Temptation's Song

“Both sides of me are doing well, thanks, and you? How did you sleep?”

He gave her an enigmatic smile. “I slept like a baby.”

Elle took that as a compliment, since she had sung him a lullaby last night. She was grateful that he reminded her of that pleasant interlude, rather than her singing’s-better-than-sex misstep.

She sipped her coffee as Dominic folded the paper and placed it on the coffee table. “What are your plans today?”

Elle shrugged. “I really don’t have any plans. I was going to make a few phone calls and then maybe tour the city some more. There are still so many things I haven’t seen yet.”

“What were you going to do for lunch? Surely you’ll be ravenous after all that sightseeing.”

“Find a café somewhere.”

“No, you’re coming home with me,” he said, giving her that unnerving intense look, as if he was undressing her with his eyes.

Elle looked at him questioningly and Dominic laughed a bit. “Not my house, my parents’. I always have lunch with them on Sunday when I’m in town. My sisters will be there, too.”

Elle panicked. He wanted her to meet his whole family in one fell swoop? Couldn’t he allow her to meet them one at a time instead of en masse? “I don’t want to impose,” she began timidly.

“You’re going to meet them eventually,” Dominic told her, as if it were a done deal. “My mother doesn’t get to socialize with many Americans. She would love to meet you. She was born in Louisiana but she spent a lot of time in Harlem while she was with the Met.”

“Oh, yeah, she was with the Metropolitan Opera when she met your father,” Elle said, feeling a bit more at ease about meeting Natalie Corelli and the rest of his family.

“It was a whirlwind romance,” Dominic told her. He sipped his coffee. “But I'll let her tell you about it.” He reached inside his coat pocket and retrieved his cell phone. “I’m going to phone and tell her you’ll be coming with me.”