Page 130 of Love Among the Ruins
“Yes.”
“I was worried that I might ...”
He lowered his face, curiosity mingled with a slow burning desire as he stared at her. “Might ...?”
“Might let you down. All of your girlfriends, they’re so ... beautiful and elegant and, I didn’t want to...”
He touched his finger to her lips as if to silence her but all it did was reignite the dying flame. “Girlfriends? It’s Demi, and we were nothing but a short summer fling.”
“She’s beautiful.”
“She can’t hold a candle to you.”
Had he just thumbed her lower lip?The touch of his skin against her lips made her flinch. This thing between them, this invisible hum, it was of another frequency, a different channel. They were changed. In this moment, they weren’t the same Dominic and Eleni from the office.
They were a possibility of what a new future could be.
His hand held there, making her breathing labored, making her use all of her restraint to not tilt her face up to him, or lick her lips. Her body was preparing for something …
But he wrenched his hand away quickly, as if he’d burned it. “We should go.”
“I need to put my shoes on…” She rushed back to the room, taking a moment to catch her breath, to still her heart. She laid a hand on her chest, as if that might help. Her body was a riot of feelings, desire ratcheted up to dangerous levels, pretty soon all her emotions would be in disarray.
He was waiting by the front door, staring at her as she walked towards him, setting her heart ablaze. Never in all her twenty-one years had she ever felt on the verge of falling apart, just because of the way one man looked at her. His gaze was loaded with so much pride, her heart was ready to climb out of her mouth to do a victory lap.
Dominic helped her climb into the car. “Sorry,” he mumbled, as his hand brushed the curve of her bottom when he slid the fabric of her skirt under her so that it wouldn’t crease when she sat.
It was so thoughtful of him.
She had passed the test. Dominic liked her dress.
They were silent during the journey. She was lost in thought, still recovering from the fact that he’d helped her get dressed, still remembering the look on his face when he’d seen her.
She lost track of time and had no idea how long it was before the car came to a stop. Dominic helped her out; his attentiveness so tender, she was starting to think he really meant it.
“We should hold hands,” he suggested, and a few awkward moments ensued, as they looked at one another.
“Now?” she asked, nervously. A flood of emotions assaulted her senses, and she was overwhelmed by the opulence of her surroundings as well as Dominic’s attention.
“No, when the wedding is over.”
She frowned.He’s trying to make you laugh.“Now,” she tried to smile, the array of cars and finely dressed people coming out of them made her jittery. She’d seen people like this before when she’d been a server at events. When she’d been on the other side.
Deep breath.
As if he’d sensed her unease, he placed his hands on her shoulders, his fingers pressing gently against her skin. “Don’t be nervous. You look beautiful. You belong here, and for today, you’re with me.”
The words, the promise in them, rippled through her, reassuring her.
“Eleni?”
She needed a moment to gather her thoughts, because his fingers on her shoulders made her lose track of everything, she forgot to reply because her vocal chords had rendered her speechless.
“Ready?”
As ready as she would ever be.
Grasping her hand firmly in his, he set about working the room, introducing her to various people. More than once she detected their gazes bouncing from Dominic’s face to hers, then back to him again, and mostly everyone, every woman, gave her the side eye, surreptitiously taking in her outfit, from top to bottom, their faces plastered with too much make up, their smiles as fake as Botox.
