Page 44 of Danger and Dominance

Breakfast.

Going to the fridge, she noticed a plastic container on the counter next to it that hadn’t been there the day before.The top was clear, and she peeked in.

Brownies.

Her stomach rumbled.

Oh, Mick was so sweet!He must have left the brownies there for her.He’d been up when she and Jensen had gotten home last night, and she’d gone right to bed.It was so incredibly thoughtful and so incredibly him.Hip against the counter, she picked up the container and popped it open.

Chocolate.

Screw it.It was Saturday morning, she was feeling good, she’d had a great if confusing night the night before, and she wanted a brownie for breakfast.She was an adult.She could do that.

Thinking about how disapproving Don would have been only made it even better.She could picture his scowl in her head.

Brownies weren’t breakfast.They were empty calories.Treats to be earned, if she ever earned one—which she never did, according to him.

Picking up the brownie, she defiantly popped it into her mouth.

Yum.

Chocolate-y goodness.

There was another flavor there, too, something she couldn’t quite define.It didn’t taste bad, just a little odd.Maybe these were gluten free or something?Or maybe it had just been so long since she’d had a brownie.She couldn’t remember the last time, in fact.Even though she’d started eating some junk food again after leaving Don, she had mostly stuck to cakes and pies.

She should start eating more cookies and things.

Finishing off the piece, she decided to take a second one.

Two brownies for breakfast.Utter decadence.And another symbol of her brand-new life.

David

Having successfully avoided accidentally running into Cassidy this morning by helping Mick load up and unload at the farmer’s market instead, David headed over to pick up his grandmother.Jennifer had helped fill up a whole slate of interviews for today, and he’d asked Jaxon to do the background checks.He’d meant to do them himself, but he’d been so busy this week that he’d had to pass it off.

He'd bought a pack of cookies from Mick, knowing that his grandmother would be happy to have some sweet treats for the afternoon.Though he’d made triple sure they weren’t pot cookies before taking them.Mick had offered him some pot brownies this morning.

Mick insisted that his brownies were for personal use only and that he wasn’t going to try to get himself in trouble by selling them at the farmer’s market.Still.David had eyed the cookies with suspicion at first, no matter how Mick reassured him.

He was pretty sure they were okay because Mick knew David would be pissed as hell if they weren’t.Especially since they were for his grandmother.

Knocking on his grandmother’s door, he wasn’t surprised when she answered it, beaming, even though it was very different from how she usually looked when they had to interview new companions for her.The fact that she was going to get to choose her own companion-for-hire obviously made her feel very happy.

He almost felt guilty about not letting her choose in the past.

Almost.

Until he remembered some of the people she’d been drawn to.

“David!”Beaming, she went up on her toes, and he bent down obligingly for a kiss on the cheek.He did his best not to sigh at her outfit.A t-shirt and track pants weren’t exactly inappropriate, but she wasn’t exactly dressed to impress either.Her shirt was purple, had a stack of books on it, and said STFUATTDLAGG.David was not going to ask.He had a feeling he did not want to know the answer.

“Hi, Grandma.”

“I’m so looking forward to this,” she said, chuckling and closing the door behind him.She was practically rubbing her hands together with glee at the thought of choosing her own person.Jaxon had better have done a really good job with those background checks because David was going to be stuck with whoever she chose.“The temps the agency sent over were fine but boring.”

“Boring isn’t necessarily bad.”

“Not for you, but I refuse to be bored.”She shook her head, tutting.“Once you get to a certain age, you want to make sure you’re enjoying your life because you’ve only got so much of it left.It’s not like when you’re young and think you’re going to live forever.”