Smiling, she shook her head. “No.” She held up the dress for Prue to take.
“I’ll buy this, and then we’re onto the lingerie store.” Prue pointed at the pushchair, and she made her way out of the store to follow Angel.
“You’re not used to this, are you?” Angel asked, pocketing her purse.
“What do you mean?”
“Hanging out with the girls. You’re not used to it. I can see how nervous you are. You don’t need to be nervous.” Angel smiled, reaching out to touch her arm.
It took every ounce of strength not to pull away from her touch. The only person she’d been able to handle touching her was Whizz. He was the one person she trusted with her body. Dalton was dead, so he no longer counted as the man she trusted to touch her.
“I’m not used to it. I’ve, erm, I’ve never actually been out shopping for my own clothes.”
She started to twiddle the shirt in her fingers. They were outside the store with people passing them. Lacey hadn’t ever been relaxed out in the open before. There were too many people who could hurt her for her to be relaxed.
“Don’t worry about it. You’ve got to learn to trust us. We’re not the enemy here. You’ll get used to being out with us. None of us bite, I promise. Well, apart from Tate if she’s in a mood.”
Lacey laughed. How could she not? Angel was doing everything in her power to make her feel comfortable.
Prue walked out of the store with their bags. “Here, ladies.”
Angel took both and placed them on the pushchair. Her cell phone went off. Lacey waited while Angel looked at her phone.
“Lash checking up on you.”
“He’s not checking up on me. I’ve told you before, he worries about me all the time.” Angel typed a response and pocketed her phone.
Prue rolled her eyes, turning to look at Lacey. “Her man worries about her. I’m surprised he let you out to play. He’s very possessive about where you go.”
Angel shook her head. “And you wonder why Tate annoys you.”
“Hey, I’m a better option than Tate. She’s a bitch naturally. I just say it like it is. Lash is smitten. Nothing wrong with that.”
Lacey stood between the two women as they kept talking, bantering back and forth.
“Is that Gash?” Prue asked, pointing ahead of them.
Lacey followed where she was pointing, and sure enough there was Gash, leaning against the wall. Several women were surrounding him, trying to get his attention. None of the women succeeded. When he spotted them walking toward him, he moved away.
“Hey, ladies, I thought I’d catch up with you.”
“You lost at cards, didn’t you?” Angel asked, staring at the man with a smile.
“I may have played a quick game of cards with the boys and lost.”
“What did you have to pay?” Prue asked, looking suspicious.
“Did I have to pay anything?” Gash stretched, glancing at all of the women.
“Is this because of me?” Lacey asked, feeling awful that the men needed to keep an eye on her.
“Sorry, darling. This has nothing to do with you. The last thing the boys want to be doing is shopping. I lost at cards and drew the short straw to keep an eye on you girls.”
“What happened to the prospect that usually tails us?” Prue asked, glaring.
“Ink is keeping an eye on Rose. She’s finally upped and left Hardy, asking for Tiny to keep him away. Fighter is pretty much by Hardy’s side to make sure he doesn’t try to escape.
“What about Baker? What’s he doing?”
“He had to go home with Eva. We’re getting a visit from Ned and a couple of his fighters tomorrow. All the prospects are out of commission, which leaves one of us. I played a shitty game, and I get to pay the price by escorting you lovely ladies around.”
“You sound thrilled by that.” Angel turned toward her. “One of the men usually tails us when we leave Fort Wills. It’s one of the deals we all had to make. Sometimes our men will come with us, or they’ll give us some space to be ourselves. It has been a hectic couple of years. We’ve not had a choice but to have someone with us at all times.”
“It has been a sucky couple of years, and I’ve not been through most of it,” Prue said.
“Yeah, I heard,” Gash said. “Where are we going now?”
Lacey watched as Prue and Angel looked at each other then at her.
“We’re going to the lingerie store. It’ll be perfect. You can babysit while we check out some new sets.”
Gash groaned. “It just had to be my luck. There better be no teasing from you.”
Lacey chuckled at the look of horror on Gash’s face.
They started walking toward the lingerie store. Keeping her hands at her sides, Lacey followed the two women into the store, wishing she was anywhere else but there. Angel and Prue left the pushchairs in Gash’s company as they all started looking around. Gash didn’t comment. He stood with both chairs, looking in control.
“Do you think he’ll stay out of the way?” Prue asked, chuckling.
Gash cleared his throat. “I’ve been in prison for five years, ladies. Seeing underwear is still a turn-on to me. I’m no different from a teenage boy.” He whistled, working both pushchairs as if he was a natural.
“Go and take a look,” Prue said.
They split up, and Lacey started looking through the underwear on display. She saw the aisle that held the style of bras and panties that she usually wore. They were plain white and black with no design, simple. Her breasts were large, and when growing up she’d hated how uncomfortable bras could become. Dalton had the worst judgment when it came to her breasts. He was always getting the wrong size, not that she blamed him.
Looking through them, she heard Gash clear his throat. Glancing behind her, she saw Gash was leaning against the wall staring at her.
Heat filled her cheeks as he watched her. Was he turned on by looking at underwear?
“You’re going with Whizz?”
She stared into his face wishing she knew the answer to that. At least he wasn’t thinking about sex if he was talking about Whizz. “I don’t know.”
“You fucked him yet?”
An older woman in her fifties passed them, giving Gash a glare.
“Bite me, woman. I’m not asking you. Anyone would think they hadn’t been fucked by a cock. It’s how you get fucking kids.” Gash stared at the woman before she scampered away from them. “I hate it when bitches think I care what they think.” He shook his head before smiling back at her. “Well?”