by Jamie Begley
Beth rose to her feet. “Tomorrow may be Saturday, but I have to be at work early. Lily, you and Evie have to be at the church early, too, remember? The luncheon we’re having for Pastor Patterson and his wife?”
“Yes. Rachel is helping, too, and Willa is bringing dessert. You’re right; we should go. I don’t want to tire you, King.” When Lily got to her feet, thanking Beth silently for stepping in, Evie rose to her feet, also.
Lily went to King, reaching up to brush his cheek with a kiss. “I hope to see you Sunday.”
When Lily would have turned away, King took her hand. “You haven’t called me Dad since I was shot.”
Evie could tell from the expression on Lily’s face that the woman didn’t know how to respond. Evie took a step forward, reaching her hand out for King to take. He released Lily reluctantly to take her hand.
“Thanks for dinner, King.” Evie maneuvered her body, giving Lily the opportunity to slip away. King tracked her movements before coming back to hers.
“Will I be seeing you Sunday, too?”
“I’ll be at the church,” Evie confirmed. She would be there, but she didn’t know why it mattered to him.
“Good, I’ll look forward to it.”
Evie nodded, unable to bring herself to say the same.
She took a deep breath of fresh air when she was finally outside. It could have gone worse. It didn’t take a genius to figure out King wasn’t happy with Lily’s choice of husband, but Lily and Shade were leaving Monday for Alaska and King would be headed back to Queen City.
Evie walked to the truck, sliding in next to Lily. It was quiet on the way back to the clubhouse.
The sooner he left, the better. What damage could he do from Queen City?
Chapter 6
Evie placed the large cake on the center of the dessert table where they had set up the recreation room.
“Willa, the cake is too pretty to cut.” Evie turned back to the woman who had brought the cake.
Her friendly face flushed from the compliment. “Thank you for helping me carry it in, Evie.”
“I didn’t mind. I managed to swipe a taste or two along the way.” Evie smiled, licking the tip of her finger.
“That just makes a man want to miss lunch and go straight for dessert.”
Evie braced herself before replying to King. He had managed to come up to them when she wasn’t paying attention. Damn cake. Her sweet tooth had managed to get her in trouble more than once.
As soon as Willa noticed a man was near, she closed down her smile, becoming more contained.
“Willa, this is King, Lily’s father,” Evie performed the introductions. If the asshole says one thing out of place to her, I will smack him upside his head, she promised herself.
Willa was extremely shy and self-conscious of her weight. Personally, Evie didn’t think it was anyone else’s business but her own, yet the woman had received many ugly comments from people who were insensitive and uncaring about hurting her.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Willa murmured.
“Did you bake the cake?”
Willa nodded.
“I’ve been to several large cities and a variety of states, and that cake is one of the most beautiful ones I’ve seen.”
“Thank you.”
“Do you own a shop?”
“No, I bake at home. It keeps me busy enough.”
“Well, if you decide to open a store, let me know. I would invest not only my money, but my stomach, to opening one.”
Even Evie had to laugh at his expression staring at the cake.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Willa lost her self-consciousness, asking King where he was from.
“Did you bring a cake?” Lucky’s voice filled with disbelief, interrupting King’s description.
“Yes.” Willa’s startled eyes flew to Lucky’s.
“You baked a cake to greet the new minister, but never made me one?” Lucky’s accusing eyes were on Willa’s embarrassed face. Evie wanted to kick the dumb man.
“I wouldn’t have baked you one, either. Do you remember when you took over? There were three tables of food and four for desserts.”
“There was?”
“Yes, there was,” Evie confirmed.
“I actually made you a cake when you arrived.” Willa’s soft voice was filled with embarrassment.
“Georgia packed it in. When you saw her, you assumed she had made it.”
Lucky was the one turning red now. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“It doesn’t matter; you ate it. I brought it for you to eat, not for the compliments.” All the single women in the parish had filled the tables, trying to get his attention, but Willa had let someone else take credit for her cake. “Excuse me. I haven’t met the new pastor yet.” Willa moved away toward the new minister, whose wife was standing by his side.
Pastor Patterson was handsome and the same age as Lucky. If he hadn’t been married, the women would have been all over him. From his wife’s glare, Evie sensed she wasn’t going to tolerate any women becoming too friendly with her husband.
Brooke Patterson’s rounded belly showed she was pregnant, although Evie couldn’t imagine her being a mother. The cold bitch hid her true colors from Merrick, but Evie was fully aware of who she really was.
When she had walked into the church and saw Brooke, she had been stunned, almost leaving. The only reason she had stayed was because Evie knew the manipulating woman would find a way to use it to her advantage.
Brooke’s eyes swept Willa from head to toe. After Willa introduced herself she held her hand out to Pastor Patterson, who took it, greeting her back. When he released it, he then introduced her to his wife.
“Dean told me you teach bible study for the youth on Wednesday. I’ll be taking it over if you don’t mind. I consider it my duty as the Pastor’s wife. I hope you don’t mind?”
“No.”
It wouldn’t matter if she did, Evie thought, since Brooke hadn’t really given Willa the choice.
“Anything I can do to help you settle in to your new church—” Willa began.
“We have an abundance of volunteers. Of course, they’re all women,” Brooke broke in snidely.
True to form, her frostbitten greeting to Willa proved too much for her to handle, and soon after, Evie saw Willa leaving. King and Lucky noticed, also.
“Where’s she going?” Lucky asked.
“She’s leaving,” Evie said sadly. She would be surprised if Willa came back.
“Why?” Lucky asked. “She’s not even going to give him a chance?”
“She did.”
Lucky was dressed in slacks and a shirt. He was dressed nicely but had not worn a suit, sticking to his promise of not donning one again. Men like Lucky would never understand a woman like Willa, but Merrick’s wife had; that was why she had managed to frighten Willa off.
“Let’s eat. I’m hungry.” Evie moved toward the table. She had directed her comment to Lucky, but King was the one who stood next to her, fixing a plate for himself.
Evie couldn’t resist. “You didn’t bring Henry to fix your plate?”
“He’s here, but he’s too worried about stuffing his own face to worry about me.” King nodded to Henry sitting at one of the tables with two plates in front of him.
“Every man for himself?”
“When someone else is cooking, yes.”
As Evie laughed, sitting down at a table, King sat down next to her. “Where’s Lily?”
“She’s downstairs at the church store with Rachel. Several parishioners brought their donations in today. She’ll be up later.”
When King took a bite of a casserole, his expression had Evie handing him several napkins. She continued eating her own food while he tried to rinse out his mouth with his iced tea.
“Gina made that. Never been to a hometown potluck?”
“No.” His strangled voice had Evie giving him advice.
“Next time, take a small bite unt
il you’re sure if you like it or not. Of course, I do have the hometown advantage and know the best cooks.”
“You knew it was going to taste bad?” King asked, taking another drink of tea.
“I was hoping she was improving. At Christmas, she made a potato casserole that was almost edible. That looked really good; I was waiting to see if it was before I got some. I guess I won’t be making a trip back.”
King’s next bite was tiny as he chewed thoughtfully. “You could have given me a warning.”
“I figured you deserved it after last night.”
“What did I do last night?”
Evie set her fork down. “I haven’t known you long, but I don’t think you seem to be stupid. Unless I’m mistaken.”
“No.” King’s friendliness disappeared into the wind.
“Then don’t act like you don’t know what the fuck I’m talking about.”
“You’re cussing in church?”
“I’m pretty sure God knows you’re an ass.”
King burst into laughter. “You’re right. It’s not like I can hide it.”
“You make no effort to hide your dislike of Shade, and if you don’t cut it out, you’re going to lose Lily as quickly as you decided to finally be a father.”
King’s face turned to granite. “It’s none of your business.”
“Then don’t make snide comments to my friends in front of me. I might not know a lot about you, King, but I’m telling you that Shade loves Lily. He’ll make her a good husband.”
“Does Lily know you’ve fucked her husband?”
Evie almost picked her plate up and threw it at him. Instead, she didn’t show any reaction other than to start rising to her feet.
King grabbed her arm. “Sit down.”
“Take your hand off me now. There’s something you need to know. I’m not intimidated by you, and unlike Lily, I don’t give a damn about you. I was trying to help because I sincerely see you want a relationship with Lily, but I can see now she’s better off not being around you.”
King’s hand dropped to his side. “I’m sorry. I’m too sensitive about Lily and I overreacted. Please, finish eating. I’ll keep quiet.”
“I’ve lost my appetite.” When she got to her feet again, he let her go.
Evie put her plate in the trashcan then left without saying goodbye to Merrick and his wife. She should have escaped when Willa had and saved herself a headache.
“You’re leaving already?” King said from behind her.
She just couldn’t catch a break.
“Yes, I’m going home,” Evie said quickening her step back to her car as King effortlessly kept up.
“Anxious to get back home to all the men?” he said cynically.
Evie came to an abrupt stop. “If you’ve got something to say, spit it out.”
“All right, I will.” His casual stance with his hands in his pant pockets was calm and collected while Evie’s temper was soaring.
“You fuck them all or just certain ones? Do Beth and Lily participate in the orgies?”
Evie’s hand flew up to smack him in the face, but he grabbed her wrist before she could hit him.
“You fucking bastard.” Evie tried to jerk away from him. “It’s none of your business what goes on at the clubhouse. You’re the one who almost got Lily killed. You were the one who was responsible for a killer to put a hit out on her, but you kidnapped her anyway, taking her away from where she was safe and nearly getting her shot. Do women always take the hit for you?”
King’s hand dropped away, his face paling. “I made a mistake. I thought I was keeping her safe. How was I supposed to know the whole town was Fort Knox?”
“If you had taken the time to get to know Lily, then you wouldn’t have jumped ass-first into a situation you couldn’t handle.”
“I was handling it; Digger escaped.”
“Be careful another mistake like that doesn’t happen again, King. It could be the last one you ever make.”
“Are you threatening me?” His eyes narrowed on her.
Evie sighed. “I’m only going to tell you once; don’t ever grab me again like you did just now. No one touches me without permission, and you sure as fuck don’t have it.”
“You’re the one who attempted to slap me for insulting you.”
“I didn’t try to slap you for insulting me. I tried to slap you for insulting Beth and Lily. They’re your daughter and cousin. You should have enough respect for them not to ask stupid questions like you just did. They are both in committed relationships, and they are completely faithful to each other. I, on the other hand, can fuck anyone I want.”
“Is that an invitation?”
“Are you that lame? No, it wasn’t an invitation; I would never fuck a man like you.” Evie made no effort to hide her disgust.
“I would never fuck you, either. I could catch something.” His contempt drilled a hole through her heart.
Evie jumped out of the way just in time to dodge the fist Lucky aimed at King. King staggered back, but before he was able to catch his balance, Lucky was on him, trying to pound him into the ground. King swung back, managing to knock Lucky off; however, Lucky managed to hit him in the chest where his gunshot wound was located. King lay back on the ground with Lucky hitting him even harder.
Evie tried to pull Lucky off but couldn’t budge him. A pair of hands moved her out of the way before reaching down to pull Lucky off King. When Lucky would have attacked Henry, Evie grabbed him around the waist, holding on tight.
“Stop it, Lucky,” she called out.
He stopped trying to get loose, staring at King with deadly eyes as King was helped to his feet. Blood was showing through the material of his shirt. Evie started to reach out to check him when he fell back to the ground.
“King!”
Lily ran to her father with Shade on her heels, glancing up quickly at Lucky and Evie with accusing eyes.
Evie looked King over carefully and realized they had played right into King’s hand. They had been had by a card shark.
Chapter 7
“How is he?” Evie asked as Beth and Lily came into the clubhouse. She had parked her ass on one of the barstools in the clubroom and was nursing a glass of whiskey while she waited for them to come back.
“Better. A stitch broke loose, but it looked worse than it was.” Neither Beth nor Lily looked at her accusingly any longer, yet the tense silence between them was telling.
Evie picked up her glass and took a drink. “Do you want to know what happened?”
“Beth and I talked about it on the way home,” Lily said. “We want to apologize for King’s behavior. I wasn’t aware he was being rude to you, or I would never have gone to his house for dinner.”
Evie set her glass down on the counter. “He told you what he said to me?”
“No, he refused to talk about it. I told him if he continued to be rude to my friends, I would no longer see him.”
“So, how did you know what he said to me?”
“I didn’t. I saw you both arguing when I came out of the church store, and I could tell from your face it was something bad when Pastor Dean—I mean, Lucky—jumped him. After Beth said he looked worse than he was, it didn’t take much to figure out he’s trying to place a wedge between me and The Last Riders.”
Evie had to give Lily props; she had figured out King’s game. It was only when Evie had seen King’s eyes flicker in Lily’s direction that she had figured it out.
“Anyways, Shade and I leave Monday for Alaska and King will go back to Queen City, so everything will go back to normal then,” Lily said optimistically while ignoring both Evie and Beth’s dubious looks.
Evie downed the rest of her drink after the two women went to bed. She then poured herself another, planning on getting shit-faced and fucked. Since she would be going back with Penni on Monday, also, she would be doing without until she came back.
Evie stared around the clubhouse room, seeing Train and Cash pl
aying cards. Lucky had already gone upstairs with Bliss to work off his aggression. Rider was sitting on the couch with Stori who had Nickel on the other side. Several other brothers were lounging around the two sofas at the end of the room.
Evie finished her drink, standing up languidly.
“Who won?”
“I did,” Cash said, showing his cards.
“Feel like playing again?”
“Yes. So, what are we playing for? “
Evie watched as he shuffled the cards.
“The winner gets to be on top.”
* * *
King stood at his window smoking his cigar. He had fucked up. He had made his move too soon, underestimating Lily seeing through him. He should have known he couldn’t fake being hurt. Hell, he could have taken a worse beating than that with three gunshot wounds.
His fingers rubbed his eyes tiredly. He never felt bad about any shit he pulled, but tonight, his conscience was riding him hard. Lily wasn’t the source of his guilt, though; she didn’t realize what she was caught up in. The source of his guilt was Evie.
He had never manhandled a woman before, and it didn’t sit well with him now. He hadn’t done anything other than grab her arm, yet it had been out of line and he knew it.
He chewed on the end of his cigar as he thought about her expression when he had said he could catch something from her. She had tried to hide the hurt he had inflicted.
He had deliberately started the argument outside when Lily had texted him she was about to leave the store. He had ruthlessly used Evie to set The Last Riders up when he had seen Lucky go outside after Willa. He was becoming an expert at sparking Evie’s temper, so he had said the most hurtful thing he could say to her and waited for the fireworks. Everything had gone the way he had planned except for his own reaction to the hurt in Evie’s eyes.
Lily and Shade were leaving on Monday and so would he. He would use that time to find a way to destroy The Last Riders. Then, when Lily returned, he would fly back to Kentucky.
He stared out at the dark mountains, wondering whose bed Evie was in tonight. He had a variety of sexual partners at his beck and call. He usually went for the petite women. He wasn’t attracted to women with attitudes, nor did he like his women taking a dip in someone else’s pool. Evie was the exact opposite of everything he wanted; tall with brown hair that had highlights of red and gold, whiskey-colored eyes, and a body that was firm and lithe. She reminded him of an expensive glass of bourbon with all the hidden delights and a strong bite.
