“Good morning, Gwen.” He gave her a genuine smile before turning to Dominic. “Glad to see you made it back in one piece and hopefully without killing Gage.”
“It was pretty close a few times,” Dominic joked as he took Gwen’s hand, clasping it firmly. She wasn’t sure if he was trying to give Mac a message or attempting to reassure her, but she was glad for the show of support. They all stood for another five minutes, and she was surprised that the conversation flowed easily. Finally, Mac had to leave to take a call and Ava walked away with him. Dominic dropped a distracted kiss onto her lips and promised to bring her by some coffee in an hour.
When she stepped off the elevator, Crystal was waiting near her doorway with a Kleenex in her hand. Noting the other woman’s puffy eyes, Gwen was certain that either her mother or her ex-husband had been at it again. “Hey, Crys,” she said gently as she opened her door and motioned her friend inside. Shutting the door behind them, she asked, “What’s going on?”
Crystal took one of the chairs in front of Gwen’s desk and she perched on the other one. “Just the usual crap. My mom started bright and early this morning telling me what a big mistake I’d made by divorcing Bill. She assured me that he’d probably take me back if I really showed him how sorry I was and that I was willing to change to make him happy. Oh and agree to take his last name again. I had that changed back to Webber as soon as we divorced.”
Gwen slumped back against her seat, rubbing her head. “You’re kidding? She’s completely taking his side?”
Sniffling, Crystal shook her head dejectedly. “Nope, there was more, but that’s the gist of it. I’m a colossal disappointment to her. She thinks that I’m going through some rebellion. I swear I’m half-afraid that she will join forces with Bill and they will try to have me committed somewhere for temporary insanity because that’s exactly what they both feel has happened. It just hasn’t occurred to either of them that they might be the problem and not me.”
Handing Crystal another Kleenex from her desk, Gwen asked, “Did you tell Ella yet?”
Crystal looked away but not before Gwen saw another tear trickle down her cheek. “No. Ella has too much going on in her life to worry about me.” Gwen didn’t know Crystal’s sister that well, but from their interactions at lunch, she couldn’t doubt that Ella loved her sister and would want to know that she was this upset.
“From what you’ve told me, Crys, Ella went through something similar when she began dating Declan. She, better than anyone, would understand what you’re going through.”
“I know she would,” Crystal agreed, “but she has a new baby, a wonderful husband, and a life away from our mother. She served her time as the single daughter catching hell. Back then, I was the golden child because I went along with the program. It’s shitty, but I admit to sitting back and letting Mom give Ella hell because I was just relieved that it wasn’t me. But when Ella met Declan and refused to let Mom control her, it made me realize how unhappy I’d been for years. You would think that getting a divorce would prove that it’s over with Bill, but I’m still living in turmoil that I can’t seem to escape from.”
“Oh, Crystal,” Gwen murmured, taking the other woman’s hand between her own. “I had no idea that things were this bad for you. I mean, I knew that your mother harassed you, but I thought it was more of a random thing.”
Crystal gave her a watery smile full of misery. “Oh no, there’s nothing random about it. I mean, I might go a few days between calls or e-mails, but a whole week never passes without some kind of speech about how I’ve made a fool out of her in front of her church or how disappointed Daddy is in me. Then there are the ones about ‘poor Bill’ who just doesn’t understand why I left him when he gave me the world. I swear, Gwen, a few times I’ve even thought of just going back to him so she would leave me alone. It’s not like I haven’t been a Stepford wife before.”
“Have you thought that you may have to completely cut your mother from your life until something changes?” Gwen asked hesitantly. She felt wrong about suggesting something so drastic to her friend, but it pissed her off that a mother would speak to her child in the way that she did. It wasn’t as if Gwen’s own parents were calling and professing their love every day, but they’d always been supportive of her choices, saying that even making mistakes was a part of life. In fact, she’d never appreciated them more than she did at this moment.
“I kept thinking that when enough time had passed, she’d accept that I wasn’t going back to Bill. I’ve tried to show her when she visits that I like the life I have now. I’ve even tried to talk to Daddy about it when she wasn’t around, but that’s basically useless. He knows that she’s wrong, but there is no way he’s going to bring her full attention down onto him. He just says the same crap about ‘you know how your mother is.’ Well, duh, we all know how she is, but that doesn’t excuse her.”
“Honey, I think you need to talk to Ella,” Gwen suggested. “You know that Mia and I are both here for you, but Ella is your sister. She knows your mother better than we do and might have some suggestions. She would also want to be there to support you in whatever decision you make—don’t you think?”
Crystal wiped the moisture from her eyes, and Gwen was relieved to see that she looked better. “You’re right,” Crystal admitted. “She would want to know. She’ll probably be really pissed that I haven’t told her how bad it’s gotten. She doesn’t like being left out of the loop for her own good. Poor Declan has caught a lot of hell for trying to do that even though he meant well. My sister is the quiet, shy one, but when she’s really angry, you had better run.”
When Crystal stood, Gwen followed her lead. “Want to go down to the lobby for coffee before the day starts?” she asked, thinking she could surprise Dominic with a cup. Since she’d already run into Mac this morning, there wasn’t much reason to keep avoiding the East Coast office. Dominic was always taking care of her and just this once, she’d like to give him a little of that back. She’d have to work through lunch to make up for her conversation with Crystal and her coffee delivery, but she was sure it would be worth it.
* * *
Dominic was on his way to pick up Gwen’s coffee when he met Gage outside of the office. Looking down at his watch, he raised a brow at the other man. “Need a little extra sleep this morning or were you researching more chick products?”
“I knew that conversation was going to come back to bite me in the ass,” Gage grumbled as he gave Dominic a dirty look. “No doubt you’ve already told Mac and anyone else in the vicinity all about it.”
“Nope,” Dominic smirked, “but the day’s still young, my friend.”
Shaking his head, Gage asked, “How are you so chirpy this morning? You couldn’t have gotten any more sleep than I did. Ohhh, wait. Let me guess. You had a certain hot, little redhead to get you going this morning.”
Dominic didn’t bother telling him that he’d seen Gwen only when he got to the office. Torturing his friend was far too amusing. “Awww, what’s the matter, buddy? No one working the corner near your house this morning?” Lowering his voice to make sure he wasn’t overheard, he added, “I hope you’re triple bagging it. They’ve been known to fall off before.”
Dominic wanted to laugh when Gage unconsciously readjusted himself as if checking to make sure his dick was still there. Giving him an evil grin, Gage said, “So, did you ask Gwen when she’ll know if she’s pregnant? You know Kandi probably won’t wait for you forever and you don’t want to lose such a talented woman do you?”
Even though he wanted to cringe at the thought of the ex-stripper he’d gone out with for a while, he refused to give Gage the satisfaction. Instead, in a voice so sincere that he was proud of himself, he said, “She promised to give me a couple more weeks. She’s it for me man, the woman of my dreams.”
There was complete silence for all of twenty seconds as Gage stared him down before bursting into laughter. “Stop screwing with me before I’ve had my coffee.”
Gwen locked herself in the bathroom, dropping the two cups of coffee that she was carrying in the sink. She had just turned the corner to Dominic’s office, when she’d spotted him standing a few feet away talking to Gage. Not wanting to interrupt, she’d stepped back and stayed out of sight as Dominic had teased his friend. The smile that had been on her face had quickly slid away though when she’d heard Gage say her name. The conversation that had followed had been the all too familiar story of her life—with the exception of a possible pregnancy. Apparently, yet another man in her dating life was bored with her and ready to move on to greener pastures.
Why had she let herself begin to believe that they had something more between them? What had she been thinking? A man who looked like Dominic would always get plenty of attention from women. Not only was he handsome and sexy, but he was also charming and kind. And dear heaven, if a woman was lucky enough to discover how talented he was in the bedroom, then she would likely sell her very soul to keep him. What made her think that she could compete?
Dammit, he had led her to believe that he was just as interested in her as she was in him. Okay, maybe she had been the one to initiate sex, but after that, it had been all him. He’d turned into Mr. Wonderful, and she had fallen for it. Now she was convinced there wasn’t a woman around who could hold out when Dominic Brady turned his full attention on them. The ass! This was all his fault. Why couldn’t he have left her alone? So what if they had a condom mishap. He could have told her to call if there were any issues and left it at that. Nooo, he had to continue sexing her up at every opportunity and making her believe that he genuinely cared about her. She was well and truly tired of being treated like she didn’t matter. Maybe the best thing to come out of the overheard conversation this morning was that she could now turn the tables and be one step ahead. She would be the dumper this time and not the dumpee.
Gwen had fully planned to tell Dominic that she’d overheard him talking to Gage, but now she’d changed her mind. Why warn him so that he could just make up some lie to cover his tracks? No, even if it killed her, she would pretend that nothing had changed until she knew for sure whether she was pregnant. By this weekend, she should be able to take a home pregnancy test to answer that question. Of course, if her spotting from the previous day was any indication, she’d say that she wasn’t.
Her sister had called last night to invite her to Peter’s birthday party this weekend, so instead of declining as she’d planned to do, maybe she would go. She could take a test there and then call Dominic while she was out of town and let him know. No, wait. That was too nice. She’d text him. . . . Yeah, that was more impersonal with the added benefit of not having to hear him make small talk while he brushed her off.
Now that she had a plan of action, she only had to get through the rest of the work week without breaking down and begging him to stay. She could do this. She had to. Cleaning the coffee mess out of the sink, she took a few deep breaths and squared her shoulders. She just needed to keep reminding herself that he was no different from the rest. Daniel, the man she had dated before Mac, had broken up with her via e-mail with the standard, “It’s not you, it’s me” spiel. She might have actually bought into that if he hadn’t ended it with, “You’re a great person, Misty.” Needless to say, Gwen had immediately caught on to the fact that her replacement in Daniel’s life was Misty. She hadn’t bothered to call him out on it. What would have been the point? Apparently, her replacement in Dominic’s life was a stripper named Kandi. Just the thought was enough to send a wave of much-needed anger surging through her once again. Ugh, men were pigs!
Gwen stalked back to her office feeling guilty that she had wasted so much time this morning on personal matters. Just as she was reviewing some invoices for approval, there was a tap at her door and a smiling Dominic walked in carrying her morning coffee. Her body went into hyper alert as usual when she saw him before she reminded herself that he was a snake and she shouldn’t be swooning over his masculine beauty. God, this was going to be harder than she thought because she was just addicted to him. She had to focus on how it would feel when he walked away from her. “Hey, babe, got you coffee.” He smiled as he sauntered over to where she was sitting. She pretended not to notice that his mouth was dropping toward hers as she subtly turned her head slightly causing his lips to meet her cheek instead. He gave her a questioning look to which she just smiled brightly.
“Thanks,” she said, picking up her cup. “I really needed this.” Before he could say anything she quickly asked, “So, how’s your morning going?”
He reached down to tuck a wayward piece of hair behind her ear before answering. “It’s fine. Just the usual. How about you?” Oh crap, she was literally melting from the heat in his gaze as she fumbled with a pen on her desk, trying not to think about how much she wanted him to throw her over the desk and take her in every way imaginable. She could feel her body flushing and her nipples pebbling as she repeated to herself that he was now the enemy. Did the man have to smell so good? She was right at the point of plastering her body to his when she was saved by the shrill ringing of her desk phone. She grabbed the receiver like it was a life raft in the middle of the ocean and she was drowning.
If Marta in purchasing thought it a bit strange that Gwen insisted she needed to come over personally to review the new budget for landscaping, she didn’t let on. Well, other than the thirty-second pause when Gwen had said that she’d be right there. She really didn’t care if she sounded crazy as long as it kept her from licking Dominic’s neck and flicking his nipples. Tossing the phone back in the cradle, Gwen jumped to her feet and said breezily, “I’ve got to go look over some budget numbers. So, I’ll see you later.”
She had almost made it to the door, when Dominic shot a hand out and pulled her body against his. “Not so fast, Red.” Looking at her intently, he asked, “Is everything all right? You seem a bit—strange.”
Maybe if I stuffed some dollar bills in my panties and named myself after something edible he’d be happier! Gwen thought to herself. Instead of giving voice to any of those thoughts, though, she simply gave him a confused half smile before answering. “I don’t know what you mean. It’s just been a busy morning and I’m running late.” In his confusion, his grip had loosened on her and she took advantage of the momentary distraction by pulling away and making for the door. “Thanks for the coffee,” she threw over her shoulder as she walked quickly down the hallway. When she turned the corner, she glanced back to find him staring after her, looking puzzled and hurt. No, surely she was reading that wrong. The only thing she could have possibly wounded was his ego by walking away from him. It probably wasn’t a feeling that he was used to. She had to give him credit, though; he seemed to be determined to stay the course until he knew he was off the hook.
If he wasn’t stomping on her heart, she might have admired his resolve. That was something she needed to work on herself because she had been close to folding in her office. She had seriously underestimated the impact that his presence had on her. How in the world was she supposed to hold out for another few days until she could run back to Columbia and hide? At this point, a case of the flu would be like a miracle from above.
Chapter Eleven
Dominic was still perplexed by Gwen’s odd behavior by the time he made it home later that evening. He had replayed the scene in her office over and over and still couldn’t pinpoint exactly what had been off, yet he knew something had changed since they had parted less than an hour before. First, there was her avoidance of his kiss. He might have believed that her turning just as his lips closed in on hers was a coincidence, if not for the moments afterward. She had kept all eye contact to a minimum and had bounced her pen around her desk as if she was on some kind of speed.
Yeah, he’d been around enough women to know when something was wrong, and she might have said the right things, but her body language was saying something else. What could have possibly happened in the hour that
they were apart? He’d barely had time to check his e-mail and say a few words to Mac and Gage before hurrying out to get her coffee. Could it be that Gage was right? Was she beginning to get pissed off at him because she thought he was avoiding the “baby” subject? To him, it didn’t change his feelings for Gwen either way. Sure, if she was pregnant, they’d need to make plans for that, but he wanted to be with her regardless. He had assumed that she knew that, but maybe that hadn’t been wise. Men were just naturally less vocal than women about their feelings.
He looked at his watch and knew that she should be home by now. He hadn’t wanted to risk inviting her to dinner in case she refused so he’d picked up some Chinese on his way. As luck would have it, when he stepped from his apartment to go to Gwen’s, he saw Shannon standing in her doorway. As he drew closer, he heard her say, “Sorry about dinner. Any other time the girls and I would have loved to go out, but I couldn’t pass up a chance to meet Cameron, with them at my parents’ house tonight.” As the other woman pulled the door shut behind her, she turned and almost plowed into him. “Eek!” she squeaked before recognizing him.
“Sorry about that, Shannon,” he apologized. “Didn’t mean to startle you.” Pretending he didn’t hear what she’d just said to Gwen, he asked, “Where’s Maddy and Megan?” He couldn’t resist throwing in, “They aren’t visiting with their friend, Bastard, are they?”
Shannon dropped her head before giggling softly. “Oh God, I have no idea where they get half the stuff they say. I thought I’d lost the ability to be embarrassed by them long ago, but they just keep proving me wrong.”
Dominic reached out to pat her shoulder as he said, “Don’t ever try to change them. They are hilarious. If only they could stay that innocent all their lives.”
Shannon raised a skeptical brow, saying, “I wouldn’t exactly call them innocent, but I know what you mean. I may cringe sometimes, but I know I’ll remember those moments forever.” As he smiled and nodded his agreement, she suddenly looked over her shoulder at Gwen’s door before lowering her voice. “Did you . . . mess up or something with Gwen?”
Watch Over Me Page 14