Page 32 of The Dominator

Not far away, I pulled into the parking lot for the beach. It was close to sunset and the weather was perfect for a stroll. As she got out of the car I grabbed her hand and held it as we walked. We got to the sand and she stopped, reached for and then held onto my shoulder, then pulled the strap off an ankle, let that shoe drop off, and then let go of me to get the other shoe off. She bent and looped the straps around her index finger to carry them and I grabbed her free hand again and kissed each of her knuckles.

She looked up at me and smiled. “Thanks for dinner, Tommy.”

My name again. Another twinge. And that smile seemed real. I felt a pang of annoyance that it seemed so real. I think I must’ve frowned at her because she swallowed hard and chewed her bottom lip, looking down. I took a few steadying breaths to push my pissed-off attitude away. I lifted my necklace out of my shirt and fingered the crucifix on it as we walked in silence. I caught a look on her face that made me realize I was squeezing her hand too tight. I loosened it and her expression softened.

A tiny fur ball of a golden retriever puppy bounded right up to her and started licking her calves. She let go of my hand and dropped to her knees, dropping her shoes and pulling the pup into her lap.

“Oh my goodness!”

The dog licked at the air, furiously, wanting to lick her face. She held him back at arm’s length but giggled. A kid, probably around ten, ran up to us with a leash in his hand and it still had the collar attached to it. Obviously, the pup had squirmed right out of his collar.

“Sorry!” the kid said. “Marley!”

“Oh, it’s okay!” Tia exclaimed. “He’s so cute; how old is he?”

The kid shrugged. The dog couldn’t be any more than eight or nine weeks old. Tia was scratching him behind both ears while he licked her arms. Her red dress was covered in wet and dry sand and she didn’t seem to care in the least.

The kid leaned over and tried to get the collar over the pup’s head, but the dog was having none of it. He took off into the water. The kid shouted at the dog and Tia laughed, calling out, “He’s a water dog, he can’t help it!”

The kid’s father came running up, out of breath. The dog had obviously gone on a good run. The guy looked at the dog swimming in the water like it was his worst nightmare come true.

“Hang on,” Tia called to him and then she lifted a thick stick up off the beach and tossed it toward the dog. It landed in the water beside the pup and he immediately swam to it and caught it between his teeth. Tia started slapping her legs, “Come here, Marley, come here! Fetch!” The dog swam toward her with the stick in his mouth.

“You’re a genius!” the kid’s father exclaimed.

“I love goldens. They can’t resist two things. Water and retrieving.”

Yeah, and he can’t resist beautiful girls. She was laughing harder, carefree. It was a beautiful sound.

I shook my head, taking it all in, a grin on my face. She flashed a smile at me and it was so gorgeous and seemed so genuine that I felt a strange pain pierce my chest.

The dog bounded toward Tia again and then shook hard, getting all of us wet. Tia squealed like she loved it. The dad went to grab the dog.

“Wait!” Tia told him. We have to let him fetch it at least once more. Can I? He’d think I was a liar if we just let you chain him without a fetch.”

The guy laughed and shrugged. My face hurt from my perma-grin. She didn’t want the dog to think she was tricking him. I shook my head at that.

“Marley, drop it!” she demanded with authority, and pointed at the ground. The pup held tight to the stick for a second and then dropped the stick in front of her and panted enthusiastically at her. She swiped it and flung it into the water and squealed with glee as the dog took off back into the water. “He’s so smart already.”

As soon as she slapped her legs, “Marley!” he swam back. The little boy took the stick from the dog and threw it into the water again and I grabbed her hand and whispered in her ear, “Let’s make our getaway.”

“Bye,” she said to the guy and his kid and waved at the dog who was swimming back toward us. She actually waved bye to the dog. I shook my head.

She was walking along, a spring in her step, holding my hand, smiling. I’d somehow wound up carrying her sandals in my free hand, and the sun was setting. It was like something out of a chick flick. I had to kiss her and take full advantage of this moment right fucking now.

We were in an area with no one else around. I stopped and took in a big breath. She looked at me. Then she swallowed hard, looking freaked out.

I brushed some sand off her cheek with my thumb, then leaned down and sucked in her bottom lip. She hesitated at first, but a second after my lips touched hers, she started to melt into me. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her closer, kissing her deeply. She was responding.

The sun was setting, leaving the sky orange and pink. Birds were on the horizon, and I was filled with emotion.

“Marry me,” I said, caught up in the moment.

Stupid beach at fucking sunset. I felt like such a cliché. But clichés are clichés for a reason, I guess. She looked up at me, her jade eyes full of alarm.

“Marry me,” I repeated. “I want that ring on your finger.” I felt like the fucking Grinch who stole Christmas after his heart had grown three sizes.

She swallowed hard. She was searching her brain for a reply, and I saw fear in her eyes. She didn’t want to say the wrong thing, but she certainly didn’t want to say yes, either. For the first time, the fear on her face didn’t send a thrill up my spine and through my pants. I kissed her again, kissed her in a way that could be called claiming as much as it could be called kissing and she responded with a little moan into my mouth, and then her hands came up and her fingers wove into my hair and it felt like she was really in the kiss and in the moment with me.

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