Chapter 197
As I began to drive, Domine kept turning to stare at me. Each time I glanced in ftis direction, I caught him looking at me with a soft smile on his face, his eyes tracing my profile like he was trying to memorize it.
“What?” I asked. “Why do you keep staring at me?”
“Because I am worried that I will wake up and realize this is all a dream.”
I looked at him, a smile tugging at my lips. “Haven’t we agreed that we will not wake up from this dream?”
“Ah, but still. You are a delight to look at. You are beautiful. You are perfect. You are a sight for sore eyes. And my heart hurts because I am going to have to part with you very soon.”
“Come on,” I told him. “Didn’t we agree we will see each other later in the day?”
“Yes, but that is a long time away. How am I going to survive the hours in between?”
I chuckled, shaking my head. “Well, look at you, Dominic. Being all romantic and different.”
“But I have always been like this,” he replied.
I thought about it, about the few times I had seen him interact with Seraphine. I had never seen him smile so much or act so playful with her. He had been too serious. But with me, he was different. He laughed. He teased. He looked at me like I was the only woman in the world.
“Fine,” I said. “You have a license to stare. You can stare at me as much as you want. If you want me to stop the car by the road so you can stare at me properly, I will be willing to do that.”
“Now that would be over the top,” he said, leaning closer and pressing a kiss to my cheek.
I felt a jolt move through my body, a spark that traveled from the point of contact down to my chest, my stomach, settling somewhere warm and fluttering. My cheeks heated and I kept my eyes on the road, but I could feel him watching me, could feel the smile in his gaze.
As we got closer to Helix, even I began to feel a little sad that I would have to part with him. I started going as slow as possible, taking each turn with exaggerated care, dragging out every second of the drive. But eventually, the familiar glass of Helix came into view and I had no choice but to slow down and pull up to the front.
I turned the engine off and sat there for a moment, both of us silent, neither of us wanting to break the spell.
“Well,” I said, turning to look at him. “Here we go. I have finally arrived.”

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