What Makes a Man? (Sensible Hearts #1) Page 2

  "Go inside your house," he told her without meeting her gaze again.

  She noticed he studied her the way she had him, and the curiosity on his face made him seem less of a threat.

  "Thanks for walking me, Dom," she said as if using his name was for someone else's comfort.

  Before he grabbed her to tell her to never say his name again, he saw the older man standing in the doorway watching him as she walked up to the porch. She ushered the man into the house and closed the door behind her. Releasing a breath, Dom glanced around before her neighbor leaning over the banister of his porch smoking caught his attention.

  "How's it goin'?" The man nodded at him. "You know Nyla?"

  Another piece of information about her. Nyla.

  Not having the girl in his sights, his judgment was clear, bringing back his tough exterior.

  "You just see me talking to her?"

  Conversation with the nosey asshole was the last thing he wanted to deal with, and he started heading back toward the cemetery.

  "Take it easy," her neighbor grumbled with a cocky chortle before muttering, "Prick," under his breath and going inside.

  ***

  As if he didn't have a life during the daytime, Dom was creeping between hers and her neighbor's house at three in the morning. He believed the girl when she said she wouldn't tell and didn't want trouble, but there he was, stalking her quiet, dark house while she probably slept. She'd never even know he was there, and that meant he couldn't use the excuse he wanted to scare her.

  At the back of the house, he approached an open window that had the shade drawn to let in what little breeze the night offered. Straining his eyes to see in through the dark, he got close to the screen until a meow in his face made him stumble back and fall over patio furniture. The tumbling thudding noises drew attention to his presence, and as he fumbled to get to his feet and run, the back porch light flipped on and the door opened. There she was, disheveled and looking like she sprang from bed to catch the culprit.

  Anger made him glower at her and quietly snap, "What are you doing?"

  "Me?" she returned the hushed attitude. "What the hell are you doing?"

  "Why are you investigating loud noises alone in—" His arm flung out, gesturing to her rumpled tank top that bared her lower stomach, and shorts that hung lower on her hips than they would have been if she hadn't jolted up from bed to investigate.

  "Why are you creeping in my backyard? Listen." The backdoor quietly closed before she stomped toward him. "I'm not going to say anything about what you did, but I'll be damned if you're going to stalk me!"

  With no better excuse as to why he was there, he quietly boasted, "I... I told you I'd be watching."

  "Screw you, Dom. I said I wouldn't tell."

  "Stop saying my name!"

  "Shh, keep it down." In a tight grip she hauled him through the back door of her house.

  "What're you doing? You can't just let strange guys into your house at three in the morning, Nyla!"

  "You are really strange, but I'm not going to argue with you outside so the neighbors call the police!" A beaming light in her small kitchen flipped on and he squinted from the assailing brightness.

  While she filled a tea kettle she asked, "How do you know my name?"

  "I know a lot about you," he lied so poorly she saw right through it and turned to face him in a defiant stance that only drew attention to her breasts bubbling out the top of her tank.

  His eyes lingered until she turned away.

  "Close that door!" she blurted in a panic and Dom moved quickly, shoving the door closed before a cat ran out.

  Scooping the cat up, he mumbled, "You got me caught," while petting under her chin.

  Nyla watched him cuddle her cat as she purred receptively, but the cute scene didn't make her forget he was creeping around outside her house.

  "Why are you here?"

  His eyes lifted from the cat before he dropped the feline to her feet then brushed the fur off his shirt and hands. They were in a stare down that he wasn't sure was driven by stubbornness or curiosity on both ends. He'd lose that battle because he needed to know the time. His eyes flashed past her to the stove and landed on the clock that tauntingly glowed a bright green 3:37. In less than three hours, his fifteen-hour day started.

  "I should go."

  "You should never have come," she muttered opening the refrigerator. "I promise you." Milk was set on the table before she grabbed bowls from a cupboard. "I'm not going to tell anyone."

  Unsure what she was doing with the bowls and milk, he furrowed his brows and muttered the only words his brain would process while exhausted and confused. "I'm sorry." His eyes met hers again and worry was all over that pretty face.

  "Please don't hurt me or my dad."

  With a huff he dropped his shaking head, unable to let her fear him because it felt wrong. There was a lot she should fear in the world, but he was the least of her worries.

  "I won't. I promise you. I don't want to hurt you guys. What you saw..." He sat in the closest chair. "I didn't plan on killing that guy, Nyla. You gotta believe me." The begging on his tired face made him look younger than his usual stiff jaw and chilly glare.

  "I don't know anything about you, Dom. And—and let's keep it like that, okay? You have nothing to worry about with me. If you're some sort of drug dealer, or… or something else, I'm sure my neighbor did something really bad to deserve that. And I don't care. It doesn't bother me," she lied, and it was his turn to notice the dishonesty expressed in her eyes.

  Unable to take his studying gaze, she looked down at the bowl of oatmeal she was preparing.

  "What you saw does bother you. And it should. But I'm not a fucking killer."

  "You are." Her eyes met his and she point blank said, "You killed him."

  "But I didn't mean to! Listen, hear me out." Explaining to her what she saw was the last thing he ever thought he'd be doing with that girl, but the villain she made him into wasn't who he wanted her to see him as. "He was my mom's boyfriend. And a real douche. He used to hit her." His eyes dropped from hers but his mouth kept going. "I tried to stop him plenty of times but she never wanted us involved. He sprained her wrist a few weeks ago so I went to his house with a couple friends to scare him. Threaten him. Then... I just snapped. He called my brother a retard and I snapped and shot him. Jeff's not a retard." The butt of his fist hit the table and she took a step back. "He's slow but he tries. He tries to be normal. Fuck." Overtired and stressed, he got to his feet and swiped his hair in a frantic movement, trying to understand why he told her the truth. Because after that, he lost all dominance and fear he had over her. "I have to go."

  As he turned for the door, she chirped, "But I made oatmeal."

  The infuriation on his face when he turned to look at her again made her take another step back.

  "Why?" he snapped.

  "I'm hungry."

  His finger pointed in her direction angrily. "You're stupid. Where's your dad? Why wouldn't you wake him up to investigate the noise? Why did you pull me inside your house when you know I've killed a man? Why the fuck are you making me oatmeal at quarter to four in the morning?"

  "I get up at four to make my dad's breakfast before he goes to work. And my dad goes to work early so I didn't want to wake him up. Besides." She pulled a gun from the back of her shorts. "I had a gun."

  When she haphazardly waved it around, he jumped back and urged, "Jesus! Put it down."

  "Safety's on," she mumbled, placing the gun in a small tin and then snatching the tea kettle from the stove as it began to whistle. "You want water or milk in your oatmeal?"

  Staring at her profile for a few minutes, he wondered if the pretty girl with wild ringlets he'd thought about more than once was unsound.

  "No. No oatmeal. I won't bother you anymore, okay? I'm just gonna leave and we can forget about each other." Before he could turn around, the cat snaked through his legs forming a figure eight over and over.

 
; "Goliath doesn't want you to." She grinned down at her cat.

  In a quick swipe, he picked the cat up. She immediately rubbed her face against his and made him tiredly chuckle at the sound of her loud purr.

  "She's a sweetheart." Nyla smiled.

  "I think she gets it from you. Sweet, but crazy." He smirked, rubbing his face with the cat's, fully knowing he would regret it when his allergies wreaked havoc on his sinuses.

  "I'm understanding, not crazy," she mumbled.

  Before he could counter, a sneeze forced its way out and he muttered, "Shit," as the faucet of his nose started running.

  At the sound of his second sneeze she quickly said, "You're allergic," and shoved a paper towel toward his face. "Why would you pick her up if you're allergic? That's stupid."

  Too busy rubbing his running eyes and nose, he ignored her comeback and sneezed again. Goliath was snatched into her arms then ushered into a bedroom off the kitchen where she shut the cat inside.

  "Nyla?" her father's voice called out and Dom froze mid sneeze.

  "In the kitchen!" Grabbing Dom's arm, she yanked him to a bathroom next to the bedroom and quickly shut the door.

  His escape plan was shot down when he noticed there were no windows in the bathroom, so he sat on the toilet seat, muffling his sneezes and trying to stop the leaking of his eyes for the next forty minutes. After a soft knock, the door slowly opened, and when she saw his red, puffy eyes and leaking face she frowned.

  "Aw, Dom." Her hand roughly pushed his shoulder to seat him back on the toilet before she began rummaging through the medicine cabinet.

  "Wha..." A sneeze cut him off. "What time..." Sneeze. "What time is it?" he managed before sneezing again.

  "Almost five. Here." The palm of her hand slapped against his forehead as she tilted his head back. "Open your eyes." Claw-like fingers forced his lids open and eye-drops fogged his vision.

  "Nyla," he tried to protest but she was already doing it to the other eye.

  "Okay. Come on. Over the sink." In a yank she tugged him toward the sink. "Don't move," she demanded before wandering into the kitchen. Returning with a water bottle, she began to dump it into some sort of watering kettle.

  "What're you doing? I have to go."

  "Shh. You're a mess. Tilt your head back." Her hand forced his head back again. "It's a Neti pot. In the nose," she warned just as she flushed his sinuses with the water.

  "Shit!" Water poured from his mouth as he began to cough to keep from choking. "What the hell!"

  "One more time. Do it right this time. It's supposed to come out of the other nostril," she insisted, pushing his head back again.

  "No!"

  "Dom, hold still." Her fingers used his hair to maneuver his head, and this time he didn't fight because she had a good grip.

  Water ran from one nostril, messily out the other.

  "Aw, god!" he groaned. "That's fucking gross."

  "I know. But it'll help." Pushing a washcloth to his face, she smiled at him when his eyes landed on her.

  "You're crazy," he said, his voice muffled through the cloth.

  "I'm not really sure you can make that judgment. Anyway. Goliath is put away. Let's eat. I usually eat with my dad but I was trying to get him out of here. I didn't want to explain why some guy was in our kitchen at four in the morning."

  "I really have to go! Thanks for not shooting me and all. I promise I'll leave you alone." Eager to get the hell out of her house, he followed behind her.

  "Breakfast is the least you can do." When she looked at him, he furrowed his brows. "You owe me."

  "Remember when you asked me to leave you alone?"

  "That was before I found out why you shot my neighbor." A smirk hit her lips. "I think it's sweet what you did."

  "What? No! Murder is not sweet!" he urged, wanting the insane woman to understand his actions were wrong.

  He fully understood, but he would do it again to protect his mom and brother.

  "What you did was screwed up. You shoulda just beat the guy up and told him to leave town. But I mean, protecting your family. They're lucky they have you." When her stomach growled, her hands covered it as embarrassment set across her face. "I usually eat at four with my dad."

  With a sigh he glanced out the window before mumbling, "I don't eat oatmeal. I'll buy."

  "I'm gonna let Goliath out and put on some clothes. Can you wait one second?"

  "Hurry up." Walking out into her yard, he shook his head regretting showing up there.

  He liked it better when she was afraid of him and didn't want him around. Now she was practically begging for friendship and making him feel bad for her, wondering if the girl was as misguided as his mother was. Which was why he couldn't deny her request.

  When she walked out the back door and pushed her glasses up her nose before pushing wayward ringlets out of her vision, he decided it wouldn't be so awful befriending the cute girl.

  "So." She glanced at him as they headed down the block toward the closest diner. "You don't have to keep stalking me. You can trust me."

  "I wasn't stalking you," he grumbled, checking their surroundings because the sun wasn't up yet and walking with a female at that hour could bring trouble.

  "I know. You came to scare me, but you can trust me, Dom."

  "That's why I'm taking you to breakfast."

  Sitting across from her in the diner, he studied her once again, wondering what was going through her head that she wanted to get breakfast with him even after what she saw him do.

  The waitress smiled at them. "Coffee?"

  "Please." Dom flipped his cup but Nyla declined, in favor of orange juice.

  "Ready or want a minute?"

  "I need a minute. Sorry." Nyla quickly grabbed a menu.

  "Take your time. I'll be back."

  "You work?" she asked him while looking over the menu.

  "Do you?"

  "I'm looking for a job. We haven't lived here long. Only three months." The smile on her face when she glanced up at him confused him more than he already was about the girl.

  "Where'd you come from?"

  "Seattle. Kind of lost all my friends when I moved here," she muttered. "I was attending classes at South, but when my parents' divorce happened, things got messy between them. My dad didn't take it too easy, and my mom was intentionally trying to make it worse on him. I didn't even live with my parents at the time, but I was worried about my dad so I moved here with him. I want to get my own place but I can't really afford that." Her eyes rolled but didn't lift from the menu. "And now I'm stuck trying to make friends, but it's not really easy in this neighborhood."

  He wondered if that was an explanation for her desperation to hang out with him.

  "Ready?" The waitress set Nyla's orange juice on the table.

  After ordering, Dom asked her, "You dropped out of school because your parents divorced? That sucks."

  "Sort of. More because I was worried my dad was going to hurt himself or someone else when he started drinking. I don't plan on staying here forever. Just until he gets on his feet again."

  "Why'd they divorce?"

  "Uh." She chuckled with embarrassment. "There was no love left." Her shoulders shrugged. "My mom had an affair. My dad found reasons not to go home to her. I don't really know. It wasn't a surprise or anything."

  "What about college around here? Have you looked into it? You could make some friends." He shrugged with cluelessness.

  "Yeah, but I can't start until the fall. I plan on it, but I was kind of hoping by fall my dad would have his shit together."

  "Must suck having to take care of a parent when that's supposed to be their job."

  "You do it." When her gaze landed, it locked on him.

  Flicking his eyes away, he mumbled, "I guess I do."

  "And your brother."

  "He's my brother. He needs me."

  "So does your mom. And my dad needs me right now. He was a good parent and I kind of want to keep him around a littl
e longer."

  The only element making the unannounced date uncomfortable was how they met. With a smirk, he fiddled with the coffee cup to avoid her stare.

  "Does your mom know what you did?"

  "Shooting Larry? No. Definitely not. She's a great mom but she'd turn me in." The smile on his face was forced. "She works at the precinct. The fucked up part is she's seen so many domestic abuse cases, I don't know how she let it happen to her for so long."

  "How long?"

  "Uh. With Larry, she got with him when I was in the sixth grade. It's been a while." His hand rubbed his tired face and he mumbled, "But he wasn't the first."

  There was no mistaking the topic wasn't a comfortable one so she changed the subject. "Do you work days or nights? Why were you creeping outside of my house at three in the morning?"

  "Uh." He chuckled with embarrassment. "I was at a friend's, and when I left I went for a walk."

  "Did you want to scare me?"

  "I don't know, Nyla. Okay? I really don't know what I was thinking. I won't hurt you."

  "I know. You don't look like a crazy person."

  With a laugh he dropped his shaking head. "You need to not be so trusting."

  "So you are a crazy person?"

  "No, but crazy people look like me and you. Don't judge a book by its cover, okay? You shouldn't have come outside alone this morning. I could have had a gun."

  "You didn't, but I did."

  "You don't know that. I could have shot you when you came out."

  Looking down, she pushed her glasses up. "I believed you when you told me you wouldn't hurt me."

  "That doesn't mean you can just believe everything someone says." He sat back as the waitress approached with their food.

  "Need anything else?"

  After they declined, he looked into her face. "Why are we here right now?"

  "Breakfast." She gestured to her plate.

  "Why are you here with me, I mean. I shot your neighbor, and besides that, you don't know anything about me."

  "This is how you get to know people."

  "But why? I'm not a good guy. You lonely?"

  "Oh god, Dom." Her cheeks blushed and her eyes went to the table. There was a few minutes of silence before "Maybe" came from her lips.