Chapter 5 - LEXIE
LEXIE
“The fuck?” my grumpy companion snarled.
“I know, right?” I gazed lovingly at the bright orange bags of Reese’s animal crackers.
“I can’t even comprehend what I’m seeing right now.
An animal cracker topped with Reese’s peanut butter and covered in Reese’s chocolate?
Can you even imagine something so delicious?
” I sighed, picturing how wonderful that would taste.
“Ooh, and how about crumbled over a bowl of vanilla ice cream? Oh God,” I moaned again, closing my eyes.
“Animal crackers? All this,”—he waved his hand in front of my face—“is for fucking animal crackers?”
I opened my eyes, blinking away the images of food porn. “Um, were you listening? Those aren’t just animal crackers. They’re Reese’s animal crackers. I’ve never seen them here before. They must be new. Sorry, I guess I got a little excited.” I chuckled knowing I’d actually gotten a lot excited.
He mumbled something that sounded a lot like “Goddamnit” and pushed our cart next to the display. Then he stuck out his giant, muscled arm and swept all the bags into his already overloaded cart.
“Bear!” I laughed, shaking my head. “You can’t do that. Those aren’t on the list and we’ve got to stick to the budget.”
He shrugged, looking ridiculously hot in his grumpy state. Although, how Reese’s animal crackers could make anyone grumpy, I had no idea. Maybe grumpy was his default. Like he had resting grump face.
“Consider them part of your tip. Now let’s get the hell out of here.”
He pushed our cart to the check out and we began unloading the items onto the belt.
“I’ve got it,” he huffed out, apparently still in his feelings. Maybe it was a guy thing of him wanting to load up the groceries, but come on. They were just groceries.
“And I can help. Besides, you need to let Alex scan your Costco card so he can ring you up.”
He groaned, knowing I had him there, and reached for his wallet. I glanced over as he opened it and couldn’t help the gasp of wonder that escaped me. How had I missed it before?
“You have a black card,” I said, awe in my voice.
“Yeah, babe, I do.” His expression changed to a smirk, as if he’d finally figured something out. “Is that important to you?”
I watched as he pulled out his card and handed it to Alex. “Absolutely,” I said, nodding while he shook his head, looking disappointed. He shoved the card back in his wallet and took out a second black card. An Amex if I wasn’t mistaken.
“An executive membership means you’re a frequent shopper, and you get 3% back at the end of the year. I’ve never spent enough to make the extra membership fee worthwhile, but one day I will.”
He stared at me, a look of confusion over his face. “Executive membership?” he asked. “Don’t you mean ‘American Express’?”
I chuckled, tossing more items on the belt now that Alex was scanning.
“Uh, no. I don’t care about credit cards.
Debt is the last thing I need in my life.
But an executive Costco membership?” I sighed.
“Now that is sexy. Especially now that they let you in an hour before everyone else. You did know that, right? That you didn’t have to wait outside with the rest of us gold members? ”
Alex laughed as he rang up the final items. “Preach, Lexie girl. Who needs the country club when you can have the warehouse club?”
“Right on. I’ll take the $1.50 hotdog and soda over stuffed pheasant with blueberry sauce any day.” I burst into laughter and looked at Bear. His mouth was twitching, and the weight on my chest lightened.
I said goodbye and asked Bear if we needed to grab any boxes to organize the food in. He shook his head, saying there were storage bins in the back of his truck. As we waited to have our items counted at the exit, I bumped my shoulder into his side.
“Are you okay? You seemed a little put out when we were loading up the groceries.” I was pretty sure it was a him problem and not a me problem.
But growing up I’d learned it was best to apologize for whatever imaginary slight I’d done.
Apologizing would give him his power back.
He could blame everything on me and we could move on.
It sucked, but I needed this job to be successful.
If only ten out of the hundred guests spread the word about my skills, that could lead to another job.
And then another and another. But first, I needed to make sure Bear and I had a good working relationship.
Even if I kinda wanted to jump his bones.
He sighed and looked at me. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. As long as you stick to ogling animal crackers, it won’t happen again. Unless you want to ogle me.” He grinned and his brown eyes sucked me in.
My mouth dropped. That was not what I was expecting. An apology and—did he just hit on me?
He leaned over, his lips hovering above my ear. “You’re drooling, pixie.”
The man wasn’t wrong. And it wasn’t just my mouth that was getting wet. Gah, so inappropriate! I was a professional!
We made it through the exit line and I chatted with Samuel as he marked off our receipt. His vest was covered in white fur, reminding me he’d recently adopted a cat. After getting an update on Casper’s latest antics, we headed out to the parking lot.
“After we load up your truck, I’ll need to run home and grab my tools.”
“Tools? You’re cooking, not building a deck.”
Based on how we met, I shouldn’t be surprised he knew so little about cooking. “Tools, as in my knives, my favorite pan, and a few other gadgets.”
He shook his head as we came to a stop at a black F250 with an extended cab. Of course he’d drive the manliest damn truck in the lot. “We have a fully loaded kitchen. You need something else, you tell me and I’ll send a prospect out to buy it.”
“Nope. I appreciate the offer, but I also need my spices.” I wasn’t going to budge on this one. Who knew when the last time the spices in the MC kitchen had been replaced? I’d bet money there was a fully loaded spice rack that hadn’t been touched in years.
I shuddered. This was my big opportunity. A potentially life-changing start to my dream business. No way was I going to let it be ruined by a jar of ten-year-old garlic powder. No, this moment called for Himalayan sea salt and truffle oil.
“Don’t worry, I won’t be long. In fact”—I looked at the now fully loaded bed of his giant truck—“I’ll probably be there before you finish unloading.”
He signed. “Fine, I’ll walk you to your car. Where’d you park?”
I reared back. “Oh, you don’t need to do that. I’m just a few rows over.”
“Not letting you walk by yourself.”
I laughed. “Seriously? It’s like noon on a Saturday in the Costco parking lot. I think I’ll be fine.”
“Let’s go, pixie.”
My chest warmed as we walked toward my parking space. It had been a long time since someone had cared so much for my wellbeing, and my pathetic heart loved it.
“Well, this is me.” I gestured toward my light green Vespa. “I guess I’ll see you in a bit.”
“Are you fucking kidding me with this?” The look of disgust on his face had me giggling.
“What? You don’t like my bike? Seems a bit hypocritical, don’t you think?”
I wasn’t surprised by his reaction. Bessie earned her fair share of sneers.
But I didn’t care. My girl got eighty miles to the gallon.
The only places I ever went were school, work, and the beach, all of which were within a twenty-mile radius.
If, and that’s a big if, I ever got a wild hair to make a cross-country trip, I’d rent a car.
Bear lowered his head and massaged his temples. “Where do you live?”
My head jerked back. The man was hot, but yeah, we weren’t there yet.
“Nearby. Now if you’ll excuse me.” I grabbed my matching helmet and clipped it on. “I’ve got work to do.” I climbed on my scooter and drove off, leaving the grumbling man in the parking lot.