Page 20 of A Taste For Trouble
Twenty minutes later, I was licking my spoon and wishing I hadn’t eaten so much pasta and tiramisu. At this rate, I’d need new clothes very soon.
Dom set his spoon down and cleared his throat.
“About what happened earlier…” he began awkwardly, but I cut him off.
“It meant nothing.”
“Right! So I’ll just…” he gestured towards his room, and I nodded, rising to put my plate and spoon in the sink.
“Sure. I’ll get to bed as well. Goodnight, and thank you for letting me stay with you, Dom. And for everything else,” I replied.
“You don’t have to thank me,” he said gruffly. “Aunt Polly did a lot more for my mother and me when my Dad died.”
Of course, he had to remind me that he was only doing this because of my mom, I thought bitterly, as I carried Sweetpeaback to my room. I spent the whole night tossing and turning in the unfamiliar bed, and woke up heavy-eyed and exhausted.
I slathered on some makeup and got into my usual uniform of skirt, tee, and cardigan for breakfast with Grammy Cora. Of course, Dominicwouldlook fresh as a daisy while I felt like a swamp witch, I thought, as Trevor rang her doorbell. I straightened my spine and forced myself to look away from his broad back. I needed my wits about me if I didn’t want to be forced into an unwanted marriage before my first cup of coffee.
Grammy Cora greeted me warmly before she turned to her grandson.
“I can’t believe you hid something so important from me, Dom,” she went off, and he held up a hand in protest.
“Gran, don’t even! You know exactly what’s going on here,” he said sternly. “We’re not dating. That was just a lie to force Rose’s ex to leave her alone.”
“Hmph,” she replied, banging her cane into the floor. “It doesn’t have to be a lie.”
“He’s not my type, Grammy,” I said hastily.
“Yeah, she goes for the criminally inclined,” added Dom snidely.
I turned around and frowned at him because he wasn’t helping.
“I cannot believe you were making your famous lasagna for that twit,” she said, as she led us to the breakfast table.
“That was private,” I said through gritted teeth. “How did it become public knowledge?”
“No such thing as privacy in this town,” she said with a cackle.
“You’re a menace, Grammy Cora,” I replied, rolling my eyes. “You should be running the CIA.”
“I’d rather run this town, darlin’,” she said smugly. “Been doing it for over fifty years now. Now what’s this I hear about that idiot breaking into your house?”
“We’ll know why he did it as soon as we find him,” said Dom, cutting into his three-egg omelette.
“I’m just an old busybody, but do you think it has something to do with his business with the drug dealers?”
I had just taken a sip of coffee when she said that, and at her words, I spewed it all over the table.
“I beg your pardon?” I asked when I stopped coughing.
“Don’t tell me I’m the only one who knows your ex-boyfriend was dealing drugs in Maplewood,” she said primly, and smiled at the horror on our faces.
CHAPTER 10
DOMINIC
“How the heck do you know that, Gran?” I demanded, and she glared at me balefully.
“How the heck do younotknow that?” she countered. “Didn’t you have him checked out when he started dating our Rosie?”
