Page 22 of The Devil's Reward
Her eyes glint as she regards me. I can all but see the gears turning as she tries to figure out if she can squeeze me for some extras, like candy and chips. Or twinkies, any junk really. Lord only knows. My little girl has a sweet tooth, and she isn’t afraid to use it. “Okay,” she says simply, sitting down in the cart calmly, though her head is already swiveling to take everything in as I grab things off the shelves and hand them to her.
By the time we get halfway through the aisles, the cart is nearly full. Macy oh so helpfully pointed out a few things we needed, though I didn’t miss her sly attempts to add in a few extras as we went. Some I caved on, but others I didn’t, like the giant bag of chips that was almost as big as her.
I’m halfway down the canned food aisle when I hear a familiar voice say, “I swear to God, Shadow, if you don’t stop rushing me, I’m going to give you a reason to use that bail money.”
“The other jailbird’s here too, so chances are we’ll have to use it anyway,” Shadow’s deep voice replies blandly. “Why the hell amIhere again?”
“Because you were letting Crypt settle in, and the other Prospects are busy,” the female voice reminds him. “Which means you drew the short straw.”
“Next time I’m measuring those straws,” I hear him mutter. I bite back a laugh as I slowly push forward to the end of my aisle before turning down theirs.
I immediately recognize Shadow and Rose from the mechanic shop, but I don’t recognize the other woman with him. She’s gorgeous. Much taller than me at five-ten, with beautiful dark brown hair pulled back into a simple ponytail, wearing a pair of dark jeans that hug her curves and a t-shirt that shows off her slim waist. Her toned arms sport a couple interesting tattoos. She’s wearing a cut like Shadow and Rose, but hers has something else on the front, and I can’t make out what it says.
“It’s my friend!” Macy screeches excitedly, making all three of them turn to look at us in surprise. My face flames, and I slow my movements instinctively. I’m not scared of them, but I also don’t want to interrupt. And I don’t know how to feel about seeing Shadow again for the second time today.
He looks over at us in surprise, and his eyes land on mine just long enough for something to flash in them before they move on to Macy. His face goes from scowling to smiling almost instantly, completely transforming. Rose beams at us, and the other woman smiles warmly. “Hey there, little con artist,” Shadow drawls. “How many more treats have you managed to swindle from the unsuspecting men in your life?”
Macy giggles loudly. “None. But I told Mom I should get some more while we’re here. You know, for when she’s hungry and wants a snack,” she adds with a convincing smile.
“Of course,” Rose says seriously, though her eyes are sparkling with delight when she looks at me. “She’s such a thoughtful little dear, isn’t she?”
I smirk. “Oh, she’s something alright. Sorry, we don’t mean to interrupt your shopping.” I glance at Shadow and bite back a smile when I see the annoyed expression he gives Rose and the other woman.
“Oh, no, this is far better,” Rose assures me. She steps forward and loudly whispers, “You’re saving us from the grump over here. He’s really no fun to shop with. Isn’t that right, Sage?”
Sage slowly grins. “We haven’t even gotten to the good aisles yet, either.” She winks at Macy, who giggles behind her hand, which is now covering her mouth as her shoulders shake. “I’m Sage,” the woman tells me, holding her hand out to me.
“Quinn,” I tell her, shaking her hand. “And this is Macy.”
“I’ve heard all about you, Ms. Macy,” Sage says to my daughter with a grin. “Charming this big guy out of his chips. Good job, sister. We keep these big bad men on their toes, don’t we?” She holds up her hand for Macy to high-five.
Macy high-fives her back. “Yeah! See, Mom, told you,” she tells me righteously.
“Uh huh, you did.” I look back at Shadow, who is watching us closely, and I feel my face flush when his gaze connects with mine. God, I need to get a handle on myself. It’s not like we’re alone and I’m trying to flirt with him or something. We’re in the middle of a grocery store, for goodness sake.
I quickly turn my gaze back to Rose, but I don’t miss the way she glances at Shadow curiously before her gaze comes back to mine. “We’re just getting a few things before I try to make dinner for the ravenous horde tonight,” she tells me.
I blink at her. “Ravenous horde?” I repeat in confusion.
She rolls her eyes. “Trust me, you haven’t seen anything until you see a bunch of grown men all shoving each other trying to get their food. Sometimes even on their second and third trips.”
Sage gives a mock shudder. “They think it’s manly, but it’s just plain sad,” she says with a shake of her head.
“I can’t say I have seen anything like that,” I get out, shocked. All I can picture is a bunch of men beating each other up and tossing people out of the way to get to the table. I glance at Macy and see she looks fascinated by the conversation. Uh-oh.
“She’s exaggerating,” Shadow interrupts. “It’s happened once, and that was a completely different situation.” He looks at me. “Don’t listen to her. We’re perfectly civilized.”
Sage snorts. “Yeah, you keep thinking that.” She looks at me. “You’ll have to stop by sometime and see for yourself.”
“Yes!” Rose cries excitedly. “We always need some good women around.”
“Oh, ah, thank you, but—”
“Can we, Mom?” Macy interrupts before I can politely decline.
Shit. How am I going to get out of this one? “We’ll see,” I say noncommittally.
“Don’t worry, we’ll work on her,” Rose promises Macy with a wink. “We won’t keep you, but don’t be a stranger, Quinn. We don’t bite, promise.”
