He didn’t like petite.
He needed tall and solid—since he was big himself—and lots of flesh to hold onto as he pounded it out. He loved to grab handfuls of tits and ass and to shove his face between thick thighs. If he could still breathe while eating pussy, she was too thin for him.
Fuck. Blondie was what he’d been hankering for. Not someone like Billie.
And though he was there to pick up wraps, he doubted the woman with the overflowing cart of groceries would be willing to share one with him.
And that was a fucking shame.
But he wondered how long she was staying in town and if he could convince her otherwise.
He slipped his sled into a spot in the next row, dismounted, and wove around a couple of cars to stand behind her.
“Need help?”
She squeaked, dropped the bag she’d been holding and a can of something rolled out, bouncing off his boot. He nabbed it. Cranberry sauce. The jellied kind he loved when his aunt had served it at Thanksgiving.
He hadn’t had it in fuckever.
In fact, he’d love to smear that shit all over the blonde’s huge tits, which looked even bigger in that tight V-neck sweater she was wearing, and lick it the fuck off.
Damn.
No time to get a raging hard-on. She was scared enough.
“That’s a fuck of a lot of food.” She’d already loaded a few plastic bags into the back of the Honda and still had a cartful. Maybe it wasn’t just Daisy and her and she had a big family to feed.
If so, there went his fucking fantasy.
“Y-yes.”
“Feedin’ an army?”
Color rose into her cheeks and he liked seeing it. But the problem was, it wasn’t because she was embarrassed, it was because she still seemed to be afraid of him.
Or at least worried.
Maybe she should be. While he tried to concentrate on her full cart of groceries, he kept imagining what she’d look like naked as she rode his dick, those tits of hers bouncing like two watermelons in the back of an Amish wagon.
Her brow furrowed. “Um... Christmas is coming up.”
That didn’t tell him what he needed to know. “Here to visit with family for the holidays?”
“Y-Yes. Something like that.”
When he held out the can of cranberry sauce to her, he again could see her hand shaking as she reached for it. Instead of letting it go right away, he let his fingers brush hers. She snatched the can from him, quickly breaking the contact.
He jerked his chin toward the cart. “Why ain’t your man here to help you?”
“He... He... He...” Her lips, which would look good wrapped around his dick, pressed flat.
“Got a stutter or somethin’?”
She shook her head. Her next inhale was like watching two huge balloons inflate under her open winter coat. Her expression became painful. “He’s... gone.”
Judge’s brow dropped low. “What d’you mean, gone?”
When her blue eyes hit his they were filled with turmoil and he felt that to his fucking core.
“He’s just gone.”
What the fuck did that mean? “He get the cancer?”
She frowned. “No.”
Judge began to gather the handles of the bags in his fingers until he had almost all of them. He lifted them and set them into the back of her SUV.
“I...” She grabbed two of the last remaining bags and tossed them with the rest. “I need to get back.”
Judge made sure to grab the last one because once all of her groceries were loaded, she had no reason to stay.
And he wasn’t done talking to her yet. He stared at the bottom lip caught between her teeth as she stared at the lone bag in his hand with almost a conflicted expression.
It pissed him off that he’d been nothing but nice to her and her girl and she still acted afraid of him.
Why?
Because he was big? Or because he was a biker?
“I need to go. I have frozen items that...” She plucked the last bag from his fingers, tossed it into the back of her CRV and slammed the hatch shut. She yanked her purse out of the cart, dug her keys out and shoved it securely over her shoulder. Judge did not miss her tucking a key between each finger.
A technique women tended to use to protect themselves when walking alone to their cages.
Was he that fucking threatening?
When she went to roll the cart to the nearby corral, he stood in front of it, blocking her path and putting a hand on it.
“Where’s your girl?”
“She’s... with my sister.”
“That who you’re visitin’?”
“I...” Her eyes narrowed and her mouth got tight. “Thank you for your help. But I have to go.” She released the cart’s handle and went to the driver’s door, climbing in and immediately starting the SUV. “Thank you for putting the cart away.”
Well, damn. “Hey, what’s your name?”
His answer was the door slamming shut. He was still standing behind the cage with the cart, so she couldn’t reverse out of the spot. Instead, she put it in drive and pulled forward through the empty spot in front of her.
“Fuck,” he muttered as she sped away.
He still didn’t know her fucking name, why she was in town or how long she was staying. Instead, he had nothing but an empty cart, that he did not need to haul the single box of wraps he was buying.
A blacked-out Ford F250 pulled up next to him, and the dark-tinted power window whirred down.
Deacon grinned at him. And he wasn’t the only one amused, so were the two dogs. Jury whimpered in the passenger seat, her tongue hanging out of the side of her mouth.
“Strike out again?”
Fuck.
“Means she ain’t for you, cuz.”
“Thought you were headed back to The Barn.”
“I am. Just wanted to ask you to get a box of wraps for me, too.”
“Coulda texted me.”
“Coulda, but spotted you across the parking lot talkin’ to that blonde again and decided to watch.”
“Great,” Judge muttered under his breath.
Deacon chuckled. “Grab me a box of Magnums.”
“You don’t fuckin’ need Magnums.”
“And you won’t need any wraps if you keep strikin’ the fuck out.” The window rolled shut and Deke pulled away.
Asshole.
“You didn’t have to do this, Cass.”
Cassidy put the last of the bags onto the counter and turned toward her younger sister. “Yes, I did. It’s the least I can do.”
Heather shrugged one shoulder and began to unpack a bag. “You’re not obligated.”
“I feel bad crashing here. And you paid, I just did the heavy lifting.” Her sister hated grocery shopping, so that was the least Cassie could do to help out around the house.
“You’re my sister.”
“Yes, and you’re my baby sister. And it’s not just me staying here, it’s Daisy, who can be hell on wheels.”
“What does that mean, Momma?”
Cassie frowned, not realizing her daughter had snuck into the kitchen. When her daughter was quiet like that, she worried. Normally Daisy made sure everyone knew where she was and why.
Heather snorted. “It’s fine.”
“I don’t want to cramp your style... Interfere with...” Cassie raised her eyebrows and didn’t finish since big ears were now settled at the kitchen table with a coloring book and crayons. Daisy might look like she was occupied, but Cassie knew her daughter was absorbing every word like a sponge.
“Yeah, well... We’ll just get you two ear plugs for the time being,” Heather teased.
Her twenty-eight-year-old sister had only married her husband a year ago and since Tyler was forty, they’d decided not to wait to start a family. Which meant, they’d been working on it and now with two more people in the household...
“Tyler’s parents are coming, right?” Cassie asked.
&nbs
p; “Yep. And his brother, sister-in-law and nephew.”
“So that’s nine of us for Christmas.” She shoved a gallon of milk into the already full fridge. “I hope I got enough.”
“If not, we can do another run. We’ve got plenty of time and space since I’ve got an extra fridge plus a full-size freezer in the garage for when Ty hunts.”
Cassie paused. “What about...”
Heather’s hand stilled and her blue eyes hit Cassie’s. “I talked to Mom and Dad yesterday...” She shook her head.
“I had nothing to do with it,” Cassie forced the whisper past the lump in her throat.
“I know that, but they refuse to believe it. They don’t understand how you couldn’t have known.”
“I didn’t know!”
Heather came over to her and put a hand on her arm. “Cass, I know. I know you would never do anything like that.”
“I’m their daughter. Why don’t they believe me?” Her parents not having her back hurt more than everything else that happened.
Heather shook her head again. “I don’t know. You would’ve been,” her sister mouthed the word arrested before continuing, “too, if the,” she mouthed investigators, “thought you were. They found no,” she mouthed evidence, “of that.”
No shit. Cassie knew all of that. When everything went down it had been the scariest moments of her life. The rug had been pulled from under her and she had been left trying to make sense of it all.
“But the ‘rents are getting a lot of sh— crap from people they know because of it. Maybe once that all dies down and it’s old news, they’ll see things more clearly.”
If it took for everything to die down and become old news, Cassie wasn’t sure she’d ever forgive her parents. They should believe her now. Currently, they were blaming Cassie for everything that happened and everything they had to deal with.
Like being ashamed and embarrassed.
Well, she was ashamed and embarrassed, too.
Because of that whole damn thing, she also had to leave her job and her home in New York and come to Manning Grove to avoid some of the shit that had splattered all over her.
She’d already decided she wasn’t going back there ever again. She’d need to find a fresh start for her and Daisy elsewhere. A place no one knew who they were. Or who she’d been married to or who Daisy’s father was.
She just didn’t know yet where that would be.
In the meantime, her sister and brother-in-law, Tyler, were kind enough to take them in. Cassie just felt bad about putting them out. Especially since they were still in their “honeymoon” phase.
She turned and glanced over at her daughter, who was her clone. It was during her own honeymoon when Daisy was conceived.
At the time, Cassie couldn’t have been happier. She had a loving husband, a baby on the way and a good job that made use of her vet tech degree. She thought things were perfect.
And they were.
For a little while.
She needed to stop feeling sorry for herself, deal with the hand she was dealt and find a way to move on. However, there was no going back to New York, her job or her marriage.
And, apparently, the disgraced daughter couldn’t go home to her parents, either.
With a sigh, she stuck her hand into another shopping bag and pulled out a can of cranberry sauce. One that had a huge dent in the top. She rubbed her finger back and forth over the indentation, thinking about the big biker who had approached her in the parking lot.
Judge.
She’d only been in town a week and she’d already run into him twice in just as many days.
She turned to Heather who was putting away a couple boxes of cereal. “Do you know anything about some sort of local motorcycle club?”
Heather closed the cabinet door, turned and leaned back against the counter. With their similar looks, there was no doubt Heather was her sister. Both were tall, blonde, and curvy like their mother. Daisy would end up the same.
“In the last year, there’s been talk about them and I’ve seen them around town. So far, they haven’t created any trouble. At least, not that I’ve heard. Did some of them bother you?”
“I saw a bunch of them yesterday in town and Daisy ran up to one to introduce herself.”
Heather snorted. “That doesn’t surprise me.”
Cassie sighed. “Yes, this is why she’ll end up being abducted from right under my nose. She’ll flag down the da— darn van and hitch a ride just so she can tell them stories or tell them how they should drive since at five she’s already a backseat driver with all her years of driving experience.”
Heather’s smirk died as she slid closer along the counter and asked softly, “Were they rude?”
“Who? The bikers? Besides a couple of catcalls, no. But I only really talked to one.”
“The one Daisy ran up to?”
“Yes.”
“You talkin’ about Judge, Momma?”
“Judge?” Heather asked, frowning.
“Yes! Judge is my friend now. He’s gonna let me pet his face.”
Heather’s eyes shot to Cassie’s. “He is, huh?”
Cassie pinned her lips together and gave her head a little shake.
“Yes! Momma said I wasn’t allowed to last time because we only just became friends. But next time, I’m allowed.”
“You are?”
“Yes!” her daughter shouted needlessly.
“Why would you want to pet his face?”
“’Cause he’s got allllllllll this long hair just like a dog! And Momma won’t let me have a dog!” She ended her complaint on a loud huff.
“Well, young lady, I don’t think petting a man’s beard is appropriate,” her aunt told her.
“I don’t care if it’s not a... pah... apopiate.”
“Do you even know what that means?” Heather asked, clearly smothering a laugh.
“No, an’ I don’t care, ‘cause I’m doin’ it next time I see Judge.”
“You need to ask me first, Daze,” Cassie reminded her spitfire of a daughter.
Daisy rolled her eyes.
“And if I give the okay, then you’d have to ask Judge after that.” But it would never get that far because there was no way Cassie was giving Daisy permission to touch a stranger like that.
Her daughter turned back to her coloring and said, “He’ll say yes.”
“Don’t be so sure.”
“Mommmmmmma!”
“Oh good lord,” Cassie groaned. “If he says no, then that’s the final answer.”
“He won’t.”
Cassie hmm’d.
“He won’t!” Daisy screamed.
“Inside voice, please.”
“That is my inside voice.” Unfortunately, that was true more often than not.
Cassie sighed and turned back to the last of the groceries.
Heather reached out and stopped her. “That can wait.” She jerked her head toward the door to the back porch.
Cassie glanced at her daughter. “Aunt Heather and I have to run back out to the car. You’re going to sit right there and color, right?”
“Mmm hmm,” came the answer.
Cassie made a face and Heather slapped a hand over her mouth to muffle her laugh. They headed out the rear kitchen door and stepped into the attached sunroom.
“Seriously,” Cassie started as they stepped away from the door so Daisy wouldn’t hear them. “She’s not enough to make you want to rip out your womb?”
Her sister laughed. “She’s a trip.”
“Just wait a couple more weeks and you may stop trying to make one of your very own.”
“She’s no worse than we were.”
“Were we like that?” Cassie asked, surprised.
“You tell me, you’re the older sibling.”
“I don’t remember being so outspoken.”
“Cass, you’re no introvert. Neither of us are. We’re just like Mom.” Heather walked to the other side of the small sun
room and turned. “Have you heard from him at all?”
Cassie grimaced. “No. And I really doubt I will.”
“Damn. This is crazy.”
“I know. And until he signs the divorce papers, I’m stuck. All our assets were frozen, my car was taken, our house was taken. I have no money! Not even my own. And I’m afraid if I start a new bank account, that will be frozen, also.” Why she was rehashing all this, she didn’t know. But sometimes she needed to vent, otherwise she might crack.
“What are you going to do?”
“Well, I need to decide whether I’m staying here in Manning Grove or going somewhere else. But I don’t know how to do that after losing everything. Even if I had money, I can’t buy anything because it’ll be seized!”
She had even lost her damn dignity.
Cassie bit back a frustrated sob. Heather already knew all of this, it was why she so generously offered up her home when their parents refused to help.
At least temporarily.
And it wasn’t like her parents owed her anything. They didn’t, but still... If Daisy was ever in a bind, she wouldn’t slam the door in her daughter’s face.
But she also didn’t know if she wanted to settle in Manning Grove. From what she saw so far, it seemed nice, but she questioned living in a town and raising her daughter where a motorcycle gang existed.
She didn’t know much about MC’s but from what she did know, they were normally a rough and violent lot. She’d seen the Hell’s Angels and the Pagans in the news before. She knew gangs like that were nothing to mess with.
And Cassie didn’t want to live in fear. If it was just her, she could handle it, but she had Daisy who didn’t fear anything.
“Cass, we love it here. The schools are good. It’s a great town to raise Daisy in. Find a job, and once you put away enough money, find a place of your own.”
“I’m afraid any money I’ll earn they’ll seize.”
Heather shrugged. “So, don’t open a bank account yet.”
“Well, what do I do with a paycheck?”
“Cash it.”
“If they don’t garnish it first to pay back his debts. I could end up working for free. And that wouldn’t help me get my life back in order.”
“Oooooor you could find a job that pays you in cash until your divorce is final or that little situation is settled.”
Blood & Bones: Judge (Blood Fury MC Book 3) Page 4
