Dangerous Love - Page 13

Fear raced up her spine and her blood went cold like ice over a lake when she saw the man who came inside, walking toward the counter. She reached out for the phone to call Knox, but then her courage kicked in. If she could be brave enough to dance in front of Shade like she had never believed herself capable of and order him around, then she could handle Harvey.

“Out.”

He stopped in the middle of the store. “I just want to talk—”

“You have nothing to say that I want to hear. The services of this store are no longer available to you or Nicole. I no longer feel comfortable being in the store with you, and I requested to Nicole that she no longer send you. Since you are here, none of the church services will be accessible.” Prepared to defend herself physically and verbally, she was stunned when Harvey didn’t attempt to move closer.

“I can understand. I came to apologize for my behavior. Nicole has taken the baby and left me. She moved away, so you won’t be seeing us again. You don’t know how bad I feel about how I treated you. I’m sorry.”

Lily didn’t relax her guard, moving her hand within reach of an iron curtain rod. If he took one step nearer to her, she would brain him.

Mutely, she watched him leave, relieved she would never have to see him again. She only hoped that Nicole found a more loving environment to raise her son in.

Relieved that he was gone, she picked up the iron curtain rod to take it to the home section when she bumped into a hard body.

She gave a startled scream of terror, raising the rod to hit the man who had frightened her.

“It’s me, Lily!” Pastor Dean barely managed to catch the rod before she could hit him with the heavy metal.

“You scared the death out of me!” Shaking, she dropped the rod to the floor as she started shaking at how close she had come to hurting him. “When did you come down?”

Was that why Harvey apologized?

The feel-good moment when she had stood up to Harvey began to fade.

“I just got here.” Puzzled, Pastor Dean stared back at her sharp question. “Are you all right? I needed my old laptop that’s in the storeroom, but I can stay if something is wrong.”

At his innocent response, she shook her doubts off. “I’m fine. I’m just being ridiculous.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

Nodding, Pastor Dean went to the storeroom as she finished bagging the over-worn clothes. She was tying the bag when he came back with the laptop.

“I’m going back to my office. If you need anything, just text me, okay?”

“I’m fine. I’m sorry I almost hit you.”

“I should have told you that I was here. Next time, I’ll be more careful about walking around you.” Winking, he went up the steps to the church.

Lily used the lull to straighten the racks and process new clothes. She had just finished when Shade arrived.

“You ready?” he asked when he saw her coming out between two large racks.

“Yes.” Going to him, she reached up to give him a kiss. “I just need to get my purse and put the sign out that I’ll be back in an hour.”

Taking the sign out from underneath the cash register, she remained unmoving as he expectantly waited.

“Harvey came in today.”

His piercing blue eyes settled on hers. “Why was he here? Did you call Knox or Lucky to stay with you?”

Lily observed his reaction carefully. “No. I didn’t have to. He apologized and left. It took two minutes.”

“He apologized? Good, then I don’t have to kill him.” He said it in a joking manner, but she wasn’t quite sure he was.

“Did he come in here to apologize to me because you made him?”

“Why would you think that?”

“Because his face was in bad shape. He looked like he had been in a fight. Did you get in a fight with him?”

“I did not get in a fight with him.”

“He looked beaten up.”

“I did not beat him up.”

“Are you sure?”

“Lily, I would know if I did or not.”

“Did you make him come in and apologize to me?”

Shade raised a brow. “You know me better than that. I don’t want him near you, whether apologizing or not.”

That she believed.

“I have to admit, I’m relieved. Maybe he’s turning over a new leaf because Nicole and the baby moved away.”

“She finally got a brain?”

“Apparently.” Taking his arm, she reached up to give him another kiss. “I’m glad you restrained yourself with Harvey.”

Locking the store behind them after she put the sign up, she remained holding his arm as they walked toward the diner.

“How is Bubba’s first day going?”

“His is going good. Mine, on the other hand, has been a disaster.”

“Why?”

“Because you made me be nice instead of firing him after he broke the popcorn machine.”

“You weren’t mean to him, were you?”

“Me? Mean? I don’t know how to be mean,” he joked, holding the door open for her.

“For having such a bad day, you seem like you’re in a good mood.”

His good humor was infectious. Smiling up at him, she thought again how much she loved her husband. He was so sweet and kind when he wanted to be.

“I look at it like this: it can’t get worse.”

CHAPTER 12

Two hours later, Shade was cursing himself for saying his day couldn’t get worse. It had gone to hell in a handbasket.

It had become apparent that he tempted fate when he returned from lunch to have Jewell waiting for him. Bubba had gotten into an argument with another worker who had stormed out, threatening to sue The Last Riders for hiring a maniac.

Looking up from the desk when he heard the door open, he saw Jewell come in, shutting the door, then furiously putting her hands on her hips.

“Bubba broke the lift on the delivery truck.”

“How in the fuck did he do that?”

“He overloaded it. Sev

eral of the packages were damaged and will have to be repacked. We’ll be lucky if we’re able to get them out today. It’ll also put us behind tomorrow. Fire him.”

“I can’t. I told you that Rider hired him as a favor for Greer.”

“The way he’s going, Bubba will send the factory in bankruptcy within a month.”

“I can’t fire him. Lily found out that Bubba started today. She loves him.”

“What fuckwad told her? I’ll kick—”

“I did.”

“We are so screwed!” she shrieked at him.

“Calm down. I’ll text Train and get the lift repaired. You call Nickel and Moon. Tell them, if they get those packages repacked, I’ll give them a bonus.”

Jewell cooled down. “That’s not going to solve the underlying problem. What are we going to do about Bubba?”

“I’ll find another job for him to do. One that doesn’t involve machinery.”

“Good luck, because if he breaks one more thing, I’m going to break him.” She picked up a stress ball that was sitting on her desk.

“Put that back,” he ordered her, knowing she wasn’t taking it to relieve herself of the frustration of dealing with Bubba’s mishaps.

“Come on. I won’t hurt him too bad. His talking about little green men is driving me nuts. I just wanted to shut him up until quitting time.”

“Put it back.”

“He won’t even let me put him on payroll. He wants cash.”

“Then give him cash. Lay it back down. If you hurt him, he’ll tell Lily. Then she’ll get upset, and then I’ll get upset. Do you want me to get upset?”

Jewell laid the ball back down.

“Whatever you find him to do, make sure it’s where I don’t hear about those fucking green men again.”

“I’ll have a talk with him.”

“The sooner, the better.”

He winced when she stormed out of the office, slamming the door.

Opening the drawer by his side, he took out a bottle of ibuprofen. He started to take two, then decided on taking three. Texting Train next, he asked for him to come fix the lift, then he texted Razer. Satisfied when both answers were yes, he settled back in the office chair and resumed working on the inventory that needed to be reordered.

Tags: Jamie Begley Erotic
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