Defending Harlow (Mountain Mercenaries #4)(43)

Lowell had followed along beside them without complaint, reaching items on the upper shelves and picking up the heavier jars and boxes. He even pushed Zoe’s cart when it got too full to maneuver easily.

All the food had been scanned and placed back into the carts when Harlow swiped the credit card Loretta had given her to use for supplies.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, your card was declined. Do you want to try again?” the cashier asked.

“Of course. It should be fine,” Harlow said, and swiped the card once more.

“Sorry,” the cashier said with a pained look. “Declined again.”

“What the heck?” Harlow asked under her breath.

Then Lowell’s hand appeared in front of her, and he swiped his own card through the slot. “We’ll just use this one,” he told the stressed-out cashier.

“Cool. Looks like that one went through.” He waited for the long receipt to print and held it out to Lowell. “Here you go, sir. Have a nice day.”

Harlow snatched the receipt from the teenager before Lowell could take it. “I’ll talk to Loretta and see what’s wrong,” she told him. “She’ll make sure you get paid.”

“I’m not worried about it,” he told her.

“Lowell, you just bought over seven hundred dollars’ worth of groceries!” she told him, though he was more than aware.

“And?”

“And you can’t just do that.”

“Harl, it’s fine. I’m sure Loretta will figure out what happened and reimburse me.”

She sighed and turned to push the cart out of the store.

“Why are you so upset about this?” he asked, pushing the other cart next to her. Zoe walked in front of them toward the van.

“I just . . . I don’t want you to think I’m taking advantage of you,” she blurted.

“Why would you think that? You didn’t ask me to buy the groceries. You didn’t ask me to come with you today. In fact, you have yet to ask me for much of anything. Why in the world would I think you’re taking advantage of me in any way?”

When he put it that way, she sounded stupid.

“Remember when I told you that you were living in my world, baby?” Lowell asked.

Harlow nodded.

“That means that you never have to feel guilty about anything I do for you. You’re my friend, and friends do stuff for each other. When I’m with Allye, and Gray isn’t around, I won’t let her pay for anything either. If I went shopping with Chloe, and her card was declined, I’d absolutely cover it for her. The same goes for Morgan. Or Zoe. Or Loretta. You’re thinking too hard about this, Harlow. Let me do something nice.”

He was right. She was making this about her, when it wasn’t. “Okay. Thank you, Lowell.”

“You’re welcome. Now, come on, we need to get this stuff in the car and back to the shelter before it thaws. You sure the pantry will hold all this?”

She smiled. “I’m sure.” Harlow forced herself to keep her voice light, just as his was. Being friends with Lowell was good. Maybe not as good as being under him in bed as he thrust inside her and made her orgasm . . . but still good.

Yeah. She was an idiot.





Chapter Thirteen

“Let me have a shot at him,” Black begged Rex.

He and the other Mountain Mercenaries were sitting at The Pit talking about what had happened earlier that day. It was late because they’d waited for Gray, who’d been watching over the shelter that evening. He had stayed to make sure no one was lurking about, then came straight to the bar for the meeting.

“No,” the altered voice on the phone said. “He hasn’t touched anyone and hasn’t broken any laws.”

“He threatened Harlow,” Ro pointed out. “She was completely freaked.”

“It’s not time yet,” Rex insisted. “Look, I’m not saying those assholes don’t need taking down a peg. They do. But until we have more information we can hold over their heads, they aren’t going to talk.”

“I can make them talk,” Black insisted.

He was pissed. And frustrated. The more time he spent with Harlow, the more he liked her, and he hated what was happening to her and the other women.

“What have we found out about what that asshole Bear said to Harlow?” Arrow asked. “What did he mean about that money? A couple hundred bucks a week from who?”

“We don’t know much,” Meat said. “Whatever money Brian Pierce, or Bear, or whatever name he’s going by, is being paid is probably in cash, because his bank accounts aren’t showing any deposits.”

“What about his friends? Do we have their names?” Ro asked.

“Of course. The teenager with him today was Malcolm Sullivan, nineteen years old and a high school dropout,” Meat said, reading from the tablet in front of him. “The others who’ve been in the area and have been caught on tape harassing the women are Elliott Chapman, twenty-three, and Brody Garvey, twenty-five.”

“How old is Pierce?” Black asked.

“He’s the oldest of the bunch,” Meat told him. “Twenty-nine.”

“So they’re all old enough to be in serious shit if they’re charged with anything,” Ball commented.