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“I’ll see what I can do.” He may want to continue with the casual chit-chat, but that wasn’t the reason they were there. “How about we get started?”
Across from him, he caught the audible sigh Astrid emitted and turned his attention to her. Her fingers gripped the glass as if it was a life ring and she was bobbing in the middle of the ocean, awaiting rescue.
The urge to reach across the expanse of the boardroom table and place his hand over hers in comfort was strong, but he buried it.
“I really think this is all unnecessary. I’ve survived this long without personal security and nothing bad has happened. I don’t want to cause a fuss.”
Why was she brushing witnessing a murder off as nothing?
Was she hoping that if she didn’t talk about it, it would go away? Perhaps this was a coping mechanism for her.
The Astrid he’d watched doing her cooking videos and show was confident, as though she could take on anyone who came at her. That Astrid he could believe didn’t think she warranted personal security.
Yet, the woman in front of him was nothing like that one. This one was vulnerable.
Scared.
Looking like she wanted to be anywhere but in a conference room with people she didn’t know.
The instinct to protect her slammed into him.
“Astrid, I know you feel that way and feel like you overreacted at the incident in the home goods store, but your profile is rising. More people are tuning into your show. Not to mention your views on your internet channel are up twenty percent. You’re going to be recognized more and more.” Penni rattled off the information as if she were reading a shopping list.
Growler appreciated her stating the facts, but Astrid didn’t want facts. She wanted a concrete reason as to why he, Ox, and Penni believed she needed him to watch her.
Growler glanced at Ox, and he caught his boss’s imperceptible nod giving him the go ahead to say what he wanted to say. As he was going to be the one providing the security detail, he needed to establish a relationship between him and Astrid—and he wasn’t talking personal, even if that was a thought taking seed in his mind. No, the relationship they were going to share first and foremost was a professional one, so Astrid needed to be comfortable around him.
“I know having a shadow isn’t what you want. I’m sure what I’m about to say next is something you don’t want to hear—but you witnessed an argument and a murder. That would freak anyone out and then you had your event. What you felt or emotionally experienced there wasn’t an overreaction on your part.” Growler kept his attention on Astrid and was pleased that she wasn’t shying away from what he was saying. Her focus was on him too, and the rest of the people in the room melted away. “Don’t ever disregard what your gut was telling you. I may not have been there, and I heard about it second hand, but you don’t seem the type of person to create drama out of nothing. There’s a reason this person stood out to you. Gave you the feelings you had. That’s the important thing here.”
“I hear what you’re saying. I do. I just…” Astrid’s gaze slipped away from his and he cursed the breadth of the table between them. He wanted to reach out and take her hand. Stroke it and let her know that she wasn’t alone anymore. That he would be there for her when she needed him.
Fuck, where are these thoughts coming from?
“It doesn’t feel real,” she continued, her back a little straighter than it had been a second ago. “None of this does. It feels like instead of being on my cooking show set, I’ve been thrust into a cop drama set.”
There it was, the spark of determination he’d seen in her early videos, when she didn’t really know what she was doing but was hell-bent on making it happen.
“We may live in the land of television shows and movies, and I’d like to say we are on a show, but we’re not. This is real, and I believe you know this is the right thing for you,” Growler said.
“Growler’s right, Astrid. We’ve both seen things that would fit right into a movie, but it happened to people around us.” Ox held up his hand when Growler glared at him. She was already freaked out. Ox didn’t need to scare her more by talking about the shit they’d seen. “Steady, Growler, I’ve learned to lay the facts on the table, no matter how hard or harsh the truth can be. It’s the only way to deal with some people.”
Annoyed at Ox’s generalization, Growler counted to ten so that he didn’t blast the man who was his new boss. “Astrid is not some people.”
Ox’s eyebrow quirked again, and he sat back. Shit, had he pushed too hard? He couldn’t take it back now, and he didn’t want to. “I can see that.”
Growler held Ox’s gaze, not willing to back down. He was given this task to protect Astrid, and that’s what he was going to do. After a few silent seconds, Ox gave another nod, and Growler relaxed a little.
Had he passed a test with Ox? Growler wasn’t sure, but he was going to take the victory and run with it.
“Are you both done now?” Penni asked. “I can practically smell the testosterone, and I’m hundreds of miles away. You doing okay there, Astrid?”
“It is a bit whiffy.” Astrid waved her hand in front of her face as though she really was smelling something off. “I’ll survive though.”
Growler chuckled, her teasing helping to ease the tension in him. “Good to know. How about we move forward with the next steps? You tell me what your movements are over the next few days, and we can come up with a plan that you’re comfortable with.”
“I guess we should. Thank you for taking me on.”
“It’s what we do.” Ox stood and looked at Growler. “You’ve got it from here?”
