guy be better than me? Come on, really?”
Oh, trust me, he’s better. So much better. “Please leave.”
“Answer the question—”
“He’s my boss, okay?”
His eyes narrowed. “Dex Hamilton? You’re with Dex Hamilton?”
“Yes.” And he’s much, much better.
Instead of giving him the closure he needed, it actually made him angrier. “So, you’ve had feelings for this guy the entire time? You were just finding someone else to make do until he noticed you?”
“Dom, it’s time to go.”
“I can’t believe this.” He dragged his fingers across his jawline as he shook his head. “So, that was a complete lie. I was just some rebound because you couldn’t get the guy you really wanted? Wow, that’s some bullshit right there—”
Dex walked inside, and he’d obviously heard the yelling through the door because he had a huge vein throbbing down his forehead, and he looked as if he had a cocked gun, he would shoot it. The threatening energy around him was palpable, dispersing and filling the room like cold air from an AC unit. “She asked you to leave.” He opened the door wider and stepped aside, never taking his eyes off Dom.
Dom stared him down before he looked at me again.
Dex raised his voice. “Have some dignity and walk yourself out before I throw you out.”
Dom made the right choice and walked through the open door, hopefully never to be seen again.
Dex shut the door and bolted all the locks.
This was supposed to be a romantic night, and I’d been looking forward to it since the moment he asked if I was free. Actually, I looked forward to our time together every single moment of every day, anxious to be in his arms, for his smell to stick to my skin long after he was gone. But now that possibility was long gone.
Dex turned to me, that vein still thick in his forehead, his skin a little tinted. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. Let me explain—”
“Perhaps I should have clarified earlier, but I expected this to be monogamous.” He stepped toward me, moving past the couch as he inched closer, his arms hanging by his sides. “Exclusive. If you think I’m going to share you with someone—”
“I ended it with Dom the morning after the charity gala. He just…won’t let it go. He’s been texting and calling for two weeks, and then I told him the reason I broke it off is because I’m seeing someone. But instead of that giving him the closure to walk away, he marched over here to confront me about it. I was cooking when he knocked, so I just told him to come in, assuming it was you.”
“I didn’t realize you were so serious.”
“We weren’t,” I said quickly. “We went out like three times, didn’t even sleep together. He just… I think he’s never been dumped before because he’s a sore loser.”
Dex shifted his eyes away, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I’m sorry.” I’d cry my eyes out if this scared him off, made him feel insecure, made him feel betrayed like he’d felt in the past.
He turned his head back to me. “Don’t be. It’s not your fault, baby. If you dumped me, I’d probably be a sore loser too.” He dropped his arms and regarded me, the vein fading away. “Let me know if he bothers you again.”
That was it? He wasn’t going to storm out? “So…we’re okay?”
“I was the one who went for it when I already knew you were seeing someone. Idiotic to assume there would be no consequences for stealing someone’s girl.”
“I was never his girl.” I was always Dex’s girl, from the beginning, from the day I met him.
His eyes slowly softened as he looked at me, that intense expression coming into his gaze, his shoulders becoming less rounded and rigid. Then he stepped over to me, his arms circling my waist, his head dropping to mine, his hands squeezing me close with that sexy, masculine grip. “You aren’t my girl either. You’re my woman.”
My arms circled his neck, and I felt that flush of passion, infatuation, even a little desperation. He made my heart race without stepping on the treadmill, made me feel deep longing, separation pains even when he was just five feet away from me. He gave me a kind of rush I’d never known, made me realize this was the first time I’d ever truly been in love. I’d give anything to tell him that, even if he didn’t say it back.
“You’re a good cook.” He lay beside me in