Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 56591 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56591 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Izzy: That’s good to know, thank you. My first day was fine.
Dominic Vale: No trouble from the construction workers?
I chew the inside of my cheek. There were a few comments. One man commented that the little lady was struggling with a wheelbarrow of bricks. But I will not make my life easier by going straight to the boss with that.
Izzy: No.
I lean forward and grab the control for the smart TV. Going to the browser, I search ‘Dominic Vale magazine cover’. It’s just like I remember. He stares at the viewer, stern, tough, and unflinching. The headline reads, Rising Star Dominic Vale Takes No Prisoners. His media persona is hard, even cold, but not the man himself.
I stare at the photo of him, taken last year, clean-shaven face, sharp jawline, eyes fixed as though designed to cut through you. My heart beats harder. For a delirious moment, I imagine him stepping out of the TV screen and into my apartment.
He leans down and brushes the hair from my face, a small smile on his lips even as his eyes remain dark and intense. I imagine his hands moving lower, hooking under my armpits, hauling me to my feet, and pulling me flush against him.
“You feel that? You’re the only woman who makes me this wild.”
His manhood pushes against my belly insistently. His hands sink into my sides, greedily, hungrily, as though my curviness is something he’s already addicted to.
I snap back to the real world when my cellphone vibrates.
Dominic Vale: Remember to reach out if you need anything, Izzy.
I retype the message twice before I send it because my hands are shaking.
Izzy: I will.
I close my eyes and breathe slowly. I think about what Grandma said, how I’ve only been unlucky with love because I never found the right person. Maybe she’s right. Because honestly? I’ve never cared enough. Or at all.
But now…
Calm. Down. This. Second.
Dominic Vale: I’ll leave you to enjoy the rest of your evening.
Izzy: I’m not doing much. Just watching some TV. I bet you’re having a much more exciting time.
Dominic Vale: Not really. I’m just in the gym. Texting you is an excuse to be lazy.
Izzy: You don’t look like you’re lazy in the gym.
“What the fuck,” I whisper after I’ve pressed send.
It’s like something just took me over. I shouldn’t be flirting. But the closer I get, the more information I’ll have. Unfortunately, Aaron will get it out of me eventually. I don’t want to betray Dominic, but I also don’t want my grandma out on the street in her final months or years, however long that ugly Lou Gehrig’s gives her.
Dominic Vale: I feel lazy right now. But the way I’m sweating, you’d think I was the hardest worker in here. I lift heavy, which means I need to take longer breaks anyway. But thank you, Izzy.
Izzy: Just an observation. Good night.
I put my phone on silent and place it facedown on the table, sinking back into the couch and spreading my hands over my middle. When I look up at the TV, he stares back at me from the screen, that nearly-there smirk on his lips, a subtle twitch that makes him look dangerous and stern all at once.
This feeling—this swirling, aching, tingly mess—was not part of the plan.
CHAPTER 4
DOMINIC
As I drive to work the next morning, I tell myself I’m going to be hard. Apparently, Jennifer’s husband spotted me in the park with them yesterday. It’s caused her loads of hassle, and it’s another reminder that I need to keep my head. But last night, texting Izzy…
There I go again. Romanticizing, turning this into something it doesn’t have to be.
In my morning meeting with Ethan, I ask him where Izzy is going to be located today. He gives me a look. Head tilted, appraising. He thinks I don’t notice when he looks at people like that, but I do. I’m trying to be more like the PR version of Dominic Vale today. Shut down all the other messiness.
“Here,” Ethan says after a pause. “Helping with the paperwork for the new acquisition, admin stuff. Why?”
“Why?” I repeat, shaking my head.
Ethan shrugs. “I’m just curious.”
“You should dial the curiosity down,” I tell him.
“Fair enough.”
“I’ve got a call with the West Coast office soon,” I say, gesturing to the door.
“They’re up early,” he comments, standing.
I can tell he noticed something when I mentioned Izzy. In the future, I should try not to even say her name.
“Dom,” Ethan says, pausing at the door.
“Hmm?”
“Don’t spread yourself too thin. Our big commercial projects, low-income here, and now more low-income in Cali? It’s a lot.”
I don’t reply. He sighs, then leaves. He’s probably right. I don’t buy the big flashy offices, the look-at-me cars, or any of it. I grind and try to do some good, because… well, why not? Why not at least try to make the world a bit better? Doing the opposite for cold cash has never made sense to me.