Let Me Help You, Good Doctor Ch. 03

She opened her mouth to say something but quickly shut it as he leaned against the door, "You don't know. I may have had wedding stuff to do."

"Yes, that's why you are coming over my house so I can save you from all that."

"I still don't see the point of you coming to see me because you live next door, you could have easily kidnapped me like you always do."

"Well maybe I wanted to see your smiling face." He said.

He always did say things to make her blush inside, but she didn't want him to know that, "Well, since you went through all this trouble. I guess I could go and have dinner with you." She said and he took her brief case.

He was such a gentleman sometimes, even though he was an arrogant ass. She just didn't get why he was like that or why he wanted to be so sweet to her.

Once they got to his house, she watched him move around the kitchen setting out some stuff, ready to cook. Now he was cooking for her? This was getting way out of line but she was enjoying it.

"You know what I notice about you?" he said starting to slice some celery.

"What is that?" she sighed wondering how this conversation was going to go.

"Do you always wear dress slacks and skirts? I mean not that I'm complaining about seeing your legs, but you don't really wear jeans. I don't see you really comfortable."

"Well," she sighed, "I tried wearing jeans before and I don't really like the way they look on me. Plus, it's hard for me to find some that fit me right."

"What you mean fit you right?"

"Nik, don't pretend like you haven't noticed my big butt over here. I know all my flaws."

"Well, what you think are flaws, I see as goodies." He smiled.

"Oh before I forget, Jason and Candy have invited us to a picnic this weekend. She invited Scott, Katrina, Jade, and James but she mainly wants to go because she thinks it could be the spot for the wedding and she wanted to check it out. I was wondering if you wanted to go." She said nibbling on her bottom lip.

"Will you be there?" he asked not looking up for his chopping.

"Of course."

"Then I will be there too. We have to keep this up, don't we?" she nodded, "I just have one request; can you please wear something comfortable?"

"I have comfortable clothes. Slacks are very comfortable."

"Not going to the park and having fun. Since my boys are going, we are going to see about playing some football or something."

"You play football?"

"Yea, I use to back in high school and then on the base we used to play all the time."

"Sounds like it's a lot of fun; can't wait to see you guys play." Dominique smiled and looked up at him, "What are you doing, Nik?" she asked.

"I think what some people call this is cooking." He joked putting the vegetables in the pot.

"But why? Are you trying to lure me like you do your other girls?"

"Ok first, I don't have to lure you because under our agreement there are things I can make you do that could satisfy me. Two, I don't cook for just any other girl."

"Then why me?"

"I take your groceries, the least I can do is cook them for you." Dominique couldn't help but to laugh at that.

She laid her chin on her hand, watching him maneuver in the kitchen, "I guess that makes sense. I'm guessing you are going to tell me since you are Italian, that's how you knew how to cook."

"That and I always had a gift for cooking, which explains my weight problem I had when I was younger. I was really the only one out of all of us that really cooked. There were times where my mom was too tired from work so I had to cook for my younger brother and sister."

"Really?"

"Yea, the first time I tried to cook I had my older brother help me and we were trying to make pizza dough like mom did. We got flour all over the place." He smiled and Dominique started laughing.

"Are you serious?"

"Unfortunately yes, we had to hurry up and clean up before mom came home, in 30 minutes." He said and she was laughing harder, "I realized then just how hard it is to clean up flour."

"Well, that sounds a whole lot better than your mom finding it all over the floor." He nodded.

"That's very true." He nodded and glanced over at her.

"That reminds me of when my brothers and I were trying to fix popcorn. We were so confident that we were able to fix it because it was easy. Eiji forgot about it because he was talking to some girl on the phone and Taro and I were playing outside. Next thing we know, we hear the fire alarm. The popcorn is burning, Eiji is panicking and Taro and I were both screaming and running around the place talking about how we were going to die." Nik couldn't hold it any longer. He stopped slicing to laugh out loud and Dominique was laughing so hard that tears were in her eyes, "My neighbor came and fixed everything. My aunt still doesn't about that as of this day."

"Wow, so I take it Eiji is your oldest brother?"

"Yep, Taro is only older than me by a couple of years."

"Where are they now?"

"Eiji lives in New York with his wife and he is a therapist. Taro still lives here and he owns his own business."

"Was Eiji the main reason you wanted to be a therapist?"

"Yea, I always use to look at his books to see what he was learning and it seemed like my mom was so proud of him when he graduated." Now she mentions her mother, he thought, "What about your brothers and sisters?"

"Well, I have four: Gianni is the older, that's the one I said may be doing mob work. Raffaele is the baby of the family. Amadora is the oldest girl and then Fiorenza. That's the one that recently got married."

"Oh wow, was it hard growing up with such a large family?" she asked.

"Nah, I always had someone to blame something on if I did something bad." He smiled and she just shook her head, "Is that what you want? A big family?"

"I would love to have one. I just don't think my schedule would allow me to have one with working non-stop at the office."

"Can I ask you something and I want you to be completely honest with me?" She gulped silently and nodded at his question, "Do you like what you do?" he asked and that caused her to look at him confused.

"Of course I like my job. What is there not to like about it?"

"I don't know, it just doesn't seem like you have an excitement for it."

"Well, I do. I have a good set of clients and I'm very excited about my book that's coming out."

"That's great, but when do you have time for you and what you want to do. I always see you in your planner."

"That's not true. I hang out with my friends sometimes and..." she paused not sure what to say next, "Why does my schedule concern you so?"

"I'm just noticing the little things sweetheart. I don't mean any harm by it." He said putting together some little pasta dish.

Dominique swallowed hard, staring up and Nik. She never would have pictured him as the cooking type, but here he was fixing something incredible as if it was something that he did every day. He poured two glasses of wine and handed her one. She willingly took the glass as he stared at her.

"So, what made you want to go into therapy work?" he asked.

"I just like exploring people and seeing what makes them tick. Eiji always made it sound so cool and interesting. I admit there are sometimes where I get a little tired of it because it turned from helping people to just hearing people whine over ridiculous things." Nik chuckled.

"It's funny, my mom never really believed in therapy work. She was just like, go to church and everything will be alright. It wasn't till I was in the service that I saw that sometimes it can be very valuable."

"Yea, I have counseled some soldiers after they came back from Iraq. Some of the stories are chilling. Why did you do it Nik? I mean just from what I know about you, you seem like that would be the last thing you would go into."

"Why do you say that?" he said standing at full height, intimidating her slightly with his intense stare.

She took another gulp of wine before continuing, "I mean Nik, you don't seem like the type that really likes to take orders or have a care in the world."

He chuckled to himself, "Remember I told you about my brother, the one that is mixed up in the mob, Gianni. At one point, we were like best friends and I wanted to do everything that he did. I saw a little glimpse of what he does and I just couldn't stomach it, especially when it came to terrorizing some people. I went into the service because I knew how much he hated that. After being there for awhile, I discovered I have a talent for it and it opened up a lot of opportunities that I probably wouldn't get being the middle child of five kids. The first time I got back, Gianni was kind of cold towards me and didn't really want to hang out like we use to. It doesn't bother me now; I just wait for that day where he will tell me that he wants out."

"Do you think he will?"

"I do; it's just one of those things where he will have to find the right reason to settle down."

"How does your brother do this work and your dad is a police officer?"

"Simple, they don't know." He chuckled at the shock expression on her face, "I am really the only person that knows what he does; everyone else thinks that he works security for a club."

He slowly brought the wine glass to his lips, "Now what's this lawyer boy said about you loving wedding planning and everything? I know you said you wanted a for sure thing with work, but why really didn't you go into it?"

"It's just everyone in my family said it wasn't one of those for sure things; everyone except my brother Taro and my aunt Crystal. They wanted me to do it, but my mom's husband said it wasn't stable and that I would have to work really hard to build clients."

"No harder than a therapist. You have to build clients too."

"I know; it's just that everyone else was pulling for me to do therapy and said I had a natural talent for it."

"I don't know; it seems like you have a talent for this party planning thing and you seem happy doing it."

"I do love doing it, but it's just a hobby. I can't really make any money on a hobby."

"You be surprised how many people can. Look at your friends, they opened a restaurant because they loved cooking and boy can they cook." Dominique started laughing.

"I don't know. I'm just a little bit scared on how to start or what I would have to do to get there."

"Well, you can do your research and make time, if it really means a lot to you. I do think you can, you certainly have the talent for it."

Dominique smiled to herself, "You know we haven't talked like this since Valentine's Day last year. I still can't believe my date stood me up."

Nik cleared his throat, "Me neither, must have

been someone not worth your time anyway."

"Nik, why do you do that?"

"Do what?" he shrugged placing the dish in the oven.

"Say those things. You tell me all the time how hot and sexy you think I am and then you make me feel like I'm the most intriguing thing in the world."

"I'm sorry I'm nice to you?" he said confused.

"That's not what I meant." She said getting up and standing in front of him, "I mean why you say those things? I never really had anyone do that and I haven't said anything about you."

"Well then, I curse the men that you have been around that haven't told you what you are."

"Well, it's not really fair because I haven't told you anything good about yourself."

"Oh I know all the good things about myself," He said smiling, "but it would be interesting to know your opinion besides the fact that I'm cocky and arrogant."

"Well you are very much all those things, but you are also handsome and sweet. Those things I'm pretty sure you already know." He nodded, "Some things I have seen is that you are very much a gentleman and determined. You love your family and you know who you are and what you want."

"That's a good quality?"

"It is since a lot of people never find that out." Dominique was starting to feel bolder staring into his eyes, "You are very sensual."

She said stroking her finger down his arm. He hoped she didn't notice the slight tremor he felt when her finger slowly slid down his arm.

"Really?" She nodded batting her eyes innocently, "I'm thinking you are going to get me into trouble."

"How am I going to do that?" he reached for the glasses on her face, took them off, and sat them down on the counter.

She cleared her throat staring back at him and she felt butterflies in her stomach every time he looked at her so intensely. His dark gaze traveling up her body made her tingle all over and she couldn't help stepping closer to him, as his eyes settled on her lips. Nik wanted to kiss those lips; he was aching to so bad, but it was that ache that confused him. What was going on with this relationship? He was getting more confused by the minute about their relationship and where it was escalating to. When she had mentioned Valentine's Day he cringed inside thinking back on that. He needed to tell her.

"Dominique..." his phone suddenly rang, "Um, give me a minute." He said stepping away from the warm thickening air that surrounded them.

Dominique sighed with disappointment as she settled for checking on the pasta dish. She wanted to kiss Nik; she was sure that he was going to kiss her. Even though she knew Nik wasn't her type; that didn't stop the growing attraction she had for him. She turned back around to look at him while he was on the phone. He looked as if he was carved in perfection from his sharp nose to his full lips. His body, she didn't really want to get into that as much as she thought about how his arms held her every time he kissed her. Dominique quickly shook her head as a realization came over her. What was she doing? She needs to stop drinking wine, she thought to herself as she treaded into the bathroom.

"Okay Ama, what did you really call for?" Nik said watching Dominique shut the door to the bathroom.

"What? I can't call my baby brother and see how he is doing?"

"Not without wanting something or reminding me of something."

"Oh you sound like you are rushing me. What little skank you have over there?"

"No skank. It's my neighbor, we are having dinner."

"Dinner with your neighbor? I thought you were at home right now."

"I am, I'm cooking." As soon as the words left his mouth, he immediately regretted them, especially when he heard her pause.

"You are cooking? For another woman? You have never cooked for another woman." She reminded.

"I know but this is..."

"No, no. No need to explain. Maybe you can bring this neighbor with you to dad's party."

"Ama, I swear do not babble to mom and dad about tonight."

"Oh I won't little brother. You know I can keep a secret from them."

"Oh shit." He whispered knowing what little story her little head was already concocting, "Look, if you do, at least tell them that she is a friend."

"I will; a lady friend that you are cooking for. See you when you get here." With that she hung up the phone.

Nik wanted to scream out but he knew that would just alert Dominique. His sister was going to blab and loudly. Well, he would have to cross that bridge when he got to it.

During dinner, they made small talk and for some reason there was an air of tension in the room. Nik couldn't understand where this was coming from, especially since everything went so nice just a minute ago in the kitchen. Dominique was trying her best not to go back to that moment in the kitchen. She was ready to go all the way with him. What was going on with her? She was supposed to be going after Jason; not kissing Nik and enjoying it.

Nik finally decide to go ahead and pry, "Okay, what's going on?"

She almost dropped her spoon when he asked her that question, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, we were having a pretty good time just a little while ago and now you are being shy and timid like you don't want to be bothered, what's going on?"

She sighed, sitting back in her chair, "Nothing is going on Nik, I just wanted to have a good dinner without any distractions."

"Really?" he said staring a hole into her as if searching for her to break. She wasn't breaking.

"Really." She said taking a sip of her drink.

"So it doesn't bother you that I was two seconds from sitting you on the counter and having my way with you?" Dominique nearly choked on her drink as she sat it down quickly as that know-it-all smirk appeared on his face.

"Um, I don't think I get what you are trying to say." She nervously said.

"Oh come on Dominique, you have been acting funny every since I got a phone call. What's going on?"

She sighed, rolling her eyes at him, "Nik, I know that you said you are doing this because of you borrowing food from me or something, but why are you really doing this?"

"That is the reason why I'm doing this. What? Were you hoping for another reason?" he said leaning closer, making Dominique swallow at his intense gaze.

"No, I was just wondering. You never had a reason to do this before. I just thought it was something else." She shrugged.

Nik shook his head as he saw her looking everywhere but at him. She was cute when she was flustered. It drove him crazy how she would bite down on his bottom lip. It was amazing the effect this girl would have on him. He shook his head trying to stay calm and keep his focus. Before he could divert his attention, Dominique caught the look in his eyes. There was something about those intense green eyes that made her knees buckle when he looked at her as if she was his last meal. She felt like it was being laid out for her; that was why she wanted Nik, because of that look. That look that made her feel like the sexiest creature around. Her friends always said she should take a chance; it was just sex right?

She started walking towards him enjoying his eyes watching her the entire time. She stood next to him and he pushed away from the table wondering what she had planned next; she was a little unstable sometimes. She placed both hands on his shoulders and straddled his lap. She was eye level with him and her eyes quickly darted to his lips. His hands came around her body, pushing her closer to him by her lower back.

"Is there anything you want me to do?" she said in a low seductive tone that shocked even her.

Nik tried to mask his shock. "Wow, so are you making the demands now?"

"I'm just asking if there is. I know normally this is the part where you make me do something."

Nik stared back at her, mentally searching for something other than the idea that popped into his head when she said that.

"Take off your jacket." He demanded and she complied, throwing the jacket on the open chair, "Now your shirt and take your hair down."

Her hands went to the buttons on her shirt and slowly peeled them away, letting him see peeks of the black lace bra under her shirt. She slowly pulled it off as Nik wet his lips looking at her round globes. She took the combs out of her hair and shook it out. He watched her hair cascade down around her face, highlighting her exotic features. He leaned forward and lightly kissed her sweet lips. She tasted so good, it was almost like her lips were a drug and he couldn't quit. She ran her hands slowly down his chest, enjoying the way his muscles flexed under her touch.

"Can I see you?" she whispered and he nodded at her small request.

He let her unbutton his shirt, revealing his hard muscled olive toned skin. She sucked on her bottom lip as she pushed his shirt off his shoulders and he let it fall to the ground. Nik couldn't understand but for some reason, watching her take off his shirt was the sexiest thing that he ever seen. He was extremely turned on by the look in her eyes; it was desire with a mix of uncertainty. What was she uncertain about though? He hoped it wasn't about what she obviously wanted.