Chapter 590: Apprehension

Dom listened to Mina explain her theory about his personality to Jay, who remained unconvinced. The truth was that she was right, but that had not always been the case. He grew up in a complicated household that gave him negative impressions of love and relationships, and over time it warped the way he viewed women as a whole, but thanks to Mina, he was starting to change.

While Dom once found it easy to objectify women, he could no longer do it without guilt. He used to think that pursuing women who used their assets to their advantage made him a better man than most, but it made him typical. With new personal growth, Dom found that if he liked a woman enough, he would respect them by not getting into a relationship that he knew would lead nowhere.

There had been a time in the past when Mina told him that he was shallow for believing she was different from other women, and in a way, she was right, only, she was wrong about the reason. Dom had never seen women as less than or weak, in fact, the thing that drew him to Mina was her relaxed nature, but what had changed for Dom was that he now looked at women and thought about the experiences that may have shaped them.

Through Mina, Dom had met five of the most unique women he had ever seen gathered in a room, starting from one who barely spoke and ending with one that did not stop speaking. They were all attractive in their own way, with Mina being the prettiest of the group, but each of them had a personality trait or feature that actually made Dom see them, especially Olivia.

Before Dom had found out that Olivia was expecting, he had been extremely close to pursuing her. She was sweet, but she was also feisty and where personalities were concerned, Dom could see himself with the woman long term, which he had only ever done with Mina.

Even after finding out that she was pregnant, Dom's fondness for Olivia had not gone. It shifted in nature out of respect for her emotional state, and because he genuinely saw her as a friend, but if she ever gave him any indication that she was willing to be in a relationship with him, Dom could not guarantee he would say no.

That was also the case for Mina; if she told him that she wanted to try building their friendship into something more than friends, he was more than willing, and that was why he was so jealous of Brayden. The man was literally doing exactly what Dom had told himself he was going to do, and he could only be angry with himself, because he had let fear of President Lee hold him back.

"Dom isn't as bad as you think he is Jay. He is just confused. Can't you see how he treats Olivia? How many men in this country do you think will do that?"

"None," Jay said, and Mina giggled at her friend.

"Not none, but few."

"Definitely not the actual father," Olivia added as she strolled into the sitting room with a blanket wrapped around her body. She instinctively sat next to Dom, and curled up against his body, while he adjusted himself to make her more comfortable.

"I am a good catch, aren't I?" A chorus of groans left the lips of all three women, and Dom laughed loudly at the reaction. He enjoyed teasing the girls whenever they made him feel mushy.

"So, are you going to go out with Brayden tonight?" Dom sucked his teeth and Olivia pinched his side. She too whispered something to Dom, but Mina did not hear it.

"I haven't decided. President Lee and I have a business meeting in a couple of hours, and I don't want to keep Brayden waiting."

"Then reschedule." Olivia stood up and made her way to the stool that leaned against the kitchen island. The way the apartment was set up meant that guests in the living room could see the kitchen in its entirety, likely so that a host could entertain their guests while cooking.

"I have never been on a date before. I don't know what to wear or what to expect. What if I make a fool of myself?"

"Are you scared?" Dom asked, joining Olivia at the small seating area. "If you are, then you need to trust your instincts. Something about him puts you off, and you need to pay attention to that part of you." Olivia punched Dom's arm, but he wore a serious expression. "All jokes aside O; Mina and I haven't known each other very long, but I think I have made her feel uncomfortable maybe twice ever." Mina nodded in agreement.

"Then tell Brayden the truth," Jay said from the couch. "Tell him that you feel uncomfortable. See what he says. I agree with Dom, and we all know that the man has an extensive dating record, so it's not wrong for someone with no experience to feel anxious about him."

----

It was early in the morning when Brayden showed up at the Free building, and days after Mina had come clean about her apprehension. She was just finishing a meeting with Miss Meagan, and Mina remembered briefly mentioning it to the man in their last conversation the week before. Apparently, he was paying attention.

"Brayden, what are you doing here?" She asked, a little embarrassed that the man had shown up to wait for her. It was obvious he was a little uncomfortable as some of the volunteers covertly snapped his photo.

"I wanted to show you that there is nothing scary about me." Mina made a guilty face as she looked down to the ground. She had told Brayden that she was uncomfortable with going on a date with him, and the conversation did not end well. He was offended and had actually hung up on her before she could apologize.

"You never let me finish-"

"I know," the man interrupted. "I spoke to my members and they said that I focused too much on what you said and not enough on the fact that you were honest about it." Mina felt her heart thumping in her chest as the man stared directly into her eyes, making her face feel hot. "So here I am, ready to take you to breakfast."

Mina smiled at the man, who extended his elbow to her. Breakfast was safe and it did not have the awkward hour that Mina believed made men feel like something more was going to happen. She may not have been untouched, but she had yet to give herself away freely and she was worried about how she would react if the opportunity presented itself.

Taking Brayden's arm, Mina followed the man outside of the facility, but paused in her steps when she saw that he had ridden a motorcycle. She complained that it was not safe, and he countered by telling her that she had to learn to trust him somehow. Mina knew where the man was going but putting her life in danger as a tradeoff for a dinner date was not an option for her.

"Brayden, can we please take a taxi?" The man pouted before nodding.

"Only because you asked nicely," he teased. "But soon, I want to have you on the back of my bike." Mina nodded, completely unaware that Brayden was alluding to a sexual encounter, because the man had hidden his words well, and her mind had gone to the literal.

"Where do we go?"

"I think I remember you telling me that you liked cakes. There is a small shop that my members used to go to; want to try it with me?" Mina nodded again, but Brayden stopped her head from moving by holding her chin. "I prefer when you use your voice. When you nod like that, it feels like I am forcing you to agree."