DOM (Brothers In Ink Romances Series Book 1) (3 page)

“I think I can do that.” He smiled softly. “But I’ll expect the same from you.”

“I don’t see the point in not being honest about things,” I said flatly. “If I don’t want you to know something, I’ll just tell you that I’m not going to tell you about it.”

“Straight to the point.” Dom’s smile widened as he opened the box of pizza and laid it on my cluttered coffee table.

I took it upon myself to go through the plastic bag. I found several cans of soda, chips, gummy worms and chocolate. I eyed Dom. “Did you just plan on trying to buy my forgiveness with food?”

“You don’t seem like the flowers and diamonds type.”

I snorted. “Well, you pinpointed that. I like food though, and cars. You can win me over with cars.”

Dom laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.” He paused, his eyes locking on mine and suddenly he looked so sad.
What are you going through?
I wanted to ask, but I knew I had no right to. I had no right to know. He was still just a stranger.
A stranger who went through all this effort to make up for a lack of first date.

“So Dom, what can you tell me about your life?”

“Probably nothing of interest,” he confessed. “You met my friend the other day at the diner, other than that I have two other friends that I’m close to … we’re like family more than anything and … I’d do anything for those guys.”

So whatever he was about to get into was probably about one of them, right? I nodded. "So, you’re going to take a look at my sister’s car? She said she called you.” I scowled. I’d been telling her to get it checked out for ages, but she always said she didn’t need to—until she met a cute mechanic.

“I’ll have a friend do it.” He shrugged it off. “Actually, I get the feeling they will get along quite well.”

I turned to face him. “Why aren’t you going to do it?” Was it because he liked me? I couldn’t help wondering … no, hoping that it was because he liked me.

“Because I’m already busy enough as it is, and I know my friend could use a couple extra hours.” He stared at me for a couple seconds looking lost in thought. “Anyways, enough about my depressing life.” He smiled as we both reached for another slice of pizza, my fingers touching his as we both went for the same place. Right on the 04 of his tattoo. His hand warmed the tip of my finger before I could force myself to pull away and reach for another piece of pizza. “So, I guess this isn’t too bad for a first date.”

He glanced at me and bit his lip. “I’m sorry about that. I got a text that kinda left me speechless. I should have at least paid for the lunch though.”

“It’s alright.” My eyes sparked as I took my last bite of pizza. “It could have been a lot worse. Anyways, there’s no point in dwelling on it, it’s in the past.”

“Still, you must have thought I didn’t like you or something,” he pressed.

“The thought had crossed my mind,” I confessed. I wasn’t willing to admit I’d been worrying about it the entire time.

“And … I’m sorry I took so long.” He refused to look at me.

“What do you mean?”

“To come by … the fact that I didn’t call or text or anything. I just … I wasn’t sure it was a good idea. I wasn’t sure the timing was going to be good.”

“And you think it is now?”
 

***
 

“No, but I can’t stop thinking about you.” I wished I could have said something else but this was the truth, and that was what she wanted from me, right?

I didn’t want to break her heart, but I couldn’t get my mind off her. Fuck, I was dreaming about her.
I couldn’t ignore the fact that I wanted her. I just … needed to be careful about all this.

She stared at me, her long red hair pulled up into a messy bun. The slice of pizza that she was about to take a bite out of hung close to her mouth. I felt the heat from the blush on my cheeks.

“I see.” Katie nodded. “And you’re not going to tell me what is going on at all?”

“I can’t. I have a friend who would kill me if I so much as thought about it, and he knew.”

“So, have you thought about it?”

“Yes.”

She grinned.

The next few weeks were all I had left, and I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to tell her that, but I knew that I wanted to spend the last few weeks with her. I took a deep breath. “I want to tell you everything, I really do.”

“But your friends won’t let you?”

“Yes.” And if I told her the truth I wasn’t sure how she would react. If she would call the cops on me or, somehow worse, if she would be scared of me.

The next evening, I slipped into a pair of jeans that made my ass look great and a shirt that showed a little bit too much boob. I applied some lipstick and attempted a smoky eye, slipped into a pair of heels and headed to his place. Yes, it was an odd place to have a second date, but it seemed like this relationship, whether it was just friendly or more, wasn’t going to be what anyone would call normal. So I double checked my makeup in the small mirror as I sat outside his house. For the first time since I’d seen him, I found out what kind of car he drove.

A 1995 Camaro. Good car in my opinion. I popped my door open and made my way towards the small house. It looked like it was two stories, maybe.

My heart raced in my ears as I approached the door and I felt like I was going to be sick.

Reaching out, I rang the doorbell. I didn’t think it was possible, but my heart raced faster as I heard footsteps from inside.

He pulled the door open and smiled. My jaw almost dropped as I stared at him. He wore a black button-up shirt and clean jeans. He looked … I took a deep breath as I stepped forwards. “Hey.”

“Hey,” he closed the distance between us and pulled me into a hug, his arms wrapping around my waist. “How’s it going?”

“Good.” I stood there in shock for a couple seconds before I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer. “You?” I felt strangely comfortable in his arms; warm, safe, and most of all, I didn’t want to move.

He squeezed me, although it was gentle it was still enough to show that this man had muscle. I swallowed dryly.
I would love to get a good look at those muscles.
Forcing myself to let go of him, I stepped away. “So, you said not to bring anything to eat.” It sounded like a statement, but I’m pretty sure it was a question. Kinda. I was trying to figure out if we were going out or not.

“Yup!” He stepped out of the doorway and motioned for me to come inside. “I figured I could show off my skills and do some cooking for you.”

“Ohhh, you can cook? Impressive.” A man who could cook and work on cars? A man after my own heart.

“I aim to please.” He grinned as I slipped out of my shoes and padded into the open living room that connected to the kitchen. Looking around, I saw there were very few things here actually. A couch, a coffee table, an end table and a TV.

“It’s not much but it is home,” he said as though reading my mind.

“It’s cute.” And it was. The leather couch, the hardwood floors and the clear coffee table looked good, it just looked like there should be a little more to it. Not that it mattered to me. The TV was huge, clearly a big expense. I sauntered to the end table where a single picture frame stood.

There were four boys and a girl. The one on the far left I recognised as the man who was in the house with me, the one beside him had blue hair and a grin spread across his face; then there was the girl in the middle. She had blonde hair that fell to her mid chest, a beautiful smile and perfect skin. She wore red lipstick and a pair of jean shorts with a tank top. On the other side of her I was sure was the one from the restaurant … what was his name again? Luke, I think. Beside him was another person. Brown hair, tall, and without his shirt on I could see his abs. I reached out and took the photo to study it. Every single one of them smiled happily.

“That was a long time ago.” He spoke softly behind me and I gasped, spinning to face him. He stood inches away from me, how had I not heard him come up behind me?

“You all look really happy.”

“We … we were.”

“How long ago was it?”

He nodded. “That photo was taken eleven years and eight months ago.” Reaching out, he took it from me, his eyes locked on the people in the frame.

“That’s pretty exact.”

“She died two days later.”

My heart dropped into my stomach. He said it so flatly, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her. He finally forced himself to look away and put the photo down.

“I’m … I’m so sorry.”

He shrugged. “There’s nothing anyone can do about it now.”

I didn’t say anything else. I mean really, what else was there to say? I knew how hard it was to lose a friend.

“So, what did you have in mind for dinner?” I asked in a lame attempt to change the subject.

“Nothing fancy.” He turned away and headed for the kitchen. “Steak and baked potatoes. I hope that sounds good to you.”

“It sounds perfect.” I grinned, looking around the kitchen.

“I made some coleslaw to go along with it too.”

“Wait, you made some?”

“Well, yea. There’s no point in buying it when it’s so much cheaper to make.”

My eyes widened a little. “That is so cool. I’ve never had it actually homemade before.” He gave me a weak smile, but it was obvious that his mind was still on that girl in the photo. “Hey,” I reached out and grabbed his arm pulling him into a tight hug. “I don’t know what happened when she died, and I don’t expect you to tell me or anything but … well, I just wanted to let you know that I’m here if you ever need anything.”

“Thanks, Katie.”

“Call me Kat, everyone else does.”

His arms wrapped around me as he buried his face into the groove of my neck. “Thanks Kat,” he whispered against my skin. The pure heat of his breath made my heart race.

His hand slid up the curves of my body as he stepped away from me, his eyes locking on mine. Those gorgeous green eyes. The more I looked at them, I was sure I saw small flakes of gold there. Stepping closer to him without even realizing it, I stared up at those big green eyes, trying to look for any sign that this was about to lead to the kiss I wanted it to. His arms pulled away from me, and he forced his eyes shut. Letting out a deep breath, he turned his face away from me.

I was left standing there staring at him. His tattooed arms folded over his chest. I reached out and grabbed his hand, but he stepped away from me.

“I … it wouldn’t be fair to you,” he whispered so quietly I almost didn’t hear him.

“Maybe I don’t mind that.” My eyes narrowed. I was getting sick of this game.

His eyes snapped open as he stared at me. “But …”

“Look,” I cut him off. “Clearly you want to hang out with me. I’m a big girl, I get that some things might not work out, and I’m not saying that we have to get married and have two point five kids and go to family soccer nights. I’m just saying that maybe … we actually see where this goes.”

“I know where it will go.”

“Where?” I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest. Why was he being so difficult about this? It was a simple matter of whether he wanted to hang out with me or not.

He didn’t say anything. Instead, he looked down at the ground. “I’m sorry. You’re right … it’s not like we’re getting married or anything and … I’m just …” He sighed. “I really have to stop telling you I’ve got a lot going on.”

“Yea, it’s getting kinda old.” My blunt response didn’t seem to hurt him. He smirked.

“Alright, let’s go get dinner on the barbeque.”

I followed him outside. The weather was gorgeous, and I couldn’t think of anything better than to sit out on the deck while he lit the barbeque and minutes later placed the steaks down on it. He made his way back inside and brought out two cold beers, handing me one.

“So, did you work today?”

“Yea.” He looked down at his hand before extending it out to me. The entire middle finger was covered in dried blood. “Oh wow.” I reached out and studied it. “What happened?”

“I got my finger stuck.”

“Are you okay? Shouldn’t you go to the doctor?”

“I probably should have, but I’m fine.” He shrugged it off as he took a sip of beer. “I’ve got to ask you something.”

“Okay.”

“You know things are crazy for me right now, and you know I’m a bit of a jerk who, as the past has shown us, might just get up and leave and not ever plan on coming back … so why do you even want to bother trying?”

“Because.” I paused, mulling it over. I hadn’t thought about it honestly. The answer had just been ‘because’ and that was good enough for me. “Because I want to. I want to get to know you. I … I like the person I think you are, and if I just give up now, I’ll never know.”

“And what if I’m not that person?”

“Then I’m not sure if I’ll like you or not, but I want to find out.”

I took a long sip of the beer as Dom processed my words. He smiled softly as he took a sip of his own beer, stood up and flipped the steaks.

He came back and sat down beside me. I reached out and took his free hand, and he glanced at me. A smile spread over his face as he squeezed my hand.

“Was she a friend?” I knew I was pushing my boundaries, but I still tried.

“Yes.” 

“Was she more?”

“Are you jealous?”

“No, are you deflecting a question?”

He snorted. “She was just a friend.” He took a long swig of his beer. “We were 15 when … when that photo was taken. It was summer … we spent the entire thing together. She, Becky, was going through a rough time. Her parents were … well, she was staying with me, and she met this guy.” He stopped for a second to take another sip of beer, then shook the empty can and tossed it towards the garbage. “They’d been together for three months before she broke things off with him … he didn’t take it well at all.”

“I’m so sorry.” I had so many questions, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask them as I stared at Dom. I could see the tears welling up in the corner of his eyes. He looked away from me, but not before I saw one slide down his cheek.

His hand left mine as he stood up and checked the steaks. They must have been done because he grabbed a plate and put them on it, flicked off the barbeque and turned his attention to me. “I guess you could say she was more than a friend, but not in the way you’re asking. She was more like a sister to me than anything else.”

I got to my feet, and we made our way inside where he put a steak onto another plate, and I wandered over to the oven. Pulling out two baked potatoes, I carried them over to the plates. We each got one, and then I made my way to the fridge as he got us forks and knives. “The other three guys in the picture, do you still talk to them.”

“Yes. The one you met the other day.”

“I thought so!” 

“The four of us get together often, just … to hang out. We lived together for a couple years too.” I felt like there was something more to that statement, but I wasn’t sure what it was. I shrugged it off. There was only so much prying I could do at a time without freaking him out, and I didn’t want to freak him out.

We each dressed the baked potatoes how we wanted them and then made our way back outside with fresh beers in our hands before sitting down at the table on the deck.

We ate in silence, carried our plates into the house and then strolled over to the couch. “So, that’s what it’s like to eat with you when you don’t just run away.” I teased with a grin.

“You’re going to hold that over my head forever, aren’t you?”

“Yup.” My grin widened.

He laughed softly as he shifted in his spot, moving a little closer to me. I took a deep breath of him. He still smelt like a garage. Like a working class man. “Dinner was good by the way.”

“Thanks.”

He reached out, took my hand, studying it carefully and then raised it to his lips and placed a small kiss on the back of my hand. I looked down hoping to hide my blush, but I don’t think it helped much based on the way Dom’s grin widened. He leaned towards me as he released my hand.

My heart skipped a beat as I realized what was about to happen. I pulled away from him, and he froze. “You’re not going to try to take it back, are you?”

“What?” He stared at me utterly confused.

“If you try to kiss me you better not go and say that we can’t try being together.” I raised an eyebrow.

A soft smile touched his lips as his fingers curled into my hair and pulled me close to him.
 

***
 

I was sick of fighting myself. I was sick of telling myself I couldn’t be happy.

I wanted Katie, and for once in the past 11 years, I wasn’t going to stop myself from doing something that might be stupid. I only had a couple weeks left, and I wasn’t going to waste it. Priest was out every night with a different woman, but that wasn’t me. I wanted to be in every night with this woman, for as long as I could make it last.

She’d find out about me, and she’d leave me eventually, but I wasn’t going to worry about that right now. I leaned closer and closer towards her. My eyes locked on hers as I pulled her into a kiss, my lips touching her softly at first, in case she wanted to pull away. But she moved closer to me, her lips pulling away from mine for a fraction of a second before returning towards me. She wrapped her arms around my neck as the kiss became more passionate and I pulled her onto my lap.

She moaned against my lips, her teeth grazing my lower ones. My eyes rolled back as I gasped, my fingers pulling her hair lightly.

“Oh yes.” Her hips pushed against mine. I tried to pull her closer to me, and then I gasped as something buzzed against the coffee table and fell to the floor. She spun to see what it was. I already knew.