Page 99 of Under the Lights

“Didn’t bring a door,” he grinned.

The girls giggled. Of fucking course they’d find him funny.

Valentina shuffled over and handed him a squirt bottle with a command. “Get the bugs off the Jeep!”

Even I would have been taken aback by that little girl’s attitude. How could a nine-year-old pull off this no-nonsense voice already?

Dom quirked an amused brow, then saluted. “Yes, Ma’am.”

I hadn’t been prepared for the chaos breaking out upon their arrival. Jax got sprayed in the face barely two minutes in. The shenanigans that ensued resulted in multiple people slipping in soap.

Dom lifted one of my girls up so she could reach the sunroof. Then he promptly used her as a sponge, which resulted in lots of shrieks and giggles.

I tried not to smile but failed — miserably. Dom snuck a sideways glance at me and caught me red-handed. His eyes softened, and the smile he offered in return was nothing short of dizzying.

He shouldn’t be allowed to look at me like that — not here, not where I felt most like myself, where most of my walls were down. It wasn’t fair that he fit so easily into the life I was trying so hard to protect.

I spun on my heel, forcing my gaze away from him and his happy adorableness. Furiously wiping a car dry, I tried to appear busy. But it wasn’t long before I felt a presence behind me, big and imposing.

He sidled up behind me, handing me a fresh rag.

“You missed a spot,” he teased.

I snorted. “You are the missed spot.”

“And yet, you still let me show up.” His voice was dripping with smugness.

I huffed but couldn’t bring myself to deny it. Or to step away. He was standing so close, I could feel the heat from his body seeping into my skin.

Splash!

Cold water and suds dripped down our bodies. We turned as one and gaped. Two of the girls threw soapy sponges at us, while Jax, the clear instigator, stood behind them, doubled over with laughter.

“Coach Sierra, you’re blushing!” One of them giggled, delighted.

“Am not.”

“Are too!”

Quickly turning my head, I stopped my hands from shooting up to my face to hide my cheeks. Denial only got you so far when you could feel the heat literally crawling up your neck.

A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.

Dom growled playfully, lunged at the girls, caught them around the waist, and carried them off as if they weighed nothing.

“Y’all are gonna pay for that,” he exclaimed, playing the perfect villain.

“No! Put us down!”

“Never!”

I only took my eyes off them when someone tapped me on the shoulder and asked to pay for our services.

When I turned back around, the girls had apparently made a deal with Dom because they were now chasing Jax. Each girl was armed with a dripping sponge, and Dom stood to the side, laughing maniacally.

I watched Dom high-five the girls when they finally got Jax, all of them soaked to the bone now. It wasn’t until my cheeks began to hurt that I realized I’d been smiling like a lunatic the whole time.

Fuck me. I didn’t want him to leave.

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