“Fine, I wouldn’t like it if she didn’t wear them, but this is the first time she’s gone further than her therapist’s office. I’ll even tell her that I asked you to check her location. Please Cass, I need to know she’s okay.” Pleading with someone wasn’t what he normally did. It went against everything he’d been trained to do, but this situation was different.
“You promise you’ll tell her?” Cass asked.
“I will.”
“Fine, come with me.” Cass headed for her office, and he followed, aware of the sniggers from his friends. He wasn’t going to live down how he’d begged Cass for the information, and he didn’t give a shit. Knowing Steff was safe was more important to him than what his friends thought.
“After we hitthe fourth dress shop and still hadn’t found anything, I sat Cynthia down and asked exactly what she was looking for. Once she told me, I had a better idea of where to go. If I’d asked her in the first place, I could’ve saved us a lot of time. Anyway, we found the perfect dress for her date with Fox tonight. I’m so happy she and Fox are seeing each other. We should go on a double date with them one night.” Steff shoved a heaped fork of spaghetti into her mouth, preventing her from talking.
Jag didn’t care if she spoke with her mouth full, he was loving seeing the happiness on her face. The way her eyes sparkled as she talked about her adventures. The way her shoulders were relaxed and there were no visible tension lines around her eyes.
“I like the idea of a double date. I’m sure Fox will be open to it as well. I also need to say, before we go any further, that I did check your location today. I swear I haven’t asked Cass to see where you are before, but today I needed to.” Jag hoped what he said didn’t pop her good mood.
“Oh, um, okay. I don’t mind now. It is kind of nice to know I’m protected. Even after being unsure.”
Relief settled in his belly. “I’m glad, and it won’t become a habit of mine. I promise.”
“I believe you. Now, back to what we were discussing a few seconds ago.”
“The double date?”
“Yeah. I may have already suggested to Cynthia that we should go out together. She’s keen and was going to run it pastFox tonight.” She dipped her head, her hair covering her cheek, but he didn’t miss the faint pink hue blossoming.
Jag reached across the table and took her hand in his, relishing the freedom to touch her. In the past two weeks, they’d shared some heated kisses. He hadn’t pushed for more intimacy and wouldn’t until Steff indicated that she was ready. “I’m totally okay with you making plans like that. You don’t have to worry that I’m going to get mad at you for doing so.”
They hadn’t talked much about their pasts, in terms of family or relationships. They’d kept their conversations in the here and now, so he had no idea if her worry was from how someone treated her in the past.
“Okay.”
“Talk to me, Steff. Were you scared I was going to get angry with you for making assumptions like that?”
Steff put her fork down and pulled her hand away from his hold. He wanted to snatch it back, needing that physical connection with her, but he didn’t. There had to be a reason for her doing what she’d done, and he would wait for her explanation.
“I don’t know. I didn’t think so, but Cynthia—never mind. It’s nothing.”
Now Jag was even more determined to get to the bottom of what was troubling Steff. Not to mention finding out what Cynthia had said or done for her to think he wouldn’t be happy with the idea of going on a double date.
He pushed away from the table and went around to where Steff sat. Her hands were clasped together in her lap, her head lowered. The position was a total submissive one, and he didn’t like seeing it one bit.
He squatted down and placed one hand on the back of the chair, and the other lightly on her knee.
“What’s going on? Have I done something that made you scared of me?” Jag hated voicing the thought out loud, because he didn’t believe he had.
Steff’s head whipped up, her eyes wide with shock. The sparkle of happiness had gone from their blue depths, and he wanted to see it back. “Oh no, you haven’t. It’s just …” Her words trailed off again.
Jag looked at her plate. It was almost empty, another sign that she was healing and eating more than she had when he’d first started staying at her place. “Are you done?” he asked anyway.
“Yes.”
He stood and held out his hand. “Shall we go sit on the couch?”
She nodded and placed her hand in his. He gave a slight tug to pull her up. Once she was standing, instead of moving to the couch, he wrapped his arms around her, and his eyes drifted shut when she melted into his embrace and her arms slipped around his waist.
The hug was everything he needed. To reestablish the connection between them. To show her that he cared, and nothing she said or did would make him angry.
Was that a lofty expectation?
Perhaps, because there would be times when he would do something that would annoy her, and vice versa. But he would never lose his temper with her.
