Lucky's Choice
Page 74

 “You’re late,” Lucky snapped at her, relieving Willa of her misconception.
 Bliss shrugged as she went to the refrigerator. “I knew Willa would have it under control.” She waved her hand at the food laid out on the counter. “And I was right.”
 “Tomorrow, be on time or your name’s going in the punishment bag.”
 “What’s the punishment bag?” Willa asked.
 “It’s a bag where they make you draw a punishment when you’ve been bad. Isn’t that right, Lucky?” Bliss poured herself a glass of orange juice, leaving the bottle out on the counter.
 Willa itched to get up and put it back in the refrigerator but she made herself sit still, not liking the provocative way Bliss was talking to Lucky.
 “Yes,” Lucky ground out, his eyes narrowing on Bliss.
 Willa stood up, going to the oven where she took out the last tray of bacon then turning to set it on an empty burner on the stove.
 “Careful, you almost burned me.”
 Willa hadn’t been near enough to burn her, but Bliss’s harsh comment rattled her. Regardless, she couldn’t think on it long, because right then, several club members began trailing in one after the other.
 She saw Shade come in with Razer. Lily had called her last night to tell her that she was off today and that Rachel was working the church store. Winter, Viper, and Moon came in as she placed toast in the toaster. Bliss merely moved to lean against another counter without trying to help.
 Going back to the double oven, she leaned over to pull out the tray of biscuits.
 “That’s not a sight I want to see first thing in the morning,” Bliss said nastily from behind her.
 Willa’s face flamed at the insult, aware the whole room had heard the comment.
 Willa heard Lucky’s chair scrape back. “Bliss, I want to talk to you upstairs in Viper’s room.”
 Willa turned carefully to place the baking sheet on the stove. “Lucky, it’s all right.”
 “No, it’s not—”
 Before Lucky could complete his sentence, Willa watched in horror as Bliss’s hand went to set down her orange juice, deliberately sliding it forward and knocking over the cookie jar that Willa had filled an hour ago with Lucky’s cookies. It shattered on the floor in a thousand pieces, which was exactly how many pieces her heart broke into.
 Willa’s already frayed nerves snapped.
 “Why did you do that? Why have you been so mad at me? I thought we were friends.”
 “Friends!” Bliss yelled at her. “Friends don’t stab each other in the back.”
 “How did I stab you in the back?” Willa asked, thoroughly confused.
 “You fucked Shade! I saw you go downstairs with him! You stayed down there a long time in the bedroom. Does Lucky know you fucked Shade on the same bed you do him every night?”
 When Lucky and Viper approached Bliss angrily, Willa held her hand up to stop them, wanting to hear the rest of the filth spewing from her mouth.
 “Does Lily know?” Bliss gave a bitter laugh. “He wouldn’t cheat on Lily with me, but he did with you. Do you want to know the funniest part? The night before Lucky was supposed to leave for Ohio, he wanted me to fuck him, and I didn’t! I turned him down because you made me that fucking candy. He fucked Raci, Ember, and Stori all night, instead. I won’t make that mistake again. If you want me to go upstairs with you, Lucky, let’s go.” Her voice had turned sultry, her wanton insinuation like a slap in Willa’s face.
 Willa turned around, giving the room her back as she battled her rising temper. “God, give me strength.”
 “What did you say? If you’ve got something to say—”
 Willa turned around sharply. “I said shut up!” Willa yelled, going toward Bliss angrily. “I didn’t have sex with Shade. We talked! That’s all! He showed me Lucky’s medals and talked to me about their time in the service. That was all we did!”
 Lucky, Viper, and Bliss all took a step back at the fury on Willa’s face. All the anger she had been holding in for days, weeks, and years came spilling out at the woman who had broken a cookie jar she had cherished.
  “Why is it that you felt like you had the right to talk to me like that? You wouldn’t have talked to anyone else that way, just me!”
 Bliss started trembling. “I don’t know.”
 “It stops now! Do you hear me?” This time, Willa yelled at the whole room of onlookers.
 They all nodded in unison.
 “That chore list sucks! If I want to cook and manage this kitchen, then I’m damn sure going to do it! Okay?” She glared at Viper.
 “Knock yourself out.” Viper’s concession didn’t slow her down.
 “If I want to do it, I will,” she snarled at her husband who was about to protest. “If it gets to be too much, I’ll tell you.”
 “One person can’t do it all. You can’t handle this kitchen and your baking business—”
 Willa cut him off. “I don’t plan do to it alone. I plan to hire someone. Ginny can quit the diner. She hates it. Everyone can keep their freaking clothes on while she’s in the house for a few hours a day. Everybody should pick the chores they want to be responsible for. If they don’t get done, dock their pay and give it to Ginny to pay her for doing them.”
 “We usually vote on…” Viper began then stopped at her glare. “We’ll try it on a trial basis.”
 Willa went to the pantry, taking out the broom and dust pan, angrily sweeping the broken glass and cookies up jerkily.
 She pointed the handle of the broom at Raci. “If I want to wash dishes by hand, I will. It relaxes me.”
 Raci jerked back as the broom handle nearly tapped her nose. “Okay.”
 Willa dumped the glass into the trash can before turning her heated glance toward Winter. “And if I want to fix my husband breakfast and wait on him because it makes me feel good, then I will!”
 “But, it’s archaic—” Her teeth snapped together at Willa’s glare. “All right.”
 Stori moved out of Willa’s way as she put the broom and pan back in the pantry. Willa shut the pantry door then stopped in front of Stori, pointing her finger at her chest. “If anyone is going to make my husband’s lunch, it’s going to be me. If I’m not here, then he can fix it his own damn self.”
 “Okay.”
 Willa looked at her watch, realizing she was going to be late for work, and she hated being off schedule. She was almost out the kitchen door when she turned around.
 “And, Rider, put down the freaking toilet lid in the half bath when you’re done, dammit.”
 “I’ll remember that.”
 Her tirade wasn’t over as her gaze focused on Jewell. “Do you see a nose on my face?”
 Jewell gave her a strange look, nodding her head.
 When Willa slammed her hand against the kitchen door, sending it flying the rest of the way open, Jewell hastily moved out of the way so it wouldn’t hit her when it swung back.