Page 67 of Danger and Dominance
Which meant he didn’t feel like he needed to worry so much right now, no matter how attuned he was to her presence as she came to stand between him and Claudia.
“Beer?”Jensen asked her.
“Just water, thanks.”She smiled at Jensen as he moved to get her a glass.“So, how was the fundraiser?”
Cassidy
Sometimes, not being able to fall asleep wasn’t the worst thing in the world.Especially when it meant coming downstairs to find a kitchen full of hotties… and one hottie in particular.Part of her had thought about sneaking back upstairs, but then Jensen had seen her, and she’d figured she might as well stay.
It was fun listening to them talk about their job and hanging out together.She’d seen David at his grandmother’s during the week, but this was a different side of him.The team leader.He listened as much as he talked, and he was a lot more blunt with them than he was with his grandmother, but it was just as obvious how deeply he cared about them.
Eventually, Drew left, then Claudia.Mason, Jensen, David, and she moved to the living room, which was good because she was starting to get tired.
Somehow, she ended up on one couch with David while Mason and Jensen took the other.They were arguing about something from a reality TV show.Not something she’d watched, though she was amused by how passionately opinionated they both were.David was listening and watching them with an expression of incredulity on his face.
Cassidy couldn’t help but giggle, pulling one of the cushions onto her lap and curling up around it.He slanted a glance her way, catching her eye as if to say, ‘Can you believe them?’, making her giggle even harder.She reached up to cover her mouth with her hand to try to keep Jensen and Mason from hearing her.
Fortunately, they were way too engrossed in their debate to realize she was laughing at them.
The corner of David’s mouth tipped up, and he leaned back against the couch, throwing his arm along the back of it.They were far apart enough that his arm wasn’t behind her, though it would be if she scooted over one place.She ignored the desire to do so.
“How’s your week been?”he asked.“Nothing weird that I should know about?”
He asked the same question every time he saw her.Cassidy shook her head, bemused.Nothing weird had happened since the day she’d been tailgated.
Which wasn’t weird.Get over it.
She hadn’t told him about it, and she sure as heck wasn’t going to bring it up now, especially since it hadn’t happened again.
“Weirdest thing that’s happened is Mick had a date last night,” she said, grinning.
David blinked.
“Mick, as in Jensen’s cousin Mick?ThatMick?”Obviously, he knew it was that Mick, but his reaction was akin to hers and Jensen’s.
“Yeah, apparently, he met her at the grocery store, and they hit it off.”Cassidy hoped she got to meet the woman one day because Mick was not someone she would have thought would ask out a woman he just met.Or that she would say yes.Mick was delightful, but he was kind of a himbo.Cassidy did not see him as the type to have a lot of game.Now, she had to wonder if she’d misjudged him or if he’d just found the right kind of woman for whatever line he’d used.
“What’s her name?Maybe I can look her up.”David started to reach for his phone.Laughing, Cassidy held out her hand, waving to stop him.
“I’m not entirely sure.He was talking pretty fast while he was telling us about it.It starts with an ‘N’, which is the only thing I’m sure of.”
“Darn.Not quite enough to go on.”David sighed.“Once you get me a name, I’ll do a check and make sure she’s good enough for him.”
Okay, well, that was adorable.
“Do you do background checks on all your friends’ dates?”Though, she wasn’t sure that David would actually quantify Mick as a friend, which made the gesture even sweeter.
“Yes.”
The blunt, unapologetic answer made her snort with laughter.Actually snort.Good Lord.She was overly tired and should go back to bed, but she didn’t want to.She wanted to stay up and keep talking with David.She was enjoying it.
Jensen and Mason were there, even if they were having their own conversation, so surely there was no harm in it.
They talked about how he’d ended up joining the military, then Black Fox.Cassidy had already heard some of it from Brenda.She knew the family was mostly estranged, with David’s sister being the only connection he had with his parents.She ached for him.
Her parents were gone, but at least they’d had a good relationship when they were alive.Never once had she thought they wouldn’t support her or that they’d only love her if she acted the way they wanted her to.There was nothing she could do to disappoint them so badly, they would turn away from her.
The longer they talked, the more tired she became.She turned to face him on the couch so she could lay her head against the back cushion and rest a little, which didn’t help with how tired she was.It did mean she could stare at him.With her legs tucked up while she was curled up, they were still pretty far apart, but eventually, she felt the need to stretch.
