Page 66 of Sweets and Sycamores
“You already know it won’t hurt you,” Dominic argued.
“My brain cannot conceive stepping into a burning fire, Mr. Ranford.” Allie bristled.
“Yet that fire is an extension of you, Miss Wells,” Dominic countered her banter, and her heart quivered. “You are stepping into yourself.”
“If you put it like that…” Allie eyed the flickering flame and changed her internal chanting to “You won’t burn me.”
You won’t burn me. You won’t burn me. You won’t burn me.
Her breath hitched, and the anticipation of stepping into a live fire made her feel like she’d swallowed glass. The flames were still, yet daring her to come close.
See what happens.
“Eyes on me.”
Dominic tugged at her hand until she was close enough to brush her nose against his chin. He wrapped their clasped hands into a vortex of air and said, “So it doesn’t burn me.”
“I thought you said it was my will.” Allie raised one brow. “I would never want to hurt you.”
“You don’t look like I’m your favorite person right now,” he said, and then he did something that Allie had given up thinking was possible.
He smiled.
Widely.
Not just half of a smile, or a withering smirk.
A full-on, stunning, blinding grin that crinkled the skin around the corners of his eyes, stretching up to his cheekbones. A different type of light shimmered in his eyes, one that came from within, from his soul.
Allie was a goner. Her crush exploded into a cascade of feelings that she’d bottled up because “he was her boss,” and “she would leave soon,” and “he wasn’t interested in her.” None of these mattered anymore in front of the force that was Dominic Ranfordsmiling.And Allie didn’t think too much before she squeezed his hand and opened her mouth.
“You might just be my favorite person, Dom.”
Then she stepped into the fire.
Dominic would spend the rest of his life trying to find something more beautiful than this woman coming into her power, and he already knew he’d fall short.
Watching Allie conquer her fears and take charge of the fire inside her filled him with inexplicable joy. Maybe the reason was that she had trusted him implicitly, blindly, to guide her through this. Maybe it was because he knew firsthand how hard it was to come to terms with the magic inside you for the first time. Or maybe it was because…because he felt something for her. Because she was dear to him, and her smile lit up every room despite all odds being against her. Because she was beautiful, and she didn’t give up on herself, even when she hadn’t known it was a seal messing with her power.
Having someone like Allie in his corner was a glorious victory. She’d lodged herself into his heart, despite all the thorns and ice covering the organ.
Dom watched her step into the fire and stand there before she moved her free hand around, testing the flame with her fingers. She smiled brightly at him and stepped out, fisting her hand and snuffing the fire out.
He wanted to kiss that smile of hers. Her cheeks. Her jaw. Her neck. Her everything.
He wanted to kiss her so badly that his knees might give out, and he would fall at her feet.
Selfishly, he wanted to at least pull her into his arms.
But when Allie jumped up and down with delight about what she’d just done, when she looked at him as if this win was as much his as it was hers, Dom bit his tongue and nodded his encouragement. He didn’t want to take this moment away fromher. So he watched her, mesmerized by the pure happiness she exuded, and thought…
Maybe next time.
Chapter 25
YOU’RE NEVER SMILING, BUT YOU’RE SMILING NOW?
Allie and Dominic spent the rest of the week buzzing around the bakery during the day and roaming around the forests at night, baby dragon in tow. Her baking skills had improved compared to one month ago, but she still had so much to learn. Two bad batches of pie filling later, Allie finally got the correct ratio between the fruits and the sugar and added this to the list of her daily tasks. Between cleaning, decorating cupcakes, preparing the croissant dough—which Dominic had insisted on rolling himself—and now mixing the pie fillings, Allie found a lot of joy in such full days. After they closed the bakery, she fed Ekko and cleaned the space while Dom went on the end-of-day volunteer deliveries. He had asked Allie to join him one night, and as excited as she was at the prospect of being a part of the community, the sneers that still followed her around town came front and center into her mind and kept her away.
