Chapter Ten
DAISY
“Asher, tell me how much it cost, and I’ll pay you back,” Daisy said as they walked out of the grocery store.
She had tried to see the total, but Lucinda had moved the screen and didn’t say the amount.
“You aren’t paying me back for the groceries,” he said as he pushed the cart. “Where did you park?”
“It’s the navy-blue car right there.” She pointed. “But I’m serious. I have money to pay for my groceries. None of this is yours, so it doesn’t make sense.”
Asher stopped walking and turned toward her. “You aren’t paying for it. Consider this a housewarming gift that I didn’t give you when you moved in.”
Daisy placed a hand on her hip, finding some unknown confidence. “Do you do this for every tenant you have?”
“Just the beautiful ones.”
Her mouth hung open as he stopped right in front of her car.
“Are you going to unlock it for me so I can place these in the trunk?” he called out.
“Asher!” she grumbled and did as she was told. “Please tell me how much I owe you. I know it was way more than what a normal housewarming gift would cost.”
Daisy had never given or received a housewarming gift, but her groceries had to be more than seventy dollars, and she wasn’t about to let him pay.
“You aren’t going to find out. The people who work for the store won’t tell you either, so I would just give up and accept it.” He tapped the tip of her nose.
She opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to figure out what to say to him.
She finally settled on, “What do you mean?”
Asher finished putting the groceries in the trunk of her car before turning to her. “Exactly what I said. No one who works there will tell you how much the groceries were.”
“Why?”
“Because they know when I pay for something, it’s a gift,” he replied, like it was the most normal thing ever.
“That’s not right,” she mumbled as he put the cart away.
“Whenever you are with me, you won’t be paying for anything,” he said.
Her jaw hit the floor. “Wh-what?”
“When we are together getting groceries, eating out, or going to watch a movie, you won’t be paying for a thing. If we are driving together, I will be driving, and you get to be the passenger princess,” he stated.
“If we are driving my car, I’m driving it, not you,” she said.
“Nope. If my ass is in a car, I will be driving, and you get to relax. End of discussion.”
“Asher!”
A smile formed on his face. “Yes?”
“You can’t just say end of discussion, and that be it.”
“Why can’t I? I’m letting you know how things are going to be when you are with me,” he said.
Daisy took a deep breath and slowly let it out.
“Are you doing anything for the rest of the day? Have you eaten lunch?” he asked, changing the subject.
“When I get home, I’m having lunch, and then I have to work,” she replied.
“What do you do for work? I don’t think I asked that yesterday.”
“I’m a personal assistant to two authors. I help them with admin, talk to people, create graphics, schedule things,” she explained.
“And it’s full-time work?” he asked.
She nodded. “They keep me busy enough. I’ve thought about adding a third author, but both of them have gotten more popular, and there is so much to do for them.”
It was like a flip had been switched one night for them both. Daisy hadn’t known what to do when it first happened, and all three of them were overwhelmed.
“Do you get time off? Do you take breaks? Get off at a reasonable time so you can still go out if you want to or relax at home?” Asher grilled her.
Daisy rubbed her forehead, trying to ease the headache forming.
“Yes, I do get off at a reasonable time mostly. When they have releases coming up, it gets a little more chaotic for all of us, and we end up working until late at night. Around release day, we don’t get a lot of sleep.
But when it’s all over, we make sure that we all get the rest we need. I don’t know why I just told you that.”
“Because you don’t want me to worry.” He smiled.
“Or I didn’t want you to ask any more questions.”
But she wanted him to know. She wanted to tell him all about her job. Daisy wanted him to tell her that, even during release week. That she couldn’t stay up late and wake up early in the morning. She wanted him to set boundaries for her.
But she wasn’t going to tell him that.
“Daisy?” Asher tilted his head to the side. “Are you okay?”
“Peachy.”
Asher chuckled. “Well, if you get off at a reasonable time tonight, you should come to Behind the Scenes. Some of the Littles are meeting up. They would love to have you join them. They are always looking for new friends. And I’ll be there.”
Unease filled Daisy at the thought of going to the club. She had wanted to, but he was going to be there. She would have to bring Chilli, and she didn’t know how the other Littles would react. What if they didn’t want to be her friend anymore when they found out?
“I don’t know whether Chilli needs to get used to her surroundings, but if she does, or if you want to see what it’s like, so you aren’t overwhelmed, we can go there early.”
Heart fluttering, Daisy looked up at Asher. He would actually do that for her? No one had ever offered anything like that. She didn’t know what to do.
“I don’t know,” she mumbled.
He was being too sweet to her. There had to be a catch, right?
“Why don’t you think about it? If you want to go early, just message or call me, and I’ll come pick you up. How does that sound?” he asked. “They are meeting up at seven thirty tonight and will probably stay for a couple of hours.”
“O-okay,” she stuttered.
Asher quickly put away the cart before stopping in front of her.
“And Daisy?” He gained her attention. “I don’t want you to feel pressured at all. If this is too much, just let me know. I just figured you might want some more friends who are Little, like you. They will love you.”
“I don’t know if they’ll love me,” she muttered as she looked down at her feet.
“What was that?” he asked.
“Nothing!” Her eyes went wide.
“I should ask you what you said, but I’m going to let it slide this time,” he said.
This time? What did he mean?
“I also want to let you know that if you want to go for just a couple of minutes to meet them, or if you want to go and just look around, you can do that too. You aren’t bound to staying the whole time that they are going to,” he said as he took a step toward Daisy.
“You are new in town. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to a club before, but people will look out for you.
Everyone is going to love you. You don’t have to worry about that. ”
She nodded, not trusting her voice to stay even or not blab something that he wouldn’t like.
“Are you feeling better to drive?” he asked out of the blue.
Daisy thought about how she felt before nodding.
“I need words, Little One,” he said.
“Yes, I’m feeling better. Like nothing happened,” she replied.
That was a lie. She always felt a little off after she had an episode, but Asher didn’t need to know that. She felt well enough to drive. Her head was swirling with so many questions from their conversation, but it felt clear for basic functions like getting home.
“If you start driving and don’t feel good, I want you to pull over right away and call me, understand?” he asked. “Better yet, you wait here. I’ll get into my car and follow you in case something happens. That way, I’m close to you, and you don’t have to worry about calling me.”
“I’m okay,” she quickly said. “I’ll call you if something happens, but I don’t need you to follow me.”
That was the last thing she needed right now because she could see the slippery slope if she allowed him to. He would get her to her house and then worry that something would happen there and say he had to stay. Then it could come nighttime, and he would be worried about her.
“I’ve dealt with this for a lot of my life, I know what to do,” she gently said.
He sighed. “I know you do, but that doesn’t mean I’m not worried about you. I just want you to be safe and make sure that you are healthy. My protective instincts come out with you.”
“Why me?” She found herself asking before she could stop herself.
“I don’t know, but I’m not mad about it. My instincts are normally right,” he replied. “But I didn’t mean that I didn’t think you knew what to do. I just wanted to make sure that you got home safely.”
“I know, I’m sorry. I’m just tired.” She looked at her feet once again.
It was her favorite thing to do when she didn’t know where to put her eyes. Daisy could gaze at him, but that meant he could see what she was feeling and thinking. He always knew, even when they hadn’t known each other for a full day yet.
“Then, don’t think about tonight and just go home and rest. They meet up almost every night, so if you decide you want to come, let me know, and I’ll see what their plans are.” He stroked her hair. “When you get home, can you text me to say that you got home safely?”
“Why?” Her nose crinkled as she looked up at him.
Her mind was still on his hand on her hair, calming her. He just knew what would work for her without her even knowing.
“Because I’m going to worry you didn’t get home safely. It doesn’t have to be long, just a ‘I’m home.’ That will do,” he replied. “But if you really don’t want to, don’t feel pressured.”
“No, I can do that,” she replied.
It was the least she could do. Asher really did seem worried. If she didn’t send him the text, would he worry about her until she saw him next? Daisy couldn’t do that to him. He had been nothing but kind to her.
“Thank you,” he whispered. “I’ll leave you then. Text or call me if you need anything.”
“Thank you for helping me with everything.” She waved her free hand around.
“It was my pleasure. I would do it again in a heartbeat.”