Page 32 of It Started With a Scarf

"Once you start coming here all the time, it's not like that. These people aren’t lost at all."

"Hey, Dom!"

"What's up, man?" Dominic said, nudging his chin at a teenager who was walking by.

The guy came in for a hug.

"Whatchu into today?" Dom asked.

"Kickboxing 301."

"301, son? You must be getting serious. Imma see you in the cage next week."

"Naw, bro, my mom might kill me if I try to take a fight."

"I hear you. Hey, good seeing you, Caleb. Tell your dad I said 'hey'."

"You too, and I will."

Caleb walked away and Dominic looked at me with a smile. He reached out and put a hand on my back, and I did not flinch at all. I could feel it there. Without my coat, there was just a thin layer of sweatshirt between my back and his hand. He was touching me.

"Do you want to go get that smoothie?"

"Yes, I'd love to," I said, glancing at him and trying not to sound breathless.

Chapter 11

Dominic

Dominic had to give his attention to the gym and the people there. It needed to be that way to be a success. He and his brother had built up the ETC name to be synonymous with service and excellence. They were responsible owners—doing their best to be present and available as much as possible at their respective gyms. People loved seeing them there, and Dominic had to greet them and answer questions. He simply could not devote all of his time and attention to Marley while he was at the gym. He wouldn't be able to do it in Milwaukee, either.

Dominic had a few different ladies with him at his gyms over the years, and he could tell a lot by how confident and secure they were when he had to give his attention to other people. He had to talk to eight or ten different people during his tour and smoothie-buying experience with Marley, so she got put to the test. They were at the gym for a couple of hours before even thinking of skating, and it passed quickly.

Marley was the coolest. She was confident and secure even when Dominic was distracted with talking to someone else. She kept herself occupied, respecting their space and confidently looking at her surroundings while he was busy. Every time Dominic finished talking to one of the customers, he would glance at Marley and find her smiling.

That wasn’t true for most of the other women he brought to the gym—most of them were painfully insecure about all the other women at the gym. All of his patrons were into fitness, and a lot of them wore flattering, revealing clothing. That was the way of things in the fitness industry. Most women couldn’t handle this sort of thing. Even if they smiled, Dominic could tell they were bothered, and usually, they would talk to him about it later.

But Marley seemed cool as a cucumber. Unfazed. She seemed truly oblivious to those feelings, and Dominic thought it was the most refreshing, attractive thing in the world. He already liked this woman, and witnessing this confidence in action, well it made him feel all stirred up. Dominic knew he had to have her before today, and everything she did and said since they had been together just intensified that feeling.

There was a walking track that looked over the basketball court, and they had stopped in an out-of-the-way area up there. Dominic was finished with his smoothie, but Marley was sipping on the end of hers. Plenty of people could see them, but they were all out of earshot. It was the first time in a while that they had some partial privacy. She set her coat and scarf on a nearby bench and they leaned against the wall.

Dominic looked at her.

Those eyes.

She held the eye contact as she took a sip.

"How's your smoothie?" he asked.

"Amazing. I would come here for this."

"Good to know. I've never had that kind. Cherry coconut?"

"Yes, and pineapple. It tastes like piña colada. I can't believe you haven't tried it."

"I'm a creature of habit. I'm a protein man. I have to have oats, too."

"Yeah, but it's your restaurant. You have to try the whole menu. Can you? Are you allergic to cherries or something?"

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