Page 49 of Danger and Dominance (Black Fox Security Doms #1)

Cassidy

More embarrassed than anything else, Cassidy followed Master Gavin and his wife into Black Fox Security. Brenda was right by her side, her arm looped through Cassidy’s and her hand gently patting her in understanding. Didn’t make it less embarrassing, though.

She’d had a freaking panic attack over a guy that hadn’t even been Don.

He’d just been a tall blond, probably the same one she’d seen in the store, and when she’d seen the back of him in the parking lot next to a grey car, her body had reacted. There hadn’t been anything she could do. One minute, she’d been okay; the next, she’d been falling apart at the seams.

The poor guy hadn’t even known that he was the cause of her distress. He was a perfectly nice guy who’d heard the commotion and come over to check to make sure she was okay before driving away.

Knowing that she’d disrupted literally everyone’s day, she couldn’t help but feel weak.

“Would you get out?” Claudia snapped as Cassidy walked through the door, and Cassidy’s head jerked up.

It took her a moment to realize Claudia wasn’t talking to her.

The Domme was standing beside Jennifer’s desk with an annoyed expression, but it was directed to the two men standing in front of her.

Cassidy couldn’t see their faces because their backs were to her, but they were both tall and dark-haired with broad shoulders that filled out their suit jackets nicely.

Claudia’s gaze shifted. “Hey, Cassidy, you okay, hon?”

Both of the men turned to see who Claudia was talking to. They were both handsome with dark eyes. One of them had a beard, the other was clean-shaven, and they sported matching grins.

“I’m okay. What’s going on?” Not sure how she felt about the men’s scrutiny, she wedged herself slightly behind Master Gavin, with Brenda on her other side. Brenda, unlike Cassidy, wasn’t nervous at all. She was very obviously checking both of the men out.

“This is my pain-in-the-ass brother, Manuel, and his pain-in-the-ass best friend, Ian. And they are leaving.” She glared at them.

They each waved at the mention of their name.

The clean-shaven one was Manuel, and the bearded one was Ian.

Manuel winked at her, but Ian turned his attention back to Claudia almost immediately.

“We’ll leave as soon as you agree to let us take you out for your birthday tonight,” Ian said, his voice simultaneously teasing and coaxing. “You know you want to. I’ll even pay for your drinks.”

“I don’t need you to pay for my drinks, Mr. Richey-rich. I can afford my own drinks.”

“A beautiful lady shouldn’t have to buy her own drinks, especially on her birthday.”

Claudia made a gagging noise, rolling her eyes before looking over at Cassidy, who was watching with fascination.

“If Mr. Smooth here tries any of his lines on you, just ignore him. He spreads his charm around like herpes.” She turned her attention back to Ian. “I can buy my own drinks, thanks. And who says I’m a lady?”

“I definitely don’t,” her brother joked. “But Ian’s right, it’s your birthday. We should go out and celebrate the day you blessed the world with your glorious presence.”

“If it makes you feel better, no one should have to buy their own drinks on their birthday, not even you,” Ian quipped. He turned toward Jennifer at her desk. “Don’t you agree?”

“He’s not wrong,” Jennifer said, looking at Claudia, who scowled at her.

“Traitor.”

“Hey, don’t blame me just because I also want an excuse to go out with my friends and celebrate one of them…” Jennifer looked over at Cassidy, smiling encouragingly. Her gaze was soft. “You look like you could use a night out, too.”

“A night out where?” David asked as he walked into the increasingly crowded lobby. The moment she heard his voice, something inside Cassidy relaxed. He really did represent safety to her.

In fact, it was all she could do not to throw herself into his arms, knowing that’s where she would feel the safest. She managed to contain the urge but barely. If his grandmother hadn’t been there, she wasn’t sure she would have been able to resist.

“Wherever the birthday girl wants to go,” Ian said, grinning and reaching out toward David.

Their hands slapped together in a greeting, and they pulled each other in for one of those brief, one-armed guy hugs.

He then did the same with Manuel, but his gaze kept flitting over to Cassidy. She did her best to smile at him.

Please don’t make a fuss in front of everyone.

She’d already endured enough humiliation for the day.

David

Even though he wanted to gather Cassidy in his arms, David resisted the impulse. There was something about her stance that made him think she was holding back. She was also hovering very close to both his grandmother and Gavin, and he wasn’t going to push them out of the way just to get to her.

Maybe once Manuel and Ian were gone, though he had a lot more trouble shifting them out the door than he did Gavin and Leah.

The latter were happy to accept his reassurances, both of them giving Cassidy a hug and an admonishment to take care of herself before they left.

His grandmother patted Cassidy’s arm. They all tried to ignore Manuel, Ian, and Claudia’s conversation, which was mostly Ian flirting with Claudia and her sniping back at him, the way they always did.

Ian flirted the same way he breathed air, and for some reason, it really got under Claudia’s skin, which just made him flirt with her even harder. Not that it stopped him from flirting with every other woman who came within ten feet of him.

Not exactly relaxing to David, but it seemed to be amusing Cassidy, and she was slowly relaxing and smiling, which was the only reason he didn’t kick the duo out.

Surprisingly, Claudia didn’t either, and she normally lost patience with them before David did, so she must have also noticed the effect on Cassidy.

Once Gavin and Leah were gone, he was about ready to say goodbye to Ian and Manuel when Jensen sauntered in from the hallway. He must have been in the breakroom because he had a bowl of popcorn in hand.

“Ooh, that smells good,” Ian said, stepping sideways around an exasperated Claudia to see what Jensen was holding. “Can I have some?”

“You like spicy stuff, right?” Jensen asked.

“Yeah.”

“Then you’re fine.” Jensen held the bowl out.

Claudia’s eyes widened, and she tried to reach for Ian’s hand to stop him.

“Wait!”

Seeming to realize that she was going to deprive him of his desired treat, Ian used his arm to block her, quickly grabbing a handful and stuffing it in his mouth before anyone could stop him.

Shit.

“He likes mild to moderate spicy,” Claudia admonished Jensen, hands on her hips as she glared at him. Ian was already starting to choke, his eyes bulging as sweat beaded on the edges of his forehead. “He’s not going to be fine.”

“Oh. My. God. It’s like getting pepper-sprayed in my mouth.” Ian gasped for air, looking wildly around like he was searching for something to help. “I can’t breathe. Everything burns.”

Manuel slapped him on the back, which obviously wasn’t going to help at all. Not that Ian was in a position to protest. He was now bent over, hands just above his knees, bracing himself to keep from falling over while he shuddered and tried not to die.

“He said he liked spicy!”

“You know your level of spicy and everyone else’s level of spicy is completely different,” Claudia snapped. She shook her head, waving her hand at Manuel. “Come on, let’s get him to the break room. We have some milk and bread in there.”

“Please…” Ian gasped, straightening up.

Cassidy had her hands over her mouth, and she was laughing so hard, she had tears running down her face. Kind of like Ian, but for a completely different reason.

Normally, Jennifer would have found the whole situation hilarious, but today, she glared at Jensen as Claudia, Ian, and Manuel disappeared down the hall.

“That wasn’t nice,” she scolded.

The smirk on Jensen’s face faded immediately, and he frowned back at her.

“It was hilarious, and Ian will be fine. You know, the last time he was here he convinced me to try that awful canned fish thing he brought.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to lower yourself to his level.” Jennifer sniffed and turned her attention back to her computer. “Besides, that just tasted terrible. Yours caused him actual pain. You should apologize.”

“I’ll take that under consideration.” Now scowling, Jensen turned on his heel, only to realize he had an audience. Immediately, his expression changed and softened. “Hey Cassidy, what are you doing here?”

“I had a panic attack,” she said sheepishly.

Now that the room was a little emptier, and she was talking about it, David didn’t hesitate to move closer, slinging his arm over her shoulder.

He did his best to ignore his grandmother’s beaming nod of approval.

Although he liked that she approved, he also didn’t want her meddling in his relationship.

Cassidy leaned into him, reaching up to rub her forehead, her voice a mixture of shame and regret. “I just… I don’t know. I was getting in my head at the store, then I saw a blond man who could have vaguely resembled Don in the parking lot, and I just lost it. It was ridiculous.”

David tightened his hold on her.

“It’s not ridiculous. You’re going through a lot, and we don’t know where he is or why he hasn’t popped up yet,” he consoled her.

“I shouldn’t have made us go to the store,” his grandmother said, coming in from the other side to hold Cassidy’s hand.

“You didn’t. I made us because I’m supposed to be helping you get out and around, not being the reason you have to sit at home,” Cassidy replied, obviously frustrated.

“I know I need to be safe, I want to be safe, but I also don’t want to spend my whole life hiding. I just… I need to get out of my head.”

“Hey, you’re going through a big thing,” David said gently. “Something you don’t have much control over, if any. That’s going to make everything harder. You need to be easier on yourself.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jennifer nod approvingly behind her desk. Yeah, a very different conversation than the first time she’d seen him in here with Cassidy.

“I just want it to be over with.” She sighed. “My brain just latches onto something and spirals, then all I can think about is how everyone around me is going to die a horrible death while I’m either dragged away or dying with them. And it’ll be all my fault.”

“Well, that sounds… unpleasant,” Grandma said, making David snort. “But sweetie, I could die tomorrow from a heart attack or old age?—”

“No, you can’t,” David interjected, scowling at her. He was also completely unsurprised when she ignored him and kept talking as if he hadn’t said a thing.

“That wouldn’t be your fault any more than some if some asshole takes me out. And believe me, I’d rather go down defending you than end up rotting in a hospital bed someday.”

David face-palmed, sighing.

“You could just work on not dying, you know,” he said.

“Oh, I don’t have any plans to at the moment, but if it happens, it happens. And I would love to have a badass epilogue, like ‘went down defending her friend and taking out a dickhead at the same time.’” Grandma grinned, and Cassidy burst out laughing.

He wondered if she would keep laughing when she realized his grandmother was completely serious.

“Come on,” he said, gesturing toward the door. “Let’s get you two home.”