Page 11 of Infatuate Me

Chapter Fourteen

DOMINIC

“You okay?” I ask Carrie as we pull up outside her dad’s place. It’s been two months since we decided to give our relationship a shot, and it’s been the best two months of my life. She’s amazing in every way, and I know she’s the reason I waited to find the right person because she completes me. I’ll never give her up, ever.

And today, we’re here to tell her father, Ted, about us. I’m not worried about what he’ll say because we know what we have is growing stronger by the day. Her mother knows, and she’s happy for us, if a little shocked to start with, but her mother is the one who has stood beside her through everything, and as long as I have her approval then I’m good, because Carrie values her mother’s opinion above all others.

I can feel her nerves, even as she denies it. I lift her hand to mine and place a kiss on the back of it, giving her a soft smile. “I’ve got you.”

“I know,” she says, her voice quiet but full of warmth, for me, for us.

I’m already in love with her, something I plan to tell her later, over dinner, before I make love to her in our bed. She moved in with me a few days ago, and her mother now lives in the guest house on my grounds—our grounds, or it will be once I’ve asked her to marry me, which will happen in the near future because I don’t want to keep living without her as my wife for much longer. I realise we’ve moved at a quick pace, but fuck, when you find your person, what is the point in pissing around.

I’ve avoided Ted for the last two months as much as possible, which should be a red flag in itself, but Ted has always been self-absorbed, so he’s not said anything. I didn’t want to lie to his face if anything cropped up about my love life, which it usually does because his bimbo wife likes to try and set me up with her friends—I’m sure they’re all about the money just like she is, so no thanks.

I make my way around the car and open the door for Carrie. “Ready?” I ask as she slips her hand in mine and gets out.

“Ready,” she says, nodding, and probably trying to psych herself up.

“I’m here and I’m not going anywhere,” I promise.

“I know, and thank you.”

“No need to thank me, it’s what I’m here for.”

“He’s still your best friend,” she says.

“For now, but I’m expecting that to change in the next ten minutes,” I admit. I’m pretty sure this is going to go on a downward spiral pretty fucking quickly, but he should know you can’t help who you fall for, seeing as he fell for his current bimbo whilst married.

We walk up to the door, hand in hand, and I push the doorbell, the obnoxious sound ringing out—almost like the chime of a grand clock, except it’s a sodding doorbell and sounds ridiculous.

“Breathe, baby,” I whisper as I loosen my grip on her hand, to give her the option of letting go. She doesn’t, and I smile. With her by my side, I can face anything. Anything at all.

The door opens, and Ted’s wife, Marnie, is the one to greet us, her hungry eyes on me, because let’s face it, she’s a shark when it comes to wanting someone who has more money than the next, and I sure have more than Ted—and I’m not fucking interested. But her smile falters when she sees Carrie, and then she looks horrified as she sees our hands linked together.

“Ted,” she shouts, her eyes wide.

Carrie and I wait for Ted to show his face, Marnie not inviting us in and leaving us stood on the doorstep as she gapes like a fish. I’m not fazed in the slightest, already knowing I’m about to kiss goodbye to my friendship with Ted. He’ll never understand this, and that’s a fucking shame, because he has no idea how much I love his daughter, no idea at all. I’d fucking die for her if it came to it. My person. My everything.

“Ted, get here, NOW,” Marnie repeats, more forcefully this time.

I can feel Carrie fidgeting beside me, and I run my thumb along her hand, trying to subtly tell her that I’m here and we’ve got this. I know she feels it. Fuck, it’s something we’ve both been feeling since this started—the peace and how right this feels.

“All right, all right, what is it?” I hear Ted say before he appears behind Marnie, grinning when he clocks me. “Dom, bud, come on in and…” he starts, but then he falls short when he looks at Carrie beside me. “Pookie?” he questions, and I cringe at the nickname, as does Carrie. I’ve always hated that when he’s called her that, which hasn’t been often, but it still feels ick. She’s a grown woman, for fuck’s sake.

“Hi, Dad, we need to talk to you,” she says, finding her inner strength and sounding confident as hell. Not going to lie, I’m pretty fucking turned-on when she does this.

“Both of you?” Ted questions, his eyebrows drawing into a frown.

“Yes, both of us,” she says assertively, with a nod of her head. I have to remind my dick to calm down, because Christ does she make me horny all of the goddamn time. I’m nearly fifty years old, for fuck’s sake, and yet, around her, I turn into fucking putty.

“What the hell is going on?” Ted demands as we step just inside the doorway, hovering by the entrance. I’m guessing this won’t take long…

“Dad, I want you to know that Dominic and I are a couple,” Carrie announces, and fuck me for being unprepared for her to blurt it out like that.

“Excuse me?” Ted says, his eyes blinking rather rapidly.

“I think you heard me loud and clear,” Carrie replies, and I almost fist pump the air because I have never seen her talk to him like this—so sure, so matter of fact. It just confirms how strong she feels the bond between us is, as do I.

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