"The pleasure is all mine, Mrs. White. Dominic speaks of you very fondly."
Adele caught the look that passed over Dominic's face. It was one of barely contained laughter. She gave him a raised eyebrow glare. He stopped nearly laughing, gave her a slight nod and a lopsided grin. Oh, she couldn't resist that grin. And damn, did the man know it. Adele felt so nervous. She'd never had a boyfriend before, so didn't have a clue how to act around his parents. The way his mother was blushing and fussing at her, she was pretty sure she was stuffing it up royally. At least Dominic seemed to be enjoying the show.
"Oh, none of that Mrs. White stuff, love. You'll make me feel like I'm back in the school yard! Just call me Sophie. Now, dinner's almost ready. Why don't you two go in with Jake, he's in the dining room." Sophie patted Adele’s hand, released her and left them alone.
Before they moved from the foyer, Adele grabbed Dominic's arm.
"Please tell me what had you so amused?" She cocked an eyebrow and feigned a hurt attitude.
"You were so preciously nervous, beautiful. And you had Mum fussing and blushing like a teenager. If our roles were reversed, you'd have a hard time not laughing too." He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. "C'mon, let's go find Dad."
Adele couldn't help but grin as they entered the dining room. There was Jake, six foot four, wide muscular shoulders, powerful arms gently laying out place mats and cutlery. Even from the back, his big body looked out of place doing something so mundane. Adele raised her hand to cover her mouth as her body shuddered in a near silent giggle. Dominic's hand tightened on hers before releasing her with a lopsided grin and a wink. He stepped over to his Dad with a shoulder nudge hello and grabbed the cutlery from his hands.
"You know you never get it right, Dad. Mum will hang you out to dry if you muck it up when we have a guest." From the amount of humor in Dominic's voice, Adele guessed he was just stirring up his dad.
"Can't help that I use my right hand for my fork. You know, everyone else could just get used to it instead of giving me grief every chance you lot get. Oh, hey, Adele."
He came over to her, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Lovely seeing you again."
He promptly went back to the place mats to finish setting them out.
"Well, I guess since my table setting abilities are no longer required, I'll go organize the drinks, shall I? What's your poison, Adele?"
"Oh, I'll just have some of whatever you are all having. Thanks, Jake."
Adele's gaze followed Jake as he disappeared out of the room toward the kitchen, before she focused on Dominic being all domestic with the cutlery. A fully house trained man, she wished her mother could see this. She shut her eyes, sucked in a breath and winced at the sudden onslaught of pain the random thought of her mother brought. She opened her eyes to find Dominic in front of her, looking very worried. He caught her hands in his.
"Are you okay, Adele? You look like you're in pain." She gazed into his eyes, allowing their cool blue ice to soothe her; the feel of his thumbs rubbing back and forth over her wrists calmed her further.
"I'm fine, mon amour. I just had a thought that jarred a memory. I wasn't expecting it, that's all."
She smiled as best she could vainly trying to reassure him she was okay. 'Fake it till you make it' was her motto just at the moment.
Adele could see the understanding in his eyes. How on earth this man could read her so well was beyond her, but somehow he knew. He knew her heart still wept for her lost mother. He tilted her head up and lowered his mouth to hers, giving her a passion filled kiss that made sure her mind had no room for any thoughts other than of him and his taste. She was melting into him when she heard a chuckle. Glancing around Dominic's arm, she saw his parents placing dinner on the table with large grins in place at their public show of affection. She blushed as she buried her face into Dominic's chest that was slightly vibrating with his laugh at being busted.
~ * ~
Dominic glanced over at Adele as he plugged his seat belt in. She looked so adorable and sweet. Her eyes where half shut, and she had just a hint of a smile on her face with her hand resting on her tummy, just like he did after he ate a satisfying meal. His mother's roast lamb could do that to a person. Dominic grinned as he remembered her hoeing into dessert. Fresh fruit salad with cream--he chuckled to himself--cream with fresh fruit salad would be a better description of her dessert. It was apparently his mate's favorite dish.
"What are you chuckling about this time, cherie?" Adele's sweet voice sounded content. He really liked that he was at least partly responsible for that contentedness.
"Just thinking about your love of cream, beautiful."