Second Chance at Love (Love Conquers All) (5 page)

When Dom pulled her into his arms she went without resistance. For once she allowed herself to let go and release the cry she should’ve had years ago. As he held her he whispered soothing words of comfort, words that encouraged her to purge years of hurting. By the time she finished, Dom’s jacket was soaked with her tears.

Dom reluctantly released Karen when she gently pushed out of his embrace. Wiping her eyes, Karen let out a shaky laugh. She couldn’t believe she had just become an emotional mess in front of Dom. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to have a mini-breakdown.”

Karen was relieved when Dom chuckled. “It’s okay. You probably should’ve had that cry a long time ago. You know crying helps cleanse the soul.”

Okay, this man is too much. Laughing, Karen rolled her eyes. “Who died and made you Dr. Phil?”

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.”

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.

Glancing over at her son, Karen noticed the slumped shoulders and pleading eyes as he glanced back at her. Was it fair for her to force Dom to break a promise to Kyle when he worked so hard at building a relationship with the boy? The last thing she wanted to do was to see all of Dom’s hard work with Kyle go down the drain.

“Okay, little boy, you can read to Mr. Dom, write your three paragraphs, and then off to bed for you.”

A huge grin split Kyle’s handsome little face. “Thanks Mommy.”

Karen grinned back. “You’re welcome. Now, everybody sit down so we can eat.”

Kyle tiptoed quietly out of his bedroom so his mother wouldn’t hear him. Tapping gently on his sister’s bedroom door, he whispered, “Ashley, can I come in?

Sitting up in bed, Ashley rubbed her eyes. “Come in,” she whispered in the darkened room.

Turning the doorknob, Kyle entered. Ashley scooted over to make room for him when he climbed up on the bed. “What’s up, Kyle?”

“Do you think Mommy and Mr. Dom like each other?”

“I think so.” Ashley covered her mouth, smothering a yawn. “Why?”

“Because if they like each other maybe Mr. Dom could be our new daddy.”

Ashley smiled in the dark. She didn’t want to tell her brother that after they had been sent into the house she had gone back to the door to ask their mother a question. When she pulled the door open she had seen her kissing Mr. Dom. She quickly closed the door before the adults saw her. Telling him might get his hopes up high. She was already having a hard time not getting her own hopes up.

Mr. Dom was really nice. But just because he kissed their mother didn’t mean he would be their new daddy. Ashley was a big girl, not a baby like Kyle. She knew that her Mom and Mr. Dom would have to love each other and get married before he could become their new daddy. But what if…what if she and Kyle could make Mr. Dom and their mother fall in love? If they fell in love, then they would get married and he would become their new daddy.

Jumping up, Ashley turned on the lavender lamp on the white nightstand. Kyle scrunched up his face, shielding his eyes. “Hey! Why you turn the light on?”

“Oh stop being a crybaby,” Ashley huffed.

“I’m not a crybaby!” Kyle yelled, crossing his arms over his chest.

Ashley put a finger to his lips. “Shh! Be quiet before you wake up Mommy. Do you want us to get in trouble?” She asked in a hushed tone.

Kyle shook his head. “No.”

“Okay. Well be quiet and listen.”

Kyle rolled his eyes. Ashley was a pain in the butt. She thought she knew everything just because she was the oldest.

Ignoring her brother, she said, “If we want Mr. Dom to be our father we have to get him and Mommy to fall in love.”

Kyle’s face twisted in bewilderment. “How are we going to get them to do that?”

“Well, we’ll just have to help them.” Nodding her head confidently, she added, “It’ll be easy.”

Giving his sister an are-you-sure-you-know-what-you’re-talking-about look, he asked, “You think so?”

Nodding her head up and down, Ashley assured her little brother that it would be easy as taking candy from a baby. “All we have to do is…”

For the next ten minutes, Ashley laid out the plan and what each of their roles would be to get Dom to be a permanent part of their family.

“Hey, y’all ordered without me?” Karen asked as she slid into the booth next to Summer.

“Of course we did. No telling when you were going to show up.” Starr teased.

Starr and Summer giggled from the look of disbelief on Karen’s face. “Girl, stop it. Starr ordered you your usual. So don’t get your panties all in a bunch.”

Shrugging out of her leather jacket, Karen laughed. “My panties aren’t in a bunch. I’m just hungry. I’ve been running since this morning. Haven’t had anything to eat since breakfast.”

Picking up the paper napkin from off the table, Starr spread it over her lap. “Karen, you have to stop doing that.”

On cue, as if they had rehearsed the lines, Summer chimed in. “Yeah, it’s not good to go so long without eating in between meals. It’s not healthy.”

Taking a quick sip from the water glass that was on the table, Karen set the glass back down and replied, “I know, but I just had so much to do before Dom took the kids to Disney on Ice.”

“Oh, that’s right. Tonight is the night he took Ashley, Kyle, and Zoe to the ice show,” Starr said as she dug into her purse to put her cell phone on silent mode. Summer and Karen did the same. Whenever they got together they made it a habit to only be disturbed in cases of emergency.

It was Summer who said, “I heard the show was a lot of fun,” as she went on to tell them how much NJ and Autumn enjoyed the show the other night with both sets of grandparents.

“The kids were really excited about going.” Karen laughed. “I tell you, I didn’t have to remind either one of them to pick up after themselves all week.”

Karen stopped talking as the waitress approached the table with their food. She gave Starr and Summer the thumbs up sign when the waitress set a turkey burger with all the fixings, a small salad, and a thick strawberry milkshake in front of her. Nobody made a turkey burger and milkshake like the Trolley Car Diner.

After the waitress finished serving them their dinner orders they blessed the food and Karen picked up where she had left off. “Ashley and Kyle both knew if they stepped out of line they would not be going anywhere.”

Summer reached for the pepper to sprinkle on her fries. “I noticed Mr. Kyle has been an angel lately.”

Karen blushed at the compliment. “I wouldn’t say an angel.”

“Well, he sure isn’t acting like a demon seed now.” Starr remarked. “Lord have mercy! I thought we were going to have to get the pastor to douse that boy in some holy oil.”

Both Karen and Summer laughed. Summer said, “Girl, stop it. Kyle was not that bad.”

“Oh yes the little imp was. He’s my nephew; I was there when my sister pushed his big head out, so you know I love him to pieces. But the boy was becoming downright mean.” Starr closed her mouth when under the table she felt Summer kick her. She was glad she’d done so too. She was about to fly off at the mouth and tell her sister that she wanted to give him a good old fashioned spanking. All that time out and go to your room just didn’t cut it for some kids. Shoot, she and Karen had both gotten their fair share of spankings while growing up and they had turned out just fine.