Page 42 of Where We Began

Looking relieved, the woman tucks the board under her arm. “I'll get back to you with the next decoration choices soon as I can, Miss.”

She leaves, and I cover my mouth to stifle my laughs. “She called me Miss. No one has done that before.”

Dominic puts his hand on the table very close to me. I wish he would sit; having him tower over me is reminding me of how he hovered with the same crackling energy while we were in the library, before we kissed. “It's probably the first time you've ever told someone what to do around here,” he says. “They're going to start thinking that you're in charge.”

I lower my eyes, furrowing my brow. “Except I'm not in charge. I don't have any actual power here.”

“You have more than you think,” he whispers. The strain in his voice draws my attention back to him. I know he's talking about something other than the staff addressing me with respect.

“Dominic, I told you. Stop trying to make something happen between us.”

He pulls air in, then breezes it out, bending closer to me. “You wouldn't have to tell me nothing was going to happen, unless you were worried it was.”

I'm locked in place, gazing into his eyes and losing myself in the rich molasses color. We're alone in the kitchen. The air should smell like cinnamon and strawberry pastries, but instead it's that wild animal smell he has. A promise that he'll let me know the sounds we'll make in the dark if I peel back my desperate need to protect myself for a single second laid bare. A simple blink, and I could be his.

Careful to avoid letting any part of me touch him, I glide my chair backwards. “I'm going to go help Wyatt in the preserve. I might be too busy with party planning from here on to spend time there this coming week.”

“If you need some air, I understand.” His cocky smile gets bigger. He slides into the chair I was in, filling the space with his every muscles flexing. The way I know he wants to fillme.

His legs spread wide. The kind of slouch an emperor would hold as he sits on a throne and plots how to rule the world. I imagine his skin absorbing the warmth I left behind in the chair.

He runs a fingertip over his chin. “Weren't you leaving?”

I shake myself free of the urge I have to climb into his lap. “Yes. Right, I've got to go.”

Dominic's lips curl into a knowing grin. “I'll see you soon.”

His cryptic promise licks at my ankles as I jog my way to the fenced-in miniature forest. I wish it were farther away. Leaving this state, this city... theplanetmight not be enough to slip from his enticing grasp. If I found my way to a hole in the moon, I'd sit there in the dark, still burning with lust for Dominic Bradley.

“Laiken,” Wyatt says, waving as I approach. He's got the gate open, he must have seen me coming. I dart through then bend over with my hands braced on my thighs, sucking in air. “You look like the devil's chasing you, girl.”

I shoot him a wary glance.He is,I think. “I just wanted to see you.”

“Please, I'm not that charming.” Closing the fence, he locks it. “What's happening? Out with it.”

His bluntness is one of my favorite qualities. “I'm going to be busy for the next week. I'm in charge of planning a party.”

Wyatt flexes his neck, leaning backwards, like I just turned into a giant snake about to strike. Then, to my shock, he shakes his head and laughs. “That's not what I expected you to say.”

My smile starts slow then it keeps going. “I know. I'm not the type.”

“You're not,” he agrees.

Unsaid words roll between us. I sense he wants to ask me why I'm doing this, and simultaneously, he knows it's not a good reason. We don't talk about my situation, not here. Not in this place. That suits me fine; I don't want Wyatt pitying me for being a kidnapped girl growing up in a stranger's home.

Overhead, the sky is free of clouds. The symphony of wildlife reaches my ears. Inhaling the earthy scents, I point at the garbage can on the path. “Don't let me slow you down. Put me to work.”

He breaks his stare. “Someday, you'll realize this is hard work, and you'll regret offering to do it.”

I smile slyly, because I know I won't.

Wyatt and I drag the can deeper onto the trail. The only 'trash' is dead branches or sometimes a small animal carcass. There's nothing left by humans here because no one ever visits but us two. As I toss refuse into the can, I'm struck by a question. “I always wanted to ask, but isn't the point of this preserve to be used for hunting? Why have I never seen or heard anyone come out here and shoot a deer?”

“Wondered that myself. When I moved in and started as the caretaker, the place was already flourishing. Whoever built it had nearly full-grown trees shipped in. It was expensive, for sure. Someone got their money's worth.”

I muse over what he's said while we work. The sun is high, but the weather has cooled enough that I'm not sweating. October is fading into the next month, bringing orange and red leaves as it goes. Only the pine trees resist with their hardy green needles.

Thinking about the coming chill brings the party to the forefront of my mind. Next comes Dominic. He's curling through my brain like cloying smoke. He's determined to help me plan the party. I'm glad for that, I can't do it without him. I just don't want to be in the same room as him. When we're yards apart, and he looks at me, I visualize his mouth on mine so powerfully that my tongue gets heavy.

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