Page 5 of Bear
He released my hand and motioned toward the aisles ahead. “Lead the way, pixie.”
4
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 apixie-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.
