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“Obviously, not perfect enough,” he whispered under his breath, rubbing her precious feet that he adored between his hands.

Maria raised back on her elbows. She was still very much intoxicated, but it appeared, for a moment, that she wasn’t when she turned serious. “Did you really mean it when you told me I could do and be anything I wanted if I married you?”

Dominic held her hazy emerald eyes in his, making her an oath. “I would never lie to you, princess.”

He could see on her face; she wanted to believe it, but a part of her just couldn’t.

Falling back on the bed again, she huffed, trying to hide the sadness in her voice. “You may say that now, but all men treat me the same in the end.”

Rubbing the last bit of lotion into her heel, Dominic stood slowly, and removed his jacket. “Do you know why I wear this coat every day?”

Maria shook her head, seeming to have been curious of it herself.

“I learned a hard lesson many years ago.” He gripped the leather in his hands. “I took it off a dead man who betrayed me, and I’ve worn it every day since to remind me to never trust a soul again. And I haven’t …” Dominic held his most prized possession out to her. “Until now.”

Maria’s eyes wildly stared up at him and to his outstretched jacket.

“Take it,” he encouraged her.

“Dominic, I don—”

“I want you to keep it, and when you decide to marry me, for however long that might take, then and only then can you give it back.”

Reaching out for the jacket, she tenderly took the soft leather in her hands, as it was a clear sign of his trust. Dominic wanted her to trust him as much as he trusted her, and when he got his jacket back, he expected her trust with it.

Holding it to her, Maria inhaled the fiery scent it carried. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He gave her a quick sight of his dimples, but it was regretfully time to go.

Pulling back the covers for her, Maria’s happiness faded. “You’re leaving me?”

“That’s usually what happens at the end of a date, princess.”

“Not at the end of good ones,” said Maria the drunk virgin, who obviously had no fucking experience at all, but yet appeared to still know exactly what to do as she went to her knees to rub a hand over his thin-shirted chest. “You told me you would stay.”

“No,” Dominic corrected her, placing his hands on her hips, “I told you I would stay if you told me how you knew about John Wayne and Clint Eastwood in old westerns, and you haven’t.”

“Well, I can’t give up my sources.” She pouted.

“Okay.” Dom captured her bottom lip between his teeth for a tender bite. “I wasn’t staying, anyway, because I don’t trust you to not con me into fucking you when you’re drunk.”

“Smart man.” Maria darted her tongue out to give a playful lick to his lips. “Anyway, I can just convince you to fuck my brains out instead?”

Jesus Christ, his dick somehow went harder every time she talked dirty. Even though his mind said yes, he regretfully said the word, “No.”

“Okay,” Maria grumbled when he tried to shove her under the covers. “Can I at least take this dress off first?”

Taking a cooling breath, he nodded as he went to turn around.

“I need you to help me,” Maria said pitifully, pathetically trying to reach the zipper in the back. Giving him her back, she looked back over her shoulder through full lashes. “Please?”

God, the woman knew exactly what she was doing, but Dominic would help, although it’d probably be another fucking thing he would regret.

Sweeping her soft, golden hair off her back and over her shoulder, Dominic slowly pulled the tiny zipper down. His breath caught in his throat when he made it to the middle of her back to find she wasn’t wearing a bra, and his breathing only got worse when the zipper reached the bottom of her waist.

The line that went down the small of her back, he wanted to desperately run his tongue down, but when he watched her shimmy down the dress to reveal her thong, Dominic had a whole new dream come to his mind.

The thoughts he had about Maria were dirtier than hers, and that said a lot. It was everything he could do to keep his hands to his sides, when all he wanted was to ram her head in the pillow as he fucked her from behind.

He was jealous of the nude thong, wanting to delve his tongue between her perfect ass cheeks as he licked the length of the string from her ass to her pussy.

Still on her knees, she unwound the dress from the bottom of her legs before she picked up Dom’s jacket, holding the warm side to her as she slowly turned back around.