Chapter Twelve
Going to work feeling like an emotional wreck was becoming a disturbing pattern for Gwen. One that she detested. She’d never been one to bring her problems to the office with her, but now it seemed to be happening a lot this week. She’d stepped off the elevator this morning, hoping to make it to her office without seeing anyone, but she’d had no such luck. Instead, she’d almost immediately run into her beautifully put together friend, Mia. She loved her, she really did, but Crystal would have been preferable in this instance since they both seemed to be having a miserable week. Mia, however, just glowed as a woman who was loved and in love seemed to do. No doubt, she’d had amazing sex before leaving home. God, she could almost hate her. “Morning chick,” Mia said in a singsong voice.
Gwen managed to grunt out, “Morning,” in reply before opening her office door. “I’ve got a ton of work to catch up on today,” she threw over her shoulder as she walked to her desk. She hoped the other woman would get the message, but Mia plopped down in a chair as if completely oblivious.
Before either of them could say anything, Dominic walked through the open doorway with a cup of coffee in his hand. As Mia stood, obviously intent on leaving to give them some privacy, he held up his hand, stopping her. “It’s okay. I’m just on my way out.” He walked over to Gwen, setting the cup in front of her before saying, “Gage and I are heading back to Charleston this morning. Our supervisor that we hired for the new location there has come down with the flu. And to top it off, now his assistant isn’t feeling well, either. We just don’t have anyone extra in that capacity to send. And I’m likely to be gone the rest of the week.”
Gwen felt a wave of relief. She was so confused and distraught over her feelings for him right now that knowing there was no danger of seeing him before she left for her sister’s this weekend was a much-needed reprieve. Plus, having him gone would save her from doing something crazy, like wrapping herself around his feet and holding on tight. Who knew that all it took was a hot guy to make her kick her pride to the curb? “I understand,” Gwen assured him. Waving a hand brightly, she added, “You go do your thing.” Oh dear God, did I actually just say that? Gwen groaned inwardly. She sounded like some sixteen-year-old.
To his credit, Dominic’s lips twitched only slightly at her cheesy words of encouragement. “I’ll do that,” he said. “I kind of feel like you’d rather me high-five you instead of kissing you good-bye, but you’re not getting off that easy, babe.” Gwen heard Mia’s murmur of approval as Dominic leaned over and locked his lips on hers. The kiss was short but firm. If it had lasted a few seconds longer, Gwen would have been ready to pull him onto her desk and damn the consequences. Of course, knowing Mia, she would probably be selling tickets to the rest of the office and munching popcorn during the main event. Dominic pulled away and gave one light tug on her hair before starting for the door. He paused there to say, “I’ll call you,” before walking away.
Before Gwen could say anything, Mia looked down at her watch and groaned. “Crap, I have my morning meeting in ten minutes. That sucks because I have so many questions. We are going to lunch today, and you’re not getting out of it! I’ll shoot Crystal an e-mail and invite her as well. That poor girl needs something to take her mind off her nut-job mother.”
Gwen laughed because there was just no way not to when Mia was in one of her hyper moods, spewing sentences one after another. Plus, if she could manage to put off answering questions about Dominic for a few hours, then she’d happily agree to lunch. “All right, sounds good. Meet you in the lobby at noon?”
“Yep, sounds good. And don’t even think about sending me some brush-off text either because I’ll come find you,” Mia warned before grimacing at her watch and hurrying out much as Dominic had done.
Gwen turned to her computer to begin her morning and try to block out the pangs of loneliness that were already hitting her at the thought of Dominic being gone for a few days. How in the world was she supposed to deal with not having him in her life at all? Surely that was just around the corner.