Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 129756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 649(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 649(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Before she could walk off and busy herself elsewhere to escape the conversation, he grabbed her hand. “Fine. I’ll drop the Joel thing. Besides, I have a question: Should we take a bottle of wine or something with us to dinner tonight?”
Her brows snapped together. “You can’t be serious about going.”
“I was invited.”
“Only because my parents plan to use you in their little bid to keep me here.”
“Your mother promised me Prague Cake, Mila. Now it’s true that I don’t know what that is, but you can’t go wrong with cake in my experience. I’m not about to miss out on it just because I make you nervous.”
She pulled her hand from his and planted it on her hip. “You do not make me nervous. You make me want to slap you.”
Wrestling back a smile, Dominic said, “Hey, it’s okay. You make me nervous too. That’s why I get so shy around you. When you look at me all predatorily like that, it makes me feel like a baby gazelle about to get devoured by a lioness.”
She crossed her eyes. “I don’t know whether to laugh or finally give you that slap.”
“As long as I’m deep inside you while you’re slapping me around, I don’t mind. It’ll make it feel all forbidden and wrong.”
She scrubbed a hand down her face, determined not to laugh. “We are not having sex, and you are not coming with me tonight.”
“Oh, I’ll be coming with you in multiple ways,” he said with a wicked smile. “You know, I’ve never done dinner with the parents before.”
“We’re not a couple.”
“No, but if you go along with it instead of fighting me on going to dinner, they’ll think we just might become a couple. If, however, you don’t turn up with me at your side . . . well, they could try their hands at matching you up with other males instead.”
Fuck, he was right, Mila thought. Her parents could be relentless at times. Nothing stopped them once they got an idea in their heads. “Hmm. I suppose you are the lesser evil.”
He smiled. “I knew you liked me.”
“Unless you want to donate blood, be still.” She rinsed the blade under hot water before taking that first swipe. It glided smoothly and effortlessly across his face and neck with each pass. Once she’d finished, she rinsed him off, applied some aftershave balm to his slightly damp skin, and then patted him dry with a towel. “There.”
He glided his hand over his now butter-smooth skin. “Nicely done.”
After he’d paid and left a far-too-generous tip, she said, “I just have a couple of things to do, and then we can go.”
He gave her a pointed look. “Ten minutes, Mila. My face is leaving in ten minutes—be on it.”
“Oh my God. Do you ever stop?”
“Being what? Charming? Funny? Irresistible?”
“Bizarre? Warped? Disturbed?”
“Hey, now, there’s no need to get mean.”
She stalked off, shaking her head. “Hopeless. You’re totally hopeless.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Mila had no idea how he did it. Really. It was like he had some magical power that enabled him to enchant people or something. Valentina liked very few people, but she quickly developed a fondness for Dominic—it was apparent in the way she kept refilling his plate and regaling him with stories of her childhood.
Even James clearly liked him, and James didn’t like any male who had designs on his only daughter. The three were chatting like they were lifelong friends, and Mila knew that Dominic would be invited to eat at this table again and again—even though her parents’ matchmaking efforts would lead to nothing.
She supposed that part of why people quickly warmed to him was that he was super good at keeping the conversation light and easy. No invasive questions, no deep talk, no tricky topics like politics. He just joked and flattered and charmed, putting people at ease. It wasn’t an act, though. He wasn’t playing a part. He was quite simply easy to be around. But he also wasn’t being totally himself.
Draping an arm over the back of her chair, Dominic absentmindedly traced little circles on her shoulder. Which was bold, really, considering her parents were right there. He didn’t dial down his behavior around them. He still invaded Mila’s personal space. Still touched her how and when he felt like it. Still hit her with cheesy lines, although they thankfully weren’t dirty. Not that her parents would care if they were dirty—they found him hilarious.
She should push him away, but he was right that it would be simpler to let her parents believe their little plot was working. Also, she liked it when he touched her. Liked that it eased her cat, who was currently quite relaxed, enjoying the light atmosphere. The feline liked GQ a lot too—mostly because he made Mila smile.
Putting down her cutlery, Valentina took a sip of her wine. “You have spoken much about your pack,” she said to Dominic. “But not of your family.”