I take this as the biggest compliment I’ve ever gotten. I actually blush a little, because it takes me off guard. It all started off as a joke, and now I’m on slippery ground, falling.
“She is lucky to have you,” I say, immediately fearing that I’ve crossed the line, but the look on his face tells me I’m safe. So, I continue risking it. “I didn’t have my father around while growing up, so I know how difficult it is to have a parent missing.”
He seems surprised by what I said. I thought he knew everything about me. Then again, I doubt I’m so important in his life that he’d remember stuff about my personal life.
He gazes deeply at me, while my eyes traverse the distance from his eyes to his lips. I am washed over by images of what it might feel like to be kissed by him, just once.
“That is probably why she has taken such a liking to you,” he says, while I watch his lips round up into a U sound. “She knows you understand.”
“Troubled hearts are like that, I guess,” I shrug, knowing I should pull away, but instead, I unconsciously lean closer to him.
“Troubled hearts,” he smiles. His dimples make me swoon. “I like that. Troubled hearts always recognize each other.”
“Always,” I agree, nodding, unable to take my eyes off him.
A cool breeze blows, ruffling my hair, and he leans his hand, pushing a stray strand of hair behind my ear. His touch is electric. My entire body reacts to it as if a bolt of lightning just passed through me. My mouth is dry, but I can’t close it. I am silently gasping for air, praying that he might give me mouth to mouth and save me.
My insides tie into a knot, and heat swirls between my thighs. I can’t believe he’s made me swoon just by touching me so gently. So unexpectedly.
He leans closer. I can almost feel his hot breath on my lips. My mind is a blank. There is no more park, no more grass, no more wind, no more eyes watching us. There is just me and him, and this kiss that I only now realize I always wanted to happen but before he can come close enough to make my wish come true, we hear Marley shouting.
“Daddy!” Her voice is shrill, echoing all around us, bringing us back to the present moment. “Come look at this!” she beckons, and he immediately gets up and does what he’s told, leaving me with my own palpitating heart and mind.
Chapter Four
Dominic
“She’s asleep,” I tell Lilly, as I walk into the kitchen.
She lifts her gaze to meet mine. She still has the kitchen towel in her hand. I notice that all the dishes are done and put away. The table is cleared, and everything is in its place, just as it always is when she leaves.
Only this time, I don’t want her to leave.
“It’s been quite a day for her,” she smiles, putting the kitchen towel away.
As she does so, I steal a glance to the way her butt looks in those tight jeans.
Good. Too good.
“Well…” she says, sounding expectant. “If that’s everything, I should get going.”
I know I should just let her go. That’s what she should do. That is her job. She goes away, then returns in the morning. We don’t mix anything. We don’t get close. We don’t get to know each other.
Why would we?
“Stay,” I tell her.
The word stuns us both into silence, into a whirlwind of unexpected and inexplicable turmoil.
“I can drive you home,” I say, as if correcting myself, but she only looks at me, even more confused.
The thing is, I myself don’t know what I want. How can I explain it to her then?
I want her to go, but at the same time, I want her to stay. I want something to happen between us, because I’ve been fighting this attraction, but at the same time, I know that I will be pissed at myself for allowing it to happen. I might even have to fire her…
“What I’ve been meaning to say is that there is a guestroom here,” I finally manage to squirm out of the mess I’ve just made. “I think you waste way too much time commuting every morning and in the evenings. Some nights you could just stay here. Not like anyone is using it, anyway.”