Shutout (The Renegades Series Book 5) (26 page)

“Hailee…”
Go with your gut. Just tell her
. “I brought you here to one of the most romantic spots in Pittsburgh to tell you that I never stopped loving you.”

“But—” Her eyes were full of confusion.

“Hear me out, please. I know I told you we were done…” The words got stuck in his throat.

“You said you were ready to move on.” Her words were sharp, and tears glistened in her eyes.

“Hailee, don’t cry. Please. Yes, I said we were over and I was moving on. I had to make that decision because I was tired of the back and forth, and the mixed signals got to be too much. It wasn’t good for either of us. Except…” Dom pulled her closer to him when she tried to wiggle her hands away from his. “Except I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. You are all I want.”

“Dominic, I don’t know what you’re saying. You’ve been moving on, obviously.” A single tear fell down her cheek.

Dom whisked away the tear with the back of his hand. “Oh, don’t cry. I don’t know what you’ve heard, but I haven’t moved on at all. All I can think about is you. Hailee, you are the most important thing to me. I brought you here to tell you that you are, and always have been, my number one priority. Hockey is my job, and it takes a lot of my time, but always know that you come first. No matter what happens, I want you to always remember that.”

“Dominic, I’m still not sure what you’re saying.”

“I want to know if we can give us another try.” She stared at him with apprehension. He didn’t know what exactly he expected from her. “Let’s go to dinner and you can let this all sink in. C’mon.”

Hailee

As they walked into the restaurant, Hailee’s eyes darted between him and the interior. Intricate sculptures lined the walls, lavish carpets and meticulous carved plaster and pillars decorated the halls. Windows looked out over the city. It was gorgeous.

Dom took her hand and followed the hostess to their table. Glass chandeliers graced the ceilings. Large windows ran around the edges of the building. No seat was a bad view. It was elegant and peaceful.

“Dominic, this place is amazing.” Her eyes never left the window, as she avoided looking at him, but her hand remained cradled in his between them on the table.

The server approached them. “What can I get you two to drink?”

“Water for me,” Hailee answered.

“I’ll take the same.”

The server hurried away. Dominic cleared his throat and her gaze was pulled into his dark eyes. She wanted to believe this was real and it would work without problems.

The server returned with their drinks and a bread basket.

“Have you been here before?”

“No, well, not at night. When I first got to Pittsburgh one of the guys brought a bunch of us up here. I guess it’s something you need to see at least once.”

From their seats, they could see the city’s football stadium all lit up, even the yellow seats visible from here. The almost summer night was clear and the clouds looked almost purple from the lingering sunset. It was amazing that they were actually sitting on this hillside.

“See that fountain down there?”

“Yes, it’s all lit up.” Lights surrounded the fountain at the base and illuminated the geyser shooting up towards the skies.

“It sprays up to one hundred and fifty feet in the air. That’s Point State Park and that’s what they call The Point. The three rivers meet there.”

“Three rivers?” She smiled. He sounded like a walking tour guide for the city of Pittsburgh.

“The Allegheny river and the Monongahela river combine to form the Ohio River.”

“Huh.” She sighed, finally looking at him. Pulling her hand back from his, she met his gaze. “Dominic?”

He lowered his eyes, grabbed a roll from the basket and began to nervously pull it apart into pieces. “Yes, Hailee?”

“What about all the bunnies?” The photos she had found while practically stalking him online were disconcerting. Her heart hurt every time she found a new one. She hated looking for them, but it was almost a sickness she couldn’t stop.

Biting into a piece of roll, he stopped mid chew. Dominic coughed as he swallowed down what he had already started to eat. “Bunnies?” He cleared his throat.

“Yes. The bunnies.”

“Hailee, there haven’t been any bunnies.”

“I saw the posts online.” She wanted to believe him, but the proof was in the pictures.

“Look, I don’t know which posts you’re referring to.” Dominic shook his head. “Hay, you need to believe me. There haven’t been any other girls. I’ve been moping around thinking about you, regretting what I said to you. You can ask Kaden. He’s been so annoyed that I wouldn’t stop pining over you. Do you want to call him?” Dominic pulled out his phone and set his screen to Kaden’s phone number.

“No. I don’t.” She knew if this was going to work, she’d have to trust him.

His face screwed up and he seemed deep in thought. “Wait, the photos you saw… Were they of Kaden and me at the zoo?”

“Yes. And various other places. With bunnies.”
Why did I even bring this up
? “You know what, never mind. Forget I even said anything.” She turned her attention to anything but him and reached for a roll, hoping that if her mouth was full, she wouldn’t say anything else about it.

Dominic grabbed her hand, stopping her before she could get to a roll. “Hailee, look at me. Please.”

His brown eyes commanded her attention with a heavy stare. She thought she saw pain behind them.

“Hailee, those were taken during different trips to New York. Kaden did hook up with a bunny and he seems to have a standing hook-up with her anytime we go back. I tagged along, but it wasn’t what I’m assuming it looked like. The girl you saw was friends with Kaden’s party girl. She kept hanging all over me and taking selfies. I don’t know what she thought was going to happen. You can ask Kaden. I talked about you the whole time.” Dominic’s eyes softened and he let out a small chuckle. “He was so annoyed with me.”

“I’ve missed you.” Her voice was soft, and a smile pulled at the corners of her mouth.

“I’ve missed you too, sweet-tart.”

“Funny how things are all falling into place.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the other day I got an inquiry on some of my paintings. Long story short, I have a huge order pending. Like huge as in life changing. This is the break I’ve been waiting for. I don’t know who the buyer is exactly. I’m working with his agent or something. Mia said there was some story about children’s organizations having money donated for hockey programs. I guess they talked about my paintings. So it has something to do with the league.”

“They never said who?”

“Nope. If I had to guess, I would say it came from a player, but there’s no way to know if it’s a current player or retired. Maybe even a coach or team owner.”

Dominic was simply silent. She watched his face, but he just smiled at her and nodded.

“Does it even matter at this point? Sure, it would be cool to know who did it, but it doesn’t change the fact that things are finally happening for me. This is the opportunity I’ve been waiting for. I wasn’t expecting it to happen so soon, but looks like my dream gallery is ahead of schedule.”

“Hailee, that’s great news.” Dominic smiled and grabbed her hand.

“It’s the best news. Like I said, it’s all falling into place.”

The timing for this reconnection couldn’t have been more perfect. She no longer had to work at the strip club. Her gallery was finally a reality and she’d have her dream job. She didn’t need to rely on him. Maybe this could finally work.

* * *

“Hey, glad you could make it!” Dom stood up from the little table at Cool Beans Coffee Shop to greet Hailee.

Her body warmed as he kissed her cheek and pulled her into a soft hug. This was all so surreal that they were really trying to make this work again after all that had gone on between them. He looked so sexy in his hooded sweatshirt and snug blue jeans. It felt so easy to be with him, and she had missed that. She missed him. She missed them.

A coffee sat on the table for her. He was always so sweet. “Thanks.” Hailee sat down and took a sip.
Chocolaty caffeinated goodness
.

“Hey, so I wanted to talk to you about something.” A flirty smile moved across his lips. If history was any indication, that was not a good sign.

“Um, okay?” The look on his face made her stomach sour and her heart thud. She clenched her fist to stop her hand from shaking.

“That huge paintings order you got?”

“The one that basically set me up in my new gallery?”
The one that is helping me make my dreams come true? What about it?
  Heat rushed to her head and she felt sick, her stomach tossed and turned. She didn’t know why she always jumped to worse case scenarios. Maybe it was woman’s intuition. What could he possibly have to tell her about that?

Dominic looked down at his cup in his hands. He swirled his coffee around and watched it as if he could see through the lid. He avoided her eyes as he spoke. “Hailee, sweet-tart. You know that me and some of the other guys have charities and organizations for kids all across the US and Canada. Most of them are in Children’s hospitals. The PHL works with tons of charities. Those charities have home offices as well as community centers. The kids involved love their hockey, and you know I love to give back and help. Well, some of them needed artwork for new wings and playrooms that were being built. Things like that.”

“What does that mean?” Picking up her coffee cup, she took a drink, and set it down. Instead of letting the cup go, her grasp tightened on it.

“Well… hear me out, okay? I heard about your website and—”

“
You
were the mystery buyer?” Her fingers were becoming numb from how tight she was holding her cup.

“Yes, well, I bought some of them, but—”

Her head was spinning and her jaw hurt from clenching it so tight. She didn’t know what to think. “So what you’re saying is that you didn’t think I could get my business off the ground without your help?” The words tasted bitter.

He frowned and shook his head. “Of course not. I just thought a little networking would help.”

“Right. Little ol’ me would never be able to get orders without the help of the great Dominic Zanetti.” Anger coursed through her body.
I should just cancel this whole thing and give him back his money.
Reality set in.
But I can’t return the money. The paintings are already shipped and the money has been spent on the lease
. She almost wished he’d never told her.

“No. Hay, not at all. Don’t be like that, just let me explain. You’re missing the point.”

Hailee finally let go of her coffee, folded her arms across her chest and squared her shoulders. “
I
am missing the point? And what
point
is that, Dominic? The point that you lied to me? You went behind my back and did this?”

“Hailee, please. This was a huge order. You were able to get your gallery up and running and get out of that club. It was a win-win situation. Not to mention, you can finally be doing something that you love.” His expression was genuine. He seemed to honestly think that he had done something good.

“What did you just say?” Hailee snapped.

“Um, what part?”

“You don’t think that I can do any of this without your help. You can’t tell me you didn’t want me to stop working at the club. So what do you do? You swoop in, flex your manly muscles and wave your magic checkbook to save the day. Oh, Hailee can’t possibly do this all on her own. She’s just a girl and she needs a big strong man to take care of her. So she doesn’t have to work in the strip club anymore. You sound so much like Alison—” Did they think she was stupid? Alison’s sneaky little comments came back to her, and her stomach plummeted. “Are you and Alison working together?”

“I wouldn’t call it working together. We just talked. Kind of collaborated.”

“You talked? Collaborated? Are you simple? I keep saying it over and over but you never listen —
I don’t need your help!
” Her breathing became rapid and her body was hot. She stood up, shoving her chair out of the way. The room began to spin. “I thought I made it clear. I
don’t
need
you
to save me.”

Why had she thought things were going to be any different? Why had she fallen for his charm and his lines just like a dumb girl?

“I don’t know what you’re getting so mad about.” But the remorseful look on his face told her that he knew exactly how she was going to react.

“I don’t know what to say. Why don’t you ever listen?” She grabbed her purse, looking to the door. Unshed tears stung her eyes.

“Hailee, wait. You don’t understand. It’s not that big of a deal. You’re making way too much out of this.”

“No Dominic, you’re just not getting it. I’m not some little girl who needs your help. I’m a grown woman who can do things on her own, and”—she pointed angrily at him—“I refuse to let you micromanage everything that I do.”

She turned to leave with gusto, and decided to add one more thing, even if her heart told her not to. “And you don’t have to worry about naive little me working at the big bad club. I’m not your problem anymore.”

Hailee shoved open the glass door leading outside. The sound of his voice stopped her in her tracks.

His voice was calm but serious. “You’re still going to fulfill the order, right?”

Without turning around, she called, “Not. Your. Problem.” And stomped out of the coffee shop.