Page 10 of A Taste For Trouble

Dom glowered at Sweetpea, his face set in hard lines. I called myself all kinds of a fool as I stared at his lush, biteable lips, wondering if I had imagined that almost-kiss. Fake almost-kiss, I corrected myself. Dom had just put on a show of wanting to kiss me for Joe’s benefit. And I was an idiot for wishing it was real.

I had lusted and obsessed over this maddening man ever since I was old enough to realize that he wasn’t just my godmother’s son, but a gorgeous man who simply oozed sex appeal. But he had never looked at me that way. Not once.

I had spent the past few years calling myself all kinds of fool for being attracted to a man who refused to see me as anything other than plump little Rosie Posie. I gritted my teeth in anger at that thought. I knew he was here because he’d promised my mother he’d look out for me, but if he tried to bully me tonight, he would soon discover that this little rose had thorns!

All I wanted was a quiet night. I was still reeling from my sudden, unplanned breakup and Dom’s fake announcement. And I just wanted to take a hot bath with lots of candles to process what had gone down tonight and sleep it off, with my cat curled up next to me. Like that was ever possible if I had to sleep in the same house as the man of my dreams. If I went homewith Dom, I was probably going to spend the night tossing and turning, trying to ignore an ache of a completely different sort.

If only he’d stop treating me as a sister. We weren’t related by blood. There was nothing to stop him from dating me. I sighed again as I realized that you couldn’t force an attraction where none existed. I was not Dominic Carlisle’s type, and it was time to accept that.

I shook my lascivious thoughts away because I needed to keep my wits about me to deal with him. The man had an IQ higher than Einstein’s, and he was as stubborn as a mule. If he’d made up his mind to take me home tonight, I hadn’t a hope in hell of changing his mind.

Trevor waved at me behind Dom’s back and gave me a rueful shrug that said I might as well give in, because there was no way I could stand up to Dom. Give in, my ass, I decided with a toss of my head. I didn’t need the big, bad grump to come charging in to my rescue. I could take care of myself. Even though my knees turned to water at the thought of Joe coming back to settle scores, I stood up straight and glared at the bane of my life.

“Joe won’t be coming back anytime soon. You took care of that. Now, I just want you guys to leave,” I snapped.

“We’re going nowhere, Rose. Not without you. Get that through your head firmly,” he snapped back.

“Look, I know you’re worried about me, but I’ll be fine. I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself. Besides, I can’t leave my cat.”

“When did you even get him?” he asked curiously.

“I found him crying outside my bedroom window a month ago, completely starved and miserable, and I took him to the vet, who said he was probably a feral cat who decided to domesticate himself out of hunger and fear of the storm. So, now I have a cat.”

“Let me get this straight. You took one look at that feral spawn of Satan and decided to call him Sweetpea,” he replied with a straight face.

“Yes,” I snapped. “I have to set the right expectations for him, Dom. And a nice name is the first step to rehabilitation. He didn’t have a mom to teach him how to be a sweet kitty. That’s my job now.”

“Here’s a thought. What if Rose could bring her cat along?” suggested Trevor.

That was a horrible idea! I had never been in Dominic’s flashy penthouse that overlooked the river West, but I was sure it was nothing like my shabby little cottage with the peeling wallpaper and suspiciously damp patches. Sweetpea had taken a personal dislike to my already peeling wallpaper and was on a mission to rip it clean off the walls. I’d have to sell both my kidneys to replace whatever he destroyed in Dominic’s house because I was surehedidn’t stick colourful butterpaper onhiswalls to cover the missing bits. I shuddered at the damage my little monster would do to his pristine home.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” I began, but Trevor didn’t let me finish.

“Why did you break up with Joe?” he asked. “You were all set on marrying him when I spoke to you this afternoon. What changed suddenly, Rose?”

I gave a quick glance at Dom’s stony face, not wanting to discuss this in front of him, but Trevor had his nosy face on. He smelled dirt, and he wasn’t going to let up until I dished.

“He threatened to hurt Sweetpea,” I admitted, and told them about Joe’s text.

Trevor’s face turned scary, and I knew he was about to do something very stupid.

“Excuse me while I track down that piece of shit and feed him his own entrails,” he snarled and made for the driveway.

I grabbed him by the back of his shirt and tried to drag him back, but he was too strong for me, and I shot a pleading glance at Dominic.

“Do something,” I mouthed, and he rolled his eyes.

“You’ll go to jail if you touch him, and you know what that means, Trevor. Community showers, no skincare, and no weekly mani-pedi,” he said loudly, and Trevor froze in his tracks.

“Babe, you’re too pretty for prison. And Joe’s not worth the daily cavity searches,” I added when he turned to glare at me.

“Fine! I won’t kill him. But you can’t stay here by yourself tonight. What if he comes back to hurt Sweetpea?”

I opened my mouth to say he wouldn’t, but I stopped because while I knew Joe wasn’t dumb enough to do anything to me directly, I could totally see him trying to get back at me by hurting my cat.

“What about Sweetpea?” I asked because I couldn’t leave him here all by himself.

“Fine! Bring Beelzebub along by all means,” he said with a pained sigh, as if this were all a big inconvenience.