Page 88 of When Morning Comes Around

All her breath caught in her chest. “We?”

“Shit! I didn’t mean it that way. I just meant… I meant… Fuck.”

She had to laugh. “Don’t look so put out, I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on.”

He blew out a big sigh. “What’s going on is that I’m messing this up. What I’m hoping will happen is that I’ll find a place that we both love. I’m ready for a place of my own.” He glanced over at her. “We’ve joked about it, but we need a place where we can be together. So… So, I want you to help me choose a place where you’ll feel at home.” He glanced over at her. “Because I might as well admit that I’m talking about more than just a place where you can spend the night with me.”

Her heart was pounding in her chest. “You are? What are you talking about then?”

He parked the SUV behind Austin’s vehicle. Austin was already unlocking the front door. Instead of getting out to join him, Dom turned in his seat to face her. “I’m talking about starting slowly. Convincing you to come home with me one of these nights here soon. Then, after that, persuading you to stay over as often as I can, until…” He reached across and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Until you’re staying over so often that there’s no need for you to go home.” The intensity in his gaze took her breath away as he added, “Until you figure out that home is with me.”

Her hand came up to cover her heart, and tears pricked behind her eyes.

“If you think you might like that,” he added.

She had to swallow a couple of times before she could speak. He started to look so worried that she nodded to reassure him. “I think I’d love that, Dom. I… Is it too fast?”

He shook his head slowly. “I don’t think so. We can take all the time you need, but we don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“I feel like I might be crazy, but I love the idea.” Her smile faded.

“You love the idea, but what?”

She let out a short laugh. “Two things. First of all, there’s Dad. Then again, he’s been making noises about wanting his place back to himself, and he thinks the world of you.”

“Two of the places that we’re going to look at have guesthouses.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “For Dad? He might appreciate the thought, but there’s no way that he’d leave his house.”

“I thought that might be the case, but I wanted to have the option. And what’s the other thing? What other hesitation do you have?”

She chuckled. “That we might be getting ahead of ourselves.”

“In what way?”

She laughed again. “You know what I mean. We haven’t… We don’t know if…”

He was frowning, clearly not understanding, even though she wished that he would catch on so that she didn’t have to say it. When it became apparent that there was no chance of that happening, she blew out a sigh.

“We’ll need to spend one night together before you decide if you even want to spend any more with me.”

He still looked puzzled, and she decided she’d just have to spell it out.

“We haven’t slept together yet. You might think I’m terrible.”

The look of relief on his face made her feel better. “That’s not going to happen. We’re going to be great together, I already know it.”

She bit down on her bottom lip. She didn’t want to bring Dale up, but the way he used to talk to her had slowly but very surely eroded her confidence in herself – in herself as a woman, as well as everything else. Seeing him screwing Adrienne in his office had been a bitter blow. Adrienne was the kind of woman who put a lot of effort into the way she looked. Sadie shifted in her seat, feeling suddenly self-conscious about the jeans and hoodie she was wearing.

He touched her cheek. “There’s so much that I want to say right now, but Austin’s starting to wonder what’s going on. Let’s go and take a look at the place. But don’t doubt me, Sadie. You already know the effect you have on me. I want you. I don’t expect us to be great in the beginning, but I do know that we’ll get there. We’ll learn together.” His eyes seemed to twinkle as he winked. “We can have fun figuring it out.”

He leaned across the console and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips.

~ ~ ~

After they’d seen all three houses, Dom knew exactly which one he wanted. He’d made the right noises about all three of them because he wanted to hear which Sadie preferred. He knew that she’d go along with him if he let her.

The first place, in the foothills, hadn’t appealed to him on paper. He hadn’t thought that he wanted to be that far up. It was almost ten minutes back down to the lodge and the plaza. He’d thought that he’d like the home on the waterfront better, but theneighbors were too close on either side down there. The third place had no soul. There was no other way for him to describe it. It shouldn’t matter; whichever place he took would only be for a year at the most. Hopefully, he’d be able to get his own place built sooner, but that third place just hadn’t been the one for him. He’d been relieved when Sadie shuddered as soon as they walked through the door and made a face at him. He knew that one wouldn’t be her choice, either.

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