Suzy gave her an understanding smile. “Then you have the whole state-of-the-relationship talk first. Tell him you’re in love with him and see what he says in return. You’ll know how he feels before he even opens his mouth, though. Men have a hard time with the whole poker face thing.”
“But, I didn’t say I was in love with him,” Gwen denied weakly. “I’m not sure I know what I feel.”
“You love him.” Suzy smiled. “It’s there, written all over your face.”
“But how can I be in love so soon?” Gwen protested. “We’ve only been together a few weeks. That’s crazy.”
“I’m going to tell you something I have never even admitted to my husband. I was in love with Gray Merimon from the first moment I saw him. He terrified me because I knew he was going to be my life—my future. I fought it as long as I could, but he had me at first sight. My stomach dropped, my breath caught, and my body came to life. I loved that man before he ever finagled me into our first date, and I’ll never love anyone the way I do him. So, to me, it’s very easy to see how you can be in love with Dominic. And if he’s the kind of man everyone says he is, then the feeling is going to be mutual.” Suzy had just finished her sentence when her cell phone began ringing. She pulled it from the pocket of her leather jacket and smiled. She answered the call with, “Hey, baby,” causing Gwen to smile and get to her feet. She mouthed, “Thank you,” to her new friend and walked away, giving her some privacy. She was still a bundle of nerves, but she had a direction now. She would talk to Dominic tonight and by the end of the evening, she planned to know how he felt about her one way or another.
Chapter Sixteen
Dominic left his apartment after a quick shower, intent on going to see his woman. He turned after locking his door and found Gwen already walking toward him, looking uneasy. He searched her eyes, trying to find a clue as to what was bothering her when laughter close by drew both of their gazes down the hallway. Dominic did a double take, thinking he was seeing things. No, surely that wasn’t— What the fuck?
“Shannon?” Gwen whisper-shouted but her neighbor paid her no attention. Probably because she had both arms, legs, and her mouth wrapped up in—Gage? When the couple either ignored or didn’t hear Gwen’s voice, Dominic cleared his throat loudly, still trying to make himself believe what he was seeing. Shannon was the woman—the someone different—Gage was seeing?
Finally, they were forced to come up for air—either that or the truck backfiring in the distance got their attention—and they slowly disengaged their lips and stared at each other like lovesick fools, completely oblivious to rest of the world. Dominic stepped up next to Gage and asked, “Gage, man, what’re you doing?”
Gage and Shannon jerked apart and both began talking at once. Dominic couldn’t make sense of anything they were saying and was glad when Gwen finally asked, “But what about Cameron—the doctor?” Then she turned suspicious eyes to Gage before putting her hands on her hips. “This is Gage—he works with Dominic. He’s not Cameron, and he’s not a doctor!”
“Bro,” Dominic began, ready to kill his friend over lying to Shannon. “That’s not cool at all.”
Shannon, sounding exasperated and a little embarrassed said, “Guys, I know who Gage is.”
Slapping a hand against his forehead, Dominic muttered, “Gage’s middle name is Cameron.”
“Huh . . . ?” Gwen asked, still looking confused.
Gage pulled Shannon snugly into his side. “I ran into Shannon when I was visiting Dom. Then it seemed like we just kept running into each other. Walmart, Walgreens, and finally, when I saw her again at McDonald’s, we both started laughing. I told her I worked with Dom, and we just started talking. She invited me to eat with her and the girls, and it just kinda went from there.”
“So, why didn’t you say anything—and what’s with you going by your middle name?” Dominic asked, now more curious than anything.
“Shannon and I wanted to take things slow without others knowing for a while. I mean she’s got Megan and Maddy to consider and all.” Looking embarrassed, he admitted, “I introduced myself to her as Cameron. I was concerned . . . that since she lived in the same apartments as Dom that she might have heard my name before. I really liked her and wanted a fresh start. When we kept seeing each other though, I finally told her the truth.”
“But Shannon,” Gwen sputtered. “You can’t date him. He sleeps with a lot of women. Mac told me all about Gage’s strict ‘no stay zone.’ He just—you know, does it and then moves on. You can’t let someone like that around your kids.”
Dominic could see both Gage and Shannon stiffening at Gwen’s harsh words. Okay, so maybe there was some truth to them, but he didn’t want to see either of them lose a friend over this. In the end, both Gage and Shannon were adults, and it was their decision. So, he put a reassuring arm around Gwen’s shoulders and said, “Babe, I think we need to leave this up to them.”
“Gwen, I love you, I really do,” Shannon began, “but you need to let me worry about my girls. I’m their mother, and I always do what’s best for them.”
Dominic felt Gwen’s back go ramrod straight at the bite in Shannon’s voice. He thought they were probably only minutes away from some hair pulling. He noticed Gage looking equally as nervous as his gaze darted between the two women.