Let Me Hold You (8 page)

He placed Domino on the table and she ran around in happy little circles. “We can mix business and pleasure,” he said persuasively.

“Nooo, we can’t. Since you can’t behave yourself, why don’t you go do whatever it is you were going to do and we’ll see you tonight,” she said firmly.

For a tall man he was certainly nimble because in seconds he’d gotten around the table and had her in his arms. He kissed her one more time and she felt totally scorched by the intensity of his mouth and tongue on hers. Domino barked a few times to express her opinion of the proceedings and Roland and Alana both had to laugh. She looked so indignant standing on the table that he scooped her up again and she gave a little yip of contentment.

“That is going to be one spoiled little girl if I don’t keep her on a short leash,” Alana said fondly.

“Don’t worry about it, honey. I happen to be a very good trainer. I’ll show you how to get her trained, starting tonight. How does seven sound?”

“It sounds fine. Do I need to pick up anything for dinner?”

Roland looked surprised at the question. “Of course not. I’m a full-service man. All you have to do is enjoy it.”

As they headed back to her office, Alana had a feeling that she was in for a wonderful night.

As Roland handed Domino back to her, he kissed her on the cheek and said he’d see them at seven. Domino whined as he left the office and Alana gave her a nuzzle on the top of her silky head.

“Just remember, chick, he’s coming to see both of us. You have to share him, okay?” Domino sighed and licked her on the chin as if to say she’d try but she wasn’t making any promises that she couldn’t keep.

Chapter 7

A
lana dashed home after work, once again leaving on time instead of staying late. She wanted to shower and change before Roland came over.

She also wanted to take Domino for a run before dinner. She’d done a good bit of research after finding out her breed, and she was trying to do her best to make sure that her new friend enjoyed good health.

Papillons, despite their small size, were very energetic and required a lot of exercise. Alana’s house sat on a nice lot with a good-sized backyard, but it would have to be fenced in before it was a suitable place for Domino to run. So for now, they made do with running in the neighborhood. They both got a good workout, so it was a win-win.

Domino continued her workout by running around the house chasing the hard rubber balls Alana had given her; it was a daily activity now. While she careened around, Alana took a quick shower and put on something comfortable but alluring, or so she hoped. She had no idea what was appropriate for datewear these days; the last man she’d dated was Sam.

She chose a casual outfit of Capri leggings in a pretty shade of green and a matching top with a boat neck and ballet sleeves. Her hair was worn loose with her new bangs; she’d gotten them restyled to emulate the First Lady and was quite pleased with the results.

After putting on gold hoop earrings and three gold bangles, she added a spray of Jo Malone eau de toilette and she was ready, except for her shoes. She found one of her ballet flats in the closet, but the other one was missing. She found it rather quickly when Domino poked her head in the door with the missing shoe in her mouth.

“Domino, no, no, no! We don’t eat shoes,” she said frantically. She moved towards her and Domino gave her a cheeky grin and took off running with her prize.

She was chasing her through the house when the doorbell rang, signaling Roland’s arrival. When she greeted him at the door she was slightly out of breath and wearing one shoe.

“Is that a new fashion statement?” he asked with a smile.

Hearing his voice, Domino came running, still carrying the shoe. She was so excited to see Roland that she dropped the shoe and stood on her hind legs to dance around for him. Alana grabbed the shoe and examined it for damage.

“These were my favorites,” she said reproachfully. “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?” The gold leather flats had a design of tiny gold studs on the toe. They also had a design of tiny tooth marks, but the leather wasn’t torn. “You should be ashamed of yourself, little girl. I don’t chew on your things, do I?”

Roland laughed all the way to the kitchen where he put down the bags he was carrying. He had three canvas tote bags full of provisions for their meal. Once he put them on the work island, he turned to Alana and cupped her face in his big warm hands to give her a kiss.

“Don’t worry about it, honey. Her training starts tonight. You just have to let her know who’s boss. Give her the right cues and she’ll stay within the boundaries you set for her, you’ll see.”

Alana took his coat so she could hang it up, pausing to admire him for a moment. He was dressed in what were undoubtedly well-loved jeans, to judge from their worn appearance and the way they fit his long muscular legs. With it he had on a heavy off-white cotton baseball jersey with the long sleeves pushed up to show off his forearms.

Whether he was dressed up or dressed down, Roland was one of the best-looking men she’d ever seen. She put his coat away and came back in the kitchen to find him washing his hands with Domino stationed next to him watching every move. Roland put on a big white apron after he dried his hands and began preparing his work space.

“Can I help?” Alana asked.

“You can watch,” Roland told her. “I’m doing this for you. If you help it’ll take the fun out of it for me.”

Touched, Alana asked if he wanted something to drink.

“A little wine would be nice. And a little music.”

Soon she was sitting on a stool, watching Roland assemble a meal that made her mouth water. They were both sipping white wine while he boned chicken thighs and sliced mushrooms, shallots, black olives and celery. He browned the chicken in olive oil and a bit of butter, and then caramelized the vegetables. Everything went into a cast-iron casserole dish except the olives. He poured some white wine into the skillet and deglazed it before pouring it over the chicken and vegetables.

It went into the oven to braise and he set about making risotto with fresh baby peas and sautéed spinach with bacon and chopped pistachios.

“Did you always want to be a chef?” Alana asked.

“Not really. I didn’t have a real passion for it the way Jared does, or like Lucas and Damon. I run the business side of things, but I wanted to know what I was doing, so I went to culinary school in New York and then I developed a real love for cooking. I still didn’t want to run a kitchen in a restaurant. I can, but I like teaching better. I like showing kids that they can have a future doing something creative, artistic and lucrative. I also like feeding people.”

“If this tastes as good as it smells, you’re doing a wonderful job. I think Domino wants some already.”

Sure enough, the little dog was spinning around on her hind legs, hoping for a handout. But Roland had a better idea.

“The worst thing you can do is give them people food. They develop a taste for it and they won’t eat their own food, for one thing. And for another, it’s bad for them. Too many sugars and fats and it can give them pancreatitis, kidney disease, tooth decay, all kinds of things,” he said as he began mixing some things in a bowl.

Alana was impressed. “How do you know so much about dogs?”

“My granddad, the one who gave me Black Beauty, used to raise dogs and train them. He knew everything there was to know about dogs. Including this recipe for dog biscuits,” he said as he began rolling out the stiff dough and cutting it into small strips. He put them on a cookie sheet and slipped them in the oven after adding the olives to the casserole. “These are better than anything you can buy for her and she’ll love them. By the way, if you do give her a little extra in her food, make sure it’s beef or lamb. Small dogs like that often have an allergy to chicken and other poultry and it makes their feet itch, so watch out for that.”

“You’re an amazing guy, Roland. Is there anything you don’t know about?” Alana said with her brilliant smile.

“Yeah, actually there is. I don’t know how to express myself properly when I’m discussing something of extreme importance with someone who means the world to me,” he said. “I was trying to explain something to you when I left that night and I didn’t do it very well. I know I confused you and hurt your feelings and that’s the last thing I want to do in this life.” He looked at her, lovingly and sincerely, and she felt humbled by his words.

“Roland, thank you for saying that, but I think I should apologize, too. I didn’t realize it, but a friend of mine helped me understand some things the other day.” She looked reflective as she went on. “I have three sisters, a very savvy mom and an aunt who’s just amazing and I’m very close to all of them. But it took a non-relative—it took a friend to make me see the light. Why is that?”

“That’s a good question, Alana. I think because our relatives are too close to our situation to be objective. They want to protect us so much that it’s difficult for them to give that tough love, or whatever they call it these days.” He glanced at the timer and took out the dog biscuits, putting them on the counter to cool. “I’m going to set the table and when I’m finished, the meal will be ready for your consumption and, I hope, your approval.”

One of the tote bags contained plates, a tablecloth, silverware and other accoutrements. True to his word, Roland had the table looking gorgeous right down to candles and flowers. In a few minutes they were seated with plates of truly appetizing food in front of them.

After saying grace together, Alana daintily dug in and the explosion of flavors in her mouth made her eyes close and she had to hold back a deep moan. She concentrated completely on the food with a minimum of conversation. When her plate was almost clean, she finally gave her personal chef her full attention.

“Roland, this was perfect. Absolutely delicious,” she said with a sigh of utter delight. “I can’t remember when I enjoyed anything as much as this. Thank you so much. And Domino thanks you, too,” she added.

Domino was at his feet, still happily gnawing on her homemade treat.

“I’ve got dessert for you, too. Not right this second, I can tell you’re quite replete at the moment. Why don’t you go get comfortable while I clean up the kitchen,” he suggested. He could see that she was about to protest and he took her hand, kissing her fingertips. “Don’t even try it. This is something I have in common with the VanBurens and my step-dad. No lady lifts a finger when I’m around. Except my sisters, they’re on their own,” he laughed.

Alana leaned over and kissed him. “I’m not going to argue with you. I’m going to take the little princess out for her nighttime stroll while you do what you insist upon doing. I’m very lucky because she appears to be totally housebroken, but I’m trying to keep her on a tight schedule.”

Roland’s face showed immediate conflict. “How far are you going? I’ll go with you. I don’t like the idea of you walking around at night with just a teeny-tiny dog for protection.”

“We’re going out in the backyard. It’s very well-lit. I need to get it fenced so it’s safe for her to play back there. She needs lots of exercise, which came as a surprise. She races through here like her tail is on fire at least three times a day,” Alana said. “Go get your leash, sweetie, we’re going outside.”

Roland watched them through the big kitchen window as he dispatched what little cleaning there was to be done. While he was attending to that and keeping his eye on his two ladies, the house phone in the kitchen rang. It went to the answering machine and he heard a woman’s voice. “I’m answering your ad in the paper about finding a dog. I think it’s mine. My name is...”

He grabbed the phone at once. “Hello? Hello?...No, I didn’t place the ad, my fiancée did....How about we meet tomorrow? What time is good for you?...Great, that’s fine. Eleven sounds fine, I’ll see you then.”

This was just what Alana was afraid of, someone coming forward with a claim on Domino. One thing was definitely sure; he wasn’t going to spoil their evening. He’d deal with it tomorrow.

* * *

Alana couldn’t remember a more relaxing evening. After she walked Domino around the yard, they went to the family room and lit the fireplace. That is, Alana went to the family room and Domino went to find Roland. When the two of them came in the comfortable large room, the big flat-screen was on, tuned to Netflix, and a stack of DVDs was on the coffee table awaiting Roland’s perusal. Alana was sitting in the corner of the sofa with a pillow in her lap.

“Come and stretch out. You’ve earned it,” she said with a smile.

He kicked off his shoes and lay down with his head in her lap, moaning with pleasure as she leaned over to kiss him. The moan turned into a groan as Domino jumped on his stomach. She ran up his chest to give him a few kisses of her own. Finally she settled down possessively, keeping a keen eye on Alana to make sure that she got her fair share of smooches.

“I told her that we have to share you, but I think she plans on phasing me out,” Alana said wryly. “She’s staked a claim on you and I’m pretty sure I’m getting kicked to the curb.”

“Never going to happen in a million years, honey. We’ll have to get her a boyfriend of her own because I’m already spoken for.” Roland’s eyes were closed and he looked completely content.

“Ha! I knew it—there’s no way that a handsome, personable man who can cook and understands women is single. Who is she and is she coming after me?” Alana demanded. She started giggling madly as Roland managed to tickle her from his supine position. Domino forgot that she was infatuated with Roland and came out on the side of Team Mommy, whining and barking at Roland anxiously.

“I’m sorry, sweetie. We were just playing,” Alana said soothingly. Domino walked right over Roland’s face to get to Alana, her body language clearly showing her concern.

“Aughh! See how you do me? After I made you cookies and everything,” he grumbled.

He sat up and put his arms around Alana, kissing her on the cheek. “We were playing, baby girl. Don’t get upset.” He held a finger out to her and she looked at it suspiciously before snuggling closer to Alana.

“Wow. I think I’ve been shut down permanently,” Roland said with a smile.

“She’ll be fine in a minute, I’m sure. Maybe she came from an abusive home or something. Do you want to watch a movie?”

“You can turn it on, but it’ll be background noise. What I really want to do is finish our earlier conversation because I don’t want there to be any more misunderstandings between us. We’ve got something really special here and I don’t want to mess it up, Alana.”

She didn’t say anything and Roland turned her face to his to make sure she was giving him her full attention.

“Are you still with me, honey?”

“Yes, of course I am. And yes,” she said slowly, “I think this is something special, Roland. I haven’t even looked at another man since Sam died. It was such a horrible mess and I was so crushed by the whole thing that finding love again was the last thing on my mind. After the trial, I just shut down. I mean I shut that part of myself down and I was never going to open it again.”

“The trial? They caught the guy?”

“Yes, they did. And I had to go to court and testify and it was just awful. I wanted him put away forever, of course, and so did Sam’s family. But I always had the feeling that the Dumonds blamed me for his death. They were really cold to me afterwards. They barely spoke to me at the funeral and there were some really shitty things said about me after they found out that there was an insurance policy. They were going to come after me in civil court for wrongful death or something but when I gave his mother a pile of money she suddenly changed her mind.”

Roland was appalled. “You’ve really been through it, haven’t you, baby? I can understand why you withdrew from relationships. You lived through some truly tragic ordeals. You lost your husband, you lost your baby and you had to deal with the trial and with his family. I know your family was there for you, but that was a tough row to hoe.”