Page 81 of Dominate Me

Dylan snapped his head toward me, dark brown eyes staring and assessing. “What?”

“Luminous. Is it open?” I shifted until I faced him.

He nodded once, hesitantly. “Yeah. Of course it is. You want to go? Tonight?”

“Yeah,” I drawled, and turned back to face the crowd. I couldn’t think clearly with his eyes on me. Instead, I caught Jensen headed toward us, his mom at his side, her hand on his forearm as he guided her in our direction.

“I think I need to,” I whispered, barely able to hear myself and having no idea if Dylan had.

He also didn’t have time to respond because Jensen was at our small group, guiding his mom to his front and saying, “Mom, I’d like you to meet Haley.”

* * *

“Now that we’re alone,” Jensen said, “Would you mind telling me what in the hell is wrong with you?”

He sat as far away as he could from me in the back of the chauffeured limo. The distance between us was more than just physical, but I couldn’t blame him. I’d been waiting for this moment.

What with the fuckstorm that had been meeting Meredith and Courtney again, my idea for us to go to Luminous to either watch, or participate in some play, and then meeting Jensen’s mom, my mind had been in a whirlwind.

When he introduced us, I’d been polite. It had still only taken Jensen point-two-five seconds to realize that I wasn’t being me.

I was reserved. I was distracted. I had said “um what?” almost every time his mom, Helen, asked me a direct question, and the longer she stayed near us, the worse it grew.

By the time she’d excused herself from our group her eyes had flickered to Jensen. Tears had clouded my vision when there was nothing but worry and hesitation in the way she looked at her son.

“I’m so sorry,” I started. “There’s no genuine answer except I was distracted and I feel horrible that was her first impression of me. Can we make it up to her when we see her tomorrow for brunch?”

His dark gaze slid to the window and his chest expanded before he turned back to me. “What happened?”

His blank voice and even emptier expression sent a chill cascading down my spine.

Suddenly, my plans for the night seemed like the worst idea ever. Unfortunately, there was no way for me to tell the driver without Jensen hearing.

“Haley.”

I scooted closer to him, my bare knee brushing against him. He didn’t pull away and I took it as a good sign. “When I went to the restroom, Gabby and I came out and ran into Meredith and Courtney.”

He flinched, his expression turned dark and stormy. “And? Tell me, after everything I told you, that you didn’t let that woman get to you. Fuck, I knew I shouldn’t have let you be away from me.”

“They didn’t,” I assured him. “But Gabby...well, she pissed Meredith off and then Meredith flipped out. She let it all hang out about how long she’s wanted you, how she was prettier than Courtney, how she was pissed that you haven’t started dating her—”

“She what?”

“Jensen.” I rested my hand on his and squeezed. “Courtney wasn’t just heartbroken. I’ve never seen a woman look so destroyed. I’m sorry about your mom, but after that I had so much on my mind, I was just distracted. I hate that I made such a bad impression.”

“What else?” he snapped.

“What?”

“You said a lot on your mind, what else was it?” He tugged his hand from mine and moved away.

I fumbled finding the words. His disappointment was clear. His anger at either Meredith or the lingering remains of my first meeting with his mom hadn’t minimized. It rolled off him in thick, heavy waves.

“Tell me.”

“I...I asked Dylan if Luminous was open tonight.”

Surprise colored his sharp cheekbones. “You what? Why?”

---