Page 38 of Until Daddy

He was even happier when he made her turn around and flip up her skirt to show her panties. Of course she’d remembered to put on thegood girlpanties he’d left, and had even been wearing them to work. She couldn’t explain it, but knowing he’d given them to her, that he expected her to wear them, made her feel held by him. Walking around during her shift feeling a little bit of him was with her the entire time.

Since he was in such a good mood with her, she didn’t want to divert the conversation to anything that might lead them in the direction of an argument.

“Wells and Walton. There’s one building that wasn’t marked, so I’m not sure what it was. I didn’t see any acceptance of bid from that address in the stuff Father gave me, either. I’ll have to ask him about that one.”

Her fork stilled halfway to her mouth, a bit of pasta falling off the end and back onto her plate. “Wells and Walton?”

“Yes, why?”

“Oh. No,” Jade whispered and wiped her mouth with a napkin.

“That’s the shelter I volunteer at. It’s a women’s shelter, so it’s unmarked to protect them. So bastard men can’t find their wives and try to steal them back.” She bit back most of her annoyance but could hear the anger spilling into the words.

“Really?” Garrick was the first to respond.

Carissa turned to Jamison, giving him a hard glare. “You can’t do the project. You can’t let your father do it, either. Find somewhere else to build your damn hotel.” Her heart was racing. That shelter could not be torn down just so more rich and powerful men had a comfortable place to lay their heads.

“Watch your tone and your language,” Jamison responded, which only served to increase her ire.

“My tone? Are you really concerned about that right now? You cannot do that project!” She threw her fork down on her plate.

“Carissa,” Jade whispered. “Give him a chance to answer.”

“You’re going to tell him no, right?” She narrowed her eyelids.

“This conversation sounds a bit familiar to me,” Garrick spoke up and gave Jade a pointed look before addressing Carissa. “How about you let him get his mind wrapped around this before you go biting off his head? You know, the same advice you gave Jade when she thought I was screwing her father out of his rental properties.”

“This is different.” Carissa didn’t take her eyes off Jamison, who was staring at her hard. He looked furious, but she wasn’t going to back down. “Promise me.”

“Why is that shelter so important to you? I know you volunteer there, but they could simply move it, it might not be shut down.”

Her heart leapt up into her throat, her anger nearly choking her. “There are women and children who depend on that place! They like it right where it is, and it’s been supporting that community for fifty years. It’s not that easy to just open a women’s shelter. Thanks to the red tape involved, it could take years just to get the okay to open the doors somewhere else. Turning it into a fucking hotel is… is…” She couldn’t find the words, her tongue was too thick, her anger too hot for the words to come to her. “Stupid!” She slammed her palm on the table, making the plates jump.

“Why don’t we change the subject?” Jade made a solid attempt to move the topic to safer waters. “I’m sure the guys will look everything over and do the right thing.”

Garrick might think it all over and do the right thing, but what about Jamison? He still looked to his father for approval. Would he be able to put a stop to this project, knowing how much his father wanted it to happen?

“Carissa.” Her name was said so low, with such control, her body clenched. “Kitchen. Now.” He pushed away from the table and grabbed the back of her chair, pulling it out.

Before she could utter a word, his hand wrapped around hers and tugged her from her chair.

“It’s okay, Jamison. She was just caught off guard.” Jade attempted a rescue mission that might have worked if Garrick had still been only her friend and not her dominant.

“Stay out of it, Jade.” Garrick’s voice was firm, but not chastising. “Jamison will handle the situation. We talked about this.”

About what? Me?

“You talked about me?” Carissa yanked her hand out of Jamison’s grip and faced Jade full on. “What were you talking about?”

“Nothing.” Jade shook her head quickly but her cheeks had already tinted. “Really, Carissa. We only said that we were happy you two met.” That wasn’t the whole of it, but before Carissa could question her further, Jamison had his hand around her upper arm.

“I’m not asking again. Kitchen.”

“Oh, fine!” Carissa yanked her arm free once again and stomped off toward the kitchen. If everyone wanted to talk about her like she was some damn child, then she might as well give them the show they were waiting for.

Once she walked to the far end of the kitchen, where she hoped Jade and Garrick wouldn’t be able to hear much of whatever Jamison was going to say to her, she turned around to face him, arms crossed over her chest and her lips pinched together.

“Oh, little girl, whatever fit you’re getting ready to pitch, you’d better think twice. We may be at a friend’s house, but they know damn well what happens to naughty girls. And Garrick won’t let Jade come in here to save you from your punishment.”

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