“A long time, huh?” Dominic eyed her across the table. “Exactly how long had you been watching me before we officially met, babe?”
Oh great, now she was the one turning red and stumbling over her words. She knew the guilt was written all over her face. Dammit, she had watched him for months. Even when she’d been going out with Mac, she hadn’t been able to resist ogling her hot neighbor. It made her feel as if she was a cheater when she realized that he and Mac were not only coworkers, but best friends. She’d like to say that she’d never looked at him again from that point on, but it would be a lie. “Well, um . . . I mean, of course I saw you coming and going sometimes. And, when you returned from your runs in the evening or in the summer when you were using the pool.” With both Meredith and Dominic now openly staring at her, she became even more flustered. God, she had admitted way more than she’d intended. Now she sounded like some kind of crazy stalker lady. She made matters even worse when she hastily added, “It was hardly ever, though. Not every day or anything.”
Meredith took advantage of her pause to wink at her. “Ah, girl, it’s okay. I don’t want to stroke his already overinflated ego, but my brother’s smoking. Even I can admit that. If I had a neighbor, not blood-related, of course, who looked like him, I’d be glued to my window every chance I got. Derrick thanks his lucky stars that we have only senior citizens living near us because he knows what would happen otherwise. I’m afraid being a book blogger has given me a new appreciation for the male body.”
“Thanks for that, sis. You managed to kill the thrill of Gwen’s words by sharing your inner pervert with us once again.” He looked around the table before shaking his head in shock. “We’re on our second bottle of wine, and we haven’t even ordered yet. How did that happen?”
Looking sheepish, Meredith admitted, “I kept waving the waiter away. The conversation was way too good for us to be interrupted. I guess we should eat now, though, because I’m buzzing just a little bit.”
Dominic picked up one of the wine bottles, then looked at Gwen. Before she could stop what she knew was coming, he grabbed her glass and said far too loudly, “Baby, are you drinking wine?”
“I . . . didn’t even think anything of it.” And that was the truth; nothing had entered her mind other than having a glass to relax. She figured by this point, though, she was a few past that. Putting her hand over his, she tried to reassure him covertly since they had an audience, “It’s fine.”
He lowered his voice to match hers, sounding concerned. “I still think you should be on the safe side until we know for sure.”
Gwen felt like a cross between a scolded child and an unfit mother or mother-to-be, which only served to piss her off. She didn’t like being questioned; she wasn’t used to having to defend herself against something like this. Before she could make the snarky comment that was hovering on her lips, Meredith dropped her hand loudly onto the table and said in a whisper-shout that was mainly the shout part, “ARE YOU PREGNANT?”
And it was at that point that the evening went to hell. Gwen barely tasted what she knew was probably the best seafood of her life while Dominic tried to convince his sister that she had misunderstood things. For the rest of the meal Gwen spoke only when she was asked a direct question and then felt horribly guilty for being so rude to Meredith. She was determined to get her e-mail address from her ass of a brother and apologize.
A heavy silence hung over them as Dominic drove them home. He put his hand in the small of her back when they left his truck, and she childishly wanted to step away, but let it go. When they reached her door, she stopped and quickly found her keys in her purse. He took them from her hand and opened her door, as if he planned to come inside. She stepped up, blocking the doorway. Good manners kicked in, and she said stiffly, “Thanks for dinner. I’ll see you . . .”
He didn’t let her finish her brush-off. Instead, he put his hands on her hips and pushed her gently forward enough for him to enter behind her and shut the door. “Not so fast, baby. I’m not letting you go to bed and stew on how pissed off you are at me all night. We need to talk about this now.”
Gwen clenched her hands at her side to keep from wrapping them around his neck. Instead of yelling, though, she said sweetly, “Don’t you think I need my rest? I mean . . . we need to be cautious right now, just in case.”
He ran his hand through his hair, causing the spiky strands to stick up even more. She hated that she was so riveted even by his damn hair. It was hard to stay mad at him, when she just wanted to stare at his masculine beauty. Meredith was right; her brother was all things hotness. “Gwen, fuck, I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have said anything in front of my sister. I embarrassed you and made an ass out of myself.”
When he paused, she pointed her hand saying, “Keep going.” She was still mad, but he was on the right path. At least he could admit that he was wrong.
“I don’t have any excuses. I just panicked when I realized how much wine we drank. Hell, I think I even poured one of the rounds and it never entered my mind. I’ve been insisting that you drink decaf coffee, yet I plied you with alcohol tonight.”
For the first time since the mess at dinner, Gwen noticed how upset he was over it. She had been so mad at him at the table that she hadn’t thought about anything beyond that. But, now he just looked scared and guilty. Like he was the one who had done something wrong. Moving closer, she laid her hand on his chest, trying to give him some measure of comfort. She was fast learning that he was a natural caretaker—he felt like he had failed with her tonight, and it was tearing him up. “Dominic, I’m an adult and it’s my job to remember things that concern me and my body. I’ve done some research on the Internet and there’s no reason to change my habits until I take a pregnancy test and know for sure. But if it makes you feel better, I will cut way back on caffeine and alcohol while I’m waiting to take a test.”