Page 23 of Ignited Heat

"Tomorrow at three."

"Can't I have the earlier one?"

"No, your cousin Cheryl is out on maternity leave, so I have that shift."

"Mama…"

"You can do this, Cassie."

I nod so she thinks I agree, but we'll see what tomorrow brings.

It's eight o'clock, the time when I usually bring the employees at Midnight Heat their dinner. I wait in the kitchen for Tuck to come get me. When he arrives, he greets me with a big smile, and that helps me relax a bit. We talk about nonsense while we walk towards the club, and his funny comments lift my spirits. It helps because I feel like someone is watching me, and that takes my attention from my worries.

When everyone at Heat has their food, I take mine and Jason's to his office. I knock softly on the door, and it opens almost immediately. He's smiling. Jason is not someone who smiles a lot, so I return it. What I really want to do is hug and kiss him, but this is his place of work, and I don't want to do anything inappropriate.

We walk silently to the office where we normally eat our dinner, and he takes everything from me and sets it up on the table. I guess he's become accustomed to taking care of me now. I blush, remembering all the ways that he takes care of me. Jason has proven to be an insatiable lover who knows how to please his woman. Yes, that's me, his woman.

"Cassie…where did you go?"

"What?"

"You looked like your mind was far away. Come back to me."

He grabs my hand across the table and squeezes reassuringly.

"I was just thinking about us. Daydreaming, I guess."

"Don't leave me again."

He sounds serious, and I look at his face to see if he might be joking, but his expression is impassive as usual.

"I'm right here, stop worrying."

When we finish eating, he clears everything up and goes to the kitchen with me to dispose of the containers. That's when he decides spontaneously to be the one that takes me back to the restaurant. He dismisses Tuck and offers me his elbow. I take it gladly and we start on our way down the street.

During the walk back, Jason seems uneasy and so do I.

"You feel it, don't you?" I ask him.

"Yeah, I think someone is watching us."

We hurry our steps, and that's when we hear footsteps behind us. I turn to look over my shoulder. It's Marcos, and he's got a gun. Jason shoves me behind him and puts his hands before him as if trying to appease Marcos.

"You finally came out of hiding, little mouse. Come to me." Marcos calls.

"She's not going anywhere.” Jason’s voice cuts through the night. “Marcos, surrender to the police. They will be more lenient if you do that than if they have to waste more resources looking for you."

"Cassandra, come here, NOW!"

"You don't own me, Marcos. You're going to jail for a long time." I poke my head out from behind Jason.

“My lawyers will get me off easily from that alleged assault.” His smile is evil, and a chill goes through me. “If you don’t come to me, I'll shoot your little boyfriend here. I know you've been sleeping with him, you slut."

"Stay where you are, Cassie," Jason says firmly, letting me know he's got things handled.

But Marcos is a wildcard.

"I'm tired of playing this game with you, Harris. I'll always win. You know why? Because I'm not afraid to do this."

---