AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I could tell she was simply curious, not asking for any other reason. Why I felt so at ease telling her was beyond me. Maybe the way the Warriors’ old ladies had welcomed me and made me feel like I had real friends for the first time in my life had opened the door to trusting others. I’d never be talking to Jan like this.
“Yes, we are. In fact, he’s trying to get me to move to their compound and live with him while we have a house built within the grounds of it. It’s unbelievable out there. They have their very own little community.”
“I’ve often wondered about that place. I’ve been by and see the walls and gate. Honestly, it’s intimidating to me.”
“It was for me the first time or so, but once I got to know them and the compound that went away.”
“Well, I say you’re a lucky lady. I’ve seen the guys around town and they’re all yummy. Even the older ones,” she said as she wiggled her eyebrows.
“I know what you mean. Several of them are forty or a bit older and there is nothing old about them.”
“Damn, what a sight to get to see every day. If you move in, you’ll have to take some pics of them or invite me over, so I can drool and maybe meet my own biker.”
I wasn’t going to promise anything. I didn’t imagine the club was big on allowing just anyone in, although they did have those hang arounds. I didn’t see Erin as one of those. I was saved from replying by the chime of the bell over the door. I pasted on my professional smile and turned to help her greet whoever had entered. I was caught up at the moment on my work. I had to struggle to keep the smile on my face. Heath was standing there giving me an intense look as he sauntered up to the counter. I stepped back to let Erin handle him. I wasn’t rude. I nodded at him.
“Hello Heath. I see you had to come back for more baked goods. I’ll let Erin take your order. Hope you like it as much as you did the other.” I didn’t wait for him to say anything before walking toward the kitchen.
“Wait. I was hoping you’d wait on me. I like a familiar face. Tell me about the delicious things you made today.”
I opened my mouth to tell him I couldn’t since I had something in the oven, even though that was a lie. I was saved from the lie by the door opening again and in walked several of the Warriors’ old ladies. They were smiling and waved when they saw me. I couldn’t help but smile and wave back at them. It was Harlow, Harper, Nyssa, Neriah, Bryony, and Ashlee. I was proud of myself for remembering all of their names.
I shifted my attention to them. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Heath was looking at them and frowning. He didn’t appear to like my attention being on someone else. My unease increased. He hadn’t overtly done or said anything that made me feel this way. It was just this vague, nagging feeling. I didn’t want anything to do with him. I couldn’t be completely rude, since this was my job and running off customers was bad for all of us.
“Hey, what brings the six of you in here? How did you get away?”
“It wasn’t easy. The kids are in school or at the daycare. We found we were the ones all off from work today and were trying to decide what to do. Neriah asked if we wanted to come eat some of your wonderful baked goods. How could we say no?” Harlow said with a smile.
I moved so I could hug each of them. The counter was behind me. They excitedly began to look in the display cases and debated which one they would want. I was pointing out my personal favorites when Heath interrupted us.
“What did you say was your favorite, Cassia? I’d love to try it. And maybe one of the other ones. Your coffee isn’t bad either.”
The ladies all paused and looked at him. I gritted my teeth but kept my polite face on. I kept repeating to myself,he’s a customer. Don’t be rude.
“I love the raspberry pain au chocolat. It has that flaky dough filled with chocolate hazelnut and raspberry spreads.”
“I think I’ll take that and a cinnamon roll along with a large black coffee.”
I turned to Erin. “Will you ring that up for him and get his order while I wait on these ladies? I can see it’s going to take them a little while to make their choices.”
I saw by the look on his face, he wasn’t happy, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to play games or whatever he was up to. Two days in a row in here was weirding me out.
Neriah and the others had gotten quiet and stood there watching us. When he gave up staring at me, he did go to the counter, so Erin could take his order. I got back to them. I quickly ran them through the selection and told them which were our best sellers and what was new. I switched it up, so the goods didn’t become boring.
My hopes that Heath would take his order and go were dashed, as he sat down to enjoy it. By the looks of him, he wasn’t in a rush. I wondered what he did for a living to be able to come in here and just sit at this time of day. It wasn’t your typical lunch period.
It took several minutes and debates for the ladies to settle on what they wanted. Erin helped me to get their orders together. They found a larger table to sit at and asked me to join them. There was no rule against it. If no one was waiting to be served and your work was caught up, Ian had no problem with you chatting with people.
“Go ahead,” Erin encouraged me. I passed Heath on my way to their table. He stopped me with a hand on my arm. I jerked away from his touch.
“What?” I asked, as nicely as I could.
“I was hoping we’d get a chance to talk. It doesn’t look like we will. My bad luck to come in at the same time as they did. Those are the women who ride on the bikes with those bikers.” He could tell that by the cuts they had on. They’d explained to me what a property cut was over that weekend as well.
“Yes, they’re old ladies to some of the Warriors. I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but what was it you wanted to talk to me about?”
“Don’t worry about it. Can I stop by your place after work? We can talk then. Or is Blade going to be there?” His dislike of Blade was evident in his tone, even though he was working at sounding nonchalant.
“We can’t. Blade and I aren’t going to be there tonight. I’m staying at the compound.”
