Candy Roses

Chapter Six

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"That's gorgeous!"

Rey looked up from the cake she was decorating and grinned at Gemma as the older woman leaned in the doorway.

"Thanks. Come on in."

Gemma walked in and sat on a stool beside the table where Rey was sitting making a rose out of icing. "What's that for?"

"A sweet sixteen party. How are you, Gemma?"

Gemma nodded as she rifled through her purse looking for something. "I'm good and you?"

Rey watched as she pulled a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from her bag and lifted a brow. "I'm good, but really? You should know that you can't smoke in here." Gemma looked at her and smiled, making Rey laugh and point to the emergency exit in the corner. "Go right out that door to the back alley."

Gemma nodded and got up. "I'm not going to set off an alarm am I?"

Rey shook her head. "Nope, no alarms on any of the doors. You're safe."

Gemma looked at her like she was insane. "What?! Sweetheart, you need an alarm system!"

Rey rolled her eyes and grinned. "What are they going to take, the cookies? It's fine, really."

Gemma just shook her head and mumbled under her breath as she walked to the back door and opened it. A few minutes later, she came back in looking much calmer than she had when she left. After she was back on her stool, she spoke up, grinning at Rey.

"So how was your date with the deputy chief last night?"

Rey sighed and shook her head. Now she knew why Gemma was here bright and early on a Saturday morning. "It was fine."

Gemma lifted a brow. "Just fine? Doesn't sound like it was much fun."

Rey shook her head. "No, it was, it's just... there was no spark, you know? No chemistry. He'd be a much better friend than a boyfriend. I'm pretty sure we would both agree on that."

Gemma smirked but nodded in agreement. "Well, that's good. If nothing else, you made a new friend. That just leaves the door open for other possibilities." She looked down at her watch and sighed. "I gotta go. I'm supposed to meet Jax at his place to watch Abel for a little while. I'll see you later, ok?"

Rey smiled and nodded. "I'm glad you stopped by."

Gemma started to leave, but stopped and turned back to Rey. "Oh! I almost forgot. I'm the chairwoman for Taste Of Charming. It's a little festival we do every year here in town for the school district. As a new business in town, I was wondering if you would like to have a booth there?"

Rey nodded. "Sure, that sounds like fun and I'll get to meet more of the residents."

Gemma smiled and nodded. "Great! I'll put you down for a spot then. Ok, I'm gone."

Rey grinned and waved as the older woman strode out the door. She quickly finished the cake and moved on to making pies. She was just taking the pies out of the oven to cool when she heard male laughter and soon Chibs, Bobby, Happy, and Juice were walking into the kitchen. Rey grinned at the motley looking group as they made themselves comfortable in the kitchen.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

Chibs clapped Juice on the back and winked at Rey. "Juicy is here to install yer new security system."

Rey blew out a breath and silently cursed Gemma and her meddling ways. "I don't need one and that's exactly what I told Gemma."

She crossed her arms over her chest as the men did the same, except for Juice who was looking through a large duffel bag. Chibs scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Aye lass, we know, but ye don't have one, and that means that ye do, in fact, need one." He held up a hand when she started to speak. "It willn'a do ye any good to argue, darlin."

Rey glared at the angry Scot in front of her, moving closer until they were practically touching. She didn't see the smirks on the faces of Bobby, Happy, and Juice as they watched the two face off. "Look, this whole chivalry routine you guys have going is nice and all, don't get me wrong, but I'm a grown ass woman who doesn't need a bunch of modern-day cowboys on metal horses to come swooping in to save her. I don't need a security system, so go ahead and head on back to the ranch, because this damsel isn't in any distress."

The other three men snickered as she watched Chibs take a step closer to her before lifting her chin to make her look into his eyes. Rey swallowed hard as she saw how dark those eyes had suddenly gotten and thought maybe she had bitten off more than she could chew.

"That was a lovely speech, darlin, but listen very closely. You are here a lot by yerself before and after the store is open, and if someone chose to break in and do harm to ye, nobody would know until it was too late. It's common sense to have security, and if ye don't want one of us here all day, every day, ye'll take the alarm and be done with it, because Aubrey darlin, I will park a prospect here 24/7 to guard that fine arse. Make no mistake." Without breaking eye contact, Chibs spoke to Juice. "Juicy, get started boy."

Rey bit her lip, trying to hold back the remark that wanted so badly to come out, knowing that it would do no good and more than likely just make matters worse. As Juicy walked past her to check out the back door, she blew out a breath and shook her head. 

"Fine, do what you want. I have to go look at a house." She turned to Juice and gave him a small smile. "Just give Trudy the info when you get done." She turned back to Chibs and gave him a dirty look, earning a smug smirk in return. "If you will excuse me?"

Chibs stepped back to let her walk away. "Aye, I'll go with ye."

Rey almost stomped her foot like a child but held back at the last minute. "Are you trying to push all my buttons at once today?"

Chibs grinned as Bobby and Happy laughed out loud. "Aye, I'm looking for the one that turns ye into a docile lamb instead of an insolent brat. Think I'll be findin it any time soon, luv?"

Rey couldn't help the snort of amusement as she grabbed her bag from the table. "Probably not."

Chibs just shook his head and chuckled as he followed her out the door. "That's ok, darlin. The hunt is the best part."