“Papers, huh?” I prod. “You don’t know how to read or what?”
His eyes light up as I poke at him, the easiness of our semi-friendship making my nerves settle just a bit. Nate and I have gotten along since the day he showed up with his little boy unexpectedly at Dominic’s. He’s a handful in a lot of ways—loud and a little sharp sometimes—but he’s kind. And when he’s with Ryder, he’s downright amazing.
“I don’t know how to read this shit,” he blushes. “I got some papers from the bank on a loan and he’s making sure nothing looks off to him. They speak a complete other language in the banking world.”
My heart drops as I realize what he’s saying. “Dom told me you were going through a rough patch. Can I help?”
“You sure can. Let him finish looking at those papers before you wind him up,” he winks.
“I’m serious,” I say, shoving him playfully. “If there’s anything I can do, tell me. I’d love to help.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
He says that, but the look on his face says differently.
“I mean it, Nate. If you and Ryder need anything, please don’t hesitate to reach out.”
“That’s sweet of you, Priss,” he says softly, “but we’re gonna be fine. This is life. We’re tough.”
“Of that I have little doubt,” I smile. “Dom said you guys are moving in with him.”
“Just for a while. I’m getting a loan for ten grand, but it’ll take a couple of months to go through. Until then, I’m just eliminating a few bills that I can.”
“The ten grand will bail you out?” I ask.
“And then some. I know how to manage money. I just got hit with a few big unexpected expenses,” he tells me. “Plus, I want to make this place nice again. Build something Ryder can be proud of his old man for one day. Something my brother won’t go nuts about when he sees you’re here,” he says, making a face as he takes a step, then two, backwards towards his customers. “Speaking of, head on back to the office. You know where it is, right?”
“Yup.”
“I’ll watch you from here.” He leans against the bar, cocking his head towards the man he threatened earlier. “Hurry up before I have to break Joe’s neck here.”
With a little wave, I ignore the stares of the patrons lined up on stools like drunken ducks and make my way to the back. A door is tucked away with a gold plate that has lost the lettering that once embellished it. I knock gently, but can’t hear Dom’s voice on the other side over the sound of some classic rock song from the jukebox.
“Dom?” I say, twisting the knob and pushing the door open. “Oh. I’m sorry.”
My face burns in part embarrassment, part anger at the sight before me. Dom is sitting with a pile of papers in his hand and his feet kicked up on a rickety wooden desk. He’s not looking at the papers though. His attention is on a red-headed girl sitting on a love seat that’s looking at him like he just stepped out of the heavens.
“What are you doing here?” His head snaps to me as he sits up, the papers splashing across the desk. The lines that mar his forehead tell me everything I need to know.
This was, as I feared, counterproductive.
“I, um,” I stammer, clearing my throat, “I thought I’d drop by. I didn’t know you’d be busy.”
Glancing to my right, I see Red with the corner of her lips curling into a bitchy smirk. If I knew how to throw a punch, I’d land one in the middle of her too-pink pucker.
“I’m not busy.” Dominic leans forward, his elbows resting on his knees. “I just didn’t expect you. Here.”
He’s unhurried, like he doesn’t even realize Red’s here. Like it’s not bothering me at all that another woman was alone with him and I just walked in. That annoys me. Big time. But if there’s one thing I learned from my mother, it’s not to let them see you sweat.
Growing up, lots of girls weren’t nice to me and Sienna. Our sophomore year, in particular, was rough. We learned to say everything with a smile, to act unaffected. It takes the wind out of their sails. That or it makes them react and look like idiots.
“You know what, I should’ve called. How thoughtless of me,” I say, pasting on a grin. Turning to Red, I extend a hand. “I’m Camilla Landry. It’s nice to meet you.”
She pulls her drawn-on brows together and looks quickly at Dom before returning her gaze to me. “I’m Hannah. Nice to meet you?”
We shake in an awkward maneuver before I adjust my purse and look at Dom again. Plastering on as pleasant of a smile as I can, I turn away. “I have some errands to run. You can call me later if you want.”
“Cam.”
“Yeah?” I say, looking at him over my shoulder.
“Stay.” He looks at Hannah. “Wait for him out there.”
“Nate said I could wait in here.”
“And I just told you to wait out there.”
“But . . .”
He gives her a look I haven’t seen him give a woman before, just men that think they’re going to make him jump when he doesn’t want to jump. The blues in his irises darken, his lips pressing together. “Go on.”
“Fine.” She looks at me with a smirk before turning to Dom. “See you at the gym tomorrow.”
I keep the bored look on my face as she walks by and out the door. I don’t turn to look at Dominic for a moment, needing a few seconds to process this . . . that this girl can spend time with him here and while he trains. And I can’t.
I wait for him to say something, to tell me she wasn’t here for him, but he remains quiet. Finally, I turn around. “Should I have called?”
“No,” he growls. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Did I interrupt something between you and Red?”
The question eases some of the tension in his face. “‘Red’?” he asks, fighting a laugh.
“Yeah. Red.”
“Okay. Red it is.” He leans back in his chair and takes me in. His dark hair is mussed from the gym, the front of his grey t-shirt stained from sweat. It’s sexy as hell and if I wasn’t borderline angry, I’d straddle him. “No, you weren’t interrupting anything. She was waiting on Nate because he’s fucking around with her.”
“But not you.”
“No, not me,” he grins. “Does that bother you?”
“What?”
“The thought of me fucking around with her?”
“No,” I lie, fidgeting with my purse on my shoulder again. “You can do whatever you want.” He just sits there, leaning back in his chair, his muscled thighs tensing beneath the jersey of his red gym shorts, and doesn’t say a word. “You can do whatever you want, just like I can.”
This gets his attention.
His eyes swirl ferociously, his jaw pulsing as he works it back and forth. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It’s not supposed to mean anything. Just stating facts. We’re free to do whatever we want.”
He nods, uncrossing his arms from over his chest. “Come here.”