"Lavinia," I replied instantly, guiding us around a corner and into the supermarket car park. "After my niece."
"Oh," she murmured. "That's really sweet. So her memory lives on."
I nodded. "That’s why I gave her that name."
I mentally growled when I couldn't find a parking space. But judging by the way Luna stiffened and her breathing quickened, I might have growledaloudtoo.
"Sorry," I rushed out. "Sorry. You're safe, I'd never hurt you."
She swallowed, glancing out the side window instead of looking at me, twisting a braid tight around her finger. "It's fine."
"I'd never be annoyed with you, Luna, it's this damn car park."
She laughed softly when I drove in a circle around the place again. I drew in a deep calming breath, expecting to taste thebitterness of her fear. Instead, her citrus scent was cut with smoky arousal.
Oh.Oh, my growl … turned her on.
I didn't draw attention to that fact, even if it inflated my ego toextraordinaryproportions.
"Are you okay to go shopping now?" I asked gently, finally finding a parking space and killing the engine.
"Yes!" Luna replied at lightning speed and flung her door open before I'd even grabbed the keys from the ignition.
More than a little amused, I followed her out and locked the car—manually, of course, since this thing was ancient.
Not commenting on Luna being flustered, I led us across the tarmac towards the trolleys, slipping a pound coin out of my wallet to unlock the chain.
"Alright," I said, putting my game-face on like I was preparing for battle. "Unless you're opposed to the idea, I'm putting you on steering duty while I grab the food we need."
"Works for me," she agreed, her cheeks still pink-tinged brown. I glanced away so she didn't see my expression soften with affection.
I cast a casual glance around the car park to make sure there were no Hunters lying in wait, relieved when I only found a man loading plastic bags into his boot and two women trying to wrangle an unruly toddler into their car.
"After you, madame," I said to Luna, sweeping my hand out.
"Wow," she drawled, but steered the trolley through the automatic glass doors. "You sound like one of those fake gentleman creeps."
I winced, the insult landing, and she laughed brightly.
"Don't worry," she murmured, "I know you're the real deal."
And just like that, my ego was back at crazy levels. I knew my spine straightened and I watched my chest puff out, but there was little I could do about the ridiculous response.
"That's pretty high praise," I said, stifling a purr.
Luna shrugged her slim shoulders. "You've earned it, Priest."
I got the shopping list from my pocket—yes, I was so old fashioned I wrote on paper instead of using my notes app—and smoothed out the creases. "Right then. Ready for war?"
Luna snorted, her cheeks rounded with a smile. "Against food?"
"Against the other shoppers," I whispered conspiratorially, glancing around to assess the competition.
"You're ridiculous. But yes, I'm ready."
I urged her onward, spotting the lettuce and adding four to the trolley. Bikers and salad weren't synonymous, but there was a barbecue on Saturday and I was understrictorders from Jessa and Vienna, who were helping out Sweetie in the kitchen. After them, it was tomatoes and peppers, cucumber and salad dressing. Luna and I fell into a pattern, an easy calm settling over us, only broken when Luna darted forward to grab the last three loaves of bread before a battle-hardened mum could claim them. The two of them had a silent stand-off.
When Luna wheeled the trolley away with her prize, I wanted to purr and tell her how proud I was, even if it was only fuckingbread. But my purr scared her, so I throttled the noise in my throat.