Page 48 of Danger and Dominance

“Okay, who are we looking for?”he asked, guiding her toward the door to the coffee shop.

“Mrs.Brenda Jamieson.Jennifer said she’d be sitting in the corner next to the cupcakes, and she’d be wearing a purple shirt.”

“Got it.”He pulled the door open, angling himself so she could walk in while still on his arm.Her gaze skittered around the inside of the shop, which was very cute.Lots of small tables, little nooks with couches and armchairs, and even some bean bags around a low table near a bookshelf.

The far side of the shop was where the workers were, behind a display case of various baked goods—the cupcakes were on the far right.She found the purple shirt, which was on a woman sitting next to a big redheaded man, another man sitting across from them.

“Oh, fuck,” Jensen whispered, at the exact same time her heart dropped into her shoes.

That wasn’t just any redheaded man sitting next to the older woman in the purple shirt.

That was David.

Oh, fuck.

David

The interviews were not going well from his grandmother’s perspective—she hadn’t liked any of the interviewees so far—and they weren’t going well from David’s perspective because she wasn’t going to choose any of them.All of them passed his parameters… well, except the guy currently sitting in front of them, who apparently did not take the hint that it was time to go.

He could tell his grandmother was not into him, even though Ted was doing his best to be charming.Unfortunately, he didn’t have nearly the charisma he thought he did.

“Thanks for coming in to meet with us,” David said for the fourth time, more forcefully this time.“We’ll give you a call.”Also said for the fourth time.

Ted beamed at him from across the table, lifting his hand to run it through his long blond locks and winking at David’s grandma.

“Great!I think we could get along really well.”He winked again.He did a lot of winking.That or he had a condition that made his left eye spasm.A lot.“I know I would love to spend more time with you, Brenda.Have you ever?—”

Crap, this was how he’d kept things going every time, just changing the topic of conversation to something else instead of getting up.

“Ted, you’re done.My next interview is here.”Grandma’s voice was flat.She’d been excited over Ted’s blond good looks when he’d first arrived; that she was so ready to kick him out of his seat meant his personality had really failed him miserably.“She needs your seat.”

“She is?”David looked down at the pile of files he had in front of him.Dammit, Ted had overrun his time to the point where David hadn’t been able to give it even a cursory glance ahead of time.His grandma had looked at them in the car.

“Yup, right there.Hello, dear!”His grandmother waved, calling to someone across the shop.Ted turned around to look, too.Peering past him, David froze.

Cassidy and Jensen were the only two people standing just inside the door, and Cassidy was the only ‘she’.

Dropping his head down, he yanked out the next file and opened it.Cassidy’s headshot stared back at him from the very top.The same one used on the file Lincoln had shown him before they’d ever met.

Inwardly, he groaned.

So much for taking some time to get his head on straight before he saw her again.

“Bye, Ted,” Grandma said cheerfully.“You need to move out of Miss Simone’s seat.”

“Oh, uh, alright then.”Ted cleared his throat.“I look forward to hearing from you.”

No, he didn’t.And as punishment for putting Cassidy in the line-up without warning David, he was going to make Jennifer call the man to let him down.He had a feeling she’d snuck Cassidy in without telling him because she wasn’t sure how he’d feel about it.She was right.He didn’t know how he felt about it.

Especially after last night.

He was supposed to be stayingaway, not lining up a job with his grandmother for her.

Taking a deep breath, he lifted his head as Tedfinallyvacated his seat.

“Here, miss.Good luck.”The smirk on his face and the smugness in his voice indicated the exact opposite, as if he was trying to hint that he already had the job in the bag and she was wasting her time.

Which she might be, but not because of him.