Granting Wishes by Deanna Felthauser Page A

night with her. He wanted to kiss her again but when he had walked in the office, the cowboy had been there making her smile that sweet smile that should have been for him—not cowboy. He may be selfish and not thinking rationally but that was because his temper was flared and he was aching for a fight.
    “Thank you for bringing me a rose and lunch. That was really sweet of you.”
    “Are you sure I wasn’t interrupting your fun with cowboy in there? You looked like you were enjoying yourself when I walked in.”
    Chelsea flinched as if he’d struck her. “He’s here for your sister, not me,” she defended.
    “But didn’t you want him to be here for you? You’ve always been crazy about him just like Lilah. I’ve never been able to figure out what you two saw in him.”
    “He’s only a friend , Dom. Lilah’s the one falling for him, not me. I only care about you.” Her eyes were glistening with tears and it made him feel like a complete jerk.
    “Look, Chels…”
    “No, you listen to me, Dominic Cane,” she stood straighter and pushed her shoulders back. With her fire-engine red fingernail, she poked his chest with each word she spoke. “Just because you’re in a mood over your sister’s boyfriend or whatever he is, and just because you walked in while I was laughing with him—about his little girls latest antics by the way, doesn’t give you the right to talk down to me. I don’t care who you are or how strongly I feel about you, no man is gonna talk to me like that!”
    The anger that had been boiling inside of him left in little pieces with each poke she jammed into his chest. By the last one he was grinning at her.
    “What the heck are you smiling for? Damn it, I’m serious, Dom. I love you, but you’re not gonna be mad at me for no good reason.”
    His eyes widened and his brow arched up as he looked at her, grabbing her soft hand in his, he leaned towards her and kissed her knuckles.
    “Oh crap. I mean…I shouldn’t have said that.”
    She was blushing now and he wanted to kiss her even more. “Shouldn’t have said what?” he kissed the top of her hand, then turned it over and kissed her palm, slowly moving up to her wrist where he kissed her again.
    “Stop it, Dom. I’m mad at you.”
    Chelsea might be mad and have every right to be , but he wasn’t going to stop kissing her—yet. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him. When she gasped, he smiled even bigger. “You know you’re exactly the kind of woman I need, Chels. You’ve never been afraid to put me in my place when I’m wrong.” This time when he kissed her it was on the bend of her arm and he rubbed his cheek against her skin until he reached her neck. Burying his face there he breathed in her soft strawberry scent.
    “I am?” she sounded shocked and for that he felt ashamed. He’d done a lousy job of showing her how much he valued her and the friendship they’d had since they were kids.
    “Yes, you are. I plan on refraining from being such a fool and starting to show you how much I value you.”
    She was trembling in his arms so he pulled her tighter until they were flush against each other.
    “Oh, well. I don’t know what to say,” she replied as she wound her arms around his neck.
    “You’re not the one that needs to say anything. You’ve always been open and showed me how much you care about me. I didn’t return that. Honestly, I was too scared to. I was young, dumb, and selfish. I want to be the kind of man you deserve, Chels. That is, if you’ll let me.”
    “Dom, I…”
    “No, please wait, let me finish.”
    She nodded and rested her head on his chest. He kissed the top of her head, stroking his hands down her back to grip her waist and lift her onto the table. “I want you to see the sincerity in my eyes,” he stood between her thighs and ran his fingers through her hair. His heart was thudding in his chest when her big green eyes focused on his. She was silent as she