Shade turned his attention to Lucky who was talking to Rider without looking at the table at all. As vice president, he should be studying them and memorizing the faces of the men with Scorpion and Vaughn.

“Did Willa just give her card to one of those sons of bitches?” Lucky snarled.

Shade looked up, understanding dawning on him. Lucky had been watching the table using a mirror placed in the corner of the ceiling for the waitress to see if anyone had come through the door when she was out back.

“I believe she did. Maybe he wants to get something sweet off her.” Shade picked up his coffee cup to take a drink.

“Shut up, Shade. Willa isn’t that type of woman.”

“Brother, they’re all that type of woman; it just depends on who’s asking.” Shade picked up the check, tossing it toward Lucky.

As the women left, Shade could see Rachel holding a to-go order he was sure was for his wife. It better not be another burger and fries. The woman was constantly craving hamburgers and junk food. He had put a strict limit on how many she could have in a week, and she had reached her quota when she had sent him out at one a.m. for one the previous night.

“Rachel should know better than sitting with strangers. Someone should tell her brothers.” Cash looked toward Shade.

“If you’re wanting me to tell ‘em, you’re shit out of luck. I’m not pissing off Rachel—she’s the one who bags our weed. I’ve heard they add stuff when you piss them off.”

“I’ve heard that, too,” Rider confirmed, dropping another sugar in his fresh cup of coffee.

“With your sweet tooth, I’m surprised you aren’t chasing after Willa,” Shade said to Rider, watching Lucky’s reaction from the corner of his eye.

Rider sat back in his chair, as if considering the thought. “I’m not into virgins.” He grinned cockily. “They get too serious, and I don’t want to set a standard another man can’t match.”

“Jesus,” Lucky said, looking heavenward.

Shade stood up. “Rider, I’m going to leave because I have nothing I can say to your asinine remark.”

Shade had passed his chair, headed for the door, when he heard Rider’s next comment.

“He’s lucky I didn’t fuck Lily first,” he boasted.

“You did not just say—fuck, Shade, let him go!” Lucky yelled as both he and Cash tried to pull him off Rider.

Shade threw them off him, banging Rider’s head on the table then putting his hand in his hair to jerk his head back so Rider was staring up into his deadly eyes.

“Do. Not. EVER! Think it’s okay to mouth off like that again about Lily, you got me? Brother or not, I will take you out.”

“Shit, Shade, I was only kidding around!”

“Don’t care.” Shade released him, still furious.

“What in the fuck are you smiling about?” he snarled at Lucky.

“Because you can dish it out, but you can’t take it,” Lucky laughed.

Shade took a second then regained his composure. “I was trying to get one of you jackasses to make a move on her.”

“Why?” Lucky asked with a puzzled frown.

“Have you tasted her cupcakes? None of the women at the club like to bake, and I’m tired of running out in the middle of the night for cupcakes and hamburgers.”

Chapter 80

The women were standing at the counter when Shade entered the church store, his mouth tightening into a thin line when he saw Brooke was standing beside Lily. He took off his glasses as he went behind the counter, placing a kiss on his wife’s lips while ignoring Brooke.

“Rachel told me she saw you at the diner. I thought you would have already gone home.” Lily smiled up at him.

“I thought I would stop by and see if you wanted to close the store early and take a nap before the party.”

Rachel was throwing Mrs. Langley a birthday party. She was Winter’s aunt, so she was basically extended family to The Last Riders, and Beth cared for her; therefore, they had all been invited.

Lily bit her lip. “We haven’t had a customer in two hours.”

“Go ahead, Lily. I’ll stay,” Rachel offered. Shade noticed she hadn’t missed the look of envy Brooke had quickly concealed.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. Go. I have to stay in town anyway,” Rachel urged.

“All right then.” She gathered her purse.

“Go ahead. I’ll be right behind you,” Shade said.

Lily shot her husband a curious look yet left without question.

“Do you mind excusing us, Brooke?” His tone implied he really didn’t give a damn if she did. Brooke wouldn’t expose her true colors in front of Rachel. She wanted to keep up the pretense of being the sophisticated wife of a pastor when she was nothing more than a snake in the grass.

Brooke’s face blushed bright red. “Not at all.” She turned on her high heels, leaving with an expression that said she would pay him back for being rude to her.

“Anything wrong?” Rachel asked.

“Could be. You tell me.” He said anger tightening his lips.

“What about?”

“The men you had lunch with, how long have you known them?”

“An hour. Willa and I were having lunch and the restaurant was crowded, so they asked if they could sit with us. Is there a problem with that?”

“Those men are bad news, Rachel. Stay away from them,” Shade warned.

“Let me get this straight. You’re telling me not to talk to them again?” she snapped.

“Yes.”

“Shade, I can talk to anyone I want. I don’t even let my brothers tell me what to do anymore,” Rachel argued.

“Listen, Rachel. They aren’t someone to get involved with. You’ve never dealt with men like them before. You’re a friend of Lily’s, so I’m giving you a heads-up.”

More calmly, Rachel said, “As Lily’s friend, I’ll take it under consideration. Willa and I shared our booth with them. We ate, we left. It was that simple.”

“And Willa gave them her card?” he probed.

“They want her to make some desserts for them for their next cookout.”

Shade nodded.

“Satisfied?”

“Not really, but I guess it’s all I’m going to get. You might drop a word and tell Willa to think twice about going out with one of them. You’ll handle it better than me.”

“Of that, I have no doubt.” Rachel gave him a wry smile.

“All right, then I’ll see you tonight.”

She was a friend of Lily’s, and without her using her gift on Lily, he didn’t know if her mind would have remained intact, so he had tried. However, she wasn’t going to listen, and like her brothers’ stubbornness, it was going to get her in trouble.

“Bye, Shade.”

Shade nodded then left the store, crossing the street back to the diner’s parking lot where the brothers were waiting for him on their bikes. Viper had showed up while he was in the store.

“What did you find out?” Cash asked impatiently as he approached.

Shade came to a stop by his bike. “That Rachel and Willa have never met them before. They were having lunch, and the Freedom Riders asked if they could sit because the restaurant was busy,” Shade repeated what Rachel had told him.