Page 49 of It Started With a Scarf

She added that last part with a spring in her step. She went ahead of him and then turned around. "I've been thinking about what kind of smoothie I want to try next, and I have my order ready. I'm adding some oats to my recipe because I'm copying you."

"You'll like it."

"Yeah, oats in there will make me feel like I'm doing something good—like I'm making good choices with my life."

She was so sweet and lovely. Dominic wanted to give her everything. A smoothie with oats was the tip of the iceberg—maybe he'd let her refine her favorite flavor and name it after her.

Chapter 17

Marley

Chicago ETC was the coolest place ever.

It was a giant, sprawling campus, and the different buildings were connected by corridors or hallways. I had gotten to know the layout quite well as I spent the afternoon there. I felt comfortable and secure. I could see why people paid the monthly membership fees that were the equivalent of half of my rent. If I had the money, I would pay it, too. This place was like its own little Disneyland, except it was for fitness and there weren't any mascots walking around. There was a kids' nursery, however. I had been in there with Maggie who was one of the cleaning ladies.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"We'll get the smoothie on our way out, but I have some things to discuss with you in my office first."

"This sounds serious," I said with a smile. I spoke casually because we were in a busy part of the weight room. No one was paying attention to us, but they were in earshot as we walked by, so I kept my tone casual.

"It is serious," he said, looking at me without cracking a smile.

I knew he was being lighthearted. I loved his sense of humor.

We spoke to a group of people at the edge of the weight room who called out to Dominic, but it was brief, and before long we were in another hallway, heading to the offices.

He held the door and turned on a light before waving me inside. I stepped in, and he closed the door behind us.

"This feels official," I said since I had been expecting him to leave the light off and start kissing me like last time.

"No, it is official," he said instead. "I really do want to talk to you about a job."

"Okay, yeah. I'd love to work here."

"Really? That sweatshirt looks good on you."

"Thank you. I love it. You have good branding. Somebody earlier was asking about the shirts with the cartoon logo—the one with your faces. They wanted two of them in XL. He said he collects all your designs and he missed that one."

"Yeah, that was a limited edition. We sold out pretty quickly. I might have a few set aside."

"I wrote down the guy's name. He said he was Justin's manager."

"Michael," Dominic said, nodding.

I nodded because that was the guy's name.

"I'll call him about the shirts, thanks. Have a seat right here if you don't mind, Miss Matthews."

He was saying official things and moving around in an official manner, and I was just impressed. He settled across from me at the desk and sighed, leveling me with a challenging stare. He had dark eyes that looked straight through me. He was intense and strong. I wouldn't want to face him in battle.

"So, I wanted to get you in here and go through some formalities with the job interview."

I took a deep breath, gathering my thoughts and preparing to answer some questions.

"Will you take it?"

He asked the question and then he just sat there and stared at me.

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