She put the pizza in her hand back on her plate.
“I’m a virgin.”
Startled, Willa glanced at Penni.
“You’re lying,” Killyama scoffed.
“I am not. I may have fooled around some, but I’ve never been with a man. I’ve wanted to, but I always change my mind.”
“How did the men take it?” Willa asked.
“Half understood, some were kind of nasty, and for the rest, I used the self-defense moves Shade taught me.” Penni shrugged. “I want to find my soul mate the way Shade found his. I meet a guy and think this could be the one. Then I get to know him, and I simply want to be friends. The men I date tell me I’m playing hard to get.”
“Like a stick of fucking dynamite. If you ain’t giving it up, then they’re doing something wrong. So why haven’t you fucked anyone yet?” Killyama asked, turning everyone’s attention back to Willa.
“It’s not like I’ve had a lot to choose from.”
“So you and Lucky haven’t?”
Willa shook her head, wondering at the woman’s heavy frown.
Willa heard Lily sit back down at the table.
“Are they still talking about sex?” Lily asked.
“Yes.” Willa poured herself some more lemonade, not sure which was the non-alcoholic one.
Taking a sip, she wanted to pour it back in the pitcher; however, she took another sip when Penni smiled at her with pride. Willa couldn’t bring herself to dampen her belief that it was good and took yet another drink.
“I have some books Killyama lent me,” Lily offered.
“Those aren’t going to help her.” Willa began to get nervous when the woman became lost in thought then snapped her fingers. “I know. Have you seen Saw?”
Willa and the other women at the table stared at her blankly.
“Uh … no.”
“You should.” Killyama poured herself another glass of lemonade from the spiked pitcher.
“Are we still talking about sex?” Willa asked Lily in confusion.
“I hope not.”
“Me, too.” Willa started to take another bite of pizza then realized she had lost her appetite. Instead, she sipped her lemonade which was getting better and better.
* * *
Lucky stared down at his watch. “How much longer do you think they’re going to be?”
Shade crossed his arms over his chest. “You never know. When they have their parties, it can last an hour or four. It pretty much only ends when the liquor and food are gone.”
“They’re in a restaurant with a bar,” Lucky reminded him.
“Then we’re going to be here for a while. Don’t expect any of them to be sitting in church in the morning, either. Lily will be the only one there, and you’ll be lucky if the rest show up for the evening service.”
“Willa will be in church. She doesn’t drink,” Lucky bragged.
“Right … We’ll see. Penni’s in there.”
“What does Penni have to do with it?”
“It means Willa’s going to come out either drunk or high,” Shade advised.
“Not Willa. I know her like the back of my hand.”
“Brother, you don’t know shit about Willa, but I know my sister, and I’m telling you, there’s no way Willa’s coming out sober.”
“Wanna bet?” Lucky goaded.
“Hell yes. You going to win the way you won the bet with Moon?”
Lucky didn’t feel guilty about picking the motorcycle he had tried to buy off Rider for the last six months.
“I didn’t cheat.”
“You didn’t cheat, but getting engaged to her made Moon believe you fucked her, and you didn’t tell him any different. It also keeps him from trying to get her in his bed until you’re willing to share … if you do.”
“Willa would have an anxiety attack if I touched her, much less have her take part in one of the club’s parties.”
“Like I said, you don’t know shit about Willa, and you’re too chicken shit to find out.”
“I’m not chicken shit. Willa and I aren’t a couple. You know we’re only engaged to get Flora to leave the kids alone.”
“I keep going back and forth, trying to make up my mind on who’s the dumber fuck: you or Rider.”
“Neither of us. Moon is.” Lucky grinned, unrepentant. The brother deserved to lose the bet for thinking Willa would be an easy conquest.
“So what does the winner get?”
“You have to bring Train back from Ohio. He’s calling me every hour to come back because I told him I would go.”
“Who would go instead?”
“Send Moon back. He’s the one who made the mess in the first place.”
“All right, and if I win, you have to let me out of my promise to you.”
Lucky’s face turned serious. “Pick something else. I’m dealing with Bridge.”
“You’re doing a crap job. He’s watching every move you make.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I’m watching him.”
“You can watch, just keep your promise.”
“If I win, I want you to tell Willa the truth about the club. It’s only a matter of time before Sissy or someone else tells her, and it will hurt less coming from you.”
Lucky nodded. He had already decided to tell her when she wasn’t surrounded by the children.
“Then we have a bet?”
“It’s a bet.” Lucky repeated, knowing either way, he lost.
The door to King’s restaurant opened, and the women came stumbling outside.
Shade took his cell phone out of his pocket.
“Who are you calling?”
Shade looked up. “Knox. We’re going to need more cars.”
Chapter 14
“Why are we at the church? I don’t feel like asking for forgiveness right now.”
“You will in the morning,” Lucky muttered, unlocking the side entrance that led to the part of the church he had moved back into when he had become pastor again.
When the church had been built, the back portion had been designed for the pastor and his family to live. If you came inside the side entrance, you wouldn’t assume it was attached to the church, but it was a large home.
Willa stumbled in the darkness before he could flip the light switch o
n. Lucky closed the door with his foot before sweeping Willa into his arms.
She giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck. “It’s too soon to carry me over the threshold. Be careful or you’ll throw your back out.”
“Stop.”
Willa pouted up at him, seeing his stern expression. “Are you mad at me for getting drunk?”
“For getting drunk, no. I get mad when you put yourself down. I’ve told you not to do it in front of me.”
“I’m sorry. Don’t be mad at me.” She laid her head on his shoulder, patting his chest.
The woman was irresistible when she was drunk because her guard was lowered, showing the real Willa. She had cracked jokes and sang as he had driven the bitches back to Jamestown. Stud had met him halfway and Willa had hung out the door, waving good-bye to them and asking Stud if Sex Piston had been a virgin when they were married. Sex Piston had put her own window down, yelling at Willa to shut the fuck up before she got out and whipped her ass. Then Willa had thrown the woman air kisses, reminding her she had promised to cut her hair.
Lucky had driven off while the women were still yelling back and forth to each other. There was no way he was going to make the same mistake Razer and Shade had made and allow Willa to become friends with the biker bitches. He was going to nip that one in the bud.
“Where are we going? I need to get home to the kids.”
“You would wake them up, and I didn’t think you’d want your neighbor to see you in this condition.” Lucky walked down the hallway, easily carrying her weight.
He opened one of the spare bedrooms, placing Willa down on the bed. As she stared up at him in bemusement, Lucky felt his dick getting hard. The woman was cute as hell when she was sober; drunk, she had a seductive look he had never seen on her before. Apparently, being drunk gave Willa a lethal amount of confidence that Lucky was smart enough to know would be hard to resist if he stayed much longer.
“Go to sleep.” Lucky gritted his teeth, heading for the door. He was getting sick and tired of protecting her from himself. Hell, he had never pretended to be a saint.
“Night.”
He made the mistake of turning around at her slurred parting and saw that she was still lying in the same position he had laid her down in. Her legs were half off the bed, and she was lying sideways.