Caught by Emma Louise
Chapter Five
My first few weeks working at Elite Security felt like it flew by in the blink of an eye. After the first few days of watching the door, it became obvious that Max was avoiding the place. That suited me just fine; I just hoped that Crew explained to him that I wasn’t here to catch him out in any way. I just wanted to come to work, get paid, and go home to my little girl. This is the first job I’ve had where I’ve been able to take Cass to school every morning and pick her up again after without feeling guilty about what I’ve been doing in the hours in between. I have no plans to tell her exactly what I had to do in order for us to get by, but if for some reason Cass ever finds out about my failed stint as a honey trapper, I just hope she understands. This is part of the reason I’m so desperate to keep this job. I like having a respectable job for once.
“Cass! Get your shoes on!”
“O’tay, Mommy!” The sound of her little feet thundering around in her room brings a huge smile to my face. My little girl lives her life at one hundred miles per hour. Thankfully, I managed to talk her out of her desire to go fishing. It only took me explaining that fish like to eat worms and that she would have to bait a hook herself for her to quickly change her mind. Instead, she and I are spending the day doing her favorite thing. Shopping. She might only be five-years-old, but my girl knows what she likes. Even though this might be a trip to get her some new school clothes, I already know we’ll be out most of the day while she searches for the perfect outfits.
“Can you do my laces, pwease?” Cass appears in the small kitchen with a pair of pink Converse shoes in her hands. Looking her over, I take in her outfit, making sure it’s not too outrageous. My girl loves to choose her own outfits, and she usually does well, but we have had more than one disaster before now. Today, she’s wearing bleached denim shorts and a black graphic print t-shirt. She’s added a pretty leopard print bow headband on her caramel-colored curls. I have no idea where she gets her style from, but I wish it were from me.
We’re in the tenth shop of the day when my phone chirps from inside my purse. Keeping a close eye on Cassidy as she looks around, I pull the phone out and see that it’s a text from Lee. This week has been insanely busy, and I’ve hardly had time to catch up with her apart from a few minutes at school pickup.
Lee: You free for lunch? Aara and I are having a girls’ day.
Me: Yes! That’s probably the only way I’ll be able to drag Cass out of the mall.
She replies with a line of laughing emojis, then once again with the name of a nearby restaurant with a children’s play area attached.
Me: Be there in an hour.
Juggling the bags we have already accumulated, I slide the phone inside my purse before I help my daughter choose between the striped skirt or the spotty one.
* * *
A short while later, Lee and I are devouring a huge pizza while the girls are burning theirs off in the ball pit. The restaurant is packed, but we managed to snag a table next to the play area.
“And he hasn’t been back in the office since.” Taking a sip of the iced water that was just dropped off, I look over at Lee as she stares at me open mouthed.
“How the hell does this stuff keep happening to you?” she asks incredulously. I’ve just finished telling her about how my first weeks working at Elite have gone. I thought she might fall off her chair in shock when I told her about seeing Max, my failed final honey trap, on my first day in the office.
“I wish I freaking knew,” I mutter, stuffing the last slice into my mouth.
“So what are you going to do?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?” she sputters.
“Absolutely nothing,” I clarify.
“Darce...”
“No, Lee.” I sit up straighter in my seat. “I’m doing this. I’m keeping this job, and I don’t care if Max freaking Arden hates my guts.”
“I just hope you know what you’re doing.” She looks at me, uncertainty clear on her face. “I don’t know Max as well as I do the other guys, but Liam says he’s intense,” she says solemnly. Intense? Ha! She has no idea.
“It’s going to be fine,” I say, but I'm not sure if I’m trying to convince Natalie or myself. “I’m just going to pretend he doesn’t exist.”
“And you think that will work?” she asks skeptically.
“It has to. I’m not quitting.” There is no chance I’m going to let Max win. I’m not letting any man dictate any aspect of my life ever again.
Max is just going to have to get used to me being around whether he likes it or not.