A prickle of unease washed over her as they opened the shop door. She hadn’t seen anything suspicious or noticed anyone overtly staring as they’d made their way down the sidewalk, but something wasn’t quite right. She could feel it all the way to her bones.
“Don’t worry. Jaxon always has someone tailing me. You get used to it,” Maple said in a completely unaffected way when she noticed her peering down the street again. Niko was right. Maple wasn’t in tune with her instincts.
Protection detail, she could handle. She’d noticed the car following at a respectable distance earlier, and the big man leaning against a telephone pole across the street wasn’t flipping through messages on his phone for the fun of it. This was different.
“Let’s go inside. I’m melting,” she said, opening the door while making eye contact with the man across the road. Sure enough, he was instantly alert. He gave her a small, almost imperceptible nod, acknowledging her as he straightened. The man already had his phone up to his ear before the door closed behind her.
Maple went through the store like a woman on a mission, picking stuff out for both of them. She had the store clerk—who was all smiles and likely working on commission—bring them to the back.
“I hope you don’t mind. I texted my friend Bonnie and asked her to join us,” Maple said as she tucked her phone into her bra.
“Not at all.” If the woman was anything like Maple, they’d get along just fine. Besides, with someone else to occupy Maple, she’d be able to focus more on her surroundings.
She waited until Maple locked herself into a changing room before grabbing a pair of Daisy Dukes and a gray tank top and heading into the stall right next to Maple’s. It took a few minutes to get out of her leathers. There was no way in hell she was putting those back on.
The shorts fit like a glove, and she turned to check out her ass in the long mirror before tugging the tank over her head. Yep, they’d do. She could already breathe a little easier.
“How’s it going in there?” Maple asked from outside the stall.
She slid the lock bolt and opened the door just in time to see a pretty blonde making her way to the back of the store. Had it not been for the huge smile on her face, Rylee might have shoved Maple into the dressing room and locked her in.
“That looks amazing on you. I wish I had legs like yours,” Maple said, drawing her attention again.
“The way Jaxon was drooling over you this morning, I don’t think he’d agree. He was ready to gobble you up.” Rylee snapped the price tags from her shorts and shirt to have them rung up with her other purchases.
“Hey, girlfriend. Is this her?” the blonde asked as she gave Maple a hug.
“Bonnie, this is Rylee, Niko’s mate. Rylee, this is Bonnie.”
“Nice to meet you,” Rylee said as she held out her hand, but the woman pulled her in for a hug.
“Pleasure’s all mine. What do you say we grab a shake after you guys are done here?” Bonnie gave her an odd look, but before she could even try to decipher it, Maple’s phone pinged.
Maple took one look at it and groaned before giving her an apologetic smile. “Jaxon’s asked me to head home. He doesn’t usually do that unless he thinks something is wrong. Will you be horribly upset if we cut our shopping short? We can always come back out another day.”
Bonnie relaxed a little. So, the woman was part of the protection detail. Interesting. “I know, we can go to your place and test out those new candies you wanted me to try,” she offered with a cheery smile.
Maple’s eyes brightened. “That’s a great idea. Rylee can give me her opinion, too. I need to figure out what I’m going to carry in the store before the spring sap run.”
“Sap run?” Rylee asked.
Maple rummaged through the clothes she had yet to try on, draping them over her arm. “My family used to run the Sugar Shack here in Dexter. We made maple syrup and had tours for tourists and kids on school trips. I’m going to open it up again in the spring, but I want to make more than just syrup. The candy will be great for the storefront when we have people coming through.”
“Nice. Okay, let me get a couple more things, and we can head back,” she said, grabbing two pairs of jeans, some black leggings, and a couple of different colored T-shirts. “I just need some underwear, and I’ll be done.”
The door to the store opened, and the huge man from across the street came in, heading straight for Maple. “Time to get out of here,” he said before anyone could object.
Maple rolled her eyes at the man. “I already got the text. I just need to pay for my things, and we’ll go.”
The man grumbled something but didn’t stop her from going to the register.
Right. Underwear. She grabbed a half dozen pair in different colors, all of them soft and lacy, then beelined it back to pay, only to realize that she had nothing to wear on her feet. Without missing a beat, she grabbed some flip flops from a rack, pulled the tags off, and slipped them on.
Maple was holding a bag with her purchases. The man, who’d already been growly, outright glared. Well, too bad. She needed panties. It wasn’t her fault she’d had to bail out of her apartment before she could pack anything two days earlier. He made a show of looking at his watch and tapping the face, so when she’d paid for her things, including the
