Page 161 of Love Among the Ruins
He’d asked her to stay, and as much as his request surprised her, she wondered if he was asking her because he wantedher? Or because it had been nine months since he’d been intimate with a woman, and they’d had a great night of sex? As always, in the back of her mind was the fact that she was just an employee who worked for him.
So, she had declined his offer, and then gone through the motions—getting on the plane, no longer in awe of being in first class. All through the flight she’d been stuck in a time warp, last night playing on repeat in her mind, over and over, putting her in a state of arousal that had left her damp between her legs, her breasts tingling for Dominic’s touch.
By the time she landed in Athens, what she remembered the most about the weekend, wasn’t the wedding, but what had happenedafter.
On the taxi ride back to her hotel, her mind, every cell in her body had been consumed by Dominic. The feel of his steel hard body, the things he’d done to her, the way he’d possessed her body and soul.
She was exhausted, emotionally and physically, but she couldn’t stop thinking about him and the night they had shared. The chill of this morning had vanished. Being without him, having this distance between them, had freed her up to want him again. And now she missed him. She yearned for him. Needed him.
Arriving back at her hotel, she unpacked, needing to have something to do, otherwise she would spend even more time going through every single scene in slow motion.
She wanted to call Stefanos. But she couldn’t. He would not approve.
She wanted to call Miranda. But she couldn’t. Her friend would be hurt and feel betrayed.
Eleni had no one to confide in, and no Dominic to talk to, either.
Could she ever talk to him about this?
Could she ever face him in the office again?
She could feel him on her skin even now, even though she had showered; the scent of him was everywhere, not just wrapped up in her dirty clothes.
He wouldn’t be at work tomorrow. Not for a few days, he’d said. At least that would give her time to compose herself.
Unable to settle, she went for a run. Training for the mountain climb. A mountain climb she was no longer sure about.
In her grief and misery she only remembered the good things about Jonas, but now it was starting to come back; there had been bad things too. She and Jonas had rowed, like normal couples. He had flirted with girls a few times. He hadn’t cheated on her ... but it hadn’t been as idyllic as the memories she cherished.
And now, she didn’t even think about him. It was Dominic who walked in her thoughts in the twilight hours, whose tenderness wrapped around her heart during the day.
Still feeling restless, she tried a soak in the bathtub—her go to as a last resort when she was stressed—but it didn’t help. She still couldn’t sleep.
She would message Dominic.
In that way, she’d be able to gauge his mood. She would apologize for this morning. That would be a start.
She sat up in bed, turned the lamp on, and reached for her cell phone. Her fingers itched to type out what she felt, the things she remembered, the thoughts which lingered in her mind.
She missed him.
Texting would be a back and forth. She needed to hear his voice. Unable to hold back, she called him and waited. She had expected him to answer on the first ring—the way he’d always done with her in the past—but the call went to voicemail.
Dominic wasn’t thinking of her anymore. He had moved on, and it was naïve of her to think otherwise.
