Indulge with Me (With Me in Seattle 10)

He groans and shifts his stance, sliding one thigh between my legs, and I can’t help but rub against him, already throbbing for him.

“We don’t have time for this,” I murmur against his lips. Dominic is a world- class kisser. I don’t know how he does it, but every damn time he kisses me it feels like the first time.

It’s almost ridiculous.

“Later then,” he whispers, pressing soft kisses to each cheek. “Before we go down there, thank you Tesoro, for everything. You’ve worked hard for tonight, and it means the world to me.”

“You mean the world to me,” I reply. “And I wanted this celebration to be special. You’ve more than earned it.”

“You’re amazing.” He kisses me once more, still full of longing and passion, then takes my hand and leads me down the hallway.

I can hear more voices downstairs.

“I’m quite sure Alecia wouldn’t put this out here if we couldn’t eat it,” Will insists, making me grin.

“Sounds like more of them are here,” I say, making both of us laugh.

“Will always sniffs out the food.”

“Let’s go through the kitchen,” I suggest. “You can say hello to Blake before we get sucked into the wonderful black hole that is your family.”

“Good idea,” he replies, leading me through the back door of the kitchen. Blake glances up and grins.

“Hey, fancy people.”

“Thanks for all of this,” Dom says. “Are you sure we can’t pay you for it?”

“Nah, it’s my congratulatory gift. Besides, mentioning me in the magazine article more than tripled my business this month. Trust me, I’m happy to do this.”

“We appreciate it,” I say, snuggled up to my husband’s side. “How’s Emily?”

Emily is my former assistant, and Blake’s wife. She had a baby just a few months ago.

“She’s great. She wanted to come today, but we couldn’t find a sitter.”

“Oh, she should have come anyway. Everyone’s bringing their kiddos tonight,” I reply. “You should call her and have her come. There’s plenty of room and food, and I’d love to see her and the baby.”

Blake grins, then shrugs. “I’ll see what she’s up to.” He turns to Dom. “Did you get everything figured out?”

I frown up at my husband, but he doesn’t bat an eye, just nods once.

“Thanks again, Blake.”

He leads me out the back door to the back yard, where the family has gathered under the tent and all of the twinkle lights.

“This is beautiful.”

“You provide an amazing backdrop.” He kisses the crown of my head. I wonder what he was talking about in his office. What hasn’t he told me? Was he even talking about me?

And if not, who the hell is her?

Just as Dom predicted, we’re both swept up in the sea of our family, chatting and laughing with our guests. Kids zoom past, and babies cry, but are quickly soothed.

Dom’s voice was hard on the phone. Like he was angry. It must be bad news.

I bite my lip and nod, as if I’m following Jules and Natalie’s conversation.

Are we going to lose the vineyard? Is it a financial problem?

God, I hope not. I love this place as much as if it were a living, breathing member of our family. Besides, that can’t be it. He was just featured in Wine Magazine as the winery of the year.

We’re definitely not going out of business.

“I want to do a girl’s night,” Natalie announces just as Samantha and Meredith join us.

“I’m all in, but please don’t schedule it for the end of September,” Sam says and pops an olive in her mouth. “Because Leo is finally taking me on a proper honeymoon.”

“That’s awesome,” Jules says. “Where are you going?”

“Somewhere tropical,” Sam replies with an excited smile. “I’m going to park my ass in a beach chair for two weeks, and no one can stop me.”

“Atta girl,” Nat says, patting her shoulder. “So, how about next weekend?”

“Can we do the week after?” Meredith asks. “We’ve finally moved into our new house, and we’re doing an open house-style housewarming party next Saturday.”

“Fun,” Nat replies. “There are so many amazing things happening for the family. I love it. Of course we should do the following weekend. Put it on your calendars. Girl’s night, my house, no boys allowed.”

“Done,” I say, mentally making the note.

I glance across the room, looking for Dom. He’s talking with Isaac and Luke, and his gaze turns to mine. He winks, making my stomach clench.

Of course my mind wants to go down the darkest paths possible. I over think every single thing.

Could he be cheating on me? Was he talking to a woman, and she was pressing him to tell me about her? Maybe he’s bored with me?

Or maybe it’s because I can’t seem to get pregnant.

I look his way again, to find him still watching me, and I know that’s not it. I know it. A man doesn’t kiss me the way he does, or just love me the way he does and then fool around.

Dominic wouldn’t do that to me.

Why am I thinking all of these stupid things, anyway? It’s probably nothing at all. I need to just ask him later when we’re alone.

He’ll tell me.

“Right, Alecia?”

I blink rapidly, focusing on Amelia, a cousin of the Montgomerys, and a new client of mine, who I didn’t even realize joined us.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you. What was that?”

“We’re coming along on the wedding plans,” she says, watching me closely. “Are you okay?”

“Oh yeah.” I wave her off and smile at the group. “I’m totally fine, just running through mental lists for tonight to make sure I didn’t forget anything.”

“Have you seen this place?” Jules asks. “You clearly didn’t forget anything. It’s absolutely stunning.”

“Thank you.”

“Tell us more about Amelia’s wedding,” Meredith says. “She said it’s going to be here at the vineyard?”

“That’s right.” I’m able to relax while I tell them about our plans. Talking about my job always puts me at ease because I love it and I know it inside out.

“She’s not a bridezilla, is she?” Nat asks, bumping Amelia with her hip.

“Not at all,” I assure them. “In fact, Lia is quite laid back.”

“Whoa,” Lia says in surprise. “I think I’m high strung and a basket case.”

“Girl, you don’t even know what high strung looks like. I once had a bride break down into a full-blown temper tantrum because the wedding cake baker didn’t offer chamomile tea as a cake flavor.”

“Wait, they have that?” Jules asks, scrunching up her nose.

“I guess she saw it on Pinterest, and decided she had to have it.” I shrug. “So no, you’re not a problem.”

“Anastasia and I are going dress shopping next week,” Lia says with a smile. “And she’s making the cake, of course. We’ll have to ask her about the chamomile tea flavor, although that doesn’t sound delicious.”

“I’m so happy that we finally have another person in our family getting married,” Meredith says with a smile. “It’s been a while.”

“Mostly everyone’s having babies now,” Jules says. “How is Hudson, by the way?”

Meredith and Mark have two kids. Lucy is two and Hudson is just a couple months old.

“He’s a good eater, that’s for sure. He’s with Mark somewhere.”

Yeah, everyone’s having babies. And we will too. Hopefully sooner rather than later because my clock is ticking like crazy.

“Are you going back to dancing, Mer?” Jules asks.

“Well, I’ll always have the studio,” she replies. “Jax and I will do that until we die. It’s fun to teach the kids.”

“Our kids all love it,” Nat says with a nod.