“Go for it. She won’t believe you.”
King’s smugness had Lucky wanting to punch him as he straightened from the banister.
“I don’t know why you’re getting so angry. A few minutes ago, getting rid of Willa was more important than making sure she was having a good time. Rider wouldn’t hurt her. In fact, I think they would make a great pair. He’s obviously more sensitive to a woman’s needs.”
“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about! Willa needs someone who will lead a quiet life with her. She’s very firm in her beliefs. She’s shy. Rider would—”
“Rider’s very gentle with her,” King cut him off. “See for yourself. Come to lunch at the restaurant on Wednesday.”
“Why would I do that? It’s no concern of mine if she becomes involved with Rider. I’m not her pastor anymore.”
“Suit yourself. The only reason I told you was so you would quit making an ass of yourself around her, but I can see that’s going to be impossible for you.” King went inside, leaving him on the porch alone.
Could he be wrong about Rider chasing after Willa? Lucky didn’t think so, but he recalled Rider’s face when he had stood in the doorway. When had Rider ever given a fuck about anyone besides himself? The brother forgot about women as soon as he found a new place to stick his dick. He loved breaking in new women …
Lucky cut the thought short.
Maybe he would stop by King’s restaurant on Wednesday. He would reassure himself that Willa was safe from Rider’s charm. After all, the man didn’t deserve a woman like Willa. She deserved a man like he had pretended to be—a decent, God-fearing man, a man like he used to be before he joined the military and left his hometown that was even smaller than Treepoint.
It hadn’t taken long for the war to strip away his beliefs in the integrity of the human race and then turn him into a man who had discovered his own weaknesses and failings. She deserved more than a man with blood on his hands and a target on his back. No woman deserved to be made a widow and left alone brokenhearted or to have her children left behind to mourn his passing. He had been forced to deliver too many condolence visits to want his own family to experience that kind of grief. That was why he had long ago decided he would have no children he wouldn’t be around to protect. Even if he were to get married, it would be to a woman who lived off the logic that one man was as good as the next. After all, a slut wouldn’t grieve for him when the man who was waiting to end his life finally struck, when his luck finally ran out.
Chapter 2
Lucky ignored King’s amused look when he entered the restaurant on Wednesday, seeing Rider already seated at one of the bar tables that faced the door. He walked to the table and slid into the seat across from him.
“What are you doing here?” Rider asked.
“Thought I would try out the lunch special that has you here every Wednesday,” Lucky stated, taking the menu from the bleach-blonde bargirl who gave him a flirtatious smile as she waited for his order. Lucky stared at her long legs before meeting her eyes with a blatantly sexual grin of his own.
“Give me a burger, fries, and a beer,” he ordered.
“That’s all?” Her teasing reply and the huge display of flesh overflowing her top drew his deepening interest.
“For now.” Lucky gave her a wink, ignoring Rider’s apparent aggravation.
When the waitress moved away, he glanced around the busy restaurant.
“So what has you eating here? I thought the diner was your favorite place.”
Rider shrugged. “Obviously, you already know Willa brings her desserts in today. If you don’t get them the day she brings them in, they’re gone by Friday. Why do you give a fuck where I eat?” He looked across the table at him quizzically.
“I don’t,” Lucky stated matter-of-factly, gazing at the waitress’s cleavage when she bent over to place his beer down in front of him then left with a seductive swish of her hips.
“Doesn’t sound like it to me,” Rider contradicted.
This time, it was Lucky who shrugged, taking a drink of his beer. “So her desserts are the only reason you’re chasing after Willa?”
“Fuck no. Are you blind? Her tits and ass are why I’m sitting here. The desserts are merely a bonus.” Rider gave him a cocky grin.
Lucky’s hand tightened on the beer bottle, tempted to smash it over Rider’s head.
“Willa’s not a slut you can fuck and walk away from. She’s not that kind of woman.”
“How do you know? Maybe she is. Maybe I won’t want to walk away from her. Razer settled down,” he pointed out.
“You’re thinking of settling down with one woman?” Lucky asked in astonishment.