“Ew. Totally need a shower after that,” I declared, going for airy. I didn’t need to broadcast to my kid that little meeting had scared me slightly.
Lexie grabbed my hand. “Yeah, they were creeps,” she agreed. “Shopping is definitely needed to wipe such an event out of our minds,” she said, directing us into the store.
Half an hour later, Lexie seemed to have forgotten about the incident entirely, while it still niggled at the edge of my mind. I did my best to shop it out of my system, although it did taint the experience slightly. I was angry at them for that alone. I decided to let Lexie do the shopping from then on, sitting myself on the sofa outside the changing rooms, playing the stylist. Lexie had just gone back in after showing me a sequined mini dress she just had to get, and my phone rang.
“You have reached the Queen of All Things Known and Unknown, currently stylist for rock star Miss Lexie Spencer,” I answered professionally.
“Mia?” The deep voice at the end of the phone sounded pissed and slightly panicked.
“I do also answer to that name. What service may I perform for you, kind sir?” I continued, whispering the last part slightly.
There was a pause. I grinned. Totally got him. “Where the fuck are you?” he clipped. Okay maybe not.
“Currently, I’m in a kick ass vintage store, saving beautiful clothes from being subjected to the horror of being unworn,” I said, patting the pile we had amassed.
“In Hope?” he gritted out.
I straightened. “How did you know that? Did your friend call you already?” I asked, confused. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe that guy was Zane’s friend, no matter how skeevy. “If that’s the case, tell him he’d be decidedly less creepy if he showered, and kept the leering of my daughter at a complete fricking zero, even if he was promising to look out for us,” I added, sounding slightly pissed at the end of the sentence.
There was a pause. A loaded pause. “Leering at Lexie?” he repeated quietly. Dangerously quietly. “Mia, who the fuck are you talking about?” His voice was urgent.
At that moment Lexie came out, wearing a green dress that did nothing for her. I made a cutting gesture along my throat. “No honey, that one is not cute,” I told her firmly and she disappeared back into the room.
“Mia,” the voice was more furious than I’d heard in a while.
“Logan, your biker friend,” I told him patiently.
His response was instant. “Tell me where you are right now.”
I rattled off the address, more out of reflex than anything else. He sounded...freaked out. It chilled my bones slightly.
“Do not leave that fuckin’ store,” he commanded, then he was gone.
I frowned down at my phone, my stomach swirling slightly. The way Zane had sounded caused me to realize my first instinct with these guys had been correct. They were bad news. And not friends of Zane if his excessive cursing was anything to go by. I was more than happy to stay in the store if that meant we were safe from creepy bikers. It also meant we got to shop more. Twenty minutes and a small fashion show later, I heard the rumble of motorcycles, plural. Which was good timing as we had just rung up our considerable purchases.
I didn’t tell Lexie about Zane’s strange call, only mentioned he might swing by and say hello. Her face had brightened at this. But on peeking out the window at the multiple bikes, I didn’t exactly know how to explain that.
“Wow, looks like half the club is out there,” Lexie remarked in amazement as we left the store.
“Maybe they like vintage shopping here too,” I answered, not missing the way Zane nearly leapt off his bike when he spotted as. “Who knows,” I added, trying not to seem nervous, “maybe there’s a shop called ‘Alpha Style’ around the corner.”
Zane made it to us and he quickly ran his gaze along us both, as if he was checking for something. His face relaxed a tad when he seemed satisfied. I say a tad, because he still looked ready to blow.
“Zane,” Lexie greeted enthusiastically. “Fancy seeing you here. You coming to the movies?” she asked with a hopeful tone. I don’t know if she ignored the scary look on his face and the lineup of bikers at the curb or just didn’t notice it. My girl was observant, so I knew it wasn’t the latter.
“Come to make sure you and your mom got home okay, Lex,” he told her quietly.
I jerked slightly at this and Lexie’s face turned blank. She knew what was going on. I didn’t. “We weren’t going home--” I started to argue.
Zane silenced me with a look. “Car. Now, Mia,” he ordered quietly.
Something in his tone, his look had me complying without another protest. Something that told me Zane and half the club would not come hurtling to another town in order to escort me home if it wasn’t important. Wasn’t dangerous. Lexie’s safety was tantamount to me at this moment. I’d get to the bottom of this when we were home. The look I gave Zane hopefully communicated this.