand out and set it on my hip. Everything was changing much too fast. The man touching me, his warmth seeping into my cashmere-covered hip, was not a client.
“Are you okay?” His voice was low and soft. “Getting let go from that place . . .”
“It was time. I couldn’t do it anymore.” Not sure if that was what he was really asking. He probably assumed my relationship at the club wasn’t one that would let me walk away easily, even though that was the case. “Don’t know what fuck I’m going to do now, though.”
He grasped my other hip, locking me in his hands. “Sure you do,” he said. “Come home with me.”
There it was, the question I heard from almost every client. And now, this time I actually considered it. Dominic was so close. I felt him buried under my skin and working his way in deeper.
“Aren’t you already home?”
A half-smile curled on his busted lip. “Yeah, but other people currently reside in this domicile. Come back to my hotel room with me. Have you slept since last night?”
“No.”
“Me neither. Let’s sleep together.” He grinned. It looked ridiculous with his developing black eye, and yet sort of sexy, and I found myself giving him a smile.
Fuck, I was in so much trouble.
chapter
SEVEN
Evie answered the bedroom door immediately when I knocked softly. She must have been listening, although it was probably impossible not to.
“You call me later.” This was an order from her to me, although her focus was on the man in the living room.
“You bet your ass, I will,” I said.
Dominic finished cleaning up the mess from the donuts while I put on my coat. “There’s coffee.” I gestured to the extra one in the cardboard tray I’d brought in. “Evie won’t want it, and I think Logan’s already asleep.”
He pulled the cup from the tray. “Can I interest you in a floor donut?”
“I’m good.” No, that wasn’t true. I was tired. “Where’s your hotel?” Please be close by.
“The Hilton by Millennium Park.”
Thank god. “Let’s go, I’m in the parking garage.”
Dominic climbed into the passenger seat, his eyes roaming over the interior of my new Jaguar. “This is a nice car.”
Hell yeah, it was nice. It was $80,000 nice.
“Thanks.” Too bad I was going to have to sell it. I’d bought it outright, which was part of the reason I had no savings. I shoved the thought away as I pulled out of the parking space.
He was silent at first. When we were stopped at a red, he clicked up the volume on a Black Keys song from the satellite radio. “Lonely Boy.” The irony was not lost on me.
“Does it hurt?” I asked. “Your eye?”
“Not really. I took some Advil at four.”
The silence was awkward and annoying, but talking was a scarier prospect.
“Payton what?” he asked abruptly. “What’s your last name?”