Page 67 of Domino
I nod. “Just in my head a bit more than usual today, I guess.”
“Is it that big biker stud running around your head today?”
“What?” I gasp, trying to stifle my laugh.
“Oh, please, you act like we’re blind. Of course we’ve noticed that he comes in here all the time and will only sit in your section. He’s super gorgeous. So, are you banging him?”
My cheeks flush with warmth and I look away. It still somehow surprises me that people are so cavalier about sex. Thank you, Sister Ashley Margaret. Seeing my expression, Teri’s eyes widen, and her mouth falls open.
“Oh my god, you are! You’re totally banging him,” she exclaims.
I clamp my hand over her mouth, trying to avoid laughing out loud out of sheer embarrassment more than anything. She tries to wriggle out of my grasp, but I hold her tight.
“Shh,” I hiss. “Stop saying that.”
I remove my hand slowly and Teri bursts into laughter, practically doubling over with it.
“Is it serious? You and him?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I think we’re getting there.”
“Girl, you are going to be the envy of everybody here. That guy is smokin’ hot.”
I smile. “He’s more than hot. He’s actually a really good guy. He’s got a good heart, and he’s great with Cole.”
“And how is he in bed?”
“Oh my god, stop it,” I say and laugh.
“Ladies, how about a little more work and a little less talk, huh?” Keith calls out to us. “Teri, can I see you in the back please?”
He pushes through the doors and goes into the kitchen. I look over at Teri and give her a wicked smile.
“Have fun with that,” I say.
“Shit,” she mutters. “I really need to brush up on sexual harassment laws.”
“Might be a good idea.”
She blows out a long, frustrated breath and goes into the back, leaving me alone with all of my fears. I glance at the clock and see that I’ve got another couple of hours before I can cut out and get home. I am desperate to call Max and find out what he’s doing. And how he is. Basically, just to make sure he’s alive.
I know most women would have run away screaming after everything he told me last night. Although we’ve grown exceptionally close in a short period of time, the fact of the matter is that we’re still learning about each other. We haven’t known each other all that long, so we’ve both got skeletons still hiding out in our closets. And the one that he rolled out last night was a doozy.
I wasn’t lying when I told him I wasn’t naive, and that I assumed he and his club were into some shady things. Shady I can handle, so long as they don’t step too far over that line. And to me, selling weed isn’t a dealbreaker. Maybe not in the amounts they’re selling it in, but it’s legal in this state, for Christ’s sake. The guns they’re selling concern me, of course, but it’s not like they’re selling children or hard drugs. So, what his club is into doesn’t concern me maybe as much as it should.
Maybe the reason it doesn’t concern me as much as it would bother others is that even though we are still learning about each other, I know Max’s heart. He has a good heart, and he’s a good man. He’s the type of man I absolutely wouldn’t mind influencing Cole as he grows up. His kindness and compassion always shine through, and he treats us both amazingly well.
I can still see some hesitance in him when he’s around Cole, but he’s learning to let go of it. He’s growing and losing his fear of being around children. He and Cole have been really good together, and I think they’re both helping each other open up. It’s been a beautiful thing to watch happen.
I love Max, and when he said the words back to me, I thought my heart might stop dead in my chest. He spoke the words with such earnestness and sincerity, I have no doubt about them being genuine. And it fills me with a joy I don’t know that I’ve ever known before.
And I’m not ready to lose that. Or him. Not yet. Not ever.
As I think about everything that he told me last night, that sliver of worry works its way back under my skin. I know he’s a good man and a good soldier. And I have no doubts he can take care of himself in a fight. But when he’s talking about battling a fucking cartel, that changes everything. I don’t know much, but I know they’re brutal. They’re ruthless. They, like, cut people’s heads off and things.
So, the mere thought that Max is going up against that, fighting people with as little regard for human life as these cartels scares the hell out of me.
“Come home to me, Max. Please come home to me,” I murmur to whomever is up there in the heavens who might be listening.
