Giving her a smug look, Dom shrugged a broad shoulder. “I’m just saying. Ain’t nothing wrong with crying like a girl.”
Putting her hands on her hips, Karen glared at Dom. “Crying like a girl, huh?”
Dom gave her that little sexy smirk that made the pit of her stomach quiver. “Yup, crying like a girl.”
Laughing, Karen playfully nudged Dom, enjoying their sparring. She honestly couldn’t remember the last time she had so much fun with a man. Nor could she remember wanting to be in the company of a man since Gregory. She was about to do something she would never have dreamt of doing. Something she had told herself she would never do. It was one thing for them to go out on a date without the children knowing. It was another thing for Dom to spend time with the children. After all he was the brother of her friend, so that made him practically family. But here she was about to invite this man into her home, to sit at her table and share a meal with her and her children. It should have troubled her, but for some reason it felt so right.
“Would you like to have dinner with us?”
Without hesitation, Dom accepted. “Sure. Thanks.”
The electrical current flowing between them couldn’t be denied as Karen slid her hand into Dom’s. A smile curved Dom’s lips as he followed Karen into her home. His heart skipped a beat when she stopped walking, causing him to nearly collide into her. Pivoting on her heels, she stood on her tiptoes and placed a feathered kiss on his lips. “Thanks for taking care of Kyle for me this afternoon.”
Smiling down at her, he assured her, “Anytime, baby. Anytime.”
Chapter 6
Karen told Dom to hang up his coat in the hall closet and make himself comfortable as she headed into the kitchen to prepare dinner. It hadn’t taken her but a second to decide to whip up a garden salad and cornbread to go with the short ribs, carrots, onions, and red potatoes that had been slow cooking in the crock pot all day. As she busied herself in the kitchen putting the final touches on dinner, Dom had offered to help the children with their homework.
Hearing her children’s laughter floating into the kitchen from the living room mixed with Dom’s deep, masculine laugh filled her with joy. Whatever the reason was for the laughter didn’t matter to Karen. All that mattered was that her children were laughing. All that mattered was that her children were happy.
As she removed dinner plates from the cabinet and placed four plates on the kitchen table instead of three, Karen drew in a shaking breath. A fool she was not. Dom was the reason for her children’s happiness. He was filling a void in their lives that she just wasn’t capable of filling no matter how hard she tried.
He could be the reason for your happiness, too. “Oh shut up.” Karen hissed at the annoying voice in her head. Moving back over to the cabinet, she removed four glasses. No, no, no, she would not depend on another man for her happiness or to fill a void in her life. She had her children and for now they would just have to be enough.
Just as she placed the last glass on the table Dom and the children entered the kitchen. Looking up, her eyes locked with Dom’s only to quickly shift to Ashley and Kyle. Clearing her throat as she ignored the butterflies she always felt fluttering in her belly whenever he looked at her with those dark intense eyes, she asked the kids, “Are you finished doing your homework?”
“Almost. I just have my math homework to do,” Ashley answered as she went to the sink to wash her hands.
Kyle followed behind his sister to do the same. “I only have to read for twenty minutes from my literature book and then write three paragraphs about what I read.” Taking the forks Ashley had just removed from the drawer, Kyle began to place them at each setting. “Mr. Dom said I can read to him after dinner.”
Karen set the salad bowl on the table. “Kyle, Mr. Dom may have to get home after dinner.” Moving over to the stove, she picked up the platter where she’d placed the short ribs and vegetables and set it in the center of the table. Smiling at Kyle, she said, “You could always read to me.”
Dom wanted to step in and tell Karen he didn’t mind staying because there was no one at home waiting for him. He wanted to tell her that he had promised the boy that he could read to him after dinner and he hadn’t planned on breaking his promise. However, he would never interfere with her parenting.
Dropping his head, Kyle mumbled as he laid the last fork on the table, “But he promised I could read to him. Mr. Dom said he never breaks a promise.”
Is that right? Karen looked to Dom, hoping he would help her out. All he did was shrug a broad shoulder, which was of no help to her. She wanted him to make up any excuse to leave after dinner. Although she and the children were enjoying his company, she didn’t want to impose on his time. He probably had better things to do.