Page 100 of Danger and Dominance

If I don’t freeze.

She wouldn’t freeze.She wouldn’t let him take her to a second location.If she was going down, she was going down here, in the yarn aisle of a superstore.

Never let someone take you to a second location.

There were things worse than death.

Was it strange that these were the thoughts that made her feel stronger?Her biggest fear wasn’t for herself; it was for Brenda.But if she could fight back against Don, Brenda could run for help.

That’s what she would do.

“What do you think of this one?”Brenda asked.

Cassidy turned back to face her, quickly swiping away the lingering tears and hoping the older woman didn’t notice.Thankfully, Brenda’s attention was focused on the yarn she was holding, which was beautiful.Multihued green that made it look like an ombre and speckled with other colors.

“It’s beautiful,” Cassidy replied honestly.“It reminds me of a meadow.”

“Me, too.”Brenda inspected it carefully, then put it in her basket, adding a second one right after that.“Plus, it will look nice with Audrey’s hair.I want to make her a scarf and hat for the winter.”

Her excitement about her granddaughter moving to the area made Cassidy smile.She was both nervous and looking forward to meeting Audrey.

Brenda said they would get along like a house on fire, but it was different meeting someone as a potential friend than it was as an undefined sexual partner’s sibling.What she and David were, she wasn’t sure, other than living together for the foreseeable future.

She’d like more—a lot more—but she wasn’t sure how he felt about her.

“Do you think I should make one for David, too?He probably doesn’t need it, but I don’t want him to feel left out.”Brenda hummed under her breath.“All he ever wears is black.He needs some color in his life.Maybe a nice blue to match his eyes.I’m glad he has you around.Maybe you can get his buttstick out permanently.”

Cassidy pressed her lips together.

She was pretty sure the reason Brenda kept saying ‘buttstick’ was because she found everyone’s reactions hilarious.The first time Cassidy had heard her say it this morning, she’d nearly choked.David had made a strategic retreat almost immediately afterward.Something that she fully planned on teasing him about later.

“I will do my best to keep his buttstick out of his butt,” she replied solemnly, making Brenda cackle.

“See that you do.”

Brenda moved down the aisle, inspecting the array of blue yarn.

A little tingle on the back of Cassidy’s neck made her turn around.Paranoia’r’Us.Nothing was there.She was just letting her brain get the best of her.

Again.

But as she was turning away, someone walked across the aisle fast enough—and it was out of the corner of her eye—she couldn’t see exactly what they looked like.Her head whipped around so fast, her neck cracked, and she put her hand up to the side of it where the sudden ache was.Her pulse fluttered against her fingers as her breath caught in her throat.

A man.Tall.Blond.

There were a lot of tall blond men out in the world.Seeing one out of the corner of her eye didn’t mean it was Don.

She was just worked up.

‘Don’t ignore your instincts.’Claudia’s voice echoed in her head.‘They’re there for a reason.’

Cassidy shifted uncomfortably because she didn’t trust her instincts.She didn’t trust her brain.The most likely scenario was that it was just a tall blond man walking through the store who was not Don and had nothing to do with her, and she was freaking out over nothing.

Knowing that didn’t stop her heart from racing, her breath from coming faster, or her hands from going clammy.

“Okay.That’s everything I need,” Brenda said cheerfully.

Cassidy relaxed as she turned to look at Brenda.As much as she didn’t want to hold Brenda back, she also was going to be relieved to get back to David’s apartment.She felt safe there, despite everything that was going on.