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 pina 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?"
"No."
"Pineapples?"
He grinned at her. "No, I'm not allergic to pineapples."
She offered the cup to him, and he took it from her.
"You still have half of it left."
"I know, it's huge. And it was thick. But it's amazing. I’m still working on it."
"I don't want to make you drink after me," he said, trying to hand it back to her.
"I want to," she said, smiling and pushing it his way.
Her hand touched his, and they stared. Dominic felt all sorts of masculine urges toward this woman. Her smile, he saw it, and it was like his chest was squeezed in a vice.
"I want you to have a sip, and I don't care if I drink after—" She didn't say anymore because Dominic lifted the straw to his lips and took a sip of it. He wanted her to be okay with letting him take a sip. That was basically saying she was fine with a kiss. It was really good, and he nodded. He handed it back to her afterward.
"You liked it?"
"I did."
"See? Tropical. It might be your new favorite. What if we never had this conversation?" She made a face at him before smiling again. "You're amazing at this, you know. I guess you do know, but I'm just telling you. It's so cool being here and seeing what you see. I also love how people get excited when they see you."
She made sweet eye contact the whole time she spoke, and he studied her face. "What happened to the thing you said where you look away?" He asked in a quiet challenging tone. Their eyes were so locked that he felt vulnerable—like they both were. Dominic's heart was pounding. He held the contact, and she blinked but didn't look away.
"I don't do that with you. I only look away when I don't want someone to get the wrong idea." She was still staring at him.
"So, you're okay with giving me the wrong idea?"
"W-well, no." She smiled. "I’m trying to give you the right idea, I'm just okay with you having the wrong… wait, I'm not even sure what I'm saying."
"You're staring at me a lot, Marley, and here pretty soon, I'm going to need to put a door between me and you and everyone else."
She grinned broadly at him and handed him her smoothie.
He was taking a sip of it when she casually said, "I guess my plan is working, then because that would really be fun for me."
He patiently regarded her. They held gazes, giving each other a look of challenge as he absentmindedly handed her the cup again. Her gaze was void of fear and full of intention, and he knew she wanted him. They were both feeling it.
He cleared his throat. "Do you want to see the offices?" he asked.
"Yes," she responded with no hesitation.
Marley picked up her coat and scarf and followed Dominic. He walked with purpose, but they had a lot of ground to cover and he had to pause and speak to two different people. He used a key card to get into a door, and then there was a hallway with offices. There were several doors, and he led her past a couple of them, but not to the end.
People were talking in the room at the end. Dominic could see who was in there, and he turned to her with a finger over his mouth, which made her eyes widen. He smiled at her and pulled her into his office, closing the door quietly behind them. He gently locked it. The shades were drawn, but it was light out, and there was enough light to see, so he didn't turn anything on. He leaned against the door and regarded Marley with a relieved smile. They were finally alone. She tossed her things on a nearby side table and took a few steps up to him. She stopped when she was only about a foot away and looked up at him. They weren't touching, and Dominic was desperate to change that.
"Shhh," he urged, reaching out for her and pulling her closer.
He made a serious face, listening to the people who were coming out of that nearby office. They were talking to each other as they walked by Dominic's door. They were only walking by for a few seconds, but he was holding onto her, and it was a glorious few seconds. It didn't seem to take long enough.
"I think they're gone," she whispered after hesitating.
"Guess what?" he asked, whispering.
"What?"
"We didn’t have to be quiet. Nobody comes into my office. Nobody's bothering us in here."
"This is your office?" she said quietly, glancing over her shoulder, into the room. "It's fancy. You must be important."
"Did I tell you I own this whole building?" he asked with an official tone.
She looked surprised. "You do? Then, yeah, why are we whispering?" She made a face at him, and he gave a shrug.
"I just wanted to sneak around with you. I wanted to pretend we were in danger so you'd get scared. I was trying to get your heart racing so you'd hang onto me real tight. Now I'm telling you it was a lie. No one's coming in here. Does that make you want to let go?"
"No, I'm still really scared," she said, speaking with a soft voice. "I don’t know my way around this place, and you never know who's coming back here. You can't be too careful."
Gently, she wrapped her arms around his back and he did his best not to tense or strain. He ached to rush things along, but breathed deeply and concentrated on self-control. He ran his fingers along her arms and then her back, letting himself touch her with restraint. Dominic smiled at her before leaning in and letting his lips touch hers. She stretched up, meeting his mouth. There was no hesitation on her end. She was sweet and reserved, but there was no hesitation. She tasted like sweet honey—like cherries. Her mouth was cold from the… parts of it were. Other parts were warm. Oh goodness. Dominic didn't let himself kiss her deeply, he couldn't. He let his lips lightly touch hers… two, three, four… maybe six or eight times. She was kissing him back tenderly.
Seconds passed as he took in the sensations without letting them overtake his resolve. Then he pulled away, staring at Marley's delicate face. She was exquisite, and Dominic felt like he might burst. His hand was on the side of her face. He didn't even remember putting it there, and he dropped it when he pulled back.
"Mm, that might be my favorite part of the tour so far." She said the words in a soft, sweet tone that caused his chest to tighten. He wanted Marley to want him. "Yeah, these offices," she said, glancing over her shoulder. "For some reason, this is my favorite area of the whole gym… at least what I've seen so far today."
"It's my new favorite area too," he said wrapping his hands lazily around her waist. "My office in Milwaukee is nicer than this one, but right now the view in this one is… better."
"This place is amazing. You're amazing. You work so hard. I look up to you for that. I look up to you literally, too," she added blinking to emphasize how she had to glance upward at him. "Dominic?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you for today. For everything. The scarf, lunch… the smoothie. It's really been so fun."
"You say that like it's over."
A pause.
"No, I just wanted you to know that."
She seemed sincere.
"Are you free tonight?"
"Yes," she said.
"When do you have to be at work again?"
"Tomorrow. Tomorrow afternoon at two."
"I have to be here working tomorrow all day, and then I'm going back to Milwaukee. Can we just decide that we're going to spend the rest of this day together, until later tonight?"
"Yes, we can. That seems reasonable."
"You can come eat at my parents' house."
"No, no, let's just hang out till then. I don't want to intrude on your family time."
She reached up and touched his face. She stared at him, wearing a gorgeous half-smile. "We still have time before you have to go to dinner. Let's just hang out until then."
He shrugged. "I'll agree to it, but I'm still going to try to talk you into going over there with me."
They stayed there for a few seconds, gently holding onto each other, staring. Dominic found it difficult to be patient. He wanted the relationship to move forward. He wanted Marley to agree to go to dinner tonight and every night. He wanted her to never leave his side. It had been months of wishing he could find her and now that he had, he realized he never wanted to let her go.
"How did your face get like this?" she asked staring at him.
"Like what?" he asked, wiping his mouth and thinking there was something on it.
"Perfect. Handsome. You look like a dream." She ran her fingertips gently along his jaw. "You look like a statue."
"Stone?"
"Beautiful. You really are, Dominic. And I’m not just saying that because of the free smoothie."
"It's because of the free scarf."
"The scarf, yeah, rescuing the scarf earns extreme favor, but the comment still had nothing to do with that. I'm just saying, objectively, you have a face that's simply beautiful—you know with the symmetry and proportion and everything—art class stuff."
He stared at her, feeling like he was hopelessly in love. "How many guys have you said something like that to?" he asked.
"None," she said with a little giggle like she was surprised by the question. "How many girls have you… never mind. I don't even know what I was going to ask."
"How many guys have you gotten close to, Marley?"
"Y-y-you mean like, you and I are right now?"
"No, please don’t tell me every time you—I mean how many have you been—"
"None," she said, cutting him off. "I'm sheltered, Dominic—a small-town Texas girl. I don't go to bars or anything. I certainly don't get myself in locked offices with handsome young gentlemen."
Several seconds of silence passed.
"I think we're past the handsome gentleman stage, though, right? I’m Dom now. You're locked in an office with Dominic. That's okay."
"Yeah, it's okay," She answered with quiet certainty.
And suddenly they were kissing again. Her mouth opened, and he took her. He tried to be gentle, but he had been waiting for months, and she asked for it, so he kissed her deeply. She held onto him, molding to him, clinging to his body. They shared a few scorching seconds and then he softened his touch, pulling back and kissing her gently again. He kissed her precious mouth over and over, tasting her, loving her, finding it impossible to stop.