But some people didn’t grasp that. She’d been subjected to: “Do you really need that second helping? Perhaps you should skip dessert” her entire life.
Maybe people should mind their own fucking business. She was big-boned, which meant wider and thicker than some girls. But she wasn’t fat. She exercised every day. Her stomach was flat, her arms and legs strong.
“Sorry if I offended you.” Stiffly said. Not sincere at all.
She snorted. “As if I care. Do you know how many guys think it’s okay to say stuff like that to me? And don’t get me started on the women.”
“If you don’t like the job, then change it.”
Her spine straightened. “Excuse me, don’t you dare put me and what pays my bills down.”
His mouth rounded. “You were just saying people were mean to you.”
She angry-bagged his items. “To make a point that I’m used to jerks like you coming in here and thinking you can talk to me any way you like. And it’s not okay. Do you hear me? Not. Okay.”
“Um, Anika, can I have a word?” She whirled to see Darryl, the store manager, standing at the end of her register.
“Oh, shit,” she muttered.
“It’s okay, we know each other,” Dominick stated to her manager.
“Actually, it’s not,” Darryl said firmly. He was only a few years out of high school and trying hard not to look intimidated by the big guy he confronted.
“And I say it is. I said something rude to her, and she rightly called me on it.” Dominick loomed over the guy. “So, don’t you dare fire her.”
Darryl almost smirked before catching himself. “I’m not firing her, sir. I was removing her from an unsafe situation. Mainly, you.”
Dominick’s gaze widened. “I’m not threatening her.”
“You’re being disrespectful to an employee, and we don’t allow that. Please leave.”
“I will once I pay for my groceries,” Dominick stated.
“Now.” Darryl might have tiny balls, but they were full of courage.
“I can’t leave now. My mom needs this shit.” Dominick pulled out his credit card. “I swear I’ll behave.”
“It’s okay, Darryl. Let the guy buy his snack cakes,” Anika jumped in.
When her manager would have likely insisted, Anika kept scanning items and finishing Dominick’s order. “That’s two hundred and twenty-two dollars and eighty-four cents.”
He blinked. “For cake?”
“What did you expect?”
“I don’t know. Until recently, I was eating in mess halls or restaurants. At home, food usually just appears on a plate.”
She rolled her eyes. “Spoiled.”
“I don’t know if I’d say that. I spent six months in the desert sucking the moisture from plants and eating what rodents and insects I could catch.”
“Why?” she couldn’t help but blurt out.
“My mission got sidetracked. It took a while for extraction.”
“I meant why serve in the military if it’s that awful?” she asked as the receipt spit out, his credit card having worked.
“Because I was good at it.”
“Was? Did you retire?”
“I did.”
“So, you’re here for a visit?” She couldn’t have said why she asked—as if she cared what his jerk ass did.
“Not sure yet what my plan is. Still adjusting to civilian life.”
Rather than snort and tell him that he needed to work a heck of a lot more and harder on it, she said, “Good luck with that. Have a good day.” She turned from him and began greeting her next customer, but he wouldn’t budge.
“Hey, I don’t suppose you’d like to go to dinner or grab a coffee sometime?”
She laughed so hard she snorted.
“Is that a no?” he asked.
“It’s a never.” Because the last thing she needed was to date some guy who thought women should serve. She’d done that once before and ended up in divorce court with everything, including the dog, taken from her. So unfair given Thomas stopped working a few months into their marriage. Everything they’d had was because of her, but the law gave him half. Plus, she got stuck paying the lawyer fees, leaving her with nothing. Not even the ability to work in her field because the prick filed a false complaint and she lost her dental hygienist’s license.
Now, she worked at a grocery store, lived in a shitty apartment with secondhand crap, hadn’t dated in two years, and her vibrator had broken from too much use and she couldn’t afford to replace it.
Perhaps she shouldn’t have been so rash with Dominick.
Didn’t some fetish exist where the guy had his mouth taped shut? If he didn’t speak, she could just use him for sex.
Ha.
The very idea.
She might be many things but a girl who slept around for the sake of lust wasn’t one of them. She might have been burned once, but she still believed in love.
And she’d promised herself to always demand respect.
3
That didn’t go well.
As he loaded the grocery bins into the van, Dominick pondered the many ways the conversation with Anika had gone wrong.
So wrong. No wonder she’d shot him down.
In his defense, she addled his wits.
Meeting Anika proved to be a punch to the gut. For one, she remained as attractive as ever with her curvy frame. While some liked their women thin, Dominick had always been more attracted to bigger girls. The kind that could handle a large guy like him. Something to grab on to.
The second thing that hit him hard was just how strongly the lust hit at the sight of her. Blame the blood leaving his brain, headed for his dick that led to the supremely stupid shit he’d said to her.
But she bore some of the blame. From the beginning, even though he’d been nice, she’d acted snootily. Like she was better than him.
Her loss. Plenty of other women out there that wouldn’t mind a retired military guy with a decent pension. Once he got a job, he’d have even more to offer.
Arriving home, Dominick began pulling out his stash. As he brought it in, he ran into his little brother Tyson, whose eyes widened.
“What did you do?” the boy breathed. He’d chosen to shave his wiry hair short on the sides but had left it thick and teased on top.
“Got groceries like Mom asked.”
Tyson pointed at the boxes peeking from a grocery bin. “That’s junk food.”
“I know. I bought it.”
“But Nana says we can’t have it.” Tyson shook his head. The boy had decided once he hit his teens that he was too mature to call her Mom.
“It’s no different than the cakes and cookies she makes. This will save her some work.” And keep him from getting slapped when the hunger hit.
Tyson backed away. “She’s gonna kill you.”
Actually, she did worse than that. Mom saw the goods as he put them in the pantry.
Her lips wobbled, and she wailed, “Is my baking that bad?”
Dominick shook a box at her. “You know I love your shit. But you are supposed to be taking it easy.” He pointed to her leg. “Sit. Relax. I got the dessert part covered.”