Chapter 351 More Than Eye Candy

Chapter 351 More Than Eye Candy
Dominic had just finished putting his final touches on their bowls of grits. He even decided to make fresh cinnamon rolls for desert, unable to get the smell out of his nose from his sheets where she slept. He seriously had to know what perfume she wore so he could buy it. It was intoxicating. He chuckled to himself, remembering the first time he met her at Lucian’s penthouse after he was shot. He actually thought someone was just over in the kitchen baking cinnamon rolls while Lou was digging slugs out of his shoulder and side. The fact that he smelt it every time he saw her, it had to be her. He heard the ding on his phone from his security app and reached down, adjusting Rueben’s little bow tie he put on him for their date before setting his own bowl of grits on his food mat. He stepped towards the door, checking his hair in the mirror one final time, before standing at a slight bow, a glass of bourbon held out like a mock butler as Lou stepped through his door after punching in his pass code. He knew he should change it, but a part of him thoroughly loved the fact that she had it and also used it.

“Good evening, m’lady.”

“Hey there, Cowboy.”

“How did the rest of your day go?”

“Same shit, different blood type.”

Dominic chuckled as she accepted the glass from him and held it up in a small cheers, clinking their glasses together before she took a long swig. 

“Well, come eat, you look dead on your feet.”

“That’s probably because I am, Cowboy.”

She follows him into the kitchen where he has a table set for two. She felt an odd sense of relief that he didn’t try and do the typical flowers and candles thing. While that shit was nice, Lou would have felt it to be out of place on a night like tonight.

Her thoughts at Dominic guessing the right vibes and somehow knowing she didn’t need that after a long day at work must have reflected on her face. She noticed Dominic had stopped walking and was just looking at her over his glass of bourbon, an odd look on his own face.

“What?”

“I’ve never seen that smile before.”

“My smile? Cowboy, surely I’m not that miserable of a person that you’ve never seen me smile…”

“No, I’ve seen your sassy smile where you smile more with the left side of your mouth. I’ve seen your warm smile where your eyes look sad but your mouth looks happy, like you’re trying to empathize without words. I’ve seen your happy smile which spreads up your face, and I’ve seen your ‘I’m the mean Dragon Lady get away from me’ smile which shows your teeth. This smile was just a twitch and your eyes looked far away. I haven’t seen that one before.”

“You’ve diagnosed my smiles, Dominic?”

She used his real name instead of his nickname, both of them noticed.

“It’s my job to read the things people say without words.”

“Well, you’re mighty good at it.”

“So, are you going to tell me what that smile was?”

He pulled out her chair and she sat down, watching him grab two bowls off of the counter out of the corner of her eye.

“Maybe.”

She said shrugging her shoulders and smiling at him. Dominic laughed and pointed to her face as he took his seat with his own bowl.

“Sassy smile.”

She laughed and then looked at Dominic who was staring at her, looking like he was a bit nervous.

“Have you ever had real Southern grits, Cowboy?”

“I think so. But if you’re willing to give me a lesson on it, I’ll gladly learn.”

She smirked and looked closely at her bowl. Her mouth dropping open just a bit when she saw the perfect looking texture, topped with gorgeous looking shrimp, scallions, paprika, fresh jalapeños and cheese. She had only encountered grits like this back home in Georgia. She took a bite and immediately her mouth exploded with the flavor of sitting on her parent’s porch, Miss Annie, their family cook who had been with her family over fifty years, singing old songs while she moved around the kitchen before ringing the bell to call the kids in to eat. She’d hold a bowl in front of her and the price for getting it was giving Miss Annie a kiss on the cheek and telling her thank you. The old woman was such a lovely part of Lou’s childhood. When she died at the ripe old age of eighty-nine, her parent’s house felt so empty of love that Lou decided to move away for school and she’s been here ever since, a part of her always knowing home wouldn’t be the same without the old woman in the kitchen humming her tunes.

“Lou….are you okay?”

Dominic’s concerned voice cut through her haze of memory. Her eyes blinked open. 

“Sorry, I just…”

“I don’t know if crying over food means it’s good or bad.”

He said with a playful scoff but Lou could hear the weird hurt in his tone. She took a deep breath and shook her head, her hand coming up and feeling the tear on her cheek. She didn’t realize she’d started to cry.

“These just reminded of someone.”

“They must have been important to you, tell me about them.”

Lou surprised herself when she did. She told Dominic about Miss Annie and her warmth and how she never wrote any recipes down. 

“I woulda' been cookin’ her recipes constantly if I had ‘em. Honestly, these are the closest to her grits I’ve ever tasted.”

“That may be the best compliment anyone has ever given me.”

“Where did you find these? I mean, what place in town did you get these from?”

“You doubt my cooking skills, Dragon Lady?”

“You made these?”

“I did.”

Lou leaned back and took a long sip of bourbon, studying Dominic with her eyes. He smiled and stood up, walking over to the kitchen to show her the now empty bag of grits he'd used.

“So that’s how you knew to ask me sweet or savory.”

“There’s only one correct answer to that question, mia bella.”

Lou laughed a deep lilting tone that made Dominic’s toes curl and mind swim it was so beautiful.

“If you woulda’ served me sweet grits I woulda’ blocked yer number.”

“I may be Italian, but grits also happen to be my favorite food. Honestly, I love most southern food.”

“Well, shit. Color me impressed, Cowboy.”

“Impressed enough to tell me what that smile was earlier?”

“That bug caught in your craw?”

Dominic nodded his head eagerly, absolutely loving her southern turn of phrases.

“Honestly, somedays after work, I don’t want no fuss. I half-expected you to do the whole deal with the flowers and the candles and the too-much effort for a bone-tired woman coming home after a long day of bein’ covered in blood to try and wrestle up enough energy to match the vibe. That smile, I believe, was the one appreciatin’ that you understood.”

Dominic leaned back in his chair and absorbed her words. Lou was a far more complex woman than he originally thought.

“Now, Cowboy, you mind tellin’ me what a chemist from Harvard was doin’ watchin’ a surgery?”

Dominic coughed into his drink and looked over the rim of his glass, seeing her digging back into her grits with a look on her face like the cat who caught the mouse.

“I wanted to see you in action. How did you know it was me? Aren’t those windows only one way viewing?”

“Yea, we can’t hear or see through the glass so no one can distract us during surgery. But when those students came rushin’ like a herd of cattle to my office askin' about the ‘dreamy blonde Harvard chemist’ I narrowed it down fast.”

“Ha! Well, busted. Wait, dreamy?”

“Three of the students thought you was a real looker. Why’d you go with chemist from Harvard? What would a trauma surgeon be doin’ workin with a chemist? Surely you coulda come up with a better cover than that.”

“It was the only one I could actually back up if I needed to.”

“Back up?”

Dominic nodded his head and took a bite of food but he felt her eyes on him, trying to pull the answers from him. He heard her set her spoon down. He looked at her and she had her eye brow raised.

“Well, go on then. You fixin’ to tell me those muscles come with a brain to match?”

He barked a laugh, hardly believing the compliments she’s paid him so far tonight. He’d make sure Lucian put every single one of them on his gravestone one day.

“I’m more than just eye candy, Dragon Lady.”

Dominic said, hoping to end the conversation there. His entire life has been about staying invisible, orchestrating the world behind the scenes, knowing everything there is to know about everyone else while not allowing anyone to know anything about him. This conversation was teetering on oblivion for him.

“Tell me about the more, Dominic.”

He looked at his hands, feeling a little naked, and not in the way he preferred to be at the moment. But something in him was wanting to share, or maybe it was the way she was looking at him like she desperately wanted to know him and not to dissect him or weaponize the information. How much damage could she do by knowing this about him?

“I have a Masters from Harvard in Chemistry.”

“Why do you look sad about that?”

Why was he sad about telling her that? He was secretly very proud of that degree. He was told most of his early life in school that he’d never be anything more than some drug addicts failed blow job. He thought on that for a moment and then it suddenly hit him.

“I think it’s because you’re now one of only five people who know about that degree.”

“Wait, what?”

“For certain…reasons…I have to keep my…qualifications…private from most people.”

Lou looked from him to his empty bowl. She suddenly rose and handed him her glass.

“I’m takin' care of these dishes. You refill our bourbon and go on sit over there. We are havin’ ourselves a chat.”

He had no idea what to expect, but more time with Lou was always a welcome thing in his book. He sat next to Rueben who was lounging, snacking on some gummy bears, and went back to his thoughts earlier, about how much he’d accomplished in his twenty-nine years and how hardly anyone knew about it. If Lou was his soul mate, could he trust her to let her see all of him. He found a part of him, the part that scared him the most, was screaming to let someone in. Then the ugly little voice inside his head he’d been fighting the past few weeks spoke up.

‘What if you’re so lonely you’re just projecting the idea of a soul mate so you can have what your friends have? What if you don’t get a soul mate?’