Page 110 of Swept for Forever
She stuck her tongue out at me. Right there, that was why I loved her. Even after everything, she still had that spark.
I made the U-turn, heading back toward Buffaloberry Hill.
“Dom?” Something uneasy surfaced in her expression.
“What is it, Otter?”
“I’m worried about my mom. She’s alone. What if that man came for her?”
Her worry settled into me fast. This was non-negotiable.
“You’re right,” I said, already pulling up names in my head. “I’ll arrange something.”
Her eyes widened. “Really?”
“Absolutely. We need to protect your mom.”
“Thank you.”
I squeezed her hand. “Just let her know a guy named Buck will check in. She should ask him, ‘Who sent you?’”
“And the answer?”
I grinned. “Dominic Powell. He said to tell you, your daughter’s got claws, and he likes them.”
She groaned. “Dom!”
“What? Too much?”
“Way too much. That doesn’t exactly keep me in the saint column.”
“Okay, okay.” I laughed, raising my hands up. “What do you want it to be then?”
She didn’t miss a beat. “Dominic Powell. The man who wears his jeans too tight when he goes to the sheriff’s office.”
I stared at her. “Poor Buck.”
“Serves him right for accepting the mission.”
I shook my head, then suggested, “How about this, short and sharp: ‘Dominic Powell. He’d burn the world for her.’”
She didn’t tease that one.
She just nodded, her eyes full of something I didn’t have a word for.
“That one works.”
It wasn’t just a passcode for her mother. It was my creed.
29
AUTUMN
The day had drained every ounce of energy from me, but none of it mattered when I looked at him.
Dom had stood in front of me. It showed in his face and in every word that losing me wasn’t something he could come back from. It wasn’t something I could take lightly. What he gave me today wasn’t just protection. It was devotion. And I’d carry that feeling in my bones forever.
His place still echoed a little when we stepped inside, like it hadn’t decided whether it was a house or a home yet. But it had Dom written all over it, with clean lines, dark wood, a couch big enough to nap on, and a kitchen that probably saw more takeout than home-cooked meals.
