Page 83 of Jasper

He answers almost immediately. “Ariana okay?”

“She will be,” I say. “But I’ve got an idea. And I need your help.”

“What kind of idea?”

I smile to myself. “The kind that ends in a ring.”

30

ARIANA

Itug at the hem of my uniform shirt for the fifth time in two minutes and glance sideways at Jasper, who’s parked in front of the coffee shop like he’s preparing for battle instead of dropping his girlfriend off for her first shift.

“You’ve got your phone, right?” he asks, scanning the sidewalk, the windows, the passing cars.

“Yes,” I sigh.

“You’ll keep it on you? On—not in your bag.”

“Yes.”

“And if anyone acts weird, anyone at all, you call me. Immediately. Don’t try to handle it yourself.”

“Daddy…”

“I mean it, rainbow. You don’t engage. You don’t argue. You don’t even have to clock out. I’ll handle it.”

I let my head fall back against the headrest. “I’m going to work in a coffee shop, I’m not infiltrating the Russian mafia.”

He doesn’t laugh. His jaw’s too tight for that. “In our world, it’s not overreacting to take precautions.”

I twist in my seat and reach out to cup his face. “Daddy, I’m okay. The guy who hurt me is gone. You made sure of that.”

His eyes flick to mine, and I feel the tension slowly begin to ease.

“I’ll keep my eyes open,” I continue, softening my tone. “And I’ll be smart. I promise. But I need to try this.”

His hands cover mine where they’re pressed to his cheeks. “I know. I just…”

“You worry.”

“Like fucking crazy.”

I lean in and kiss him gently. “I love you.”

He nods, eyes dark and serious. “I love you, too.”

When I pull back, his fingers linger on my wrist, and he says, “I’ll be close by. I’ll keep out of the way, but I’m not going far.”

I smile, grabbing my bag from the floorboard. “I didn’t think you would.”

He gets out first, opening my door for me. His hand brushes over the small of my back as we walk, and I roll my eyes when I notice he’s already checked every face on the sidewalk.

“Daddy?”

“Yeah?”

“You know, most people get coffee before work, they don’t do a full security sweep.”

---