“Let me guess; you want me to pay you for pictures that don’t exist?”
“They exist.” Harvey lowered his voice deviously, no longer wanting to draw attention to himself. “Even if it’s not her, which I ain’t saying it’s not, if I pass them around town to several of my buddies and say it is Lily, they’ll believe me.”
“No, they won’t.”
Harvey’s rotted smile turned gloating. “Even if they don’t, Lily will think they will, and I’ll make sure that Lily knows the pictures are going around town.”
“Oh, I’m sure you will,” Shade drawled out.
“Of course I like Lily. She’s a good lay, but damn, you could spare her a lot of heartache if you see things my way.”
“And your way involves money for your silence? Is that what you’re saying?”
“I want my job back. Of course I’d need a raise, too.”
“I’m sure you’d like that, but it isn’t going to happen.”
“Then I guess we’re done talking, aren’t we?”
“Yes, we are.” Shade rose, laying his palms down on the table as he stood over the blackmailing shithole. “You should order a hamburger. Mick makes the best one in town.” Straightening, Shade took out a hundred-dollar bill and laid it down on the table, enjoying the greedy light that appeared in Harvey’s eyes.
“What’s that for?”
“For whatever you want to use it for. Let’s just say Jewell forgot to give you your severance pay.”
“Does that mean you’re willing to come to an agreement on the pictures?”
“It means have a beer and burger on me. They’ll be your last.”
CHAPTER 5
“Is something wrong with the cake?”
At Willa’s question, Lily realized she hadn’t taken a bite of the cake she was holding in her hand.
“No, I was waiting to see where Shade wanted to sit, but he seems to have disappeared.”
“I passed Shade and Rider as they were going into the garage. They want to see the new motorcycle that Colton built.”
The dread that filled her when she couldn’t find Shade lightened. It didn’t disappear completely, though, because of the way her husband had been acting since he came into the thrift store and discovered Harvey harassing her.
He hadn’t mentioned it again after leaving her in the store. In fact, when she tried to bring it up again that evening, Shade had changed the subject.
Seeing that Willa was still looking at her expectantly, she lifted her fork and took a bite of the cake.
“It’s delicious,” she told her, forcing herself to give her a carefree smile. “It’s almost as good as the one you made for me.”
Beaming, Willa started talking about how beautiful the ceremony was.
“She made a beautiful bride,” Lily agreed, her thoughts still on Shade.
“Dalton didn’t look bad either.”
Both women flushed when Dalton flashed them a smile. As if sensing they were talking about him, he came out of the dining room, holding a generous portion of his wedding cake.
Their eyes weren’t the only female gazes following him throughout the room. The movie star’s charisma was like a magnet for women. That he was nice, made him harder to resist.
Shyly glancing away from his smile, Lily found hers caught and held by her husband’s. She wasn’t the only one caught staring. Willa had been caught, too.
While Lucky’s expression was indulgent and speculative at watching his wife ogle another man, Shade’s had her body going taut. Lust hit her like a strike of thunder. It always did when he looked at her as if he could read her mind.
Shade was possessive, dominant, and protective over her. They were characteristics that stabilized the panic attacks that had chained her within their grasp until he set her free. He kept all her fears and anxieties at bay by knowing that anything or anyone that could harm her would be dealt with by him.
She had grown older and stronger during their marriage. At one time, a man like Harvey would have sent her into a full-fledged panic attack. Now, she wasn’t frightened by him. She just pitied him that he was courting his own death.
Lily was under no illusion about what Shade was capable of. She had had the proof laid before her eyes when a woman who was in love with him had tried to blackmail her into leaving him. She had tried to leave him for his own safety, but Shade had said something then that always stayed with her. If you leave me, I might well as be dead. To hear him put into words the same exact feeling she felt, each step away from him tore her soul apart.
John’s sudden arrival had put a stop to her leaving, and even knowing what Shade was capable of, she never considered leaving him again. It had taken a lot of soul-searching to come up with the answer. She had found her answer in a passage from the Bible that Pastor Dean had left in her hospital room when he visited her after John’s birth.
She had seen the Bible sitting on the table by her bed and opened it to the page with a book mark sticking out.
(Psalm 10:17-18)
O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.
Lily still remembered reading that verse and looking across the room, seeing Shade holding John and the love in his expression. The love he had shown her when he looked up and saw her watching him.
God had gifted her a warrior. A warrior who sometimes did the dirty work that no one else wanted to do because society or their own conscience wouldn’t let them. A warrior who believed his deeds were branded on a soul that would never deserve love. From her or God.
She did. God, how she loved him.
Moving to his side, she used her fork to cut him a piece of cake before lifting it to his mouth.
His gaze caught hers as he opened his mouth.
“Do you like it?”
Her husband didn’t look toward Willa at the question. “Almost as much as the one you made for me and Lily.”
“That’s the same thing she said.”
Willa’s laughter didn’t break the spell between them, each lost in the silent duel of desire that was rising between them.
“Do you want some more?”
“Yes.”
Lily fed him another bite.
“Willa, I wouldn’t mind a bite of yours.”
Lily flushed at hearing Lucky’s husky request.
“Get your own.”
Lily couldn’t help laughing, breaking the moment she had been sharing with Shade by switching her focus to Lucky’s chagrined expression.
“I would be happy to get you a slice,” Lily offered.
“Never mind. If I eat another slice, I won’t be able to fit into my favorite pair of pants.”
“Excuse me. I need to check on something in the kitchen.”
Lily watched her friend leave with a flush high on her cheeks.
“Excuse me.” Lucky’s eyes were following his wife’s retreating back. “I have something I need to check.”
“I don’t think I want to know what Lucky’s going to be checking on, do I?” she asked Shade after Lucky was out of hearing range.
“Probably not,” Shade agreed, moving his hand to her waist to pull her closer to his side.
Trying hard not to become lost again, she cleared her throat. “What do you want to do for the rest of the day?”
“It’s Valentine’s Day; it’s your pick. You want to hit up your favorite restaurant after we leave here?”
“We already ate,” she reminded him. Her nipples tightened in response to the small caresses she could feel through the material of her dress. “Are you still hungry?”
“No.”
“Neither am I.”
“Do you find Dalton attractive?”
The out of the blue question didn’t faze her.
“He’s very handsome. But do I find
him attractive personally? No. He’s not my type.”
“He’s no cowboy, that’s for sure.”
“That’s not why I’m not attracted to him.”
“It’s not?”
“No. I’m not attracted to him because he’s not you.”
She felt his hand tighten on her waist.
“I know how I want to spend the rest of the day.”
“Me, too.”
Shade took the plate away from her, placing it on the table before guiding her toward the door.
“I need to tell T.A. that we’re leaving.”
“She’s over there. Wave to her. She’ll get the message.”
“I can’t be rude.”
“Then let me. I don’t have a problem with it.”
Lily stopped, giving him a reprimanding smile. “Just let me say goodbye. You can go tell Dalton we’re leaving.”
“You have three minutes.”
“I only need two.”
As she started away, he grabbed her hand. Startled, she turned back, her eyes widening at the man.