Page 22 of Roar & Lizzy: A Forever Kind of Love

She stood in the grass until he jogged across the street, then she went into the garage and retrieved the rake. Hooking up her earbud and starting her playlist over, she set about raking up piles of cut grass, humming to herself.

The job went fast, and she'd put the mower, rake, and disposed of the grass in the outside garbage can when Coco pulled in and parked in the garage.

She held the door open for her friend and all her bags, knowing whatever she'd bought it was probably frivolous and fabulous.

"You won't believe who I ran into at Lloyd Center." Coco walked through the house and dumped her new purchases on the couch. "Kelli and a couple of other women. I barely recognized her out of her uniform."

"Why? What was she wearing?" Lizzy sat on the arm of the couch.

A black Harley Davidson tank top, skimpy shorts, and a pair of bulky black boots." Coco pointed above her head. "Her hair was out to here. Crazy wild but in a cool bad-girl way."

She could picture that. Kelli wore her hair back in a braid at work, but it was obvious she had long, curly hair.

"The weird thing was Kelli looked right at me and didn't even acknowledge that she knew me. It was like I was in high school again getting snubbed by the popular girls." Coco dug through one of the sacks. "I think all the women belonged to Slag."

"Probably." She waited for Coco to go on.

They both knew that all the bikers they'd seen ride in the street in front of the house that first night stayed in the warehouse. The bikers and the women they'd served at the bar during the so-called 'training night' were only a fraction of the members who were here. When she allowed herself to think of the large group Roar was a part of, and how he stepped out the back door of the bar and belonged to those people, it made her feel like he was someone other than she imagined.

Certainly not the giving boss or the helpful neighbor or the man who liked her smile and the one who went out of his way to talk with her when he came in the bar. Definitely not the silent man who walked her and Coco home every night and waited until they'd locked the door.

Coco held up a black shirt with a picture of the earth taking up the front. The colors were bright and vibrant. "Do you like this?"

"Yeah. It's cool looking." She slid down onto the cushion of the couch.

"So, I heard them talking."

"Who?" said Lizzy.

Coco sighed. "Kelli and her friends."

"I thought she didn't acknowledge you."

Coco pushed the bags into the middle of the couch and sat on the other end. "I was behind her at the counter when it was time to pay. They were talking about a big party at the clubhouse, which I'm going to assume is the warehouse."

"I've heard Peer call it that."

"Isn't it weird that they party in the alley and in the warehouse and not the bar? I mean, it's right there and has all the drinks, music, food." Coco stuck out her lower lip and blew the hair off her forehead. "If they did and they asked us to serve during the party, we could get overtime."

She laughed. "Is that what this is about?"

Coco lost her smile and her gaze intensified. "Seriously, girl. It's nice to have some money in my pocket, and there's a pair of boots that would be fabulous for fall that are almost four hundred dollars—a price I've never thought possible for me. I think I'll mention it to Roar that I'm always up for working on my days off in case he wants to host events or whatever. You don’t think it would sound weird doing that, do you?"

"I think you can ask him anything. The worst he can say is no, but I think anyone would see that as a sign of a dedicated worker." Lizzy pulled out a shirt from one of the bags. "This is sexy."

Coco grabbed it out of her hand and held it up in front of her. "You think?"

She nodded. "Definitely."

"Ugh." Coco stuffed the shirt back in the bag. "I need to take these up to my room and do laundry. Did you get yours done?"

"No." She leaned her head back on the couch. "Roar mowed our lawn though, and I got it all raked."

"Roar?" Coco gawked at her. "You had him over?"

"He rode up on his motorcycle and fixed the mower for me. A plug...spark plug, I think, was bad and he put a new one in it."

"Mm-hm." Coco wiggled her brows. "I told you he watches you more than any of the other workers. He was probably hoping you'd invite him inside for a little mowing of your lawn."

Lizzy groaned. "That was lame, and he's our boss."

"Boss sm'oss." Coco grabbed her purchases.

Lizzy pushed herself to her feet. "I'm going to put a chicken breast in the oven for me. Do you want one?"

"Sure." Coco disappeared up the stairs and yelled, "I'll make a salad to go with when I'm done."

She walked over to the front window and peeked out from behind the drapes at The Fire Ring. Curious to know what exactly was going on behind the building in the warehouse and yet knowing it was none of her business. Roar hired her to work as a server, not become interested in his life.

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