Free Uncle Dominic's Touch by Jenika Snow

aren’t hurt. When my mom told me you had reenlisted, I was afraid. It wasn’t like I thought you couldn’t handle yourself, but, well, you know. I worry. Anyway, I’m just glad you’re okay.” She could have ripped out her tongue for how fast she talked. The words all seemed to roll together and it was clear, even to her, that she was nervous as hell.
    After he bandaged her foot, he didn’t let it go right away. He searched her face and then smiled. “No need to worry, I’m always careful.” He patted her foot twice. She could have sworn he lingered just a bit longer than necessary, but then he set it off his knee and stood. “I’d ask if you want to walk around the lake and talk, but I’d say you’re out of commission for a while. Can I talk you into a nice, boring evening on the couch? Maybe a movie?”
    He was trying to lighten things up, because no doubt he felt the tension and awkwardness as well. She would have loved to walk around the lake with him, but when she hopped off the counter and put pressure on her foot, she knew that wasn’t going to be a possibility.
    “Whatever you have in mind is good with me.” As soon as the words left her mouth she felt her face heat. Why was her mind in the gutter constantly when she thought about Dominic? Either he hadn’t noticed or he didn’t care, because he showed no reaction. He did move toward her and helped her into the living room, though. The feel of him next to her, his muscles to her softness, made her close her eyes momentarily and had her praying for strength. Even after all these years she still loved him, and not in the way a niece should love her uncle.
    He settled her on the couch and sat in the chair across from her. It would be a lie if she didn’t admit she felt a little deflated that he didn’t sit beside her. Either he didn’t know what to talk about either or he was waiting for her to say something. She licked her lips and flicked a glance around the room. “I can’t believe everything is the same.” She watched as he shifted his large body in the almost too small chair.
    “Even if I hadn’t been away all this time, I don’t think I would have changed anything.”
    “I always thought you hated Aunt Clara’s sense of design.” Biting her bottom lip, she hoped she hadn’t just stuck her foot in her mouth about bringing up Clara. When he smiled and shook his head, Chloe breathed a sigh of relief.
    “Nothing is changed because, frankly, I'm too lazy to do much with it. I had ideas for this place when I retired, but now I kind of figure, what’s the point? It suits my purpose of living.” She nodded and looked around at the neutral colors and purely feminine décor.  “Have you talked to your aunt lately?”
    She looked over at him with what she knew was a surprised expression. Chloe nodded once. “I talked to her briefly before I came up here. I didn’t want to come if you were here, you know, I didn’t want to interrupt you or anything.” He was silent for a time and she grew uneasy from his hard stare. “I don’t really talk to her, though. Not anymore.”
    “Really? If you don’t mind me asking, why not?”
    It wasn’t as though she didn’t want to talk to her aunt, and she certainly hadn’t meant to bring this up, but if he wanted to know the least she could do was be honest.
    “Well. To be honest. she travels so much I find it hard to keep in contact with her. When she remarried…” She bit her tongue and gauged Dominic’s reaction.
    “Yeah, didn’t she marry a doctor?”
    Chloe nodded, surprised he actually knew. It wasn’t as though it had been a secret, in fact, she had gotten remarried so quickly after her divorce with Dominic was finalized it was like she hadn’t even been single.
    “She deserves to be happy. Hopefully she found what she was looking for.”
    How can he say that after what she did to him? She wasn’t about to ask him that flat out, but the fact that he seemed so good natured about