Shade's Fall
Page 15

Lily shuddered, her eyes darkening. Jerking her hand from his, she avoided his eyes. She got to her feet and dumped the cotton candy and drink into the trashcan before making a beeline straight for Beth’s side.
She refused to let herself think or dwell on the incident. It was just one more memory to lock behind her imaginary door when she couldn’t cope with the reaction. She couldn’t handle the spark that had lit inside of her when his tongue glided across her fingertips. She was letting her defenses down around Shade, and she had to build them back. He was everything she didn’t want in a man, everything she couldn’t have. If she failed at keeping him at bay, he could very well be the path to her destruction.
* * *
Shade followed behind the group, keeping a watchful eye on his club members. Lily didn’t stray from Beth’s side for the rest of the evening, using her as protection against him. Lily used Beth and Razer as her shield against the world; however, naively she thought that they would protect her from him. They would try.
He had thought that Beth would be his biggest opposition but, surprisingly, Razer was playing the big brother and had laid down the ground rules. Shade was willing to go along with it for now.
He watched as she looked back over her shoulder then moved closer to Beth. His gut twisted as he wondered if she would ever turn to him over Beth, if he would be the one she turned to for protection.
He would lay back. He could wait; he was a patient man. For now.
 
 
Chapter 6
 
Lily kept her head down during service, concentrating on her Pastor’s words, letting them fill her heart and calm her tumultuous mind.
Beth’s hand grasped hers and Lily held it tightly, gathering strength from her sister, as well.
After the service, Pastor Dean’s eyes searched hers. “You and Rachel got a lot done yesterday. Thank you for your help.”
“I enjoyed it,” Lily replied, moving forward to let the other parishioners greet the Pastor.
“Let’s get lunch,” Razer said.
Lily thought about going home, but she remembered the strange experience from last week and decided against it. Following her sister, Razer, Evie, Bliss, Raci, Diamond, Winter and Viper crossed the street and they entered the diner.
Shade, Rider, Train and Cash were already inside drinking their coffee. When Lily took a seat between Razer and Winter at the end farthest away from Shade, she felt his eyes on her.
After the waitress had taken their table’s order and left, Lily listened to the conversation around her, but she didn’t participate. The food arrived and Lily ate her salad.
As she ate, she heard the door of the diner open, but didn’t turn around until the silence at the table had her raising her head to see the concerned look on the women and the men’s hard expressions.
“What’s going on?” Lily asked Winter.
“The bikers from last night just came in,” Winter answered.
“Oh.” She didn’t turn around and make it obvious she was staring at them.
Conversation gradually resumed; however, Lily could still see the men were tense.
Thankfully lunch finished and everyone rose to leave. Lily followed The Last Riders to the door, but stopped at the cash register, opening her purse to take out some money.
“What are you doing? Razer already took care of the check,” Beth told her.
“I know.” She gave her money to the cashier. “I want to pay for the men’s ticket by the window.”
The cashier’s mouth dropped open, yet she took the cash.
“Lily, what are you doing?” Beth questioned in a hushed voice.
“Paying back a favor,” Lily said, taking a deep breath, and before anyone could stop her, she approached the men sitting at the table. There were more of them today, but Lily had been around The Last Riders and the Destructors enough that she easily recognized the leader.
Standing in front of the dark blond man, she spoke in a rush. “I wanted to thank you for what you did last night. It could have gotten bad without your help.”
The man’s eyes went over Lily’s shoulder. She knew The Last Riders were waiting at the door.
“Anytime, sweet thing.” The man’s hard eyes softened briefly when he looked at her, yet they resumed their hardness instantly, so Lily wasn’t even sure she had witnessed it.
Lily smiled, turning back to the door, though her gaze was briefly caught by one of the men. His hair was slightly longer and he had a goatee along with several tattoos on his arm. It was the kindness in his gaze, however, that caught her attention.
“Hi, I’m Colton.” He put out his hand to shake.
“Hi, I’m Lily.” She placed her hand in his, which he shook.
“Hi, Lily. That’s Ice.” He nodded his head toward the blond. “The big guy there is Max, and the ugly one next to him is Jackal.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” Lily smiled before continuing, “I didn’t mean to disturb your lunch. I wanted to thank your friends.”
“I’m sure they enjoyed it, knowing them. Take care, Lily,” Colton said, his gentle gaze the direct opposite of his bad-boy appearance.
“I will.” Lily smiled again, moving away and almost bumping into Shade who had come to stand behind her.
She didn’t appreciate the warning glare he gave the men. He ignored her own glare, though, leading her away from the table and back to The Last Riders who hadn’t moved away from the door.
They waited until she was outside before giving her hell.
“What were you thinking, Lily?” Beth started.
“I was thinking that I would do the polite thing and thank them for helping me out of a difficult situation.”
“You can’t get friendly with another motorcycle club,” Evie said.
“I don’t know why not.” When several would have opened their mouths, Lily put up her hand. “I wasn’t getting friendly. I was thanking them. I can be friends with anyone I want. I’m friends with Stud.” Lily mentioned the president of the Destructors, yet it was a stretch calling him a friend. From the dubious expressions centered on her, she knew she wasn’t pulling one over on them.
Lily noticed Viper and Shade were talking quietly to themselves, and when she and Beth turned to walk home, Razer hung back.
“You two go ahead. I’ll be there in a few,” Razer said.
Lily hesitated, somehow knowing they were going to confront the men inside when they came out, and they wanted her and Beth gone.
Lily faced Viper, touching his arm gently. “Leave them alone, please, Viper. They don’t want trouble and I approached them.”
“They came inside seeing our bikes were outside,” Viper replied.
“Please, Viper.”
“I’ll give in this time, Lily, but don’t ask me to back down again,” Viper replied.
Lily reached up, kissing Viper on his cheek. “Thank you,” she said before moving away.
“Let’s go home.” This time Razer’s voice was amused as he guided the women toward their home.
Lily looked back in time to see Shade punch Viper in the stomach. Gasping, she turned to go back again.
“Keep going, Lily.” This time Razer’s voice held definite amusement.
“Why did Shade just punch Viper?”