Dream a Little Dream (Inception: Arthur/Dom) For Me

Dream a Little Dream (Inception: Arthur/Dom) For Me (Chapter Seventeen)

“Temperature okay?”

“What?” I asked, momentarily confused. Then I remembered my cover story and recovered quickly. “Oh, yes, it’s looking great. I’m going to go change into a swimsuit. Finish your eggs and meet me out there, okay?”

“Sure,” he said agreeably, taking another bite of his eggs. I bit my lip, turning and running up the stairs as quickly as my legs would take me. I almost felt bad for the poor guy. He really didn’t seem like he did anything wrong – he was just in the wrong place, wrong time, I guess. Either that, or too much power for one person.

I entered his room, praying that I had remembered to put clothing into the large armoire. I opened the double doors, rifling through the drawers that were inside. The very bottom one contained woman’s clothing and I breathed a sigh of relief. Without really caring I selected a red and white polka dot bikini. I shimmied out of my clothes and pulled on the skimpy suit. Taking a moment of vanity, I stood back and admired myself, standing on my tip toes and looking at myself from the side. High, prominent cheekbones, blue eyes, long wavy brown hair and a toned figure. Yes, I could be proud of this.

“You look fine, Alex,” Anna’s voice intoned. I spun around, instinctively covering my stomach by enfolding myself in my arms. Anna grinned at me, pushing back a lock of her dark hair behind her ear. “You shouldn’t worry.”

“I, uh, wasn’t worrying…” I admitted, somewhat ashamed to confess that I had been admiring. Anna shrugged. “Hey, isn’t Dom supposed to be with you?”

“He didn’t want to come in,” Anna replied, brow crinkling. “He didn’t really say why. Did something happen between you two?”

I snorted. “Well, I kissed him to try and prove that I really do like him, and he accused me of snogging every boy who crosses my path. Well, not really, just Arthur, but that’s beside the point. He can go be a pissy little girl by himself. I don’t care. So long as he doesn’t get himself killed, we’re fine.”

Anna sent me a pitying look. “Of course he’s still keeping watch out for you, Alex. He wouldn’t just let you go unprotected because you hurt his feelings. But if you really want my opinion…you need to choose who you want, because it’s obvious to everyone except for you that they’re getting tired of it, real fast.”

“You think so?”

“Mm. Even Arthur, who has the patience of a nun, has been more irritable. You should’ve seen his face when Eames came dancing back, crowing about you and Robert kissing. It’s a good thing there was nothing he could throw.”

“I’m going to kill Eames,” I declared. “I officially hate him.”

Anna shrugged. “He does seem to do the opposite of whatever you want.”

“Did he talk to Dom?”

“Briefly.”

“And?”

“I don’t know.”

“Fabulous,” I muttered, tightening the straps on the bikini bottoms with ferocity. “Oh, ouch, that hurt.”

“You couldn’t have made yourself a one piece?” Arthur asked, stepping in through the doorway. He leaned against the frame, dark eyebrows raised on an attractive porcelain face. I thought back to what Anna said about him being irritable and felt my face flush. I returned my arms to where they could cover my stomach. “Oh, now you’re worried about modesty.”

“Shut up, Arthur,” I muttered, lowering my eyes. All of a sudden, I couldn’t think of anything to say. Thoughts of kissing Dom raced through my mind, followed by Robert leaning over and kissing me lightly. Maybe it wasn’t fair, but at the moment, I really wanted to kiss Arthur. However, I bit my lip and restrained myself, hands gripping my arms to be sure that they didn’t fly out and grab Arthur. Arthur let out a weary sigh, moving towards the armoire. I moved out of his way automatically as he rifled through it, finally pulling out a long white button up shirt.