Page 129 of Beautiful Desire

“Positive. Enjoy your walk anddon’thurry home,” I tell her before hanging up.

As I sit here staring at my computer screen, my mind keeps wondering back to Dom. I keep telling myself to talk to him, but I always chicken out, afraid of how the conversation might go. Spending every day with him this past month has made me realize just how lucky Lily and I are to have him in our lives. He’s not the man he was when we first met. In fact, he’s a thousand times better than I ever could have dreamed of. There’s no one who could have taken better care of us this past month.

Although my feelings for him have never wavered, my head and my heart have been having a small battle about things between us. My head can’t help but wonder, what if something like this happens again? I can’t put Lily in that kind of danger. But then my heart tells me that this is it. He’s the one. The chemistry we felt that first night has never dwindled; it’s only intensified.

The small kisses he gives me on top of my head each night before bed, coupled with the morning hugs before he leaves for work, have left me wanting so much more. Every touch, even the small ones, sets my body on fire, and I find myself craving them.

Once again, I hear the familiar sound of the elevator, alerting me that he’s home. I wander over to the couch, staring out the window at the Boston skyline. Butterflies erupt in my stomach when I hear the sound of his shoes as he gets closer.

“Hey, there’s my—” Cutting himself short, he stops when he notices my arms empty.

From the corner of my eye, I watch as he turns, looking around the space.

“Where’s Lily?” he asks.

“She’s having a late nap. She hasn’t slept great today because she’s teething,” I say, turning to give him my full attention.

As I look up at him, an easy grin spreads across my face. A feeling of comfort settles over me, glad to have him here.

Patting the area beside me, I say, “Come sit. We need to talk.”

Undoing his jacket with one hand, he shucks it off and throws it over the back of the couch. Making his way around, he takes a seat beside me.

“What’s wrong, fiore? Is everything okay?” Dom asks, his face clouded with concern as he rolls up his shirt sleeves.

My eyes fall to his muscular forearms as arousal descends over my entire body. I bite down on my bottom lip to stop myself from moaning out loud at the action.

Get it together, Elle.

“Nothing’s wrong. I just want to talk to you about something,” I reply, trying to contain the nervous tone in my voice.

He doesn’t say anything, still working on his shirt sleeves, waiting for me to continue.

This is the hard part.

Wringing my hands in my lap, I look into his eyes and know I can’t put this off any longer. My heart won’t let me. Inhaling a steadying deep breath, I start.

“Dom, I’ve been thinking about this for a while now, and I don’t want things to be like this anymore. Every time you walk out that door, my heart sinks further into my stomach because I miss you when you aren’t here. This little family we’ve created, the three of us, is honestly something I never thought I would experience. For the longest time, I thought Lily would grow up without ever meeting her dad.”

Pausing, I take another deep inhale, trying to catch my breath with the word vomit that spills out of me.

“What happened to Lily will stay with me forever, but that wasn’t your fault. That was a life you chose to leave when you were still a child yourself. Lily and I are so lucky to have you in our lives. I don’t want that to ever change. What I’m saying is, I want—”

I don’t get the chance to finish talking before Dom grabs my face with both of his hands and crashes his lips to mine. Opening up, I grant him access, feeling the stroke of his tongue against mine. A rough moan travels his up throat as we kiss. The hairs on my arms stand as my heart begins to race. When I pull back, my hands fall on top of his, still framing my face.

My eyes flicker across his face as I ask, “Does this mean you want this too?”

My heart hammers in my chest as I wait for his answer.

* * *

Dom

My heart pounds in my chest as I think about every moment we’ve spent together after everything we’ve been through. This past month, being with Elle and Lily, has been the best month of my life. Elle is an amazing mother. She’s managed to do it on her own and makes it look so effortless.

Every night when she’s in bed, I lie on the couch and fight the urge that screams at me to go into her room and lie in the bed beside her, holding her in my arms. When I have to leave each morning to go into the office, my heart drops into my stomach because I can’t spend my days at home with them. This family unit we’ve become gives me a sense of happiness I never knew I could feel.

My eyes bounce back and forth between hers. I feel my eyebrows shoot to the top of my head, and my heart hammers against my chest.

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