Chapter Two
DAISY
Daisy stuffed her hands into her pockets and looked away from Asher. He didn’t need to know her reasons for coming here. He didn’t need to know that she was worried if she said no, Elsha wouldn’t want to hang out with her any longer.
Springfield was a small town. She didn’t want it to get out that she judged people for what they wanted to do or where they wanted to hang out. That was not what Daisy wanted.
“Ms. Daisy? Are you going to answer my question?” he asked. “Why didn’t you tell Elsha you didn’t want to meet up at a bar?”
“Please, just call me Daisy,” she tried to change the subject. “Ms. Daisy makes it seem like I’m someone important when I’m not.”
His eyes narrowed on her. “You are important. I don’t want to hear you talking badly about yourself again. But from now on I’ll call you Daisy.”
“Sorry,” she mumbled and looked at the ground.
Everything in her wanted to bolt right now and go home. She needed to get away from all of this, or she was going to have a panic attack… a meltdown.
“Nice try at changing the subject,” he calmly said. “But I want to know why you didn’t tell her.”
Taking a deep breath, Daisy gazed up at Asher.
“I didn’t know it was a bar until I got here,” she fibbed.
She had Googled it several different times when Elsha had invited her, wanting to make sure she was actually going to the right place.
Asher gently gripped her chin between his fingers. “I do not like being lied to.”
“Sorry,” she squeaked out.
“Do you want to try again?”
Daisy nodded. “I knew it was a bar, but I thought it would be okay.”
Which wasn’t a complete lie. Daisy had figured, if she hyped herself up enough, she would be okay coming to the bar… but she was wrong. Oh, so wrong. Why did she ever believe in herself in this type of situation, she did not know.
“And what should you have done when you realized you weren’t going to be okay?” he asked.
“Push through it?” It came out more like a question.
That was what she always told herself to do when she started to get anxious or was in an uncomfortable situation. It was what she had to do growing up, and it had just stuck with her into adulthood.
At least he didn’t know she had left something very important at home. Something she should have brought along.
“No.” Asher shook his head. “You shouldn’t always push through things.”
“But—”
“No buts.”
Daisy couldn’t help but giggle.
A small smile formed on his face. “I’m serious, though. You shouldn’t push through everything, not when you were going to have a panic attack. It’s not worth pushing through if you have one.”
“I wasn’t going to have one,” she said.
He raised an eyebrow. “Want to try again?”
Her shoulders dropped. “Okay… I was about to have one, but I was going to be okay. I had to be.”
She didn’t have Chilli to help her sit down and calm down. Daisy had wanted to come on her own, even if it was foolish.
Tenderness flashed in his eyes as he stared at her. She never had someone look at her like that before.
“You don’t always have to be okay, Little One,” he gently said. “It’s okay to put yourself first and tell someone no or to ask to change the venue.”
“But Elsha wanted to come,” she pointed out. “I’ve never been to a bar and wanted to see what it was like.”
Which was true, but she should have trusted her instincts and told Elsha she needed to swap where they met, no matter how curious she was.
“If you were intrigued about going into a bar, you should have gone with someone who wouldn’t leave your side.
Someone who would make sure you were okay,” Asher said.
“It’s not safe for you to come here with someone who was doing what they wanted.
Someone who didn’t realize your drink had been swapped and were about to have a panic attack.
What would have happened if I wasn’t there? ”
She shrugged. Daisy would have figured it out like she always did.
“I’m not trying to scold you, but I want you to know what you did wasn’t safe or smart,” he explained. “I want you to be safe.”
“You don’t know me.”
His grip tightened on her chin. “I may not know you very well, but that’s going to change.”
Daisy took a step back, moving her chin out of his hand.
“I’m okay now,” she said, nerves running through her body once again.
What did he mean when he said it was going to change? Was he planning on drugging her and taking her back to his place to do what he wanted?
“I th-think I’m g-going to go back in-inside.” She gestured at the bar. “Th-thank you so much f-for your help.”
She needed to get away from him and fast.
“Whoa, Little One. What changed?” he asked, reaching for her.
Daisy pulled away from him, and she fell down, scraping her hands on the hard pavement. Whimpering, she pulled her hands out to see blood starting to pool out.
“Little One,” he gently said.
“Is everything okay?” the man from inside asked as he peered out.
Her eyes filled with tears as she looked between the two men.
“What happened?” the man asked.
“She was good. Then all of a sudden, she got nervous and said she was going back inside. And when I asked her if she was okay, she pulled back and fell, hurting herself,” Asher explained.
“Did you scare her?” he asked as he knelt in front of Daisy. “Are you okay?”
“He’s going to murder me!” She blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.
The bouncer blinked several times as he looked at her. “He’s going to murder you?” he slowly asked.
She nodded.
Her hands were stinging, and fear coursed through her body. She thought Springfield was a safe place. That was what she heard in the Littles’ online group chat. So many people visited the club, BTS, and said the town was safe.
Were they all wrong?
“What made you think he was going to murder you?”
She waved her hand, telling him to get closer. Asher’s eyes were locked on her the whole time, worry swimming in his eyes.
When the man got closer, she whispered, “He said it was all going to change. That he may not know me well, but it was going to change.”
The man started chuckling, but tears dropped down her face. Why was he laughing at her? It wasn’t a laughing matter, not when someone was about to kill her.
“Andrew,” Asher growled. “Stop.”
“I’m sorry. I just…” He continued to chuckle.
“Andrew, knock it off.” Asher slapped the back of his head.
Andrew looked over at Daisy and righted himself.
“I’m sorry,” he gently said. “I wasn’t laughing at you, I promise. I was laughing at what you said.”
“Laughing at me,” she choked out, tears flowing down her face.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized genuinely. “Asher would never do something like that. He would never murder you. When he said it was going to change… he meant he wanted to get to know you as a person or even romantically.”
Asher was still looking at her, but his expression changed to something she couldn’t detect.
“Oh, Little One. Is that why you got all nervous?” Asher asked.
“I can vouch for him. He would never harm a fly,” Andrew said. “Well, unless something happened to someone he cared about, but you don’t have to worry. Asher would never hurt you.”
“He’s right, Little One. I would never hurt you,” Asher chimed in. “I’m sorry that my words freaked you out. I meant what Andrew said. I want to get to know you more. Maybe even go out on a date.”
Her eyes widened as she stared up at him. Did he really want to do that? But why? Daisy wasn’t anything special. Her mom always said she was too nervous and needed to get out of her comfort zone, but she couldn’t do it.
“How about we go inside and let me take a look at your hands,” Asher offered. “I know first aid so you’re in good hands. We’ll go back into the owner’s office where it’s quiet and I’ll take care of your cuts. What do you say?”
“I think it would be wise to do what he said. Your hands look like they must be sore,” Andrew pointed out. “He won’t hurt you.”
Daisy nodded, and Asher helped her stand. He was careful not to touch her grazed palms and led her back into the bar, where everything was ten times louder than outside. She kept her head down as Asher guided her toward the office.
“Will he be mad?” she asked as they stepped into the office.
“Who? The owner? No, he won’t. I know him very well,” Asher replied as he helped her sit in the chair. “I’m going to go grab the first-aid kit. I’ll be right back. I want you to stay here; you’ll be safe and away from everyone.”
She nodded, and he left the room. Daisy looked around the small room. The desk in front of her was neat and tidy. It was almost like the owner didn’t actually work in the office. Like it was just for show.
“Boss, there is a customer as— Oh, hello there. Who are you?” A man with shaggy blonde hair asked as he opened the door.
All the color drained from Daisy’s face. She stared at the super-tall but slender man standing in the doorway. Asher said she would be safe here… that no one would bother her.
“Hello?” He tilted his head to the side. “What’s your name? Why are you in here?”
“As-Asher s-s—”
“Oh, the boss let you in here?” he asked.
Boss? What was he talking about?
Tears pooled in her eyes, and everything became overwhelming.
“Shit. Don’t cry. I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you!” His voice was panicked. “Come on, you’re okay.”
“Jerome, what are you doing here?” Asher bellowed into the office. He pushed through and took one look at Daisy before turning to the man—Jerome. “What did you do to her? Why is she crying? She looks like she’s seen a ghost.”
“I didn’t mean to do anything. I saw you walking back here and needed to talk to you. I didn’t realize you weren’t in here,” Jerome explained.
“Why is she crying?” Asher demanded.
But before Jerome could answer, Asher turned to Daisy and knelt in front of her.
“Little One, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” he gently asked. “You can tell me anything.”
“I think I scared her,” Jerome butted in. “She said your name.”
“Boss?” she whispered, her eyes wide.
“Yes, Asher is the owner,” Jerome said.
Daisy’s breathing picked up as she looked at Asher. When he said he knew the owner really well, he meant himself.
“Little One,” he gently said, but she didn’t hear anything else. And everything around her went black.