Page 15 of Danger and Dominance (Black Fox Security Doms #1)
The days seemed to simultaneously rush and trickle by. The days felt like they were taking forever as she got through them, yet, somehow, she blinked, and it was Thursday. Game night with the ladies. Which she was very grateful for as something to break up the tedium.
She had gotten out of the house a few times with Jensen, going out to run errands and just see a little more of the city when he did so.
The lack of memories with Don helped her anxiety a lot.
She was sleeping better than ever, she wasn’t jumpy at the stores, and she didn’t imagine him around every corner.
Compared to how she’d been before, this was practically blissful.
She’d forgotten what it felt like to just live instead of feeling hunted all the time. Afraid all the time.
The colors seemed brighter. People were no longer so threatening. New places were interesting instead of nerve-wracking. And she was hungrier. She felt like she could actually eat.
Which meant she’d spent most of the week cooking for Jensen and Mick, who had thrown themselves on the food like hungry wolves.
Both of them told her they enjoyed cooking, too, but they were happy to get a little break.
And it made her feel better about living with them rent-free. Like she was giving back a little bit.
She still felt guilty because one of them was always home, or someone from the team stopped by to cover for them when they couldn’t.
One time, it had been Mason; another time Claudia.
Mason had talked to her the whole time, and Cassidy considered it an impromptu therapy session.
Claudia had decided Cassidy needed a workout and to learn some self-defense moves.
She had not been wrong, and she’d agreed to start coming over at least once a week to keep that up with Cassidy.
Despite all that, Cassidy still felt restless.
Like she was supposed to be doing something, and instead, she was sitting around slacking.
At any minute, Jensen and Mick were going to start resenting her cramping their style.
She was sure they didn’t want to have to be home all the time taking care of her.
Especially when there was no reason to think that she was in any danger up here.
It wasn’t like back at home where Don knew where her friends were and where Stronghold and Marquis were.
Kincaid, Patrick, and Law had all texted her this week to let her know that there had been no more sightings of Don and no more harassment since she’d left.
It had all stopped, as though he’d lost interest because she wasn’t there.
Which was such a relief and helped assuage some of the guilt she’d been feeling about leaving. But now, she felt guilty about the fact that if she’d left earlier, maybe he wouldn’t have harassed her friends at all…
I can only control myself.
She let out a deep sigh as Jensen pulled up in front of a pretty stone house. It looked almost like a cottage out of a fairytale, complete with a little turret on the left side. Not at all what she’d pictured for Claudia, but somehow, now that she saw it, it fit.
“Everything okay?” Jensen asked, looking at her with concern.
“Yeah, just a little tired.” It was an easier explanation than everything going through her head. Perhaps not the most believable one since she was finally getting enough sleep every night. She was actually feeling better than ever, but she was still emotionally tired. Depleted, really.
“Don’t worry, you’re going to have fun. You’ve already met Claudia, Naomi, and Jennifer, and everyone else is really nice. Actually, speaking of…” He twisted around in his seat and pulled a paper bag out from behind her seat, handing it to her. “Would you mind giving this to Jennifer?”
“Sure.” She peeked inside. “Are these the pickled veggies you bought the other day?” He’d bought five different kinds of pickled vegetables—asparagus, Brussel sprouts, carrots, onions, and a jar of mixed vegetables.
“We bought.”
“Your money.”
“You helped pick them.”
Fair enough. She hadn’t known they were for Jennifer, though; she’d thought they were for him and Mick. She didn’t like pickles, but she hadn’t had the heart to tell him that when he’d been so intent on picking out a good selection.
“Why didn’t you give them to her at work?”
He shrugged casually, avoiding her gaze. “Feels a little weird to be giving someone a gift at work. You can pass them on to her tonight without it being weird.”
Cassidy narrowed her eyes, studying him.
“Jensen, do you have a crush on Jennifer?”
“What? No!” Now, he looked at her with an affronted expression, but she wasn’t buying it.
The Baby doth protest too much. “She’s way too young for me.
I just know she likes pickled vegetables and thought we could pick some up for her.
But I don’t want her to feel weird about accepting them from me or thinking that I’m trying to hit on her or make her uncomfortable at work or anything. ”
Well, if Jennifer didn’t return Jensen’s interest, Cassidy could see how that might make work awkward.
She could see his point about Jennifer being young, though the age difference between them couldn’t be more than ten years.
The same as Master Law and Iris back at Stronghold, and she’d definitely heard of bigger ones. But Jennifer was just out of college.
At any rate, Jensen looked so defensive, she just smiled. She didn’t call him out on the fact that he was practically stumbling over his words to reassure her that he didn’t have a thing for Jennifer. Which meant he probably did.
“Got it,” she said. “I’ll make sure she gets them and that she knows we picked them out together.”
Sheer relief replaced the anxiety in his expression. Yup, he totally didn’t like her.
“Great. Thanks.” He smiled weakly. “I’ll be back to pick you up later. I’m only five minutes away at David’s.”
David lived only five minutes away?
Immediately, Cassidy bit her lip against asking the question. There was no reason to. It didn’t matter. She knew Jensen had checked in daily with David about what she was doing because Jensen had told her, but it wasn’t like David was interested in her beyond that.
Unfortunately, it seemed Jensen wasn’t the only one with a crush.
She hoped that his was more attainable than hers.