Page 7 of It Started With a Scarf

"Retail. Wait. Why'd you call me over here? Areyouon a blind date?"

"No."

"I thought maybe I looked like the picture of a girl you were meeting."

"No. I'm meeting dudes here. I just called you over to give you a way out in case Tucker McDaniel was bugging you. I know that guy. He's a piece of work. I saw him trying to talk to you."

"Oh, you know that guy?"

He shrugged. "Sort of. He knows a lot of people. He used to be a football player, so he's pretty popular."

"Oh, like a professional one?"

He smiled. "Yeah, for the Bears."

I glanced at Tucker McDaniel and then back at the handsome stranger. He adjusted the cuff of his shirt.

"Does that change how you feel about him? Do you want to go back over there and talk to him?"

"No, I don't." I started to say something about Tucker's personality, but then I changed my mind and kept my mouth closed. I gave him a little smile and then glanced around the room. I didn't want to miss Tom. I didn't see him.

"What's the story with the scarf?" the guy asked.

"It has to do with a lady, an old actress. You probably don't even know her."

"Try me."

"Mariam Waterson."

"I know who that is. How could I not? She's been in a ton of movies."

Chapter 2

Dominic Decker

He noticed that woman the second she came into the bar. Her scarf had caught his attention, but her smile had held it. That scarf was the brightest, most colorful, different thing he had ever seen. It was long and bold, and it was twisted twice around her neck when she came in. It was the coolest accessory, and it made Dominic smile the second she came into the bar.

A young woman was wearing it, and she took it off when she sat at the bar. He gazed at her face and realized she was gorgeous with a gentle, sweet smile. He sat there staring at her and taking her in for a few long seconds before he looked down at his phone.

Dominic received a text from his brother saying he was running a few minutes late, and he took time to answer it, but he put his phone down a minute later. He glanced at the woman again, and he noticed that Tucker McDaniel was standing next to her.

He watched their interaction for a minute, and he noticed that she wasn't responding positively to Tucker. She glanced Dominic's way at one point, but then she looked away. He kept watching, and the next thing he knew, she was looking at him again, and he was calling her over. He couldn’t believe it when she stood up and walked over to him.

Tucker watched her leave, and the two of them made eye contact a few seconds later when Tucker realized she was heading to Dominic's table.

She got settled on the stool next to him. She had darkish green eyes, similar to his mom and sister, but still somehow different. And she smiled a lot, so they sparkled. She wasn't nervous at all. A lot of women were nervous around Dominic, but this one was… she was unfazed.

He talked to her, and she said she was there for a job interview. He mentioned her scarf, and she told him it had to do with Mariam Waterson. He knew of the actress she was talking about, and he asked her to tell him more. He was intrigued by the story, but more than that, he was intrigued by this woman—his reaction to her. He was curious about the scarf, but now he wanted her to tell him more about it simply so that he could see her smile and the way she got animated when she talked. He enjoyed talking to her. She was so interesting. She was funny and innocent, and he loved her face. Dominic was spellbound.

As he sat across from this woman and had a conversation with her, he pondered the idea of having a muse. He wasn't a poet or painter. He wasn't an artist at all. But if he was, and if he did have a muse, this woman would be her. She stirred feelings in him. He had never had a reaction like this to a woman.

"I know who that is," he said, speaking of Mariam Waterson, and feeling desperate to continue the conversation. "How could I not? She's been in a ton of movies."

"Well, she's the lady who made this scarf. She knitted it."

"You're joking. The actress? Do you know her?"

"My grandma does. She's really old. I don't think they've seen each other in years. But she's friends with my grandma. They met through my granddad… because he's a scientist."

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