Chapter 5
No one had ever asked me that way—not as though my answer mattered more than his desire, but as though it truly did.
Five.
I should have made him wait.
Four.
I should have reminded him that three years of silence couldn’t be erased in one night.
Three.
Instead, I said, “You may.”
Two.
He leaned toward me.
One.
The city exploded into light.
Dominic’s mouth met mine beneath the fireworks.
The kiss was nothing like I expected.
It wasn’t possessive or hurried.
It was tentative at first, almost questioning, and then it deepened when I reached for the front of his shirt.
His hand settled against my jaw.
Mine pressed against his chest, where his heartbeat was moving as quickly as mine.
For one perfect moment, there was no family, no rooftop, no history, no fear of what came next.
Only the warmth of his mouth and the impossible realization that the man I had spent years thinking invisible to me had been trying just as hard not to be seen.
When we parted, our foreheads rested together.
“Happy New Year,” he murmured.
I was still trying to remember how breathing worked.
“You’re late.”
“For what?”
“Noticing me.”
His thumb brushed over my cheek.
“I noticed you three years ago.”
“Then you’re late doing something about it.”
“That’s fair.”
The rooftop door opened behind us.
We sprang apart as Vanessa stepped outside wearing a silver dress beneath an oversized leather jacket.
Her dark hair had come loose from its pins, and she carried a paper cup in one hand.
She stopped when she saw us.
Her eyes moved from Dominic’s flushed face to my smudged lipstick.
Then she smiled.
“Oh,” she said.
“Finally.”
I stared at her.
“You knew?”
“Everyone knew.”
Dominic turned toward her.
“You knew?”
“Dominic, you’ve looked at Naomi like she personally invented oxygen since the first month she started coming over.”
“I did not.”
“You absolutely did.”
“I did not.”
Vanessa took a sip from her cup.
“You once asked the chef whether she preferred lemon or lime in sparkling water.”
“That was a reasonable question.”
“You asked him three times because you forgot the answer.”
I looked at Dominic.
“You asked someone about my sparkling water?”
“I was trying to be considerate.”
“You were trying to be invisible,” Vanessa said.
“It was adorable.”
Dominic gave her a warning look, but there was no force behind it.