Watch Over Me

  He felt his stomach clench as she gave voice to the same question he had asked himself throughout the day. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one who had noticed something was amiss. He pondered just making some joke and brushing it off, but instead he found himself saying honestly, “I have no clue why, but I think I have. Did she . . . say something about it to you?” Damn, that question sounded so high school. He couldn’t believe he was pumping Gwen’s friend for information. He tried to console himself with the fact that she had started the whole thing.

  Checking to make sure they were still alone, Shannon moved closer to him, saying, “It’s not so much that she’s said anything to me. It’s just that since you two have been together, she’s been all about you in her spare time. Tonight she was waiting for me when I walked down the hallway and seemed almost desperate to have a reason to get out of her apartment. I asked her if she wasn’t seeing you tonight, and she started fidgeting like the girls do when they’re guilty of something. I felt really bad when I told her that I already had plans. I would have canceled them since Gwen does so much for me, but I really want to see Cameron. Crap,” she sighed, “I’m a horrible friend, aren’t I? Shouldn’t I put her before some guy?”

  “No,” Dominic blurted out quickly, before adding, “I mean, I know that she understands. And you’re doing me a favor because, apparently, I screwed up somehow and I need to fix it. I think Gwen was hoping to avoid me tonight, which she tried to do earlier today, and now she won’t be able to. Hey, do you think you could knock on her door? She might not answer for me.”

  Shannon held up her hand, waiting expectantly for him to fist bump her. He chuckled as he made a new ally before rapping knuckles with the cool single mom. Megan and Maddy were lucky to have her. Knocking on Gwen’s door, Shannon whispered to him, “You know, you’re all right, Dominic.”

  He was on the verge of returning the compliment when Gwen slung open her door saying, “I thought you had plans . . .” before she noticed him standing to the side. “Dominic, what’re you doing here?”

  Shannon pointed to the food bags in his hand. “I saw he had his hands full, so I volunteered to knock for him.” Before her friend could reply, she gave a jaunty wave and walked off—quickly.

  Dominic pushed past a bemused Gwen and walked straight to her kitchen. He set the bags on the table and made himself at home, pulling out plates for them. “Hey, baby.” He smiled as she once again started moving around nervously as she drew near. “I hope you’re hungry. I got a little bit of everything. I even made them throw in some extra fortune cookies since I know how much you love those things.” He moved to drop a kiss on her lips as he normally would, and he was relieved when she let him without moving away. That was a good sign, right?

  “I’m not really that hungry,” she said right before the growling sounds of her stomach filled the room. When he cocked a brow at her, she admitted, “Well, maybe I am, after all. I was going to watch a movie tonight, so I’ll understand if you’d rather have yours at home.”

  Dominic’s hands stalled in the process of opening the fried rice. He knew a brush-off when he heard one and apparently they were right back to that again. Well, he’d be damned if he was going anywhere before he knew what was going on with her. “Nah, that’s okay, babe. I’m fine with anything you want to watch. We can take our cartons to the coffee table and eat while we watch your movie.”

  “But, you don’t even know what it is,” she blurted out, looking more than a little rattled.

  “Doesn’t matter, baby. I don’t have to be in control all of the time. If you have something you want to watch, then that’s what we’ll do. I like most anything.” She wrinkled her nose up in a way that told him that she was stumped as to what to do next. He just ignored her plight and started taking their food to the coffee table. “Can you bring some drinks with you, babe?” he called over his shoulder. He was a little concerned about her sudden change in behavior, but he was also amused over her less than subtle attempts to get rid of him. She really should have figured out by now that he was more than a match for her in the stubborn category.

  A few moments later, she settled next to him on the floor. Without a word, she picked up the television remote and flipped to one of the women’s channels. He managed to choke back a groan. He wouldn’t give her the pleasure of knowing that his hair was officially standing up. No self-respecting man watched that shit. As luck would have it, the movie was just starting so he was in for two hours of something called Monster-in-Law. “I just love this movie,” Gwen enthused from next to him.

  “If you’ve already seen it before, maybe we should watch something new,” he suggested, hoping to God that she would agree.

  When she turned those big eyes on him, he knew he was screwed. He’d do anything she wanted when she looked at him like that. “Or we can watch it,” he relented. “I mean there are probably parts you missed when you watched it before.”

  “You’re right,” Gwen said around a mouthful of Kung Pao chicken. “I must have seen this like fifty times, and I always catch something new.”

  Fifty times? What the fuck? Dominic looked down at his can of Diet Coke and knew he was going to need something stronger. “Baby, I’m going to run to my place and get a couple of beers.”

  As he stood to leave, Gwen pulled her eyes from the movie and said, “I bought some for you at the market the other day. They’re in the refrigerator.” She seemed to wince as the words left her mouth as if she’d said the wrong thing to admit that she’d been thinking of him. What was going on with her? Maybe she was having a bad case of PMS, which would pretty much answer his question about the baby possibility. Before they went to bed tonight, if she let him stay, he’d ask her. Not the PMS question because he valued his nuts, but if she’d taken a test. If Gage was right, then she might know by now.

  He walked back over to drop a kiss on the top of her head. “Thank you, baby, I appreciate that.” Truer words were never spoken, he thought as he twisted the top off his Heineken. Hell, maybe he should have brought the whole six-pack back to the table. It appeared that Gwen was already ticked at him over something so looking like an alcoholic probably wasn’t going to hurt his case much more. “Hey, isn’t that Jennifer Lopez?” He pointed his chopsticks toward the television screen.

  “Yep,” Gwen nodded, “and she’s going to get involved with Michael Vartan. Damn, he’s so hot.”

  All right, this was getting just downright annoying. Now she was lusting after some guy on television? Hello, wasn’t he sitting right here? If she mentioned the guy’s ass next, he was turning the fucking movie off. He shook his head, thinking how absurd it sounded even to himself that he was jealous of an actor—one who wasn’t even that good-looking. Knowing it was petty, he couldn’t stop himself from saying, “I’ve always loved Jennifer Lopez.”

  Not seeming the least bit perturbed, Gwen gave him a saucy grin, saying, “You just love her big butt. I think we’ve already established that as your favorite female body part.”

  When his cock sprang to attention at her comment, it almost felt wrong to him. He shouldn’t be getting hard in the middle of a chick flick, should he? Wasn’t that the equivalent of cursing in church or something? As a man, he was supposed to feel only disdain when watching these kind of movies. It was technically not the movie causing the wood, though—it was thoughts of Gwen’s ass, bent over the very table they were eating on while he drove into her hard and fast. Yeah, so not what he should think when it was clear she didn’t have sex on the brain right now. “You have all of my favorite parts,” he joked as she returned her attention to the movie.

  When the guy in the movie went jogging down the beach without a shirt, he could have sworn that he caught Gwen panting. He decided he officially hated this frigging movie and breathed a sigh of relief when the first commercial started—until it was a two-minute spiel about not letting your heavy flow keep you from enjoying your life. Immediately followed by something called Summer’s Eve for that
“oh so fresh feeling.” Holy shit, he thought, Gage was right—these commercials were so informative that they were downright horrifying. He hadn’t realized that he was scowling until Gwen said in an amused voice, “You know, you don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.”

  Leaning back against the couch, he made an effort to wipe all traces of unhappiness from his face. “This looks great, babe, and I’m learning so much. By the end of this movie, I’ll be able to hold my own in any feminine hygiene discussion. You’re really doing me a favor,” he added with a wink.

  She giggled before pushing her food away and reclining backward as well. Dominic dropped his arm around her, pulling her into the curve of his body. She remained stiff for a moment, before allowing her body to conform to his. “Do you guys discuss women’s products often?” she asked.

  “More than you know,” he mumbled under his breath as the movie started again. Within a few minutes of twirling Gwen’s hair and watching the movie, he found something happening that he would never admit to his friends. He was drawn to the plight of Jennifer Lopez and her future mother-in-law from hell. At one point, he yelled out, “The bitch tried to kill her with those nuts!” while waving angrily at Jane Fonda’s character.

  Gwen dropped a comforting hand onto his thigh, whispering, “It’s okay. It will all work out in the end. I agree, though—the woman is crazy. I’d just pack up and leave a man before I’d put up with that from his mother.” Dominic made a mental note right then to tell his mom to keep the crazy under wraps when she finally met Gwen. He didn’t want his family scaring her off.

  When the movie ended, he felt like he’d been through an emotional wringer. Why in the world did women watch stuff like that? He’d take an action movie any day where they just blew shit up. It gave you a good adrenaline rush, but you didn’t feel like crying when it was over. He’d found himself all tied up into knots while waiting to see if the evil mother was going to stop her son from marrying the woman of his dreams. And to think, Gwen had admitted to watching the movie fifty times. Damn! He’d need a prescription for Prozac by the second viewing. “Um . . . great movie, babe. A tad on the scary side, but entertaining.”

  Gwen burst out laughing. “What do you mean scary? It’s a romantic comedy. I don’t think there’s supposed to be much suspense to it.”

  Dominic looked at her incredulously. “You’ve gotta be kidding. Did you see all of that crap that Mr. Perfect’s mother was doing? I mean, poor Jennifer didn’t know what she’d be facing each day. And feeding someone nuts who’s allergic to them? That’s attempted murder! So what if Jennifer got to marry the guy in the end and the mother pretended to be happy about it. You know as well as I do about how long that’s gonna last. She’ll be up to her old shit as soon as the honeymoon is over, mark my words!”

  When he finished his tirade, Gwen was staring at him with her mouth hung open. She swallowed a few times before patting him on the head like a dog. “Um, you do realize that the movie wasn’t a true story, right? In addition, there wasn’t a sequel, so nothing happened after the honeymoon. You know, because it wasn’t real.”

  Getting to his feet, Dominic started clearing off their dinner from the table, feeling like an idiot. He refused to meet Gwen’s eyes as he stacked the cartons of cold Chinese food before taking them to the kitchen. He had just made a first-class fool out of himself, and he was embarrassed and okay, a little pissed off about it. Men didn’t handle feelings like that well, and he was no exception. Now thanks to his rant, there was no way she could doubt how taken in he had been by her choice in movies. He knew it was crazy, but he wanted to blame the whole humiliating thing on her. A voice in the rational part of his mind said that she’d encouraged him to go home, but no, he’d been determined to stick it out. It pissed him off even further that he was actually so bent out of shape over such silliness. This sounded more like Gage than him. Heck, he’d said something similar when he’d admitted to watching commercials mainly pertaining to women’s products. At least he’d been watching a lingerie show for perverted reasons, though. Dominic couldn’t claim the same.

  When he stomped back into the living room, Gwen was standing there looking at him warily. “Everything okay?” she asked, as she studied his no doubt closed-off expression. He knew then that he needed to go home for the night. If he stayed here, he’d say something he didn’t mean. She didn’t deserve to have her feelings hurt because he was acting like a total jerk. He fucking knew that, but he still couldn’t shake it off. What was wrong with him tonight?

  “It’s fine, babe.” He forced himself to answer lightly. “Just a little tired from the trip and lack of sleep last night.” He pulled her tense form against him before saying, “I’m going to stay at my place tonight. I’ll sleep so deeply that I’m likely to snore the bedroom down. Believe me, you don’t want that.” She laughed, but it sounded strained. He pressed a light kiss to her lips before releasing her and going toward the door. When he reached it, he turned, remembering what Gage had said about him showing interest and concern over the possible pregnancy. It was the last thing he wanted to talk about tonight, but he didn’t want her to think that he didn’t care—because he did, more than she knew. “So . . . um how much longer until you know something, about, you know, whether you’re pregnant or not?”

  Dominic saw her freeze at his question. Maybe he was mistaken, but she didn’t really look happy or relieved by his question. He was beginning to regret even bringing the subject up, when she finally said, “Probably this week or weekend one way or another.”

  Trying to sound like he was halfway knowledgeable, he quoted off Gage’s statement. “Isn’t there some test that tells you early? Maybe you could take one of those. At least then we’d know.” When she bit her trembling lip and her eyes looked like they were watering, Dominic felt a moment’s panic. This wasn’t going at all like he thought it would. To say this hadn’t been his ideal evening was putting it mildly. Feeling ashamed of how he had been acting, he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close to him once again. “Did I say something wrong?” he asked. That was a loaded question because he’d probably said nothing right since he’d arrived.

  “No, it’s fine,” she answered hoarsely. “I can pick up a test. I . . . just thought I’d wait to see if I didn’t get my . . . period before I did. But, I know you want to know as soon as possible.”

  “Er—sure,” he replied, not knowing what else to say. He hadn’t really wanted nor did he need to know early, but the words were out there now, and he thought it was easier to just let it go rather than dragging something out that she plainly didn’t want to discuss. Shit, it looked like Gage was right. She had been upset with him for not mentioning it sooner. He wanted to tell her that he hadn’t because it didn’t change anything at all for him, but nothing he had said was coming out right tonight. He’d just piss her off or upset her further. One thing you learned how to do well in the military was to know when it was time to retreat and that time had come and gone already. He rubbed her back before kissing her on the forehead. “I’m going to head out now. See you at the office tomorrow?”

  Without making eye contact, she nodded her head and opened the door for him. If that wasn’t a sign that she wanted rid of him, he didn’t know what was. “Good night, Dominic,” she said softly and a bit too formally for his peace of mind.

  “’Night, babe,” he replied as he stepped into the hallway. She had the door closed before he could turn and see her one last time. You really made a mess out of that, he thought to himself as he walked down the hallway to his apartment. He probably needed to bring more to the table tomorrow than a cup of coffee. A better mood and some groveling were definitely in order.

  Spending two tours in the Marines hadn’t allowed for long-term relationships, so in many ways this was all new ground for him. He was under no illusions that this would be the last time he screwed up, but he planned to do his best not to hurt her again. He’d always thought Gage was full of shit since
he never stayed with a woman long enough to be qualified to give advice, but it seemed he might have been wrong. He’d no longer disregard his buddy’s advice if it sounded even reasonably coherent. Hell, before he opened his mouth again, maybe he should solicit every piece of guidance that anyone was willing to offer.

  Chapter Twelve

  Going to work feeling like an emotional wreck was becoming a disturbing pattern for Gwen. One that she detested. She’d never been one to bring her problems to the office with her, but now it seemed to be happening a lot this week. She’d stepped off the elevator this morning, hoping to make it to her office without seeing anyone, but she’d had no such luck. Instead, she’d almost immediately run into her beautifully put together friend, Mia. She loved her, she really did, but Crystal would have been preferable in this instance since they both seemed to be having a miserable week. Mia, however, just glowed as a woman who was loved and in love seemed to do. No doubt, she’d had amazing sex before leaving home. God, she could almost hate her. “Morning chick,” Mia said in a singsong voice.

  Gwen managed to grunt out, “Morning,” in reply before opening her office door. “I’ve got a ton of work to catch up on today,” she threw over her shoulder as she walked to her desk. She hoped the other woman would get the message, but Mia plopped down in a chair as if completely oblivious.

  Before either of them could say anything, Dominic walked through the open doorway with a cup of coffee in his hand. As Mia stood, obviously intent on leaving to give them some privacy, he held up his hand, stopping her. “It’s okay. I’m just on my way out.” He walked over to Gwen, setting the cup in front of her before saying, “Gage and I are heading back to Charleston this morning. Our supervisor that we hired for the new location there has come down with the flu. And to top it off, now his assistant isn’t feeling well, either. We just don’t have anyone extra in that capacity to send. And I’m likely to be gone the rest of the week.”