Say Yes To The Fake Date (How To Win At Love #3)

8. Dominic

8

DOMINIC

Fuck!

My mind is on Luciana instead of the head gasket that I’m working on. I pull my hand back, and there’s a gash with blood pouring from it. I mutter curses, one right after another, letting the frustration out.

I’m wrapping my hand in a shop towel when Luciana walks into the garage and I forget all about my hand. Damn, she’s beautiful.

“Hey, Lucky.”

She’s walking toward me with determination, but she falters when she sees me holding my hand and the blood that is already seeping through the towel. Her mouth drops, and she rushes the last few steps toward me. “What happened? ”

Before I can answer her, she wraps her hands around mine and starts pushing me to the back of the garage. She’s looking around my office. “Where’s the first aid kit?”

Normally, I’d wave her off. I’m not accustomed to being fussed over, but there’s no way I’m going to stop her now. This is the closest I’ve been to her, and I’ll let her do whatever she wants to me. “It’s in the bathroom,” I tell her, nodding to the door on the other side of the office.

“Dom, how did you do this to your hand?”

She’s peeled back the towel and is inspecting the cut.

“I wasn’t paying attention.”

She nods and covers it back up. “Stay right here.”

She walks into the bathroom and returns seconds later with the red first aid box in her hands. Her face is pinched up as she wipes the wet paper towel across my hand, cleaning off the blood. I try not to flinch as she works methodically. She’s talking, and I stay silent, enjoying the sound of her voice.

“Dom, you’ve cut yourself pretty deeply. It really needs stitches, but I know you, you’re not going to go and get it looked at, are you?” She doesn’t wait for me to respond. “Of course you’re not. That would mean you need someone, and the Dominic Evans I know doesn’t need anyone.”

The more she talks, the more I realize that she’s not talking about my hand anymore. As she continues to clean my hand and then put a bandage on it, I turn my hand in hers and hold on to her. “I’m sorry, Luciana.”

Finally, her eyes lift to mine, and it’s like a punch in the gut to have her this close again. Before she can stop me, I insist on getting the rest of my apology out. “I’m sorry for hurting you.”

She stares at me, licks her lips, and then answers in a matter-of-fact manner. “It was seventeen years ago.”

“I know, but…”

She shakes her head. “If you wanted to apologize, you’ve had seventeen years to do it. You didn’t have to wait until now when my life is falling apart.” She points at her face. “I’m bruised, have no money. But I don’t need sympathy or your apologies now.”

I just keep fucking up. “It’s not like that and—”

She cuts me off. “Can we just forget it?”

I want to grab on to her and force her to listen to me. I’d give anything for her to forgive me, but that’s completely selfish of me. I don’t deserve her forgiveness. I hold my bandaged hand up to her. “Okay, I’m sorry. Thank you for bandaging my hand. I appreciate it.”

She’s cleaning up the mess, ignoring me again, and I just stand here and watch, waiting patiently for her to continue.

She walks into the bathroom to put the kit up. I hear her wash her hands, and when she comes out, she’s drying them on a paper towel. “So I’ve been thinking…”

Crossing my arms on my chest, I wait for her to go on.

“It may be a little bit before I can pay you—”

In pure frustration, I shake my head and blurt out, “I don’t want your money.”

She holds her hand up. “Like I was saying… I won’t have the money for a little bit, but I don’t like owing you money. So I was thinking that I could make you a website.”

I rear back in surprise. “A website?”

She laughs at me. “Yeah, you know, the thing that will give your business an online presence. You could have people make appointments, check your services, see what wait times are, and more.”

The whole time she’s talking, all I can think about is that if she does this, maybe I’ll get to spend more time with her even though I’m not sure what all this entails. “Look, I don’t expect you to pay me for your car.” She starts to talk, and it’s my turn to stop her. “But… but if you feel like you should pay me back by doing my website, I’m not going to say no.”

Lucy lets out a big breath and looks almost relieved that I agreed. I take a step toward her. “So what do you need from me?”

She crosses her arms over her chest. “Do you have time to go over things with me tomorrow? I won’t take up a lot of your time, but I do need to get some information from you before I start.”

Is she kidding me right now? I’d give her anything she wants. And hell, spending time with her is a fuckin’ fantasy for me, but I try to act cool about it. “Yeah, sure. Just let me know what time you’ll be here and I’ll have my schedule clear.”

She gestures to me. “Well, you’re the one with the full schedule. What time works best for you?”

I laugh and run my fingers through the scruff of my beard. “What time do you get up?”

Her eyes widen, and I realize I’m sounding too excited. “I mean, anytime in the morning is good.” Hell, even if I was slammed with appointments, I’d make room on my schedule for her.

I point to the ceiling. “My apartment is upstairs, so I’m here anytime.”

She shifts side to side. “I’ll be here at ten in the morning.”

“Okay.”

I watch her, trying to figure out how I can keep her here because I don’t want her to leave. “Are you doing okay? I mean, being back in Whiskey Run, with your mom, and everything?”

She blows out a breath, and her body language completely gives away the lie as she says, “Yeah, I’m good.”

I just stare at her and wait. Luciana never complains and will say she’s fine even if she’s not, but if I wait her out, maybe she’ll talk to me.

She twitches under my scrutiny and claps her hands together. “Uh, well, okay… let’s see. I guess it’s going about how you’d imagine. No money—”

I open my mouth, and she stops me. “No, don’t offer me money. So no money, but I have a car now, thanks to you. The attorney is working on my case, but I’m without a job and resources until that’s resolved. And… well, my mom is pressuring me to go back with my ex, so you can imagine how it is being at home.”

I take a step toward her, my hands fisted at my sides. I don’t even try to hide the anger in my voice. “She wants you to stay with the man that hit you?”

Her eyes never leave mine. “She thinks it was an accident.”

“But it wasn’t… was it?”

No matter if she tries to deny it, I’ll know the truth. A man never accidentally hits a woman. Right now, I’m just hoping and praying that Luciana knows the truth.

She blurts out a laugh. “No, it definitely wasn’t an accident.”

I hold my hand out to her, wishing she would take it. “Do you want to talk about it?”

She looks at my hand and then crosses her arms over her chest. “Not really.”

I know I should keep my mouth shut, but I don’t care. “You’re not going back to him.”

Her mouth drops open, and she shakes her head. “Dom, you don’t have the right to tell me what to do.”

Because I can’t resist, I walk over to her, and she tenses but doesn’t back down. I’m so close to her that I could wrap my arms around her and hold her to me, but instead I reach up and put my palm on her cheek. She may not realize she’s doing it, but she leans into my touch, which sends a thrill through me. “I know, Lucky. I lost that right a long time ago. But I won’t stand by and let a man put his hands on you. It killed me knowing you were with someone else, but the only thing that stopped me from following you was thinking you were happy.”

She lets out a little gasp and cries out, “But you didn’t want me!”

I clench my eyes closed because it kills me to see the pain in her face. Fuck, I hurt her so badly. I would give anything to go back and do things differently. When I open my eyes to look at her, I know it’s time to come clean. “I wanted you, Lucky. I always fuckin’ wanted you. Even now, I want you.”

Something akin to hope flares in her eyes, but she shakes her head in disbelief. “Don’t lie to me, Dom. Not after everything you’ve done to me, don’t fuckin’ lie to me.”

I know she’s mad by the way she curses at me. She never cusses, at least she never did in the past. Hell, she thought stupid was a bad word. I reach for her and hold on to her shoulders. She tries to pull away from me, but I refuse to let her go. “Stop and listen to me.”

She’s glaring at me, but I’m not going to give in. I know this is hard, but I can’t let her walk away from me now. “I have loved you since the first day I met you… and I never stopped. I never wanted to let you go, but I was going to prison, Lucky. What should I have done? Should I have asked you to wait for me? You were eighteen and about to start college. Should I have asked you to put your life on hold because I fucked up?”

“You slept with…”

I don’t let her finish. “I didn’t sleep with anyone after I met you. Hell, even to this day, the only action my cock gets is my hand.”

Her mouth drops open, and she shakes her head side to side. “I don’t believe you… why… you said—”

I know I’ve completely taken her by surprise, which makes me realize how much I messed up with her. I loved her so much, but it wasn’t enough. She easily believed me when I told her I cheated on her, and she should have known that there was never anyone I wanted but her.

“I told you I slept with Rita because I knew that if I told you I wanted to end things, you wouldn’t move on. I knew you’d try and wait for me.”

She rolls her eyes and drops a bombshell on me. “I did wait on you, Dom. I thought you’d come for me when you got out of jail. I thought you’d realize what we had and you’d want me back. It took a lot of therapy and time to move on.”

“I’m sorry, Lucy. I really am. I fucked up, and I know I did. I’m going to make things right.”

There’s pure anguish in my voice, and I hope she can hear how much this means to me, but she shakes her head and steps back out of my reach. “It’s all in the past. I’m over it, and I don’t want you to make anything right. I’m going to work for you and pay off that stupid car, and then we’ll go our separate ways.”

“But—” I try to stop her, and she holds her hand up.

“I can’t do this, Dom. I promised myself that I would never let you hurt me again. I can’t…” She takes a deep breath and lets it out. “I can’t do this with you.”

I want to argue with her. I want to tell her all the reasons why we should be together, but I know she doesn’t want to hear it. She’s not going to listen to me anyway. I stuff my hands deep into the front pockets of my jeans. “Fine. If that’s what you want…”

I let my voice trail off, hoping she’ll change her mind, but she gives me a nod. “That’s what I want.”

She turns on her heel and doesn’t give me another glance. The pain is real, and it hits me square in the chest. It feels like I’ve lost the love of my life… again. And it hurts just as much as it did the first time.