Chapter 4 - BEAR
BEAR
My mom always claimed I was born under a lucky star, but I’d never believed it until now. That was the only explanation for how this pint-sized caterer dropped out of nowhere to save my ass with this cookout.
Unless luck wasn’t the only explanation.
Shit. Could this be a set-up by the Diablos to infiltrate our compound?
I shook my head. There was no way they could have known I’d be at Costco at this exact moment.
And whoever heard of a catering spy? And certainly not a blonde-haired, blue-eyed one who looked like she’d stepped out of a cartoon.
My eyes drifted down to her pert little ass in her short shorts. She was a tiny thing, but damn, did she have curves. I hoped we would need something on the bottom shelf. My cock pushed against my jeans as a vision of her bent over with a hint of ass cheek filled my mind.
We stopped in front of a giant gazebo at the end of an aisle and she sat down at the table.
“Let’s do a quick consultation.” She grabbed a pen from her bag and opened her giant binder. The woman hadn’t been kidding about having a bunch of recipes. She pulled a paper from the back and started writing.
I looked around, expecting an associate to yell at us to move, but no one came. Shrugging, I pulled out the chair next to her and sat down. This was a nice setup. Maybe we should get a gazebo for the clubhouse. The women would love it, and there was a built-in bar that the guys would also love.
“Let’s start with sides.” She thumbed through a few pages. “How about potato salad, broccoli salad, baked beans, and coleslaw.”
I nodded, thinking that sounded like more vegetables than we’d seen in a year.
“Will there be any kids?”
“Yeah, a couple of the brothers have little ones. Maybe ten or so?”
“Okay, great. I’ll add macaroni and cheese. And I’ll make chocolate chip cookies. Any allergies we need to watch out for?”
“Just a vegetarian.”
She raised an eyebrow. “That’s not an allergy.”
I shrugged. If it wasn’t an allergy, I couldn’t understand why anyone would willingly give up bacon.
“We can keep the sides meat free, and I’ll make ten veggie burgers in case someone else wants to try one. Plus burgers and hotdogs? Or would you rather have sausage? They’ve got a spicy beef kielbasa here that I love.”
“Uh, sure?” If it’d been up to me, I’d get frozen patties and a couple packs of dogs and call it a day.
“Let’s do a mix of hot dogs for the kids and the spicy kielbasa for the adults. We’ll need drinks, too.”
“That’s already taken care of.” I smiled, my chest puffing up. That part I knew. I’d stopped at the liquor store first to restock the bar.
“Nonalcoholic drinks?”
My face must have said it all, because her sweet laughter rang through the gazebo. “I’ll make iced tea and lemonade, and we can pick up some juice pouches for the kids. While people are waiting on the mains, how about chips and dip and a veggie and fruit tray?”
I nodded. “Sounds good. Perfect, actually.” The guys were laughing at me before, taking bets as to how badly I’d fail at this punishment. Well, the joke was on them because I had an ace up my sleeve in the form of one very sexy caterer.
She beamed up at me, and if I’d thought she was pretty before, it was nothing compared to the beauty she was showing now. And knowing that it was my words that put that smile on her face? A bit of the tension I’d been carrying all morning melted.
“Awesome. Just give me a few minutes to get a list together and we’ll be ready to shop.
” She flipped through her binder, pulling recipe cards out of plastic sleeves that I used as a kid to store Pokémon cards.
Then she pulled another paper from the back that had ‘Shopping List’ written at the top and was divided into different areas of the store, like dairy, produce, and frozen.
She spread the recipe cards out on the table and made notes on each one, adjusting the quantities for 100.
Then she filled up the shopping list, sorting all the ingredients by section.
My mouth dropped. Well, shit. I’d thought I’d be here at least three hours.
With her organizing everything, we’d be out in about forty-five minutes.
She seemed to really know her stuff. Our massive commercial-grade kitchen was a mess of pots, pans, and expiring food.
If the catering gig worked out, maybe she’d be interested in the bar manager position.
Could I have found a pixie-sized solution to more than one problem sitting outside of the Costco? Lucky star indeed.
“Let’s start with produce.”
I let her lead the way, not willing to miss another chance to stare at her ass.
Although, there were quite a few other assholes in this store also stealing a glance.
She seemed oblivious to the amount of attention she received as we made our way down the giant aisles.
On the one hand, I was grateful. The club bunnies were over the top with their affections and constant need to be the center of attention.
Lexie was a welcome change. But on the other, the fact that she didn’t realize how many men were staring at her made me uneasy.
What if one of these assholes followed her to the parking lot and tried to get her number?
My chest constricted at the thought of her giggling with a douche in khakis.
And then it eased when I pictured myself smashing the douche in his fucking face.
I shook my head. What the hell was wrong with me? I’d only known this woman fifteen minutes. Why did I care who she gave her number to? She was still several feet ahead of me when I saw one of the assholes walk up to her at the tomatoes. He opened his mouth to speak, but I’d had enough.
“Babe, did you want me to get the red potatoes or the big brown ones?” I placed my hand on the small of her back and glared at the man trying to steal my girl.
She was focused on the tomatoes and didn’t even look up. “Red, of course.” Which was probably a good thing, since I was acting like a possessive freak for no fucking reason. “At least ten pounds.”
“I’ll take care of it.” I glared at the idiot, who was still staring at Lexie.
She was a gorgeous woman who clearly knew her way around produce, which hinted that maybe she also knew her way around a kitchen.
A perfect catch for a lazy ass fucker like this guy appeared to be.
His nanny probably still cut his meat for him.
I straightened up and cracked my knuckles. If this was another store, I’d have pushed my cut back to show him my piece. But this was Costco, and they didn’t allow me to bring my gun inside. Instead, I flexed my biceps until he finally got the hint.
I glanced back at Lexie, who was mumbling to herself and swapping out tomatoes from other boxes. Was she always so oblivious? We’d have to talk about that later. She needed to be more careful. Someone could take advantage.
We made it through the produce and meat section and headed toward prepared foods. Lexie stopped and sniffed the air, then turned up a short aisle where we found one of the sample tables.
“Hey Ms. Stacy! I missed you last week.” Lexie walked up to a woman in a hairnet who was cutting up giant sausages.
“Aww, aren’t you sweet? I took the weekend off to go to the beach. But I’m back now and serving kielbasa. Only $15.99 per pound today.”
Lexie turned to me and smiled. “These are the ones I was telling you about. Try one and see what you think. But watch out, they are spicy. I always have to sample the electrolyte water after I have them.”
She picked up a chunk of sausage speared with a toothpick and placed it in her mouth. Her plump lips closed around the meat as she pulled the toothpick out.
“Mmm.”
Her eyes closed and my dick perked up. I stared, unable to move as she chewed, mesmerized by the way her mouth worked. Goddamn, I was in trouble.
She opened her eyes and smiled. “Perfect.” Her smile faltered as she looked at me. “Wait, you didn’t try it? Bear, come on.”
She grabbed my forearm and shook. I looked down where she held my arm.
It was an unusual sight. Other than my sister, Jada, people didn’t reach out and touch me.
Especially not people I’d met the hour before.
I scared most people, and that’s the way I liked it.
But apparently not this little pixie, as she’d already touched me twice today.
Her blue eyes stared into mine. “I need you to taste this and tell me if you think your friends will like it.” She turned to the sample lady. “This is my boss for the day. I’m catering an event for him.”
Her face beamed with pride, and as much as I enjoyed the look on her, I couldn’t get away from her other comment. I liked the idea of being her boss.
“Open up, sir.”
While I’d been daydreaming, she’d grabbed one of the samples and was now holding it in front of my mouth. Her eyes widened and she nodded encouragingly.
Her chest heaved as she held her breath, pushing her tits up in her little tank.
I opened my mouth and she put the toothpick inside.
I closed my mouth around the toothpick, making sure my lips closed around her delicate fingers.
Her eyes flared and she gasped, but rather than jerk her hand away, she slowly pulled her fingers back.
Her cheeks reddened, and my girl looked flustered for the first time since I’d met her.
“Delicious.” I licked my lips and winked.
“Oh, good.” Her eyes fixated on my lips and she nodded. “Great.”
“Are you done?” A middle-aged toad woman spoke from behind us. I looked around, and it was like The Walking Dead. Fucking hell. Ten people with carts were crowded behind us looking like zombies as they moved closer to the poor sample lady and her sausages.
Lexie jumped as she startled out of her haze. A haze my lips put her in.
“Come on, Bear.” She took off toward the aisle with the kielbasa. “Ten packs should be enough, don’t you think?”
“Make it twelve.” She hadn’t been lying. That shit was delicious.
***
After tossing in seven giant bags of chips, I had to admit I was in over my head. I pushed the cart through the main path and caught up with her at the end of the bread aisle with an armload of buns.
“I think we’re full. How much more is on your list?”
“Actually, I think we’re all—“ Her voice trailed off as she stared ahead. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped. “Oh, baby,” she whispered as she licked her lips. Rage like I hadn’t experienced in years filled my gut. Who the hell was she eye-fucking in the middle of the goddamn Costco?
She moaned and shook her head, tugging that bottom lip with her teeth. Her lids lowered, and it was like she was having some kind of fucking out of body experience.
“Holy moly. I cannot believe my eyes right now.”
Red clouded my vision. It made no sense. I hardly knew her. She was probably ten years younger and way too sweet. About as far from my type as one could get. Why should it matter to me if she got all hot and bothered over some fucker in a grocery store warehouse?
What was her type? Nerdy computer guy? Fancy doctor? I turned my head to see who she was ogling, glad that Costco had that no gun policy because I didn’t need to go to jail today.