“Little girl, what are you doing?” Spike growled at her, grabbing her by the shoulders and steadying her.
“Putting on my shoes.”
He grumbled something under his breath as he crouched down in front of her and took hold of her shoe. “Shoulders.”
She held onto his shoulders as he put the shoe on and did up both of the laces. Then he stood and turned her toward the internal garage door. A slap on her ass got her moving.
“Hey!” she protested, rubbing at the sore spot.
“Next time, ask for help.”
She strode into the garage, glancing at his big, black truck before her eyes spied a gorgeous looking motorcycle.
“Ooh, can we take that?”
Spike looked over to the bike then shook his head. “Nope.”
“Why not? Oh, because there’s nowhere to put the shopping? Do you have a backpack? I could wear it?”
He shook his head. “Got no gear for you.”
That was sad. “It’s so pretty.”
“Doll, my bike is not pretty.” He gave her an offended look. Whoops.
Note to self, don’t insult the big, bad biker’s bike by calling it pretty.
“But it’s so shiny. Can I touch?” She walked closer to run her finger lightly along it.
Shiny.
Spike just grunted and she looked over to see him holding open the passenger door. She supposed it was too wasteful to buy some motorcycle gear just to go for a ride. And he didn’t seem too thrilled at the idea of taking her anyway.
She walked over to his badass truck. This thing seemed even bigger than it had the other day. Big hands grasped hold of her waist, lifting her into the air.
Seriously. Those daily gym workouts? Really working out.
She put Mr. Fluffy into the back seat. Spike set her into the seat then grabbed the seat belt and pulled it over her. She could barely resist bouncing around in excitement.
“This is so fun! I wonder what sort of material I should get. Is there anything you need? I wonder if Mr. Fluffy would like a new outfit?”
Today the puppy was dressed in a glittery red shirt. She didn’t take offense when Spike didn’t answer. She took over the radio, turning it to a station where she knew most of the songs and started singing along as he drove. Soon they reached an outdoor mall with a large fabric store. She was so eager that she had her belt off as soon as they entered the parking lot.
“Belt!” he barked.
“But we’re in the parking lot.”
“Belt.”
With a sigh, she did as ordered. He parked out front and she undid her belt. Then she turned to grab Mr. Fluffy, putting him in her handbag. Gosh, when had he gotten so heavy? She was going to need a bigger bag soon.
Spike came around and opened her door. He lifted her down and took her hand, closing the door and beeping the locks.
He gave her ass a sharp slap. “Don’t ever take your belt off unless we’re stopped, understand?”
“Sorry,” she said quietly.
Smiling, she led the way into the shop. Spike kept his gaze moving, never lingering on one thing.