Dominic

Chapter 7 (Just revised)

Camille

(Coffeecakes in Little Italy, New York)

I walked over to where Cassie and Dino were sitting, leaned over and said "Have fun and be safe.  I'm taking Dominic back to Coffeecakes for coffee.  Text me and let me know you are home, okay?"  She nodded and gave me that look to which I just shook my head and followed Dominic to a private elevator. 

 He held the car door open for me, like a gentleman, and I climbed in, watching him position himself in the seat next to me.  I fished around in my purse, found what I was looking for and handed him my business card.  He took it and studied it for a minute and then looked at me with a questioning look. 

 "You want to go for coffee, right?" I asked.  He nodded.  "What better place to take you than my business?  I will grind and make you a fresh cup of coffee and even whip up something sweet to go with it" I guess he liked my way of thinking because he handed my card to his driver, Carlo, and told him to drive us there.  

It would take us about twenty minutes to get from his club to my shop but I noticed that he was just staring out the window and I wondered what was really going on with him.  His left hand was balled into a fist, laying on the seat next to him; I took a moment to study his hand, it looked rough and calloused like it was used to hard work but the fist told me he was stressed about something. 

 "You know" I said taking his hand in mine and unclenching his fingers "It's not good for you to tighten up your joints like that.  It will leave them sore and achy."  When I'd first made contact with his hand, he jumped slightly but as I spoke he seemed to relax and for the first time this evening I got a very good read on him; he was lonely, he worked a lot and if I had to hazard a guess I'd say he didn't do a lot for himself.  I didn't say anything else because we were getting close to the shop.

"Carlo" I began "If you turn on this side street here" I said pointing to the left "It will take us into the back parking lot."  He looked in the rear view at Dominic to get approval; receiving that approval he pulled into the side street and then into the back entrance to Coffeecakes.

  I heard Dominic tell the man that he would call when he was ready to be picked up but I had a feeling Carlo wouldn't be too far away.  I put my key into the lock, opened the door and disarmed the alarm and waited for Dominic to walk through before rearming the system. 

 "Make yourself comfortable" I told him as I started up the stairs.  

"You live here?" he asked sounding surprised.

  "Yeah, my apartment is upstairs.  I'm gonna change and I'll be back down" I said smiling.  Making my way to my room I opened and shut the door quickly.  "What are you thinking?" I said aloud to myself.  I just shook my head as I pulled some black leggings from my drawer and put on my Coffeecakes fitted tee shirt, washed my face and headed back down.

He didn't hear me coming down the stairs so I took a moment to really look at him.  I watched him looking at the pictures hanging on my wall which mostly were family pictures with my dad, pictures from my time in France, Italy and my time at school here in New York.  I could tell by the way he took his time he was interested in them.  

He was a very good looking man; sexy even but he was an even bigger mystery to me than anyone had ever been and I could usually tell about people right away.  Maybe it would be fun figuring him out.  Who knew if this would even go anywhere past tonight. 

 "Hey" I said announcing my presence.  He turned around and looked at me from my feet to my head, sending shivers down my body.  He stalked towards me and before I knew it he was standing right in front of me, dwarfing me with his huge body.  I had scrubbed my face clean of makeup and had put my hair up in a messy bun as I would be working in my kitchen, food rules and all. 

 I felt his finger go under my chin and lift my head up, I was straining my neck to look at him as he tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear and said "You are a very beautiful woman, Camille."  God help me I loved how my name rolled off his tongue. 

 "Thank you" I whispered.  Wow, the air in here suddenly got thick!  "This way to the kitchen" I said.

I walked over to the sink and washed my hands and asked him to do the same.  

"Why?" he asked.  I smiled and told him.  

"You're going to help me make zeppole!"  He didn't say anything else but undid his cuffs, rolled up the sleeves and washed his hands; I had noticed the tattoo on his inner wrist but thought that would be a conversation for another time.  I threw him a towel playfully so he could dry off.  He smirked at me and after drying his hands he left it hanging on the sink and walked over to me.  I had grabbed an apron while he was busy washing up, put it on and grabbed all the ingredients.  I explained each step to him as I mixed the dry ingredients, then the wet and then slowly mixed them together making a dough.  I covered that dough with a towel and grabbed another bowl. 

 "I made this dough earlier" I explained.  

"What will you do with what you just made?" he questioned. 

 "I will use it for the items I will be making for the early morning" I answered.  I took the pre-made dough, laid it out on a floured surface and proceeded to knead it when I got a brilliant idea.  "Come here" I said to Dominic, indicating for him to stand behind me.  "Give me your hands" I instructed.  He was standing really close to me now and I could feel the heat of his body filtering into mine.  I hadn't really thought out this part, seeing as I was being spontaneous but it was too late now.  I wasn't going to back out, I'd gone too far.

  I took his hands in my floured ones, put them in some flour to coat them and then placed them on the dough using my hands on his to finishing kneading it.  I could hear the change in his breathing and felt my heart trying to climb from my chest as our erotic food play continued.  When the dough was thoroughly kneaded I tore off hunks of dough and formed golf ball sized pieces for the purpose of deep frying them. 

 I was about to say something when I felt his breath on my neck "Camille" he said softly; I closed my eyes hearing my name fall from his lips and then I felt his hands on my shoulders turning me around.  I craned my head and found deep, dark eyes staring into mine and as I watched his head lower to mine I knew he was going to kiss me.  I wasn't prepared for how wonderful it felt; I'd never been kissed like. 

 I could feel my feet leaving the ground as he carried me over to a table and gently sat me down.  He was gentle and tender and his lips felt amazing and what surprised me is he didn't try to take it further than that.  He helped me down so we could finish baking,  made fresh coffee and we sat and talked until almost five a.m.

  I wouldn't be sleeping, due to the hour, so as soon as he left, I washed and cleaned up and got busy making the items that I would be putting out for the new day.  My head felt in the clouds as I baked and hummed softly to myself, still feeling his lips on mine.