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“Oh, his name is Dom, just like in your book!”
Oh fuckity fuck. I completely forgot about the book in front of me or that it has the summary written across the back. The hero’s name isnotDom just saying. I swiftly slide it shut and place it on the table so the cover is facing up. The front is innocuous enough — I hope.
“So do you want to meet my dad?” Cass asks, all sunshiny innocence.
“I would love to, Cass, but I have to get back to work. What about those women over there? Would one of them do?” I point to the girl squad that made a point of shifting their usual table to one across the cafeteria last week when I dared to sit down at the one next to them.
“I already asked. They’re all into princesses,” Cass says glumly, letting her clipboard hang to the side. I’m not sure how I feel to not even be Cass’s first choice for her un-princess matchmaking.
“Oh! There’s Dad now!” Cass points and my eyes follow her finger straight to… oh, hell.
Dadis none other than Lieutenant Dominic Jamieson, the division head. It’s not a huge division but big enough that I only have to see him once a month in the status meeting. He’s stern and older and all the things you might expect from a former military officer. I don’t think we’ve even exchanged a hello but I swear I detect a wince when his eyes pass over me.
“Cass, I really do have to head back to work.” I slide my book into my lunch bag. Something tells me the Lieutenant is sharp enough to deduce something about the contents from the title alone and I don’t need those kinds of rumors floating around. Just because I like to read about kinky stuff doesn’t mean I have any interest in trying it. Mostly, it’s my version of not being a princess reading fairytales. Although I wouldn’t mind finding a man that got as excited by me as the hero does in this book for the poor little rich girl he’s taken under his very sexy wing. I sigh and give Cass a little finger wave as I stand and scurry out of the lunchroom.
I can feel the Lieutenant’s curious gaze track my movements until I’m safely out of sight. God, what is Cass going to tell him about me? Maybe I’d better go update my resume again when I get home tonight.
2
Dom
The new girl from translating just rushed out of the cafeteria like her pants were on fire. And Cass is on the other side of the room, clutching the clipboard she sweet-talked out of one of the admins and looking smug.
“Cass, what are you up to?” It’s hard to be stern with her because it seems like only last week she had the same defiant look on her face when she pulled herself up to standing for the first time.
“Finding you a wife,” she states matter-of-factly.
“You’re what?” That might have come out a little too loud. There are more eyes on us than I’d like, so I usher Cass out with a hand on her shoulder towards my office. My daughter’s small shoulders shrug under my fingers. “Maybe you wouldn’t be so grumpy if you had a woman to sleep with. It worked for Chelsea’s dad.” There are smothered snorts from behind the cubicle walls as we pass, so I hold my fire until my office door latches closed with a firm snick.
“Cassidy Lynn Jamieson, what’s got in to you?”
She shrugs again, stares me straight in the eye, and says, “Girl time has to end. This is the only way. It’s you or me.”
I stare at her until the chuckle works its way to the surface, because she’s so grim it’s impossible not to laugh. “What exactly happened last Friday?” I inquire just in case I missed something I really should know about.
“Halloween. I want to be a giraffe and Grandma would only look at princess costumes.”
“Oh. How about I take you shopping for a costume this weekend? I’m not sure we can find a giraffe one, but we don’t even have to go down the princess aisle.”
Cass shrugs again. “Okay, but I still think you should get married. I liked Leanne. She likes black too much, but she seemed nice.”
My mind draws a blank until I remember the young woman scurrying out of the lunchroom. That must be Leanne. I sigh, already dreading the necessary conversation with my subordinate. “What exactly did you say to her?”
“I asked her name and if she liked princesses. And Grandma made me ask if she was already involved or only liked women.”
Fuck. I stare at my adorable HR nightmare. “Your grandma is in on this, too?” I ask faintly.
Cass nods. “At first she wasn’t, but then she decided it was worth trying because she said, you’re too stuck in your ways to realize what you’re missing. And I already know Leanne likes to read because she had a book open, so I didn’t really have to ask that question, but I did anyway.”
“That’s your criteria for a stepmother? She likes to read and isn’t in to princesses?”
My daughter stares back at me. “What else is there? You cook.”
I don’t have an answer for that. Not one I can share with an eight-year-old, although I suppose she could be thirty and I wouldn’t want to explain sexual attraction to her. I sigh again and change the subject. “Come on, you have a dentist appointment.”
Cass rolls her eyes like she hadn’t completely forgotten in her quest to find me a wife. God help me.
Leanne
