“Ugh, no.” Ava stood quickly, almost knocking her chair over. “I just ordered the first thing on the menu. I was too nervous to even think about food.”

Gwen stood and quickly rounded the table. “By all means, lead the way,” she motioned as she followed Ava out the door and across the street.

Maybe the other woman was okay, after all. She seemed far removed from the ice queen that Gwen had thought her to be. No one who enjoyed a good hamburger could be all bad.

Chapter Eight

It was early Saturday morning and Gwen was buried beneath her comforter when someone knocked at her door. She opened one eye to look at the bedside clock. It was just after eight so a visitor this early in the morning couldn’t be good news. She was afraid that it was Shannon needing a babysitter, which would make for a long Saturday. Or it could be Dominic. There had been a security issue at one of their locations last night, and he had left around midnight to check it out. He had said he would go to his place afterward to keep from waking her again. She had wanted to argue that he should come back since she was now pitifully spoiled and accustomed to waking up to his handsome face, and sweet heaven, he almost always put his morning wood to new and creative uses. He was most definitely a morning person. But she didn’t want to force the issue.

When another round of knocking reached her ears, Gwen reluctantly crawled from her warm cocoon and stumbled to the door. A quick look through the peephole showed a handsome man and made her heart skip a beat. Without a thought about her appearance or smoothing down her mass of hair, she unchained the door and threw it open. She unconsciously licked her lips at the sight of Dominic on her doorstep in faded jeans and a close fitting T-shirt. Black boots perfectly complemented his outfit, as did the day’s growth of scruff on his face. “Morning, baby,” he drawled as his eyes slid down her body. She knew that her tank top and skimpy sleep shorts left little to the imagination, but she saw nothing but approval and lust in his stare.

He crossed the threshold, forcing her to move backward as he closed the door behind him. His hands reached over, pulling her flush against his chest. He dropped his head, licking the seam of her lips until they parted for his tongue. He tasted her until her legs were weak, and he was all but supporting her weight. “Mmm,” she hummed against his lips. When he pulled back, she purred, “Good morning to you, too.” All she wanted to do was pull him to the nearest surface and beg him to fuck her. He had turned her into something of a sex fiend. He was her drug, and she was beyond addicted. She had gone from never having an orgasm during intercourse to having multiples each and every time. Oh, the things he could do with his cock. Heck, she’d even slipped around Mia and Crystal and admitted that she called it the “miracle cock,” because that was just what it was. Of course, those talented fingers that he used along with it were the proverbial icing on the cake.

Dominic cupped the cheeks of her ass, squeezing them lightly as he ground his hard length against her. He made no bones about the fact that he was an ass man. He constantly assured her, though, that it was just her ass that got him going. Whatever the reason, for the first time in her life she was grateful to the big butt gods for giving her more than her share in that department.

They were both primed and ready to move this party to the bedroom when he murmured against her neck between licks, “I’ve got something for you, babe.”

Reaching a hand between them to grip his steely length, she moaned, “You sure do—and I’m ready for it.”

He made a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a groan. “Not that, Red, although it’s all yours as well.” He pulled back, dislodging her wandering hand and picked up a bag that she hadn’t noticed from the floor. “This is the first part of your surprise.”

She blinked like an owl before taking the bag that he thrust into her hand. She recognized the name of a popular store in the mall and wondered what he could have possibly bought for her there. “Why are you giving me anything?” she managed to get out before she opened the bag and began pulling out the contents.

“It’s a belated birthday gift. Don’t get me wrong,” he said, grinning, “I love how we celebrated your big day the night of your first . . . visit to my apartment, but you did most of the gift giving. I think it’s my turn to do something for my girl today.”

Her mouth dropped as she pulled out a new pair of boot-cut jeans, a white tank top, which looked about a size too small, a black leather jacket, and finally a pair of black boots that resembled the ones he was wearing. Bemused, she looked at the items now lying on the entryway table and then back at Dominic. “What’s all of this for?”

Gwen couldn’t help but think that he looked like an excited little boy as he rubbed his hands together. “I want us to take a trip on my bike today. I’ve been using the truck because I didn’t know if it was safe for you to ride on the bike until we knew if you were pregnant or not. So, yesterday I called my brother-in-law and asked him.”

“Er . . . isn’t your brother-in-law a veterinarian?” Gwen pointed out. “There are probably different rules for animals versus people.” Although she was touched that he had put that much thought into watching over her. She had never felt as cared for as she did with him. He treated her like a fragile piece of glass, and instead of it being annoying, she found that she quite liked it. It was a nice change from the men in her past who didn’t even open doors for her. She had felt like the man in most of those relationships.

Dominic tweaked her nose before dropping a kiss onto it. “Yes, smarty pants, but he’s quite knowledgeable. Plus, his best friend is a . . . you know, a doctor who deals with women and their . . . issues, so he asked him to confirm.”

Quirking a smile, Gwen couldn’t resist teasing him. “What kind of ‘issues’ does this doctor handle exactly?”

She was utterly charmed to see his face flush as he began to stammer. “Well . . . I . . . you know—stuff below the belt, I guess.”

Oh, this was just too good to stop, so acting deliberately obtuse, Gwen wrinkled her nose and asked, “Below the belt? You mean a woman’s legs or feet?”

Her confident, alpha male’s face was now full-on flaming as he struggled to find the words. “No, babe, like your private business.” He pointed to the area between her legs before looking quickly away.

“Ohhh, you mean my vagina!” Popping a hand to her forehead dramatically, she said, “Duh, I’m slow today.”

He studied her for a moment, seeming to comprehend that he’d been played. Prowling toward her, he shook his head, saying, “Oh, I don’t think you’re slow at all, baby. I believe you were having a blast yanking my chain, weren’t you?”

Shaking with laughter, Gwen took a step back for every one he took forward. “Of course not, honey, I just didn’t know what you were talking about. I’d never try to intentionally embarrass you, now would I?” As she suddenly sprinted down the hallway, she yelled over her shoulder, “Vagina, vagina, vagina!”

She gave a squeal of surprise when he swung her up into his arms inside her bedroom door. He turned to absorb the impact of their fall as they tumbled onto her disheveled bedcovers. She felt his chest move against her head as he rumbled with laughter. “You’re a little minx this morning, aren’t you?” he said against the top of her head.

She lifted her head to give him a lopsided grin. “Aw, come on. You’ve been below my belt quite a few times now. I can’t believe you’d have a hard time talking about a female body part. You seem to know your way around them very well.” Instead of responding to her teasing, his hands began to roam her body. He pushed inside the elastic band of her sleep shorts, palming her ass and kneading it. The skin-on-skin contact had her quickly squirming against him. Her moan was swallowed by his mouth as he crushed his lips to hers.