Shade saw her standing on the steps and came to her. His hands circled her waist, lifting her off the last two steps and holding her against his chest.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Watching you.” She smiled, touching his cheek.
“Why?” Shade smiled down at her.
“Shade, we need to talk. We should have talked before we were married this morning.” Her serious tone wiped his smile away.
“Not today.”
“But, I really need to tell you—”
“Not today, okay? Today is Christmas Eve—our wedding day—and we’re not going to talk about anything else except that today.”
“Okay.” Lily gave in to his demand.
“I’m going to go get out of this get-up. I’m never going to live this down.”
“I think you’ll survive,” Lily teased. Shade bent down, brushing his lips with hers.
Before he could start up the stairs, a knock sounded on the door behind them, and Shade gave her a quick grin.
“I have another surprise for you,” he said, turning to open the door.
As it opened, Lily caught sight of Penni standing on the porch. When she saw Shade, she threw herself into his arms. “You big doofus. Only you would give me a day’s notice to get here. My stupid flight got cancelled, and I didn’t think I would ever get through the roads from Lexington. I didn’t even know you two were seeing each other. How come neither of you told me?”
Shade set Penni back on the floor. “Slow down, Penni. If you hadn’t been so occupied with your new job, you would have known,” he told her.
Penni saw Lily when he took a step back. “Lily!” She grabbed her, pulling her into a tight hug. “I missed seeing you in your wedding dress. I was supposed to be there,” she wailed.
“It’s all right. Razer took a video for us.” Lily tried to keep the reserve out of her voice, yet she was unsuccessful. Penni’s eyes flashed her hurt, but she wasn’t one to take anything without giving it right back.
“I know you’re probably mad at me for not telling you Shade was my brother, but he threatened to take the car back if I told.” Lily saw Shade’s face go blank at his sister’s revealing words.
“Your car?”
“Yes. The one he bought me for transferring colleges so that I could be your roommate because he didn’t want Beth to worry. You’ll be part of the club now; they’ll watch out for you like they did Beth. I’m glad, too; you tend to be a little accident-prone.” Penni finally stopped for a breath.
“I’m not accident-prone,” Lily denied, trying to process her friend’s words. She was coming to the conclusion that Shade was a devious man.
Penni rolled her eyes at her denial. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter anymore. You have my big brother to watch out for you now.”
“Your half-brother.”
“That doesn’t matter. Our families both get along. It wasn’t an ugly divorce. Our mom was just sick of moving every couple of years. Our parents are pretty cool; Shade’s dad especially.”
“We’ll save that for another day. He couldn’t make it to the wedding. He and my stepmother are in Florida taking a long vacation. He just retired,” Shade explained to Lily. “Why don’t you take Penni into the kitchen and let her see everyone while I go get changed.”
“You’ve met them before?” Lily asked, surprised.
“Of course, since I was little; sometimes a few of them would come home with him when he visited.”
Lily took Penni’s coat, hanging it in the closet as Shade went upstairs. It was hard to be angry with Penni for long; her personality wouldn’t let you remain aloof unless you were willing to be outright mean to her. Her effervescent temperament was always in direct contrast to Lily’s own more solemn one.
As soon as they set foot in the kitchen, Penni’s appearance created pandemonium as everyone tried to greet her at once.
Lily pitched in to help cook while Penni sat at the kitchen table, telling all the members about her new job.
“I absolutely love it. Right now, it’s mainly all paperwork while I set up the venues for the concerts, but once they go on tour, I’m hoping it gets to be more exciting.”
Shade came back in his normal jeans and t-shirt.
“There’s the brother I know and love. I almost didn’t recognize you in that suit, or with that smile you were wearing,” Penni teased.
“Food’s ready,” Beth told everyone. Lily and Shade ate while Penni described all the places she had booked the tour that started next month.
“Kaden Cross has even agreed to do a couple of the venues. We’ll even be in Lexington and you all better come. I’ll introduce you to Kaden and his wife. I’ve become friends with her and her friend.”
“I’m glad you met new friends.”
Penni nodded enthusiastically. “Her friend is married to a member of a motorcycle club. Can you believe it? I actually know two clubs now. Of course, you guys could probably kick their asses.” She was quiet for a whole second. “Maybe.”
“What’s the name?” Shade asked, his eyes on his sister. Lily smiled at the big brother in Shade coming out.
“The Predators.” If she hadn’t been watching him, Lily would have missed the slight change in his expression and the shifting of his eyes to Viper.
The Last Riders had heard of the Predators, and Lily could tell they didn’t like them. She didn’t need to hear his next words to know that.
“Stay away from them, Penni, far away.”
“That’s going to be hard to do,” she protested.
“I don’t care, just do it,” Shade ordered, glaring at her.
Penni stared at her brother as Lily sat watching the contest of wills.
“I’ll stay away from them as much as possible,” Penni conceded. “I don’t even know why we’re arguing. I’ve only been around them a couple of times.” She averted her eyes and some tiny part of Lily told her there was something she was holding back. Shade picked up on it, too. Penni was his sister; he would catch something just as easily as Lily.
“What?” Shade asked.
“Nothing. I just think you’re being over-protective. Most of them seem to be good guys. They helped my boss out of a jam this summer. They provide security sometimes.”
“A rock star needs that kind of security?” Shade questioned, and Lily noticed all the men at the table were listening intently.
“They did when I was doing my internship. Kaden was attacked by a crazy man who wanted something from his wife.”
; “Were you hurt?” Shade’s whole demeanor changed; he was obviously protective.
“No. When I came to, it was already over,” Penni said, filling her plate again.
“You’re quitting.”
“No, I am not. I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself. The dude who knocked me out is in prison, so calm down.”
“Let me know if he gets out.”
“I will.” Penni’s sparkly personality wasn’t going to let Shade intimidate her. “Now can I finish my dinner?”
“Yes, but you’re still quitting.”
“No, I’m not,” Penni repeated.
“Cut it out, you two. You’re both giving me a headache,” Lily cut in between them. “Quit worrying, Shade. She works for a band. I wouldn’t worry about another motorcycle club and Kaden’s wife’s stalker. It’s all the drugs, sex and parties she’s going to be in contact with on the tour that you should be worried about,” she said sagely.
“Traitor,” Penni hissed.
“I couldn’t resist,” Lily replied, taking the beer Penni was drinking away. “I think it’s kind of funny Shade’s warning you away from a motorcycle club when he helped found one, and he’s well aware that sometimes you can be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’m sure your employer was just going through a bad time. You said yourself that the man responsible is in prison now.” Lily turned to Shade. “Your sister is smart enough to get out of a situation in which she could get hurt.”
“That’s right.” Penni grinned at her brother. “I think I’m going to enjoy having Lily as my sister-in-law. She might be able to keep you off my back.”
“All right, I’ll leave it alone for now, but if anything happens, leave.”
“I’ll be out of there like a shot,” Penni agreed.
“Good, now that it’s settled, can we enjoy dinner? I have to get ready for Christmas service,” Lily said, reminding Shade.
“The brothers and I are going to stay here and take care of a few things while you’re gone.”