Page 174 of Love Among the Ruins
She needed to sober up fast, but she immediately fell back down on the bench.
“How much has she had?” she heard Dominic ask the others.
“Not enough!” cried Miranda. “Loosen up, Dom. Have some fun. Have some!” She pushed a shot glass of tequila under his nose. Dominic pushed the glass away and Eleni held her head in her hands, embarrassed for her friend.
“We need more cocktails!” cried the new and extroverted Miranda.
Eleni couldn’t let Miranda continue to make such a fool of herself. At this rate Miranda wouldn’t have a job left. Dominic would fire her first thing on Monday morning.
“I need some air.” With all the strength she could muster, she hauled herself to standing, and forced herself to stay up.
“But we’re already outside.” Miranda giggled helplessly.
Eleni shivered when Dominic inched closer and placed a hand on the small of her back. With his other hand on her arm, he helped her to stay upright. She did nothing to pull away, needing his support in case she wobbled and fell back down again.
“I’ll take care of her,” she heard him say.
He ushered her away from the noise of the club, from the crowd of people milling around. She swallowed gulps of air, needing to clear her head, her heart and her dignity.
When they were away from the noise and hubble bubble, she wrested herself away from him.
“Why are you here,Dom?” Why now, after the way he’d treated her that last time? Why follow her all the way to Spetses?
“We need to talk, Eleni.”
“We’re done talking, Dom.”
She heard his sharp—and pissed off—intake of breath. “I’m not.”
“I am,” she announced. It had turned from a hot balmy night to a hot night filled with irritation.
“I’m sorry for the way I behaved when you came into my office.”
“I won’t be doing that again. You let me know exactly what you think of me.”
“That’s not what happened. I was rude to you, and I’m sorry, but I had my reasons.”
“We all have our reasons for the things we do, Dom. At least now I know how my mother felt when the man she loved spurned her. She warned me about men like you. She told me to be careful of men like my father.”
“I amnothinglike your father.”
She scoffed. “I wouldn’t know what my father is like.”
He looked at her blankly. That seemed about right. He had nothing to say in his defense.
“You hurt me,” she said, waving her finger at him, then blinked, because she was seeing two fingers. Maybe three. She also needed to zip that mouth of hers.
Dominic took a step nearer, and there it was again. He was drowning her in his ocean breeze scent. It took a huge effort for her to not nuzzle up against his neck and take a deep inhale.
“We need to talk, Eleni. It’s important.”
“I don’t want you trying to sweet talk me, Dom. My mother told me that men sweet talk and buy gifts, and shower women with money and jewels. I don’t need that from you, or anyone. I never have.”
“That’s what I love … that’s why you’re so different, Eleni. That’s why I can’t walk away.”
She blinked, her knees going weak, her legs in danger of buckling under her. Had he said he loved her? Had he said the ‘L’ word? Or was she hearing things? Projecting her wishes into the ether?
She swayed again, but he put his arms around her waist and anchored her to him. She was about to push him away, but that scent of his drenched her in memories so intense and so vivid, she didn’t want to move away.Ever.
