Love Her or Lose Her (Hot & Hammered #2)(13)

She started at the vehemence in his voice. “I don’t know if there’s anything. Not now.”

The hollow husk of his stomach filled with acid. “Think about it,” he said firmly, stepping close enough that Rosie was forced to tip her head back. Fuck, he would have killed to kiss her in that moment, with the sun setting on the golden highlights in her eyes, her lips parted and plump from having him close. “While you’re figuring out whether to give me a second chance, Rosie, I need to know you’re not enjoying the interest of other men.” He wet his upper lip and watched her eyelids flutter. “It won’t be long before this whole damn town knows you’re not sleeping in my bed, and trust me, a lot of men would like to take my place.”

“Fine,” she whispered, her attention flicking to his mouth. “Same goes for you. Until we figure out if this marriage is really—”

“Don’t say it. Don’t say ‘over,’” he growled, lifting a hand to cup her face. When she flinched, he curled the fingers into his palm and let the hand drop away. “I’ve never had an other woman and I’ll never want another woman. Bet the fucking bank on it.”

Her chest shuddered up and down. “You should go.”

“Why, honey?” Ever so slowly, he allowed his fingertips to brush the curve of Rosie’s hip and his cock reacted to the shape, the feel of her. “You starting to wish we’d gotten in one more Tuesday night?”

“No,” she breathed, swaying a little on her feet.

Dominic hummed deep in his throat, pretty sure they had an audience watching from the front window, and not caring. “You have a good hard think about letting me try this again. Us again. In the meantime, if you come knocking in the middle of the night—any night—I’ll scratch that itch, Rosie. It can be our little secret.”

Fire kindled in her eyes. “Don’t count on it.”

“We’ll see. I’ll leave the porch light on.”

Dominic had to physically restrain himself from carrying his wife to the truck. Taking her home and making her moan so loud, they heard it at the ridiculous club meeting. Instead, he catalogued her features one final time and left, his restlessness increasing with every step he took away from Rosie.





Chapter Six


Rosie passed a rinsed dish to Bethany, watching in a daze as her friend tucked it neatly into her stainless steel dishwasher. The meeting had ended twenty minutes ago and Georgie had stayed behind to help clean, leaving the three Just Us League founders to tidy up the mess. Now if Rosie could only tidy up her scattered thoughts, that would be awesome. She’d been in a trance since Dominic left.

Scratch that. She’d been in a trance since he arrived.

She’d married a stubborn son of a bitch, and she’d never imagined him showing up unannounced to ask for another chance. It just wasn’t like him. Was it?

Once upon a time, Rosie would have one hundred percent expected Dominic to fight for their relationship. When they were younger, he’d claimed the role of her protector, lover . . . all of the roles, really. They’d been consumed with each other. It wasn’t like that now, though. There was still a sexual attraction between them—a wild, pulse-pounding, feverish attraction—but that couldn’t sustain their marriage on its own. The fact that their sex life was mind-blowing had probably kept their relationship intact far past the point it had stopped being emotionally fulfilling. And that wasn’t okay with her anymore.

Come back to me.

Rosie could still hear the raw quality of Dominic’s voice as he said those words. Could still see the plea in his deep green eyes. God, she couldn’t remember the last time he’d looked at her like that. Like the fate of his universe hung on what she said next.

“Does that sound good to you, Rosie?” Georgie asked, breaking into Rosie’s thoughts.

“Oh. Um, yes. Sounds perfect.”

“Really?” The birthday party clown turned entertainment company mogul wiggled her eyebrows at Rosie. “Because I just asked if you’d have a three-way with me and Travis.”

Rosie almost dropped the plate in her hands. “What?”

Georgie burst out laughing.

“All right, you lunatic.” Bethany hip-bumped her younger sister while battling a smile. “Stop teasing Rosie or she won’t spill the goods about what happened on the porch.”

“Ah, I was only kidding. Travis is all mine.” Georgie chef-kissed her fingers. “Not that I wouldn’t be honored to tap that, Rosie—”

“Jesus.” Bethany laughed. “You’re sexually liberated now, Georgie. We get it.”

“I prefer the term ‘bonkified.’”

Rosie snorted into the back of her wrist, grateful she’d come to stay with Bethany rather than check into the local motel. The banter between the sisters was a nice distraction from the sudden upheaval of her life. And when Georgie went home to her fiancé, the companionable silence she shared with Bethany was nice, too. Rosie didn’t want that silence tonight, however. She wanted to be distracted.

“Have you ever . . .” Rosie pursed her lips at Bethany. “Had a three-way?”

“Rosie Vega, as I live and breathe. The nerve it takes to ask me such a thing.” Bethany swiped some cookie crumbs into her hand and brushed them into the garbage can. “Of course I have. You have to kiss a few frogs to find Prince Charming. Might as well test them dicks out two at a time.”