Page 62 of Beacon

“You know what to say to make a girl feel rather special, Dominic Torano.”

“Do I?” he asks.

“Yeah, you really do.”

He pushes to his feet. "Never forget that you're my dreamand my only dream." He kisses my hands, holding them as if he has no intention of letting go. "You, Sandra McDonald, are my beacon. Even in the hardest of times, I'll find my way back to you." I'm speechless at his words. He's my beacon too. No matter what darkness may separate us, we'll always find our way back to the other.

“I would have donethe dishes. You cooked, after all.” I’m sitting on the couch, a glass of Riesling in my hand, but Otis is following him around as he wipes down the counters. “It looks like absence really does make the heart grow fonder.”

He returns the cleaners under the sink, washes his hands and picks up the dog, bringing a beer with him. “You kept my beer this whole time?”

“It seemed a shame to waste perfectly good alcohol.”

He tosses the bottle back, draining half of it. “You’re absolutely right.” Otis lies next to him, touching his thigh.

“I missed you too, boy.” He scratches the dog’s ears, and Otis is eating up all the attention. Texts come in, several within a minute, and he’s amused by whatever he’s reading.

“What’s got you smiling over there?” Am I jealous he may have seen someone after me? After all, it’s been a little over a month.

“First off, I told you Bo is stuck with his ex-wife and her new boyfriend. It’s super awkward, and yet he’s having fun with them. His words, not mine. And second, it’s probably not a shocker but Kayla and Garner are driving our other roommate, Jeremiah, crazy. He’s barricaded himself in his room, but all hehears are fights, everything from what they’re cooking to what they’re watching on television.”

“Kayla doesn’t have romantic feelings for Garner?” I’ve seen them together. There is so much pent-up sexual frustration, and no one misses it.

“I believe she does. But when you’ve thought your life would go one way, and then it turns out differently, I think it’s hard to let go.”

It’s time for me to be honest. “I’ve missed you, Dom,” I begin, getting us back to why he’s stuck here.

“Fuck, Rosso, I’ve been a mess without you.”

“Are you sure you don’t want children?” I ask, holding my breath.

“In all fairness, baby, this only works if we’re honest. I want children, I won’t deny that, but am I okay choosing you as my life, accepting that it means no children? Yes. Will I be sad at times? Most likely. Will I hate you? Absolutely not. I know what I’m getting into, and I’m a grown man. Besides, there will be so many nieces and nephews to spoil, and guess what? We’ll be able to send them home to their moms and dads.”

Honesty. He’s not sweeping it under the rug that he won’t miss that part of his life.

“But what if—”

He cuts me off when he tugs at my arm and his lips crash with mine. Otis is between us, completely placid. Dom brings his eyes to mine when he pulls back. “We can live withwhat-ifsour entire lives, or we can live in the present, but I’ve missed you, having dinner with you, and you being in my space. I want to enjoy our time together.”

There’s logic in his words.

“I’ll never regret you, Sandra McDonald,” he says one last time, before I give into what we are, and that isfucking awesome.

We standin front of my bed. I know where this is leading.

“Wait.” I stop him before this can go anywhere. “I ended birth control after you. It made me gain weight, and I figured I’d not have sex ever again. But I’ll start back after my next cycle.”

His hooded eyes narrow in on me with a silent question.

“What do you mean, never having sex again?” he asks.

“I knew I’d never find anyone like you ever again. Point being, I’m not on anything.”

He walks over to my dresser, where he’d left a couple of condoms just in case. “Does this work, baby?” He lifts one up to my line of sight.

“Yeah, it does, and thank you.”

He drops a kiss on the bridge of my nose. “Tonight, it’s easy. Nothing crazy. I want to make love to you—my future, my girlfriend, and the love of my life. Is that okay with you?”

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