Watch Over Me (Danvers #7)(24)
When they cleared the doorway, Gwen pulled out of his hold and threw her arms around his neck. He had no idea what had prompted this unusual display of affection, but he wasn’t above taking advantage of it by pulling her even closer. “Oh, my God, thank you!” she squealed against his neck before dotting kisses there. “It was so nice to see those two speechless!”
Pulling back, Dominic looked down at her beaming face. “You know them?”
Still smiling, she replied, “We’re not friends, trust me. I used to go to one of the Zumba classes that they were in. It was horrible. Th-they made fun of me and were always so mean. I almost quit coming here at all because of them.”
“They’re the reason you started going to the water class,” Dominic mused, remembering her earlier comments about how uncomfortable she had been before making her new friends. He could easily see both Brandy and Misty being jealous of someone as beautiful as Gwen. They might not be able to admit it, even to themselves, but that was exactly the reason for their behavior. No matter how much they dieted and exercised, they could never hold a candle to the woman in front of him. She was a natural beauty—healthy, and luminous. No amount of money could buy those things. He couldn’t imagine any red-blooded man picking the other two over her.
“Yeah, the terror twosome,” Gwen said dryly. “They hated me from day one, and I never did anything to them other than be nice. I tried staying in the back of the class and off their radar, but it didn’t help. They always found a way to throw a tacky comment or insult at me. I’ve never hated anyone in my life, but I came close with them. I joined the gym to exercise and feel better about myself, but I found that they were actually causing the opposite to happen.”
“Baby, I told you that it was all jealousy even before I met them. They were choking on it when they saw you. You’re everything that they’ve always wanted to be. Never, ever let someone like that change how you see yourself because that’s what they want.”
“They were only jealous because you were with me,” she said softly as she absently rubbed his back.
He kissed her softly, keeping it somewhat PG-rated since they were still standing in the front of the gym. “That was just the final straw for them, sweetheart. They’ve been green with envy over you all along. How about I run by Starbucks and get us coffee on the way? I’ll bring yours to your office when I get there.”
“Oh, that sounds amazing,” Gwen moaned. Her breathy sound had his body twitching in an uncomfortable place as he helped her into her car. He followed her out of the parking lot and they parted ways at the light for his stop at the coffee shop. When he reached his destination, he sat in his truck for a moment, taking a deep breath.
He was in over his head with her, and a part of him was terrified. He’d shamelessly used the condom mishap to get close to her and stay there. Yes, there was an off chance she might be pregnant, and if she was, they would cross that bridge then. He would have wanted to take care of her regardless, though. She brought that out in him. He’d wanted her for so long that now that she had let him in, he wanted to shift from taking it slow to running like he was in a f*cking marathon. In some crazy way, he had known that she was “the one” for him almost from the moment he saw her. He had never had that feeling before, not even close, which was why it had gotten his attention. He wasn’t a man who believed in nor had he experienced love at first sight. There had been moments of desire or lust, but that was it. With Gwen, he had been close to obsessed from the beginning. The feeling had been so strong that it had scared the hell out of him for a while. Hence, why he’d waited to make his move and almost lost her to his best friend. He wouldn’t make that mistake again. This last week with her had shown him that no matter how strong his feelings had been for her from afar, they were nothing compared to how he felt now that he knew her intimately.
He was terrified of a possible pregnancy, but for completely different reasons. He was afraid that she was letting him close only because of it. What would happen when and if she found that she wasn’t expecting his child? Would she push him away and move on? He couldn’t lose her now that he finally had her. Each day with her only solidified the depth of his feelings for her. He was trying to pace himself to keep from scaring her. He knew that she wanted him, but she was skittish. She seemed to almost believe that she wasn’t good enough for him, which was a joke. He wanted to drop to his knees and thank God for bringing her into his life because she was perfect.
He didn’t know that much about a woman’s cycle or timing, but he knew one thing for sure. He had to make her fall for him, and he figured he had a couple of weeks to do it before they found out if their night of passion had consequences. He wanted to be with her, but he wanted her to want it too, and for the right reasons. It was time for him to show her that there was something real between them. If he had to take a water aerobics class and make a fool of himself or give her orgasms until she couldn’t walk, then so be it. From this moment forward, he would be her dream man because she had been his dream woman from the start.
* * *
Gwen was on a call with the purchasing department, requesting some purchase orders for invoices when Dominic knocked on her door and walked in. God bless the man, he was carrying a drink tray with two huge coffee cups and . . . a bottle of water? Maybe that was for him. Right now, even though she knew the damn thing would be caffeine free, she needed that steaming cup more than her next breath. She ended her call and clapped her hands together enthusiastically. “Gimme.” When he raised a brow, she batted her eyes and added, “Please.”