Page 55 of Swept for Forever
Not sharply. Not in rejection. Just…with restraint.
And before I could make sense of it, he stepped away.
The space he left behind felt colder than the night air, and the loss hit harder than it should have.
I forced a smile, because what else was I supposed to do? Pretend like I wasn’t still reeling from the way he’d looked at me?
“Guess I should thank you. Again,” I said lightly, escaping his eyes before I did something stupid. “Not just for saving my ass, but for keeping me off the streets tonight.”
He nodded once. “Get some sleep, Autumn.”
And just like that, he turned around.
I exhaled, forcing my feet to move, step by step, back to my room. By the time I reached the door, my brain had finally caught up with my heart.
Dominic Powell was going to drive me insane.
But what was I expecting? That a man like him would suddenly fall for some green, wide-eyed girl with more wishful thinking than sense? That I was anything close to what he wanted?
Or needed?
He might be alone now, but that didn’t mean he always was, or that someone wasn’t waiting for him back in L.A. Maybe someone he was running from.
Distance didn’t erase history.
And even if there wasn’t a past waiting to catch up to him, what were the odds he wouldn’t find something or someone new?
No doubt Buffaloberry Hill was full of charming country girls and women who knew how to make a man stay. The kind of woman he’d actually want.
Not some reckless, half-healed stray who didn’t even know where she was going next.
Whatever.
I tapped the bed, and Lulu hopped up without hesitation.
“At least you love me,” I muttered, pressing my face into her fur.
She licked my cheek, and I gently stretched her ears up with both hands. They stood tall and ridiculous, and I laughed before she could shake them loose.
“You’re always all ears when I need you. And maybe I can say you were my birthday present too.”
She wedged herself against my side.
“I won’t leave you. Promise. You’re coming with me.”
In response, she lifted one paw and placed it squarely on top of my hand, solemn as anything.
I smiled, a laugh tangled in a sigh. “Yeah, paw-promise.”
14
DOM
I’d turned her down.
Who does that? Who says no to a woman like her—brilliant, honest, a goddamn whirlwind—and walks away?
I’d told myself it was the right thing. That she needed space. That she’d been through too much.
