“I don’t have a usual time. I’m not here that often,” he replied, beginning to tire of the unwanted attention. Where in the hell was Gwen? He was past ready to get out of here.
Brandy giggled in a way that made his hair practically stand on end. She reached up to squeeze his arm. “Oh, come on, there’s no way you are in such great shape without hitting the gym every day. Maybe we could work out together. Misty and I also take some of the spinning and Zumba classes if you’re interested in those.”
Just as he was debating leaving and texting Gwen, he saw her walking slowly toward them. She took in Brandy’s hold on his arm, and he saw her mouth tighten and her eyes narrow. She looked like she was ready to kick someone’s ass, and he had a bad feeling it was his. Surely, she couldn’t believe that he would have the slightest desire for the stick figures standing far too close to him. She was the perfect woman to him. Her face was carefully blank as she stopped a few feet away. He had the feeling that she had been considering walking past without stopping. He gave her a soft smile over Brandy’s head. “Hey, baby. I was wondering where you were.”
Both Brandy and Misty swung around, staring at Gwen in shock. Dominic took the opportunity to step away from Brandy’s suddenly limp fingers and walk around to Gwen’s side. He dropped his arm around her waist, pulling her to his side. “Who—how do you know each other?” Brandy wheezed out, looking faint.
When Gwen remained silent, Dominic gave Brandy an easy smile, saying, “This is my girlfriend, Gwen. Have you met? She’s a regular here. She prefers the water classes though since everyone is so much . . . nicer there.” He dropped his hand to her hip, caressing her skin. “You can’t argue with the results, can you?” He turned to look into Gwen’s eyes, asking, “Ready, baby?” She nodded in reply, and he put a hand in the small of her back as they began walking toward the door. Over his shoulder, Dominic said, “Nice meeting you, ladies.” Yeah, like hell, but they looked too shocked to register the insincere tone of his voice.
When they cleared the doorway, Gwen pulled out of his hold and threw her arms around his neck. He had no idea what had prompted this unusual display of affection, but he wasn’t above taking advantage of it by pulling her even closer. “Oh, my God, thank you!” she squealed against his neck before dotting kisses there. “It was so nice to see those two speechless!”
Pulling back, Dominic looked down at her beaming face. “You know them?”
Still smiling, she replied, “We’re not friends, trust me. I used to go to one of the Zumba classes that they were in. It was horrible. Th-they made fun of me and were always so mean. I almost quit coming here at all because of them.”
“They’re the reason you started going to the water class,” Dominic mused, remembering her earlier comments about how uncomfortable she had been before making her new friends. He could easily see both Brandy and Misty being jealous of someone as beautiful as Gwen. They might not be able to admit it, even to themselves, but that was exactly the reason for their behavior. No matter how much they dieted and exercised, they could never hold a candle to the woman in front of him. She was a natural beauty—healthy, and luminous. No amount of money could buy those things. He couldn’t imagine any red-blooded man picking the other two over her.
“Yeah, the terror twosome,” Gwen said dryly. “They hated me from day one, and I never did anything to them other than be nice. I tried staying in the back of the class and off their radar, but it didn’t help. They always found a way to throw a tacky comment or insult at me. I’ve never hated anyone in my life, but I came close with them. I joined the gym to exercise and feel better about myself, but I found that they were actually causing the opposite to happen.”
“Baby, I told you that it was all jealousy even before I met them. They were choking on it when they saw you. You’re everything that they’ve always wanted to be. Never, ever let someone like that change how you see yourself because that’s what they want.”
“They were only jealous because you were with me,” she said softly as she absently rubbed his back.
He kissed her softly, keeping it somewhat PG-rated since they were still standing in the front of the gym. “That was just the final straw for them, sweetheart. They’ve been green with envy over you all along. How about I run by Starbucks and get us coffee on the way? I’ll bring yours to your office when I get there.”