AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I waited in front of the building and texted Dominic that I was outside whenever he was ready. He hadn’t told me he needed to be anywhere today, but I wanted to make a point that I was here to work. I wasn’t here for a handout, even if that’s what this situation was currently feeling like. I was determined to earn my keep.
To my surprise, Dom replied that he’d be right down. When he stepped out of the doors of the building, I felt my breath catch in my chest. Dom looked magnificent this morning, just slightly disheveled, but in a way that made him seem almost human. His hair wasn’t quite perfect, and he was wearing jeans and a sweater that looked like he might’ve just thrown them on at the last minute. I felt a flutter in my stomach that was halfway between panic and lust.
“Good morning, sir,” I said, pulling open the rear door to my Honda with a flourish.
Dom hesitated, resting a hand on my shoulder as he leaned close. “Must we be so professional about all this?”
“We must,” I said, fighting the zing that traveled down my arm at his touch. I could smell gel on him and see his damp hair up close and personal, as if he’d leapt out of his shower just moments before. “I looked over the arrangement you emailed me last night, along with my salary, and the salary definitely includes complimentary door opening.”
“Can I sit in the front seat?” Dom asked. “Please.”
“I guess it’s your money, your choice. But I won’t be offended if you want to sit in the back and do work and make phone calls and take names like important people do.”
Dom grunted. “I’ll take the front.”
I saw movement out of the corner of my eye as Dom opened the door. Something off, a look from a pedestrian who’d been gazing this way for a beat too long. A gait just a bit too fast. I threw myself in front of Dom just before a microphone was pressed toward my face.
“Leave my client alone,” I informed an anxious looking man who was no doubt paparazzi or a reporter covering The Circle’s election. Things had been quiet on that front for some time now, but we weren’t totally forgotten. We wouldn’t be free from the coverage until it was over. “No comments.”
“Client?” The reporter looked between me and Dom. “The two of you are working together now?”
I could almost see him gleefully processing this information. When I glanced at Dom, his figure towering over me despite my valiant attempt to play bodyguard, I saw an almost amused quirk to his lips.
“It’s none of your business,” I snapped. “But if you don’t get out of our faces right now, you’ll regret it.”
“Regret it?” The reporter stepped even closer. He smelled like Cheetos that had gone stale. “I’m sure the public would love to know about the two of you canoodling in this hunk of junk.”
“The public doesn’t care about us anymore,” I scoffed. “Any paparazzo with a dollop of self-respect gave up camping outside of our apartment complex over a week ago.”
“Good thing I’m so persistent.”
“Now, Dean.” Dom tsked. “This isn’t necessary, is it?”
Dominic spoke in a slithery soft voice as he stepped around me, delicately moving me behind him like I was a figurine he’d temporarily misplaced. I had no clue how Dom knew the man’s name.
It took me a long, long minute to figure out that Dominic was using his allure magic. The charm that came with the territory of being a vampire. Most vamps possessed the ability to woo someone, to make them gently forget small things. It wasn’t strong enough to act as a complete brainwash, but it was a step in that direction.
I swallowed hard, wondering if I’d been oblivious to Dom’s allure all this time. Had he been using it on me and I’d simply missed it? I wanted to think I’d have noticed, but now there was a seed of doubt in my stomach that had me wondering if that were actually true.
“Two hundred bucks says this won’t end up in any newspaper,” Dominic instructed the reporter firmly. “I think a better story would be that you camped out here, came up empty, and decided never to step foot here again.”
Dean’s eyes were a little too wide, his mouth parted dumbly as he nodded, blindly accepting the cash shoved into his hand. “I think you’re right, sir.”
Then Dean turned and wandered off a little aimlessly, as if he’d had a bit too much wine. I studied Dominic as he watched the paparazzo walk away. He had been completely unfazed by the interaction.
Dom had almost seemed amused by it, actually. But when push came to shove, he’d stepped in front of me. He’d wanted to protect me, and hadn’t he always? He’d shown me time and time again that he did care about me, about my well-being, about my safety.
Dominic’s track record was getting too impressive to deny. The reporter he’d hunted down from the alleyway. The paparazzo he’d pushed away today. The way he’d fled to my side in Crystal Rivers. The fear in his eyes when he relayed the story of the murdered woman in the alley, and the painful moments when he’d thought it was my blood. The way he did simple, thoughtful things, like make sure I had a safe parking space.
I felt a rush of nerves as I hurried around the car and got into the driver’s seat. After the kiss we’d shared in Gran’s kitchen, it felt like something had changed, shifted between us. I didn’t know if it’d meant anything to him, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Even sitting next to him, my body was having a visceral reaction to his nearness.
“Where to, Boss?” I asked chirpily, hoping he couldn’t hear the shakiness in my voice. “What’s on the big agenda for today?”
“What’s your favorite coffee shop?”
“You’re asking the wrong gal,” I said. “I either make my cup of joe at home because it’s cheap, or I get the punch card at the gas station and go there because every seventh cup is free.”
Dom wrinkled his nose. “If I wanted to take a business client out, or to ask a woman for coffee and actually impress her, then where would I go?”
