“Sable,” Ink said gently. “Cash is just looking out for Addie. He wouldn’t harm her.”
“Right. Yeah, sure.” Sable’s shoulders slumped before she gave Cash a sheepish look. “Sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry for,” Cash reassured her.
The last thing she wanted to do was tell Cash not to touch her. Even though she liked it a little bit too much. And she didn’t really care if he sipped from her hot chocolate. The crooking a finger at her, that part he could lose. But she still wasn’t going to say anything in front of all of these people. Cash had done nothing but help her.
Not a lot of people would do what he’d done.
“Right,” Ink said. “I think we need to move on from ‘hot chocolate gate.’”
“I’ll take one of those hot chocolates, Sable,” Ralen told her.
She turned to him. “That charm doesn’t work on me, Ralen.” And then she turned on her heel and walked out.
“I would’ve liked a hot chocolate too,” Brody mourned. “They really are legendary. She puts whipped cream and sprinkles on them when it’s your birthday.”
Yum she wanted whipped cream and sprinkles on her hot chocolate.
“Okay, let’s get on with things,” Ink said. “As I said, I’m Ink. I own Callahan Security. This is Brody. He’s my IT specialist.”
Brody waved at her cheerfully. At least he didn’t seem annoyed at being woken up so early.
“Drat, I need my laptop,” Brody said. “I’ll be back in a minute.” He jumped up, whacking his knee on the underside of the table.
Addie jumped up and moved around to help him. “Are y-you okay?”
She managed to get the words out, even though they were quiet and her throat was still paining her.
“Yeah, thanks. I’m fine,” Brody said the last two words really loudly, and she stared at him in confusion. Did he maybe think she was deaf? Some people did.
But then a strange voice filled the room.
“Are you sure? Show me. Do you need Hack or the Surgeon?”
Brody shook his head. “No! All I did was thump my knee against the table. At worst, it’s going to leave a bruise.”
“This is what happens when you get called into work so early in the morning, isn’t it, Ink?” the voice said.
Who was that? And where were they talking from? And how did they know that Brody had hurt himself? Were there cameras in here? She glanced around wildly, wrapping her arms around herself as she backed up against the wall.
“Uh-oh,” the voice said. “And now we’ve scared the little mouse.”
Addie winced. She hated being called a mouse.
“Youscared her,” Ink replied. “Some strange voice just came over a speaker because you’re watching on some camera that you keep replacing.” Ink turned to her. “I’m really sorry. I should have made it clear that there is a camera in here. Brody’s boyfriend likes to keep an eye on him to make sure he’s safe.”
Brody sighed. “It’s not creepy.”
They all stared at him.
“I’m going to go get my laptop now.” He sent her a sympathetic look. “He’s only concerned about me. He’s not spying on you or anything. But I understand if you’d rather I wasn’t in the room.”
Addie stared at him for a moment. She didn’t really understand what was going on but there was something about Brody that put her at ease. And if his boyfriend was overprotective of him, well, it wasn’t Brody’s fault, and she wasn’t about to reject him. Addie knew what it felt like to be rejected.
She shook her head.
“Does that mean you don’t want me to leave?” Brody asked.
