“We’ll do that,” Shade lied.
“Goodnight, Lily. I’ll see you in church Sunday.”
“Goodnight, Charles.”
Charles closed the door and Shade backed out of the driveway, his arm again rubbing against her breast. Lily tried to scoot over, but he had tucked her dress under his thigh while she had watched Charles get out of the truck. She tried unobtrusively to pull it out, but she gave up when she couldn’t, sitting back against the seat.
“Did you have fun on your date tonight?” Shade asked, his jaws clenched to prevent him from saying what he really wanted to.
“Yes. We went to a movie and ate with my friend Miranda, Kaley’s sister.”
Shade didn’t respond as they stopped at a red light.
“Beth and the others came into the diner when we were having coffee. You didn’t go riding with them?” She looked at him questioningly.
“No, I wasn’t in the mood for a ride tonight,” he said honestly. Nor was he in the mood to stay home and watch Rider and Crash fuck Kaley.
The light turned green, and Shade shifted gears then pressed on the gas. The truck shot forward, and Lily fell against his side again.
“I’m sorry you ended up having to get out tonight,” Lily apologized.
“You would have done better keeping your own ass home tonight.” Shade couldn’t hold his anger in any longer.
Lily stiffened next to him. “What do you mean by that?”
Shade turned the truck down her street. “I mean, you need to be cruel to be kind and quit leading him on,” Shade replied, turning into her driveway.
“I’m not leading Charles on,” Lily protested, turning to look at him as he came to a stop in her driveway.
Shade put the truck in park then turned toward her. “Yes, you are. When you went out with him tonight, were you planning on fucking him?”
“Of course not,” Lily said, obviously shocked at his blunt statement. She tugged at her dress hard, jerking it out from underneath his thigh.
“Then that’s leading him on, in my opinion.” He wanted his bluntness to open her eyes. She needed to make it plain to Charles that they had no future together, or he would.
“Well, thank God your opinion doesn’t count,” Lily snapped, angrily sliding across the seat toward the door. “And you should know about being cruel.” Lily slung that final comment as she opened the truck door, sliding down from the seat. Then she turned, damning him with her angry gaze as she slammed the door closed.
Shade took off after her, catching up with her as she reached her door. He pressed his body against hers, his hand planted against the door, not giving her an inch of breathing room and preventing her from moving to put the key in the lock.
“It’s not a smart move not leaving your porch light on, Lily. You think I’m cruel? How was I being cruel by telling you that you should quit fucking with his head? Don’t you think that, every time he goes out with you, he’s wondering if that will be the time he actually gets to touch that soft skin of yours?” His mouth lowered next to her ear. “If you’ll let him touch those firm breasts?”
He could practically feel her trembling as he carefully kept his body from touching hers.
“I’m a man, and I’m telling you without a doubt that, when he walks out of his door to go out with you, he is planning on spending the night between your thighs. I’m not the one being cruel; you are,” Shade stated.
As Lily moaned, Shade took a step back. It took a moment before Lily unlocked the door and let herself in, and when she turned to slam the door in his face, he placed his hand on it.
“I’ll have to teach you how to break that hold.” He turned, leaving without another word.
He was playing with her, wanting her to think she was the only one affected by their closeness. She had looked like a startled doe when she had gazed back at him, her desire overriding the fear he had expected to see. She hadn’t been afraid. She was becoming braver and braver whenever he came close to her, which was what he wanted. He needed her to lower her guard around him right up to the point she stepped willingly into his trap.
*
“Don’t do it, Shade,” Winter said as they watched Lily, Razer, and Beth leave the diner after their Sunday lunch.
Shade turned cold eyes on Winter for daring to interfere again. He had listened to her the day Razer and Beth had gotten married, but he was done listening to everyone.
He had been forced to sit and watch Lily and Charles eat lunch at the same table. Then, when the piss-ant had gotten up, he had kissed Lily while giving Shade a confident smile.
Shade had broken his coffee cup with his bare hand then thrown it to the floor, about to get up, but Beth had brought him back to reality by making the excuse she had dropped the cup.