Page 27 of It Started With a Scarf

"Tucker McDaniel was asking Tom about you," Dominic said. "And that creep with your scarf. You've got so many guys trying to talk to you."

"It's because I'm too friendly," I said causing him to laugh. "No, it's true. I'm working on it, though. I've been in Chicago for just over a year now, and I'm significantly meaner now than I was at first. It's going good."

I was looking serious as I spoke, and he grinned at me thinking I was joking.

"I'm smiling, but it really is true," I said, shaking my head. "I'm more distant with people than I used to be. I was just so used to looking people in the eyes and acting really friendly with them. I'm from a small town, and that's just how things were." I stared straight into his eyes with a kind expression as I spoke to demonstrate what I used to do. "I would look into people's eyes when they talked to me at the store. I would look right at them, and hear their story, and let them get to know me. I really do care about people. But some guys take it to mean that I care more than I do. That didn't happen to me as much in Texas, so I wasn't prepared for it when I got here. People were misunderstanding me. I would hold eye contact or touch someone's shoulder without even thinking about it. But I've had to learn to be more guarded than that. I was too friendly at first. I thought I was being normal, but they thought I was flirting. I ran into that quite a bit working at Abercrombie."

I had been holding eye contact, staring at him, the whole time I spoke, but then I dropped my gaze toward the end of what I was saying.

"I like it when you look at me," he said.

"I like to make eye contact, but I've gotten pretty good at avoiding it without seeming rude. There's an art to it. You need to know just how much to do."

"I see you barely glancing at me now."

"Yeah, this is about the amount I usually feel comfortable with."

"I like it the other way," he said.

His tone seemed serious, and I glanced at him. Our eyes met. We held eye contact. It happened for five or ten full seconds and I almost forgot to breathe. We blinked, and we just kept staring.

He was a breathtaking individual. It wasn't just that he was a strapping male athlete type or that his face was chiseled and wonderful… it was that he had been raised in the spotlight, and he lived up to the hype. He was larger than life. I felt safe with him near me. Not only did I feel like he would never hurt me, I felt the opposite, like he would protect me from anything else that would. I felt flush when those thoughts hit me and I took a deep breath and looked away. He made a frustrated sound.

"It's sad that you have to be guarded with people. But you do. You don't with me, but with some people… with most people, maybe. It's surprising how many people in the world you probably shouldn't let yourself get close to."

"I know, I found that out. That's why it was so good to have a fresh start after Abercrombie."

I wiped my hands on my napkin when I was finished. I looked down and hugged the scarf, unable to believe it was there.

"Were you saying you learned how to knit?" Dominic asked.

"Yes. I did learn how. And I remembered this scarf so well that I would have gotten close to recreating it. But it wouldn't have ever been the same. There's just no way to get my hands on that same yarn. It was so long ago, and she got the yarn in so many places. I learned to knit, and I can't say I regret it, but I am so happy to have this thing back. I saw your job and everything on your social media. It looks like you own a pretty amazing gym. I don't have much on mine."

"Yeah, I didn't even know your last name."

"Matthews."

"I learned it now, but I had nothing at first."

"I'm not really online. I mean, I surf sometimes, but I don't put myself out there. I had to add a photo of myself when I got in touch with you. I don't put anything personal on there. My sister does, but I never have. Yours is cool, though. I looked at it some more after I knew we were meeting, and it looks like you have a good life, a good family and everything. A girlfriend, too."

"I told Blake to take those down. That woman wasn't my… we had a few dates, but I'm not seeing her anymore."

He blushed a little when he talked about that, and I felt a wave of something in the pit of my stomach. I had finished the burger, and now I sort of regretted it. I sat up, straightening my posture. He was talking to me in a way that made me think he had some kind of feelings for me, and I wasn't expecting that. Dominic was a billion miles out of my league, and I thought I was just meeting him to get my scarf. Even getting the scarf was crazy enough. With the way Dominic was looking at me and talking to me now, I… his dark eyes were utterly distracting.

I cleared my throat. "Thank you for lunch. I don't want to leave, but I think I have to." I looked at my watch.

"Do you have somewhere to go?"

"Yes, I do, actually. I'm sorry. I didn't when we first made these plans, but these things happen. It's my car. It's at the mechanic. I'm using Joan's car right now, and she needs to be somewhere by three today. I thought I had plenty of time, but I'm trying to count backward, and I think I need to go soon."

"You bought a car?"

"Yes, and I regret it." I laughed. "No, but I just got it two months ago, and it already has a leak in the radiator."

"Is it new?"

"No. I paid cash for it. But it's not a bad car. I got it back in Texas when I was there for Christmas. It got me back here, which I was happy about. I just thought I would get more than two months out of it," I added, laughing.

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