No Mercy / Book Three

Chapter Eight: Question

"I was kind of hoping that you would throw your purse at him," Damion said suddenly, breaking the heavy silence that had settled inside of his car. Juniper blinked at him before breaking out into a laugh, nose scrunching up when she started to snort.

"What?" Damion grinned at her, eyes flicking over to her quickly before returning to the road. "Probably would have made you feel better."

And he wasn't wrong. She had been tempted to throw the damned thing at his head when he demanded she sit down and shut up.

"A fun fantasy, but I would never be so stupid to assault a police officer in a police station. To many witnesses. Besides, handcuffs are definitely not my version of a fun time," Juniper sighed, settling further into her seat. She tugged at the seatbelt absently to relieve some of the pressure it was putting on her still-healing bruises.

"What is your version of a good time, then? I can't promise that we can do all of it, but you've kind of had a shit few weeks and it might make you feel better," Damion offered, hand reaching down to fiddle with a stray thread on his shirt.

Juniper hummed, taking in the subconscious action while she thought. She had seen him doing similar things throughout the day, small movements that betrayed the fact that he probably wasn't as comfortable as his face made him seem. Not that she could really blame him. Strangers were scary.

But he was sweet, trying to find something to keep her mind busy. Not that it had worked any of the times she tried herself, but she was thankful he was putting his life on pause for her and so she would try.

"I like animals," she offered, her own hands twisting up in her lap. "I know it might seem silly, but spending time with them makes me forget about the big things in life most of the time."

Damion's fingers stopped twirling the tread in a jerky movement and he turned his head just far enough that she could see his raised eyebrow. She automatically clenched her teeth to brace herself for what he was about to say.

"I know you're a good person because Logan vouches for you, but I would have serious reservations about you if anything other than what you just said had come out of your mouth."

Oh.

"If cuddling up to an animal doesn't make you happy, then there's something seriously wrong with you."

Juniper forced her fingers to relax, to stop clenching around themselves like a vice. He wasn't making fun of her. It kind of knocked the wind out of sails, the righteous fury she hadn't even realized she had drug up dissipating like dandelion seeds on the breeze.

Weeks of Jaxon sneering at her and making her feel an inch tall, along with the harsh reality of people constantly thinking her interests were beneath her, had apparently made her paranoid.

"I'd probably pay a small fortune to pet a baby cow," Juniper admitted, holding her breath until he turned that slow burning grin at her again. "All of those videos of them snuggling into someone's lap makes me melt."

Damion's left hand flicked down to turn the blinker on and he looked over his shoulder before merging lanes, slowing the car down to a full stop at a red light.

Juniper glanced at their surroundings before returning her attention to him, curious as to where he was taking her. She had paid close attention to the route they took away from his house and to the police station. If he was taking them back to his cottage, he should have turned right two streets ago.

"You might not be able to catch them to cuddle with them, but I know a place we can get a baby cow," Damion promised, winking at her before turning left when the light changed.

Juniper's breath hitched in her lungs for just a second. Nobody had any right looking that good winking over a bovine, but here she was; shaking her head a little to focus.

Damion Lee was attractive. And honestly, if she wasn't so scared out of her damned mind about the uncertainty that her life seemed to be filled with right now she'd probably be flirting up a storm. He seemed like the type to take you somewhere calm and intimate on a first date and actually listen to what you had to say instead of droning on and on about themselves.

She was pulled out of her fantasy when he turned to look at her quickly, a frown tugging at his lips and she had a feeling he had something that required a response while she was daydreaming.

"Sorry, I was just..." Juniper said softly, waving her hand vaguely. She cleared her throat. "What did you say?"

Damion nodded his head and flicked the blinker back on, slowing down and pulling the car into a grocery store parking lot.

"We can go tomorrow, if that's alright with you? Your skirt's very pretty, I don't want you to get it dirty."

She looked down at her favorite skirt that she had found in a thrift shop a few years ago, the colors muted from the amount of wear and tear she had put the poor thing through and a hole in the hem, before looking back up at him. His eyes were so sincere that she couldn't help but smile at him.

"You're not what I thought you would be," she said honestly, unbuckling her seatbelt once he had parked the car.

"What? I have sisters, I know the importance of pretty clothes." He pulled a hat from the backseat and handed it to her, motioning towards his own face. She caught on to what he wasn't saying and slid it on her head, pulling the brim low to help cover some of the bruising. "And while my sisters would, and have, chase a farm animal is something pretty, I'd rather you do it in jeans. Much less of a tripping hazard."

Juniper waited until they were out of the car before asking him any more questions.

"How many do you have? Sisters, I mean."

Damion put an arm around her shoulders to tug her out of the way of a mom with a loaded down cart and two children clinging to the sides of it, and she hooked her fingers through one of his belt loops. She would blame it on not wanting to be separated if he asked.

"I have three. Micha is the oldest. My parents got told they were having a boy so they didn't come up with a girl name, and once she was born they just kept it. She's thirty-one and has two little boys. And then there's Cassidy, she's twenty. She's the one who does the watercolor painting. And last, but not least, is Hallie. She's seventeen. Kind of a smartass, but she's so damned smart it's not even funny."

Juniper's heart tugged at the pride in his voice and she wondered what that would have been like. To have siblings to share your life with. Maybe she wouldn't have been so damned lonely when her parents died, wouldn't have spent so many years on the outskirts of everything she was told she should be grateful to have.

Her grandfather loved her, but he was in his own world most days and it didn't include her.

"They sound lovely," she said wistfully, and Damion smiled down at her; his arm still around her shoulders despite the fact that they had made it into the store.

"They are. But you'll get to make your own judgements tomorrow. Right now, we've got a mission of finding something Logan will be able to eat for dinner without throwing up two minutes later."

Juniper nodded her head and untangled herself from him to grab a basket, pushing all thoughts of his sisters from her mind. She just hoped they liked her. She could use a few more friends.