Chapter 28

My wobbly legs finally carry me to the main floor of my store and my breath ceases the moment my eyes settle on Dominic. He is sitting in the same spot where he had sat on the first day he came here. He is dressed casually in a grey Ralph Lauren T-shirt; a pair of blue denim shorts and his shapely feet are encased in a pair of black leather sandals. As soon as he sees me, his eyes light up and his face curves into a pleased smile.

“Hello, Uzezi,” he says pleasantly, getting on his feet. “How have you been?”

“Hi, Dominic,” I reply with a happy smile. “I’ve been well. And you?”

“Not so great, but now that I’ve seen you, I feel fantastic.”

His beautiful words make me blush and render me momentarily speechless. Meanwhile, I notice my staff standing in strategic positions around the shop, watching the verbal exchange between me and Dominic with wide grins on their faces. I know my employees are loyal, but I don’t want to take the risk of having my personal business shared on cyberspace again for strangers to dissect and debate about it as if I’m a lifeless character that can be talked about endlessly without repercussions.

“Can we go into my office to talk?” I ask him. It’s time to take this conversation to my private quarters.

“Sure,” he says and follows me immediately.

“Get back to work, guys,” I tell my staff as I lead Dominic into my office.

Once inside, I pull the door close and face Dominic with my emotions written all over my face. “Where have you been?” I ask almost breathlessly.

“I’ve been saddled with so much work. I’m so sorry I never got to return your calls or voicemail. I have missed you so much, Uzezi.”

“I have missed you so much too,” the words fall out of my mouth before I can stop them. “I thought you didn’t want to see me anymore.”

Dominic closes the distance between us with two steps and he is in front of me, towering over me and filling my lungs with the rich scent of his perfume and aromatic aftershave. “The only thing I’ve wanted to do since the day I stepped out of your house that day, was to see you, hold you and kiss you so much until neither of us can think any more, but I just couldn’t.”

“Why not?” I ask desperately. “Why?”

He sighs. “Uzezi, I don’t want to take advantage of you,” he says softly.

“Take advantage of me? How?”

“I don’t want you to think that you owe me simply because of the role I played in the rescue of your daughters. I don’t want you to date me out of gratitude. I want you to be with me because you desire me, not because you are trying to reward me for helping you. I don’t want that.”

“Trust me, Dominic. I am not interested in you out of gratitude or because of your money. I want you, Dominic. I want to get to know you beyond all that I have heard or read about you. I want to know the real Dominic Inyang, not the celebrity billionaire bachelor that continues to make news with everything he does.”

He smiles at me sweetly. “This is the first time a woman has ever said such honest words to me. And this is the first time a woman has ever seen me as just a man and not a signboard with, ‘Money and fame’ flashing on it. Uzezi, I’m all yours to know.”

I laugh. I don’t know where that boldness came from, but it feels really good to be able to articulate my feeling to the object of my affection without feeling bashful. This is a first for me and I like it.

“I’m glad to hear that,” I say softly and reach up as far as my hand can go behind his neck, to pull his head lower to the level of my face. “I want to kiss you,” I whisper against his lips.

“Go ahead,” he whispers back.

I press my lips against his and take a moment to savor that first touch before attempting to take the kiss further. Dominic responds with equal fervor, drawing me closer until my body is pressed against his hard frame. With one hand, he caresses my back, while the other hand rests on my waist, holding me in place against his body. We kiss for what seems like hours, but I know it only lasted a couple of seconds, and when we step away from each other, I can see that we are both feeling the same thing.

“Wow,” he says quietly.

I reply with a smile because I can tell for sure that he’s just as blown away by the kiss as I am.

“You know what, I think I should leave now,” says Dominic.

“Why?” I ask, crestfallen. “I thought you liked our kiss. I’m sorry, I thought we – “

“Uzezi, chill,” he cuts me off. “I liked that kiss very much and that’s exactly why I have to leave now.”

My brows furrow in confusion. “I don’t understand. What do you mean?”

“If I don’t leave now, I might end up ravishing you right here in your office and that would be quite the scandal because your employees will hear it all and we’ll definitely be featured on the 8 o’clock news tonight.”

I throw back my head and laugh. “That will surely give a new meaning to breaking news.”

“I have to go now,” he insists, even though I can see his reluctance.

“When will I see you again?” I hear myself asking him. Who is this new Uzezi? I wonder silently. When did I become this bold where sexual attraction is involved? Where did the timid Uzezi go to? What is it about this guy that just makes me so confident and so sure of myself like this?

Dominic holds me at arm’s length with his gorgeous brown eyes fixed on mine. “Don’t play games with me, Uzezi,” he says in a voice that has grown husky with emotion. “I want you. I want you the way a man wants a woman, and I’m not talking about something chaste like holding hands along the beach or sitting down on a bench and watching the sunset in silence. I’m not looking for that kind of romance with you, Uzezi. I want a lot more than that and I don’t think you can give me what I seek. I also do not want to hurt you, seeing that you’ve just come out of a decade long toxic relationship. You’re too emotionally fragile right now to be involved with me.”

Although I can see that he’s trying to be noble by putting my feelings first, I can’t help but be offended by the way he is making it seem like I am a clueless child who is running blindly towards a cliff. I am a very sensible, intelligent woman who knows what she wants. How dare he imply that I am stupid or that I don’t know what a man-woman relationship entails.

“I am not a child, Dominic,” I tell him bitingly. “I know how you have felt about me from the first day we met, and I agree that I didn’t exactly think it was a good idea then, but here I am now showing you that I want what you want and you’re busy doing your best to discourage me. Do you think I am incapable of making a sensible decision on my own? I may have stayed longer in a toxic marriage than I should, but does that automatically mean that I am emotionally bankrupt?”

“Hey, calm down,” says Dominic when he notices that my temper is slowly rising to the surface. “I apologize if my choice of words made it seem as if I was criticizing your sense of judgement. That was not my intention. I just don’t want to take advantage of – “

“Please, stop saying that!” I cut him off and step away from him. “I know you are not taking advantage of me, and I also know that my desire to be with you does not stem out of gratitude or any other noble reason you may be thinking of. I didn’t expect that a simple question about when I will see you again can lead to this sort of pointless argument. You know what? You’re right. I’m not ready to get intimately involved with you. Maybe this is just some kind of PTSD on my part. I’m probably just looking for a rebound guy. You know what? I think you should leave now before I say anything worse than the things I’ve already said.”

“I’m sorry, Uzezi. I didn’t mean to upset you,” he apologizes.

“I’m not upset. I’m sure you have some business meetings to get to, so go ahead. I have things to do here too, and time is of the essence.”

His jaw clenches and his features become rigid. It’s almost as if the man standing in front of me has suddenly transformed into a granite statue. “Enjoy the rest of your day,” he says in a detached tone, and he exits my office, leaving me feeling like the dumbest woman alive.

Why do I always mess things up with this guy? What is it with me and sabotaging myself at times when I should be calm? He hadn’t even said anything wrong, so why did I find his questions offensive? Why did I feel like he was judging my decision-making abilities? Was it because my ex-husband had spent years telling me that I was terrible at making decisions and condemning every choice I made throughout our marriage? Or was it because I felt as if he was judging me because what kind of woman remains married to a man who spends every waking moment of his life, thinking of new ways to hurt her and make her miserable?

After asking myself these questions, I am ashamed to admit that I have reacted to Dominic’s innocent questions with transferred aggression that has nothing to do with him. I keep second-guessing him and picking apart his words to find errors because of my experience in the past. It’s not fair that I keep making him have to prove that he is not the mindless monster that I think he is. That’s just not right.

I take a deep breath and exhale shakily. I know what I have to do to set things right, once and for all. I go behind my desk and grab my purse and my car keys, then I march purposefully out of my office.

“Let’s continue that restocking meeting tomorrow, shall we?” I tell Joe as I pass by his section on my way out of the store. “I’m done for the day. Lock up at the close of business and keep the key with you.”

“Yes, boss!” Joe replies with a grin and salutes me smartly. “Have a safe trip,” he adds mischievously.

I know he’s itching to ask me what’s up, but he can tell that I’m not in the mood for chit-chats right now. At this moment, I am a woman on a mission, and I will not stop until that mission is fully accomplished!