Dominique hung up the phone and walked to her closet. Reggie’s comment had once again placed Jake front and center in her mind. It was all she could do not to call him. But Faith had been right. When it came to dealing with Jake, she needed to check her controlling nature and let him take the lead. She’d just finished changing into a nightgown and was heading into the bathroom when her cell phone rang again.

That’s probably Faith. She said she’d call me later. Dominique and her sister had always been close but Faith’s marriage and Dominique’s career had made in-depth visits and phone calls less and less frequent. Dominique was glad that they were communicating more, and made a mental note to schedule more time with Faith and her family.

Jake! Dominique took a deep breath before answering the call. “Hello.”

“I accept.”

“Excuse me?”

“Your apology,” Jake said, his voice low and sexy. “I accept it.”

Dominique smiled, even as a squiggle of heat hit her nana and spread out in all directions. “Thanks, Jake. I’m glad. I’ve gotten your forgiveness, Justin is back to his chatty self, my life is almost back to...” Belatedly, Dominique realized what could be implied by what she was about to say.

“Normal? Is that what you were going to say?”

“Yes,” Dominique answered, her voice low and soft.

“So are you saying that your life isn’t normal without me in it?”

Dominique walked the short distance to her bed and sank down. In the seconds it took to do so, she decided to throw caution to the wind and acknowledge the feelings she had for Jake, to stop acting like all he was to her was a piece of meat. In the week she’d been without him, she’d realized that he was so much more.

“Like I said last night, I miss you, Jake. I didn’t realize how much I’d grown accustomed to our regular chats and...”

“Regular sex?”

“Yes.” Dominique squirmed, the thought of what she missed and how much she wanted it causing her heartbeat to increase and her mouth to go dry. She reached for the glass of water that sat on her nightstand.

“Baby?”

“I’m here. I was just taking a drink.”

“Have I driven my baby to drinking?”

“Ha! Almost. Only water, Mr. McDonald.” She paused for a moment, trying to figure how best to put her feelings into words. “You know, Jake, I haven’t always been the strong, confident woman you met. I didn’t have an easy time of it when I was younger. I was always a big girl and when we moved from Alabama to Los Angeles, I became the country girl as well. Like all young females, I wanted to belong and when the clique on the block deemed me not good enough, that left a scar.”

“What happened to change things?” he asked.