Page 89 of Danger and Dominance
The doorbell rang, and Cassidy startled, trying to pull away.David held her for another moment, then let her go, but he caught her hand.She already knew he liked her.They’d already bent the rules some.
“Are you expecting anyone this morning?”he asked.She shook her head, trying to peer around him.They could hear Jensen answering the door, talking to someone.It sounded like a woman.David turned to try to look out the doorway to the hall, keeping Cassidy behind him.
A moment later, the front door closed, and footsteps started coming down the hall.
David frowned as Jensen came into view, a bouquet of black roses in a black vase held out in front of him.Over the top of the funereal flowers, his face was set in a frown.
“Hey, guys.We have a problem.”Jensen glanced at Cassidy.“There’s no note, and the woman said the person who ordered them put in the order and paid for them by messenger.We’ll have to see if we can track the messenger down, but…”
Shit.
It looked like Cassidy didn’t have to worry about Don having moved on to someone else.She just had to worry about the fact that, somehow, he knew where she was.
32
Cassidy
“From ‘I’d like to take you out on a date’ to ‘move in with me’ didn’t take very long,” Cassidy joked because if she didn’t joke, if she didn’t find a way to laugh about this, she was going to completely fall apart.
David gave her a dark look.He didn’t seem to have a sense of humor about the situation at all.From the moment Jensen had appeared with the roses, it was like a switch had been flipped.
No more Master David, no more Sweetly Awkward David—he’d morphed into Protector David, which was also hot.Though in a very different way.A very hands-off way.
He was focused.Tightly wound.Watching her every move.
Cassidy folded her hands on her lap as she sat on his couch, doing her best to contain her nervous energy.It was not quite as comfortable as Jensen’s couch, which was so easy to sink into.It wasn’t uncomfortable, either, just… more utilitarian.Just like the rest of his apartment.Which is where she was staying for the foreseeable future since Don apparently knew where she was.
She hadn’t even been allowed to bring a bag of clothing with her since they didn’t know how he’d tracked her.Nothing that had come up from Maryland with her.Everything had been left at Jensen’s.So, she still had access to it; it just wasn’t within immediate reach.Which meant there was no reason to feel like crying.
Other than Don stripping her of the rest of the very little she’d held onto.It was temporary.
No big deal.
Right now, she was wearing Mick’s clothes since he was a little closer to her size than Jensen.The basketball shorts and t-shirt were baggy on her, but at least they weren’t falling off her.
Claudia plopped down on the couch next to her.
“Ginger wants to take you on a date?”she asked, a slightly gleeful note in her voice.
“Now is not the time, Scary,” David admonished, glaring at her.The whole group had snapped into work mode after the arrival of the roses.They all had an air of alertness she hadn’t seen before, they were using each other’s call signs, and even their tones of voice had changed.“Do not mess with me.”
“I’m just trying to find out if you’re going to be messing with her.”
“We agreed that I would take her out on a date, eventually.Sometime in the future.So, if you bet something for this week, you lost.”He said the words flatly, and Claudia made a face.“Now, leave her alone.I need her to go over the descriptions of the tailgating again.”
Which was exactly what Cassidy had hoped to avoid.They’d already talked it through several times.After each time, David paced, shook his head, then wanted to go over it again.Hence making the joke about moving in together while he paced.
A knock on the door had both Claudia and David straightening on high alert.
“It’s me!”The voice through the door was familiar, and it only took Cassidy a moment to place it before Drew opened the door, revealing she’d correctly identified Ashley.The pretty brunette smiled as she hurried in, seeking out and immediately finding Cassidy peeking at her from over the back of the couch.She had a duffel bag slung over one shoulder and a plastic shopping bag in her other hand.“Sorry, it took me longer than I thought to get everything because I figured you wouldn’t want to wear my underwear, so I had to stop by the store for that.”
Cassidy blinked.
“Your underwear?”
“I asked her if you could borrow some clothing.Just for a few days while we go over all your things,” David explained.“You two are the most similar in size from our group.”
“And I figured you wouldn’t want to borrow underwear.”Ashley wrinkled her nose, coming over to sit down on the other side of Cassidy on the couch.She gave Claudia a little smile.
