Page 16 of Blossoming Dahlia

“Well, let me know if your building has any vacancies,” I joked, but my voice had a bitter edge to it. “I’m apartment hunting now, I guess.”

Asher’s eyes filled with sympathy, but before he could respond there was a knock at the door, causing us both to freeze. Asher set his coffee down and stood up, pulling his gun before walking to the door. His whole body was coiled like a spring, and it was such a stark difference from the languid, relaxed man I was used to that it made me shiver. He looked through the peephole and sighed heavily, stowing his gun once more. Opening the door, his face twisted in a frown as Hunter walked through, grinning at his partner. “You said you’d text when you were coming by,” Asher reminded him sharply.

Hunter shrugged, his eyes finding me, and his smirk softened. “I did text, maybe turn your phone off silent smartass,” hereplied without looking at him. “Dahlia, you look rested,” he told me, and I smiled, smoothing down my blouse.

“Amanda brought me some of my things, we watched a movie last night,” I replied, and he nodded approvingly, his eyes traveling over me. Asher cleared his throat and stepped between us, and Hunter smirked, his eyebrows quirking up.

“Want some coffee?” Asher asked him, and he laughed and shook his head.

“God no, thanks. No, I bring tidings from the mayor’s office,” he announced, and both men moved around to join me on the couch. Asher sat down beside me, grabbing his coffee once again. I noticed that he sat closer to me this time, his body angling to keep Hunter in his sights, almost like he thought Hunter was a threat, which was weird because he never once acted anything but kind to me. If Hunter noticed, he didn’t say anything, settling into a chair across from us. “The Mayor would like to have a press conference, updating the public on the case and offering a public show of support for you and the uh, victims’ families,” Hunter explained, and my stomach twisted. I clutched my mug tighter, willing my hands to not shake.

“So I’d have to… go on TV?” I asked, hunching my shoulders. Asher shifted beside me on the couch, his lips turned down in a scowl.

“Yes, but it would be very quick. He would say something like‘we are glad you are okay, we pledge our support to you blah blah blah, something about the police force’,pose for a photo, and then questions from the press. You won’t have to say more than five words, basically he just wants someone to stand there and look pretty,” he explained, and I stared into my coffee, mulling it over.

“You don’t have to do this,” Asher told me gently, and I looked up to see him watching me intently. “You can say no and that’ll be that.” I remembered what Hunter had said before, aboutthrowing them a bone so the media would leave me alone. What better bone than the Mayor’s press conference?

“I’ll do it. When is it?” I asked, exhaling quickly. Hunter smiled, but his eyes had a hint of worry in them.

“It’s today at 3 p.m.,” he told me, and my pulse jumped. I looked down at the outfit I’d picked, smoothing the skirt nervously. “Listen, it’s not a big deal at all. They’re not expecting you to show up in a suit, or an evening gown, or anything. Just how you are is perfect.” I smiled wanly, picking at a loose thread on my hem. “It’s at our building, so we’ll be nice and secure. You can come with us to the office, hang out there while they get set up, and then we’ll escort you into the conference room. You won’t be alone even for a moment,” he reassured me, and I nodded absently.

“We could pick up Amanda on the way down. She said she would be off early this afternoon,” Asher announced, and my gaze shot to him, my mouth dropping open in surprise. Was I more surprised that he and Amanda were talking so much, or that he realized that she was exactly the person to make me feel okay enough to do this?

“Yes, please, that would be wonderful,” I told him quietly. He nodded and shot Hunter a cryptic look before pulling out his phone. Was he texting Amanda? Did they text now? I wondered, a small stab of jealousy going through my chest. I pushed it away, feeling ridiculous. Who was I, to be jealous of a man who had no ties to me?

“Hey, when am I allowed to get my own phone?” I asked Hunter, whose eyes widened in confusion. “I uh, lost mine when I was taken,” I explained, and he looked chagrined.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t even think of it. Let me look into that for you, okay?” Hunter told me, and my spirits lifted. Asher set his phone down after a minute, taking another sip of his coffee.

“We can stop on the way to the office and pick her up,” he told us, and Hunter nodded quickly.

“Alright then. Dahlia, why don’t you dump that swill and we’ll get you some real coffee on the way to the office?” He smiled, and Asher rolled his eyes, pointedly drinking more of his own coffee. I just laughed and took another sip before taking my mug over to the kitchenette. We gave Asher a few minutes to finish getting ready, and when he came back out, he was once more dressed in his tucked-in shirt and tie, his hair smoothed back instead of its usual rumpled state. I guessed he made a bigger effort to look the part when he had to go into the office.

We piled into Hunter’s SUV this time, and I sat back and listened while they talked about work, watching the city pass by out the window. It felt so strange to be home, and yet I was still somehow not home, left adrift in a hotel in my own city. I really needed to start looking for a place as soon as possible.

True to his word, Hunter stopped for coffee, and I ordered a mocha and a croissant, earning a look of approval from Asher. Next, we drove to pick up Amanda, whose apartment wasn’t actually on the way at all, but they didn’t say anything. She bounded up to the SUV, looking effortlessly pretty in a maroon jumpsuit, and she slid into the back seat beside me, giving me a fierce hug before buckling herself in. “You’re really going on TV?” she asked me incredulously. “You don’t even like giving lectures when it’s more than fifty people.”

“I figured I should get it over with,” I murmured, and she nodded, understanding. “At least, this way I shouldn’t have to say much.”

“Probably for the best, you’re very dull,” she mused, and I swatted her playfully. “You know, if I had known you were going on TV, I would’ve done your hair.” I frowned and ran my hands through it, looking at the ends, and she cackled evilly.

We continued to bicker for the entire car ride, even as we pulled into the office parkade. The men escorted us on the elevator, and I somehow ended up jostled against Asher, Amanda taking up more than her share of the space as she looked around with unabashed interest. My arm grazed his chest, sending warmth straight to my core, and I felt his fingers brush against my back, steading me softly. I resisted the urge to lean into him, his presence was so comforting I could just sink into him, knowing I’d be safe there.

We got off on the same floor as last time, but instead of taking us to the conference room, we kept walking, stopping at a smaller office near the end of the hall. I looked inside and immediately ascertained that this was Asher’s office. It was like someone had taken the chaos in his head and dumped it haphazardly inside a room. Stacks of files were piled up on every spare surface, and more papers were pinned up on the walls. A book shelf was in one corner, overflowing with books, and more books were stacked up on the floor beside it.

“You’ve got a little bit of time to kill before we need to take you downstairs, are you okay to hang out here for a bit?” Hunter asked as Asher slipped inside and started to tidy up, cleaning some pens off his desk. I nodded, and Amanda immediately went inside, zeroing in on the bookshelf. “Great, I’ll swing by to get you in a few,” he told me, and I followed Asher and Amanda inside, drifting over to look at the papers on the wall.

I scanned the documents, but most of them made no sense to me, and I couldn’t fathom what they did to earn a space on the wall, instead of in one of the files littering the office. “Doc, you have some weird interests,” Amanda mused, holding up a book that seemed to be about Medieval torture methods.

“Believe it or not, that was for a case from a couple years back,” he replied, and Amanda’s eyebrows shot up as she replaced the book. She continued to browse the shelves, and my eyes drifteddown to the books stacked up on the floor. I wondered if these ones were newer, from more recent cases, or if they hadn’t made the cut to be saved and were destined for a second-hand store somewhere. I studied the spines idly, then grabbed one from midway down the pile, slipping it out to look at it.

“Hm, the Psychology of Sexual Relationships, now that sounds like an interesting read,” Amanda said, looking over my shoulder at the book I’d found. We both looked up at Asher, who seemed ready to sink into the floor to avoid this conversation. Amanda slipped it out of my hands, flipping it open to look through it. “Oh, there’s even pictures!” She grinned, pointing to a photo of a man tied to a bed. “Man, if I’d known the FBI was kinky I would’ve gotten myself arrested a long time ago.” I laughed, and Asher reached between us, snatching the book away and shutting it with a snap.

“Alright, enough of that,” he huffed, setting the book behind him. “Remember, I can still arrest you,” he muttered.

“Hear that Dee? He’s got handcuffs,” Amanda mock-whispered, and we both doubled over with giggles. Asher groaned, running a hand through his hair, immediately destroying the effort he’d made to smooth it down.

“Okay Mandy, stop teasing the man with the gun.” I grinned, and she made a low growl in her throat, her eyebrows waggling suggestively. I laughed harder, my hand going up to cover my mouth. Asher’s cheeks were flushed, but he was smiling too, so I felt less bad about teasing him. I looked through the rest of the books, switching places with Amanda to peruse the shelf instead. I spotted an oddly familiar book and pulled it out, my mouth dropping open as I recognized the cover. “Why do you have a copy of False Gods: The Misuse of Religion in Modern Rituals?” I asked, holding it out to Asher.

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