Chapter Five
Kelley couldn’t help herself from laughing, and she had no choice but to take the chocolate chips away from Crow, who was being a pain in the ass. She had to work today, and he’d insisted on coming with her.
She knew her job was boring to many, but not to her. She loved it. From packing the shelves, to serving customers. She’d made a life for herself here. One that meant a great deal to her.
Crow didn’t seem to mind, apart from the fact each item she kept putting onto the shelf, he seemed insistent in taking off.
“Do you need me to grab you some groceries?” Crow asked.
Even though he was making her job a hell of a lot harder, she didn’t want him to go anywhere. The truth was, she did need groceries.
“I have a list.” She reached into her pants back pocket and pulled out the list she’d made that morning. “Do you think you’ll be able to handle it?”
“How do you carry all of this home?” he asked.
“Sometimes I make a couple of trips, other times I call a cab. Depends on the day.” Usually, she shopped every other day, so she would never run out, and it was an easy walk home. She hadn’t called a cab in a long time. She loved the freedom of being able to walk.
“You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”
“Why are they put into sections?” he asked.
“It’s what I can carry home. So today, I’d take this section, as it’s Monday. This part Tuesday, and you see how the rest goes.”
“And you still don’t want to learn to drive?”
“No, I don’t.” She shrugged. “I like the walk, and I like Creek.” She offered him a smile.
“You know, on Halloween, I tend to carry a large bag of candy, and when I see the little kids in their costumes, I dish out the candy.” She frowned.
“Saying that out loud makes me sound weird, but it’s not weird. ”
“You giving little kids sweets, you know, stranger and all that.”
“Stop it, they know who I am.” She shook her head. “It’s fun, and besides, they come to the house as well.”
“You want kids?” Crow asked.
That question took her off guard. “Uh, some day, I guess. You?” she asked.
She looked toward him, but he never answered.
“I’m going to grab these and let you get to work.” He moved in close and placed his hand on her ass, which pulled her against him. In the next second, he kissed her.
“I’ll be back when I can.” He winked at her, and it was like her heart did a little flip-flop.
She watched him leave the aisle, but she knew he was just going to grab a cart.
She had to finish stocking shelves. There was a call out for staff to make it to the counter to help customers, and she’d emptied her recent cart.
Taking the empty cart into the warehouse, she made her way to the front of the counter.
She smiled at the customers, most of whom were the locals.
She quickly opened the register, and then she got to work serving.
Taking hold of each item, she was careful as she pushed it along the counter, allowing them to package their own products.
They did have a bag packing service, but the first five customers refused.
They were trying to get their shopping done, as it was close to school closing for the day.
Working as efficiently as she could, she smiled and chatted with each one.
No one asked about Crow. This is what she enjoyed about this town—they were all friendly, and even though everyone seemed to know each other’s business, there were no complaints.
Maybe it had something to do with a couple of tourists who came, breaking windows and causing trouble.
A few of The Rebels MC heard what was happening and put a stop to it.
That was a couple of summers ago. Since then, there hadn’t been much in the way of trouble.
The Rebels MC had earned the locals’ respect.
As for her, she knew if it hadn’t been for Crow, she’d have been sold and working as a sex slave. When she was asked how she knew the MC, she would always say one of them saved her life. And he did.
One of the guys Crow killed had taunted and threatened her. Her virgin card had saved her from him—his words, not hers. Once she was sold, her pussy was never going to know a day’s rest. That was what he said. Crude bastard.
She knew a lot of people would be upset about the death she’d seen.
They’d feel traumatized, possibly need a lot of therapy.
She was not like most people. She was happy to see Crow kill them.
Pieces of shit they were. She’d seen them beat a girl to death to make a point, to keep everyone in line.
Just the memory sickened her. And to think her mother was still alive.
“Hey, beautiful. I don’t suppose I can use this sweet counter, can I?” He winked at her.
She rolled her eyes. “You can, or you can go somewhere else.”
“You’re not going to give me any special discount?” he asked.
She couldn’t help but laugh. “Not unless you have a coupon code.”
“Damn, I left my coupons back home.” He had no damn coupons.
She started to put through the shopping and saw that he’d actually purchased everything on her list. Not just by day, either.
“You didn’t have to get everything.”
“Babe, the fact I have to share you with this job is enough. You think I’m going to let you waste time shopping while I can handle it? Trust me, this job is easy. Do you want to tell me what had that frown on your face moments ago?” he asked.
“It’s nothing.”
“Sure didn’t look like nothing.”
She chuckled. “You don’t have to worry about it. I promise.” She leaned over and pressed a kiss to his lips. “I’ve got it handled.”
“You know, babe, I don’t like when people lie to me, but I’ll let it slide for now, especially since I got that sweet kiss. You better understand that those lips belong to me, and I don’t want you kissing anyone else. You got me?”
“I got you.”
“Good.”
There was no one else she ever wanted to kiss.
****
Crow had done the reliable thing and called Rebel to pick him up, complete with all the groceries, to take him back to Kelley’s house. He expected him to argue, but less than ten minutes later, Rebel was there and they were heading to Kelley’s.
“I hope you didn’t break the law to get to me?” he asked.
“I was already in town. I’ve organized Willow’s present, but it keeps getting fucking lost in the mail, so I just went and had a word with the manager of the post office.”
“He still breathing?”
“Yeah, and I got my gift.” Rebel picked up a small box.
“Jewelry?”
“Yeah. You want to tell me why you’re grocery shopping? Isn’t that a task you would consider beneath you?”
“Shut the fuck up,” Crow said. “I’m helping my girl out.”
“Your girl. That’s new.”
Crow was not going to bite. So, he stayed silent for about two minutes, and it was just getting too much for him to not know what the fuck he meant by that statement.
Rebel just laughed.
“That girl and you share a history. You think I’ve not noticed that you’ve changed your habits? You started by coming to the bar for a couple of days. Then it turned into a couple of weeks. Now, you come for months at a time.”
“No, I don’t!”
“You arrived here December first, and you’re not leaving until the New Year.
That’s a whole fucking month. We all know Kelley’s birthday is in July, and you come back to celebrate it with her.
Most of the time, you hang out at the bar and refuse to come back to the clubhouse, because you’re an asshole. That I get.” He shook his head.
“You’re reading too much into it.”
“I am, am I?” Rebel asked.
“I’m not doing this with you.”
“And you’re buying groceries,” Rebel said, bringing his truck to a stop outside of Kelley’s house. “You know, there’s nothing wrong with falling for her.”
“She’s twenty-one years old.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Rebel asked.
“She’s young. She has a whole life to lead.”
Rebel laughed, grabbing a couple of the grocery bags as Crow let them into Kelley’s home.
“And what does that mean?” Crow asked, feeling his annoyance start to build.
“What do you think it means?” Rebel shook his head, like it was such an obvious joke. The only problem was, he wasn’t laughing. He didn’t get the joke, and it sure as fuck wasn’t funny. He went and grabbed a couple more bags, as did Rebel, and it only took them a couple of trips to get all of them.
Rebel invited himself in, closing the door.
“Look around you,” Rebel said. “Kelley’s not interested in living a different life.
She’s not interested in fucking around. She is a woman who is settled.
Trust me, you ask us to keep an eye on her, and we do.
Other than go to some of the random street parties and events, she doesn’t do anything.
She goes to work, cleans her house and her yard, and does whatever fucking hobbies she has.
I know she cooks a lot and helps the locals when they’re having a hard time.
There was a woman with, like, six kids, ended up in the hospital from a bad fall.
Kelley helped make them dinner for two weeks.
Don’t worry, I checked, it truly was a fall, the husband was beside himself with worry.
Kept an eye on the situation seeing as Kelley is your girl—”
“She’s not my girl.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” Rebel said. “Maybe one day, you will start to believe it. Anyway, I’ve got to head out of here.” He looked toward him and then shook his head. “You wanted us to check on her for a reason.”
“She’s young.”
“Yeah, and now she’s not. There’s nothing wrong with wanting a woman, Crow.
All of us find a point when being on the open road is fucking lonely, and all you’ve got to look forward to is staring into another guy’s ugly face when you wake up in the morning.
Or, pissing in the wind when your balls are freezing off. ”
“You’re telling me you don’t miss the open road? The freedom?”
“What freedom do you think I’ve given up?
Every single night, I have a warm bed to sleep in.
A beautiful woman I can call my own. She made it feel like home, and it took me a long time to realize that.
Willow is everything to me, and now I’ve got a couple of kids.
Trust me, I get that the open road looks tantalizing, and when you’ve got fuck all to keep you, it’s inviting.
There is nothing wrong with finding the right woman, falling in love, and wanting to spend as much time as possible with her.
When you wake up, and during the day, you wonder what she’s doing.
Not out of suspicion, but because you just want to know, because she makes you happy.
Then, at night, you get to go to bed, pull her against you, hold her in your arms, and know that there is no place in the world you would rather be.
That is better than the cold claws of the open road. ”
Rebel left, and Crow was in shock. For the longest time, Rebel would not settle in one place.
He was constantly moving around, never happy to be anywhere for long.
He’d left a long line of women on the road.
Crow hadn’t touched another woman in over five fucking years.
He didn’t know what that was all about. There had been women more than willing to throw themselves at him, but he’d not fallen for any of them.
He just couldn’t bring himself to touch them. He had no desire to.
But there had always been a need to come back to Creek. It was a feeling he was not accustomed to. Making his way back into the house, he started to put away the groceries, and again, this was something he had never fucking done in his whole life. Yet, he did it.
After he had put everything away and stocked Kelley’s fridge and freezer as well as her pantry, he made his way toward the door and realized Rebel had left, and his bike was back at the fucking grocery store. This meant he got to enjoy a nice long walk in the freezing cold.