Tears slid down Remy’s cheek and she sobbed openly. “I can’t say I’m sorry enough. I promise I’ll never leave you again.”
Wiping her tears with his thumb, he leaned over and brushed his lips against hers. “I didn’t tell you that to make you feel guilty. I told you so you know how all this works and how important you are to me. I think I was also giving you an out.”
Remy gasped and shook her head. “I would never tell your brothers or parents anything. If I was asked, I’d tell them you’re mine. I’ll take care of you.” A grin spread over her face, and his heart lightened at the sight. “Anyway, Kane’s a jackarse. I wouldn’t tell him shit if he was fucking God himself.”
Arden chuckled. “Well, he’s not fucking God, but he is the head alpha.”
“He ain’t my bloody alpha,” she growled. “Are you sure it’s okay to go grocery shopping after what happened?”
“Yes. They have no idea who I was and we have law enforcement under control.” He shrugged. “They may admit to me throwing them and roughing them up but not when I started to change. Humans don’t like to think they’re not alone. The footage from the cameras will disappear and no one will be the wiser.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I won’t be able to go in there again for a while anyway, will I?”
“Not with me you won’t, and not if you don’t want to answer questions.”
Remy studied him for a moment. “Okay, let’s go get groceries.”
Arden got out of the car and so did she. He pressed the lock button on his keychain and reached for Remy’s hand as they walked to the store. Grabbing a trolley at the entrance, Remy stopped him before they got any further.
“Do we have a grocery limit? Do you have certain brands you like more than others? When we get to the girlie aisle are you okay to go down it, or do you want me to give you other things to get while I gather what I need? Do you have a method of shopping? I do sodas and heavy things first then lighter things, fruit, and lastly the cold stuff. It stays colder then.”
Holy shit, he didn’t know so much thought needed to be put into grocery shopping. He wondered if he shrugged his shoulder if that would count as answering all her questions. Studying her face as she looked up at him expectantly, he went with what he did with his sisters, tweaking it to suit his mate. “No grocery limit. Get whatever you want.” Her eyes lit up, and she almost bounced on the spot, but she still waited. Shit, he needed to say more. “Pixie, I’m happy to follow you and do whatever you tell me to.”
The grin that spread over her face was kinda scary. She rubbed her hands together and in a sweet voice asked, “Do you have a spare freezer? If not, we can pick up mine.”
“I have a big chest one in the garage.”
“Oohh, let’s go.” She grabbed his hand and held the trolley with the other. A determined look came upon her face, and he had a feeling he was going to regret what he’d said.
* * * *
Arden held the full trolley, and Remy held another as she walked slowly down the aisle. He did regret what he’d said, they’d been there for over an hour and were still not done. Remy looked at everything, making sure she didn’t miss a thing they might need. She compared quantities and sizes on every item.
They were in the chocolate aisle, and this seemed to be the only aisle Remy didn’t care to check anything on, she just grabbed bunches of it and put it into the trolley. He was glad he’d brought his SUV, he wasn’t sure everything would fit in otherwise.
As he watched Remy he noticed she looked like a kid let loose in a candy store. He was bored out of his mind, but every time she caught his gaze her smile was dazzling, and he knew he could endure however long she wanted to do this.
Two overflowing trolleys later, they were at the checkout. When the total come up he handed his card over, not surprised at the amount with everything they got, but Remy was white and nibbled at her lip.
Once they were pushing the trolleys to the car, she whispered, “I got carried away. I’ve never had no limit on food shopping before...well, any shopping at all.” Her eyes darted to him, and he wanted to pull her in for a hug right there in the middle of the car park. “I got a lot of things I could never afford before. I shouldn’t have done that. I’ll pay you back somehow.”
Fuck it. Moving the trolley and Remy to the side so they were out of the way of any traffic, he gathered her to him and kissed her. He pulled away, and as she panted for breath, he tucked her hair behind her ears. “Pixie, I told you we didn’t have a limit. We don’t. You’re my mate. I want to provide for you. You don’t need to pay me back for anything. Just watching the joy and how much fun you had back there was worth any amount. To tell the truth, I think I got off light. Your smile is the most beautiful thing in the world to me. I want you happy, and if buying groceries makes you happy, then go for it. Spend whatever you want whenever you want.”