“No, I don’t know of him ever attending the parties. Maybe he goes for a bike ride.”
“I would like that, too.” Willa gave a relieved laugh. “I was dreading tonight. I’m happy I was worried about nothing.”
Lily turned sideways on her stool to face her. “Willa, Shade’s always been sensitive to my feelings, and I can’t imagine Lucky doing any less as much as he loves you.”
“I know he loves me,” Willa said, meticulously cleaning the glass.
“I can hear you thinking from over here.”
Willa looked up. “Lily, I don’t feel comfortable talking about sex. My mother always told me good, Christian girls don’t.”
“Beth and I were raised the same way,” Lily acknowledged, looking down again. “Both of us are married with children, and we don’t discuss sex unless Sex Piston and her crew are around. Even then, it’s usually just making jokes.”
“I wish I were more like Killyama.”
Lily nodded her head. “I wish I were more like Sex Piston.”
“Maybe we could pay them to teach us,” Willa joked.
“They would do it for free,” Lily replied with a grin.
“I want to give Lucky what he needs, but I’m … worried that I can’t,” Willa said in all seriousness.
“You should talk to Lucky. He’s really easy to talk to. When I’m … worried, he always makes me feel better.”
“Me, too.”
Lily tilted her head curiously. “Then why haven’t you talked to him?”
“Because I’m afraid of the answer,” Willa admitted.
“Well”—Lily stood up and took a five out of her wallet, placed it in the register, and then reached in the display case, taking out two vanilla cupcakes and handing one to Willa—“you might get the answer you don’t want, or you might find out there was nothing to be afraid of.”
“I’m afraid it will be the former,” Willa said, taking a bite of the cupcake.
“I was, too. Once, I asked Shade a question I was afraid of the answer to. It took me a long time to work my courage up, and I got the answer I didn’t want.”
“What happened?”
Lily stared her directly in the eye. “I realized I wasn’t as afraid of the answer as I thought I would be. The most important part of marriage is trust, and if I give Shade that, then any answer he gives me doesn’t matter.”
Willa licked frosting off her bottom lip. “How did it work out?”
Lily gave her a mysterious smile. “It was the best decision I ever made.”
*
Willa walked into the clubhouse at four-twenty. Her hesitation evaporated when she found the room empty. She was about to go in search of Lucky in the kitchen when she heard someone coming down the steps.
“Lucky’s upstairs in my room. We’ve been working on getting payroll taxes done,” Viper told her.
“Okay.” Willa started toward the kitchen.
“You can go on up if you want. I’m leaving to meet Winter. She’s having a get-together for new students who are entering school in the fall.”
“I don’t want to disturb him if he’s working.”
“He’ll be glad for the break. We’ve been at it since this morning.”
Willa frowned. “Did he eat lunch?”
“Yes, ma’am. Stori made us lunch.”
That statement didn’t make her any happier.
“I’ll go up and check if he needs anything.” Willa moved hesitantly around Viper. Next to Shade, he made her the most nervous. He was better humored than Shade, but some deep sense of caution within her warned that it could change as suddenly as the weather.
“You do that. It’s the last door at the end of the hall.” Viper left while she was mentally debating if she should start coming home for lunch.
As she was going up the stairs, Bliss was coming down in a little black skirt that was bouncy. She also wore only a tiny, black bra that had a dangling charm that swung against her tiny stomach. Therefore, Willa was able to see more of the blonde bombshell than she ever wanted to see.
“Hello, Bliss.” Willa moved to the side of the staircase so she could pass.
Bliss shot her a hateful glance, brushing past her without a word. Willa didn’t understand the mean looks Bliss had been treating her to. The woman had always been friendly to her in the past. However, ever since she had moved in, she had either avoided her or left it unspoken that Willa had done something to offend her.
Willa went down the hallway to the open bedroom door, seeing Lucky sitting at a desk against the wall.
“Hey, siren.”
“Does Bliss not like my coffee?”
“I don’t know, why?”
“Because, from the way she treats me, I’m beginning to believe she thinks I spit in it,” Willa remarked, trying not to show her feelings had been hurt.
Lucky frowned, leaning back in his chair. “I’ll talk to her.”
“No, I don’t need you to. I’ll ask myself when I get the chance.”
“Fine, but if I see her treat you rudely, then I’ll deal with her.”
“Don’t you dare. It will just make it worse.”