Page 48 of It Started With a Scarf

"Hey Becca, have you seen Marley?"

"She was here, but she went to the back with Stef."

"What for?"

"I don't know. I think she said something about folding towels before you guys go."

Dominic smiled and leaned against the counter while he texted Marley.

Dominic:

Hey, you ready? I'm at the front. Where are you?

He pressed send and put his phone on the counter. Becca had been talking to a customer, but she turned to Dominic.

"I love her."

"Who?" Dominic glanced at the customer, thinking that was who Becca was referring to.

"Marley. She's just… adorable. She got so excited about that uniform shirt Stef gave her earlier. She's just so sweet and real. I like being around her. I don't know who she is to you, but I—"

"She's my girlfriend. And I know, I can't get over how sweet she is. What'd she say about the shirt?"

"She was so excited when she tried it on. She was impressed, talking about how nice and thick it was. She's just so nice."

"I know," he said. Just as he said it, his phone buzzed.

Marley:

On my way.

Dominic could see the hallway in his periphery, and he noticed three minutes later when Marley and Stef came back to the front. Stef was the trainer from California. He was smiling at Marley, and how could he not? She was beautiful and adorable. She was wearing the ETC sweatshirt with her jeans. She glanced away from Stef and toward him as she walked, and when she saw that Dominic was looking at her, she smiled at him and made a silly face. She briefly stuck her tongue out a little and crossed her eyes, and he shook his head at her. She and Stef were having a conversation, and they continued it until they got back to the desk.

"I told Marley you would agree that Mrs. Crosby's one of our more challenging customers," Stef said, looking right at Dominic.

"Yeah, she is. Why, was she mean to you?" Dominic looked at Marley who smiled and shook her head.

"She loved her," Stef said. "Marley's a natural with the customers. We saw Mrs. Crosby in the main hall and talked to her for a minute. She had already met Marley earlier. They hugged in the hallway, and Ellen asked Marley how her afternoon had been. And Marley says… 'I'm feeling blessed, Ms. Ellen.' It was cute. Ellen loved her. I've never seen her soft like that."

"She has that effect on people," Dominic said. They all looked at him, and he just stared at Marley. "That shirt looks good on you." He looked directly at her, feeling possessive like she was his girl.

She touched the front of it shyly. "Thank you. I love it."

"Do you want a smoothie before we go?" he asked.

"She earned it," Stef said.

"I know," Dominic said, smiling and resisting the urge to reach out and punch Stef in the face. He knew he would never act on feelings like that, but it was funny that Marley gave him those kinds of possessive urges.

They told everyone goodbye and headed toward the café area. They were walking down a long corridor when another customer walked by and spoke to them.

"Bye, Dom. Nice meeting you today, Marley."

"You too," Marley said.

The customer kept walking and so did they, and Dominic looked at her once he was out of earshot. "How'd you meet Cameron?"

"We talked to him earlier when I was going around with Maggie. He's a nice guy. I like Stef, too. And Becca, Maggie, Will. They're all cool. I had so much fun today!"

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