Author's Note: I sure do have a lot of these, don't I? J Thanks to everyone's who's reviewing, it's the only reason I'm continuing this.
Part 11.
Dominic knew that it would be tough to get across the lawn without setting off any alarms that Douglass might have forgotten to turn off. Or meant to leave on just for this kind of incident. It would be dark. Only a small light by the pool would light their way. The moon wasn't even going to be out to help them.
Dominic had insisted they wait until 11:45. That way they could get a few hours sleep, and would be energized and ready to go. Dominic lay next to Nicollette, his arms around her, holding her to him. After they'd made love, she admitted that she felt as if something terrible was going to happen and it would be her fault. He listened to her tell about her life before this happened. She'd been a good student in school and had been engaged. He never found out if she'd married the guy or not.
Dominic wanted to tell Nicollette that he was falling in love with her, but the thought of her rejecting him, repulsed him. He decided that before Brian came to pick them up, he'd tell her. If she didn't love him, he'd probably never see her again, anyways. If she did, he wasn't letting her go. He'd loved Letty, and when he wasn't willing to get married for her, she left. He knew not to make the same mistake again. Looking back now, Dominic realized that if he'd married Letty and stayed at home, he never would have met Nicollette until it was too late. The thought of not knowing her, and be married to Letty when he finally met her annoyed him. It made him want to climb to the tallest point on Earth and scream to the world that he loved Nicollette.
But he was going to wait. Wait until the right time. Until he was sure that Nicollette wouldn't humiliate him. If the time never came, or she didn't want him, he'd let her go. It was as simple as that. He glanced at the clock. 11:00. Forty-five minutes left. Forty-five minutes that could be the last he spent with her.
Nicollette's dark hair was spread out over his arm and the pillow, a soft russet cascade over his arm. Her eyes were closed, hiding the chocolate orbs he'd admired from the first second he saw her. Dominic dreaded waking her up, but knew that if he didn't wake her now, they wouldn't be on schedule.
"Nikki?" he whispered, brushing her hair out of her face. "Wake up, baby."
"Hmm?" She snuggled closer to him.
"Time to get up."
"No. I don't wanna," Nicollette whined.
"Well you gotta, or we're going to be here for a long time."
"I'm awake!" Nicollette opened her eyes and looked up at him.
"Go take a shower. I'll pack your things," Dominic replied, leaning down to kiss her.
"Why don't you join me?"
"Someone has to pack. You go ahead."
"Dominic . . ."
"Hmm?"
"Never mind." Nicollette grabbed the top sheet and wrapped it around herself before standing and walking to the bathroom. When she got to the door, she turned, as if expecting him to be gone.
Nicollette turned on the hot water, hoping it didn't make noise in some other part of the house. Stepping under the hot spray, she stood there, letting the steamy stream of water hit her in a gentle massage.
Dominic packed his things quickly, shoving articles of clothing into his duffle bag. He moved onto Nicollette's belongings. With intricate care, he slowly folded her clothes, and gently placed them in their proper place in the small suitcase. He left out clothes for her to wear, and when he was finished, the clock read 11:28. Nicollette was still in the shower. Not wanting to be late, he went to the door and knocked. No answer. Finally, he opened the door. Nicollette had the water running in the shower, but was sitting down.
"Nikki?"
"Yeah?"
"You okay?"
"I'm fine. Don't worry. I'll be out in a minute!"
"Okay. Just checking." He went to the door and closed it, and then went to lean against the counter. Sure enough, precisely 59 seconds later, the water shut off, and Nicollette stepped out. She froze for a second before relaxing a bit when she saw Dom. He grabbed a towel from the towel bar, unfolded it, and held it out for her. She smiled and stepped up to him, allowing him to wrap the towel around her before drawing her to him.
"You know what?"
"What?" Nicollette looked up at him.
"If someone had told me three weeks ago that I'd meet a beautiful, smart, wonderful girl, I'd have laughed. If someone had told me that she would be one of the most wonderful people I'd ever met, I would have laughed at him." He opened his mouth to say something else, but she stopped him by kissing him.
"Let's get out of here!" she exclaimed. She dressed quickly and then waited by the door for Dominic. He'd been so close to telling her. So close.
"Okay," he turned the doorknob and the door opened. "Here we go."
Down the hall they crept, board creaking with every step. There was no light in the hall besides that coming from the windows. That light was only from the lights surrounding the pool. When they reached the steps to go down, they heard voices. Dominic stopped in front of Nicollette, who wasn't expecting him to stop, and she ran into him, his duffle bag falling to the floor with a thud.
