Page 26 of Danger and Dominance (Black Fox Security Doms #1)

David

“It was an accident,” Jensen whispered, shooting a surreptitious glance over to the table where Cassidy was sitting with David’s grandmother, hungrily tearing apart the muffin he’d gotten her.

Grandma was chattering about something, looking very pleased.

A vein pulsed in David’s temple, and his jaw felt like it was locked into place.

“It’s not her fault; she didn’t realize Mick had made pot brownies, and I didn’t warn her because I thought she was eating breakfast. Who eats brownies for breakfast? ”

They wouldn’t be David’s first choice, either, but he had a sister, so he knew there were certain circumstances under which he could imagine her eating a brownie for breakfast. That time of the month. After a really long trip. During times of great stress.

After a breakup.

Crap, was this his fault?

Not that he and Cassidy had broken up, but…

Stop trying to figure out why she ate them. It doesn’t matter.

What mattered was that his grandmother obviously liked her and wanted to hire her, even though she’d shown up high to the interview. Be honest— because she’d shown up high to the interview.

Groaning, he closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“She really wants this job, Ginger. Your grandma seems to like her. She’d probably be good at it.” Jensen was speaking earnestly, quickly. “It’ll get her out of the house regularly and earn her some money, which you can handle paying her through the firm, so we can keep her hidden.”

“What if her ex comes looking for her and finds her with my grandma?” David asked, even though he knew the chances of that were extremely low.

“Are you telling me you don’t have safety measures set up for your grandma?” Jensen asked archly.

Of course, he did. The security system on her house was just as good as the one on his apartment, and he had access to it. He’d be able to check in on them throughout the day. Plus, his grandma had a panic button. And a panic room. She’d called it overkill, but it had made him feel a lot better.

Those were safety measures that Cassidy wouldn’t necessarily have access to if she was hired somewhere else.

“I’ll have to tell my grandma about the danger,” he said gruffly, already knowing she wouldn’t consider it a deterrent. She’d probably just want to hire Cassidy even more.

“You know there’s not that much danger.” Jensen shook his head. “I feel like we’ve already gone way overboard. There’s no reason to think her ex is coming after her at this point, if he even knew where she was, which he doesn’t.”

“I know.” David sighed. “It’s the only reason I’m even willing to consider it.”

That and he’d promised his grandmother that she could make the choice this time. He really should have held out for a veto before giving her a blanket agreement.

Looking over at the table where Cassidy was nodding along with whatever his grandmother was saying, he wasn’t sure it would have mattered if he’d had veto power. His grandmother was obviously taken with Cassidy, and… how was he going to tell Cassidy no?

If he did, she might think it was because last night had affected him in some way. Which it had, but he didn’t want her or anyone on the team to know that. So, he had to act like it hadn’t affected him. Which meant not overriding his grandmother’s choice.

Fuck.

Her showing up high to the interview might have been a good reason not to hire her if his grandmother hadn’t decided that was a good thing.

Or the danger that her ex represented, but there was no reason to think he knew where she was right now.

And at least with her, he knew what the downside was, which was something he couldn’t calculate with someone else.

Any of the other applicants could also have someone dangerous in their lives, and he just wouldn’t know about it. With Cassidy, he knew.

Was he making excuses?

Yes. Yes, he was.

“At least with her, you know what the downside is,” Jensen said, echoing David’s thoughts. “And you know she’s not going to steal from your grandma or disappear on her. It sounds like your grandma’s book club isn’t going to scare her off, either.”

No, Cassidy wasn’t going to be scared off by a bunch of old ladies reading about unusual kinks.

If Stronghold and Marquis were anything like the Outlands, she’d seen enough old ladies engaging in all kinds of kink at the club.

He would have to warn her not to mention the Outlands to Grandma or her book club.

It wasn’t that they wouldn’t be welcome if they wanted to actually explore kink, but they would be far more interested in watching and commenting than participating.

Which he was grateful for because, as open-minded as he tried to be, he didn’t want to belong to the same kinky sex club as his grandmother.

“No, I don’t think much will scare her off,” he murmured, other than himself.

“Are you worried it’s going to make things weird after last night?” Jensen asked. “Because we’d all understand if it did.”

His grandmother wouldn’t understand.

Cassidy might understand all too well. So would his team.

The whole point of keeping things at the club was that what happened at the club wasn’t supposed to affect his decisions outside of the club.

If he told his grandmother that she couldn’t hire Cassidy and the real reason was that he was wildly attracted to her and wanted to scene with her again, that would be letting it affect his decisions.

Besides, it wasn’t like it was his choice, anyway.

Cassidy

“Have you read any Daddy Dom books? Or age play?” Brenda asked eagerly, her blue eyes sparkling with delight.

Cassidy was trying very hard not to get attached already, because she could tell that David wasn’t happy about her showing up to interview for the job. Plus, the fact that she was high. Although she felt like she was coming down from the high at least. The food and drink were helping.

Or maybe that was just wishful thinking, but hey, she’d take it, especially if it helped her act more normal. She couldn’t believe what a fool she’d already made out of herself today.

She shouldn’t have eaten the brownie. Brownies. This is what she got for being greedy.

“Cassidy?”

Shoot. She might not be as not-high as she was hoping.

“Yes, sorry, yes.” Focus. “Rawhide Ranch. Laylah Roberts. Stella Moore. Pepper North. Kate Oliver. Allysa Hart.” Crap, she was just listing off some of her favorite authors instead of engaging in conversation. “What about you?”

“Oh, yes, all of them,” Brenda said cheerfully.

“And Maren Smith, Rayanna Jamieson, and Honey Meyer. Do you know any more obscure authors? I’m part of the Dirty Daddies Party Room, so I’m always finding more there, but with as much as I read, I’m always on the lookout for more.

It’s my favorite kink to read about. Have you read any hucow? ”

“Hucow?”

“Yeah, human cow. Milking.”

“Um, you mean like Morning Glory Milking Farm ?” That was the only book that came to mind.

Brenda brightened immediately, reaching for her phone and swiping on the screen to write down the title. She’d done that a few times already with some of Cassidy’s suggestions. Cassidy wouldn’t mind writing down some of Brenda’s, too.

“I haven’t heard of that one before. That sounds like fun. Minotaurs and milking, huh?”

“Yeah, um, it’s the heroine’s job.”

“Oh, I like that. Hucow is breast milk milking, though, like a human cow. You said you read Stella Moore, right? She wrote one, Daddy’s Naughty Little Hucow.

Vivian Murdoch has a whole series about aliens who want hucow brides.

” Brenda cackled gleefully at the expression on Cassidy’s face.

“Yeah, I wasn’t sure about it either, but my book club read His Favorite Hucow, and I went down a whole rabbit hole. ”

“Your book club read that?” For some reason, she hadn’t put Brenda’s reading habits together with her book club. She’d assumed Brenda was reading the really shocking smut on her own, not that she was finding it through her book club.

“Oh, yeah, that’s why my last companion quit. She couldn’t handle my book club.” A statement that was said with utmost pride and a lot of amusement. “I don’t think you’re going to have that problem.”

“Oh.” Cassidy blinked. “No, I’m not bothered by kinky romance.”

It had been those books that let her know she wasn’t alone in the world in her desires, that there wasn’t something wrong with her for what she wanted, for what turned her on.

It had also been those books that had made her start questioning things about Don and the way he treated her.

Those books were why she’d dared to say ‘red’ at Stronghold, hoping someone would help her.

Sure, they were fictional, but they did a lot of good, too.

“Good. This month, we’re reading something a lot tamer—Masters of Restraint by Ines Johnson—but it’s really good. Three men to one lucky lady. No milk or anything, but they can fill all three holes at the same time.”

Cassidy laughed. Brenda’s plain way of speaking was hilarious and something she envied.

“I think I’ve only read her vampire books. I’ll have to add that one to the list.”

“Ooh, maybe I’ll suggest vampires for next month.” Brenda tapped her finger against her lips, then brightened as she looked over Cassidy’s shoulder.

Immediately, Cassidy tensed. She knew that David must be coming up behind her. It was in the way Brenda smiled, in how her eyes softened.

“How are you two doing?” David asked, turning sideways to slide between the two tables so he could sit next to his grandmother in the booth. His green eyes were serious but not condemning. Jensen had pulled him away, saying he would explain everything.

Cassidy could only hope David understood.

She really, really hadn’t meant to get high before this interview.

Though, she wasn’t sure he’d want her around his grandmother, anyway.

Everyone who was interviewing her was supposed to have been informed of her particular situation, but she had planned to make sure of it, anyway.

She was feeling safe, but that didn’t mean she would put someone in a situation they weren’t prepared for.

“Wonderful. I love her. She’s going to be part of the book club with me,” Brenda said gleefully, as if it was a done deal.

Biting her lower lip in worry, Cassidy kept looking at David. He was looking at his grandmother.

Was the fact they’d scened together last night and things had gone a little farther than they’d meant to going to be part of his decision? Yes, she had a crush on him. That didn’t mean anything.

She wouldn’t let it mean anything.

She liked him. She was attracted to him. But she’d do a really good job of taking care of his grandmother even if he was a total jerk to her. She liked Brenda. No matter what happened between her and David, she would do a good job taking care of Brenda. If she got the job, that was.

Which she wasn’t sure of, even though she wanted it even more now that she’d met Brenda.

“Oh, yeah?” David asked tiredly, leaning back against the booth. He looked tired but also resigned. He smiled at Cassidy. A really nice, sweet smile that made her feel a little melty.

Did that mean that she had the job?

Hope started to rise up in her chest.

“Yup.” Brenda winked at Cassidy. “You said I could choose my next companion, remember?”

“I remember.” David’s smile became a little crooked. Seeing this softer side of him with his grandmother was not helping her crush at all. It was making it way, way worse. His gaze met Cassidy’s. “I guess you’re hired.”

“Thank you! Thank you so much. You won’t regret it.”

She hoped.