Page 47 of It Started With a Scarf

And Dominic looked up just in time to smile at the camera. He used his best photo-ready smile, and he never for a second let go of Marley. He kept her securely tucked in his arms. His hand instinctually went to a number two symbol, but it was mostly hidden since his arms were around her waist.

Joan's family thanked him and asked them to stay, but Dominic politely said that they had to be going. Dominic didn't lose touch with Marley physically, not even for a second, even when he shook a few hands, he held onto her.

It wasn't just to prove a point, either. He had missed her so much while he was away. He wanted her to be closer to him in Milwaukee since he spent most of his time there. Dominic felt like he could breathe now that she was there next to him.

"Thank you for doing that," she said once they were outside. "I can't say that they won't post that picture. I can ask them not to if—"

"I'm not worried about it," he said, knowing what she was going to say and cutting her off. "I take photos with people all the time."

Dominic turned to Marley and kissed her cheek.

"That was amazing," she said, grinning broadly.

"What was?" he asked, still walking.

"You. That. Their faces. I hate to take pleasure in seeing them gawk at you, but it was pretty fun. Thank you for coming in there. I feel like you earned me some favor with them."

She was smiling and making light of the whole thing, but Dominic felt like he needed to take some sort of action with this living situation.

"What can I do to help with it?" he asked.

She glanced at him like she didn't understand. "You already did! That's what I'm saying!"

She was being sweet and happy, and Dominic was glad she was in good spirits, but he still felt like he wanted to rescue her from her life. Maybe he wanted her to rescue him. Either way, he wanted to be closer to her. They got into his truck and mentioned heading to the mall.

He let out a sigh as he looked at his phone.

"Do you know Gina at the gym, who we met the other day?" he asked.

"Yes. I liked her."

"Yeah, well I don't know if you know anything about her job, but she does a little bit of everything."

"Yeah, I gathered that when I met her."

"She's sick today, and they're behind. We could really stand to go by there after the movie. I know I haven't seen you in forever, and we thought I had the afternoon off, so we don't have to—"

"Dom, yes. Let's just go now. We can go there instead of the movies."

"No, I promised you."

"But I would have just as much fun going to ETC with you. I'd be happy to help with some of Gina's stuff."

"Really?" he asked. "It might be folding towels. She does all sorts of mundane chores on top of her job. That's what they're behind on."

"That's great," I said. "Mundane stuff would be easy, and we can knock it out."

He couldn’t understand how she was so easygoing. She looked at him from over the console.

"I'm not just saying this to make you think I'm a nice person. I do want you to think that, but I really wouldn't mind going to fold towels or whatever else needs to be done. That sounds like fun. Let's do it!"

"Amazing. Thank you so much, Marley."

"Oh, I want to," she said. "This'll be fun."

***

It was five hours later when Dominic went to the front desk to look for Marley. He had seen her there a half-hour earlier so he was surprised when he rounded the corner and she wasn't behind the desk.

---