Page 81 of Worth the Vow

“Carter!” I scream. He turns to look at me, and I don’t think. I run into the street, pushing him away from the car, then dive out of the way of the speeding car.

“Katharine!” Dominic shouts as I land harshly on the concrete, my knees and hands scraped up, and my forehead bashed as well. He has my face in his hands immediately, his chocolate brown eyes filled with pain and concern as his jaw ticks with tension.

“Is he okay? Is Carter okay?” I cry.

“I’m okay, Kate,” Carter sobs. He comes to sit next to me on the ground, tears cascading down his face. I don’t think I’ll ever forget his devastated look. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t see the car, I swear!”

“I know you didn’t, sweetie. I’m just glad you’re not hurt.” I wrap an arm around him as he shakes with sobs.

“We’re supposed to be careful right now, and I wasn’t. I’m so sorry,” he cries.

“It’s okay, Carter. I know it was just an accident,” I whisper as I cuddle him as close as I can. We’re all so traumatized right now. I hate that these beautiful children are suffering on the inside.

“Come on, baby. Let’s get you inside so I can look at your cuts,” Dominic says as he crouches beside me. “Grab my shoulders.”

“What? Why — Dominic!” I screech as he lifts me into his arms, bridal style. “We’re four houses down. You can’t carry me the entire way.”

“I’m perfectly capable of carrying you that far. In fact, I could go further, if you’d like. Just to shut you up. It might be worth it,” he teases me as he begins walking.

“Who grabbed the desserts?” I ask, before looking back and gasping when I see the giant cookies Sofia requested scattered all over the street. “Can we go get more? I’m so sorry.”

“Are you fucking serious, woman? I don’t care about the fucking cookies. You saved my son’s life, and now you’re hurt. That’s all I care about,” he hisses in my ear before kissing my temple. “The car didn’t even stop. Hell, I don’t think they used the brakes once.”

I don’t want to think about that. Because if I did, I’d think there was a correlation between me almost getting run over, and Dominic’s ex-wife needing money.

“Sienna, run to knock on the door so someone opens it,” Dominic calls out. All three kids take off running. “I guess that works as well.”

“Dominic, do you think —”

He interrupts me. “We’ll talk about it later. I can’t think about that right now. If I keep thinking about it, I won’t get the image of you and Carter out of my head, and all the what ifs of that, and my heart can’t handle that right now.”

“Your heart?” I whisper, lifting my head off his shoulder to look at him. He stops walking, shifting me so he can see me better.

“My heart. I’ve spent so long ignoring my heart. Letting my brain, and my anxiety, run my thoughts, feelings, and desires. Then you rolled into town, and immediately throw everything I thought I knew into complete chaos,” he chuckles. “Each time you changed your hair color, I’d wonder why. Was there a specific reason? Do the colors correlate to a mood, or is it just whatever you want to do at that time? If I asked you to add a color for me, would you? But I never asked you, because I didn’t know how to talk to you. Even then, my heart knew.”

“What?” I ask as Dominic begins walking again.

“My heart knew that I was waiting for you, Katharine. You’re the one for me.”

“I thought you didn’t believe in all that? Soulmates, the one, and true love.”

“I didn’t,” he says quietly as he carries me up his parents driveway. “Until you.”

Shocked into silence, I don’t respond. Hearing a door open, I keep my eyes on Dominic as he walks us into his parents’ house. I hear his mom gasp, but I can’t look at her. My eyes are locked on the man who has no idea he’s held my heart in his hands for months, and I think he just told me I have his.

“Wait, did he just —” Luca stammers.

“Oh my God! Dom!” Arianna shouts.

“Not now,” Dominic mutters as he sets me down on one of the couches. “Mom, can you bring me a first aid kit, a bowl of water, and a couple towels?”

“Already on it,” Sofia says as she walks back in the room carrying everything Dominic just asked for. “I went to get everything as soon as I saw her. What happened?”

“A car sped down the road and almost hit Carter. Katharine pushed him out of the way, and almost got hit herself,” Dominic mutters as he carefully studies my knees. “There’s some debris in here. It might hurt a little as I clean it up.”

“It’s okay,” I whisper, still staring at him. He’s hurting right now. He watched his son and wife almost get hit by a car, and I don’t think he knows how to process it. “Dominic, look at me.”

His eyes finally meet mine, and I see a swirl of emotion. I reach out to cup his cheek, stroking his skin softly with my thumb, then whisper, “I know you wouldn’t hurt me by choice. You’d burn down the world before you hurt me.”

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