Shade placed his arm over his eyes, unable to watch while she was still awake. He waited until he heard her deep breathing before rolling over to gaze at her sleeping face. When her head fell forward then jerked back up and she didn’t wake up, he knew she was exhausted.
Silently, he threw the covers back before slipping out of bed. He sat down next to her, pulling her into his arms and situating her until she could sleep more comfortably. Then he leaned his head back against the wall, running his fingers through her hair.
When the clock read six a.m., he gently slid out from under her. Standing up, he stretched before going into the bathroom to shower. He ran the cold water over his head, letting it wake him up. After two nights with no sleep, he would have to catch a nap in his office.
He leaned his forehead on the shower wall. It felt so hopeless with her sometimes, like she was never going to return any of his feelings.
A song came over his speakers, which he knew damn well he hadn’t programmed in, shaking him out of his reverie. He listened to it as he finished showering and dressing. Then he went back into the bedroom to find Lily still sleeping. He decided to go upstairs and fix them some breakfast, hoping the woman who had dared to put the “Rose” on his playlist would be awake so he could give her Hell.
Shade opened the kitchen door, seeing the woman drinking her coffee while leaning on the counter. He walked to her, and as she looked at him curiously, he placed an arm over her shoulders and gave her a brief hug.
“Thanks.”
“What for?” Evie asked.
“For being a pain in my ass.”
Chapter 51
He was cleaning off his desk when Jewell walked in his office. His cell phone rang, and he motioned for her to close the door. As he answered the call, he sat down on the side of his desk.
“Did you find anything out?” Shade asked Cash.
“Nothing new. After I tracked the vehicle’s movement to a hotel a few cities away, I checked in with Knox about the photocopy of the license the man used to check in. It’s the same one the car that tried to run Lily down is registered to, but the driver’s license was in the name of a man who died two months ago.”
“Fuck. Anything else?”
“The picture on the license doesn’t match the face of the man he stole the ID from, which means he changed out photographs. So I called in a few favors, and they’re running it through some computer programs. We may get a hit. I don’t know. It’s a shot in the dark. I’ll give you a call when I find out anything else.”
“Thanks, Cash.”
“Anytime, brother.” Cash hung up.
Shade returned his attention to Jewell who had laid paperwork down on his desk. Shade picked it up and set it in the appropriate tray.
Jewell laughed. “You don’t want to take a look at it?”
“No,” Shade said wearily.
Jewell raised a brow, sitting down on the edge of his desk. “You look tired.”
“No shit,” he snapped.
Jewell lifted her hands in the air. “Don’t blame me because you’re tired. Hell, when you fucked me, you always had energy to spare. Lily must be doing something right to wear you out,” she teased.
Shade’s face went hard. “She’s sleeping on the floor rather than sleeping with me.” Shade tossed his pen onto the desk.
“She’ll come around, Shade. Who could resist you?” Jewell mocked.
“Plenty,” he stated, standing up.
Jewell’s face went mischievous. “I could talk to her and tell her you fuck like a dream, that she’ll have an orgasm which will rock her fucking world. Then I could tell her there’s more where that comes from. She’ll be yours like that.” Jewell snapped her fingers.
Shade couldn’t help laughing at Jewell’s antics. “If I tell her all that, she’ll lock me out of my own bedroom.”
“If she does, you can always come to my room. My door is always open,” she said, gliding her fingers up his arm with a sultry look to her face.
Shade walked around her, opening the door. “The only door I’ll be walking in is the one she’s behind.”
Jewell walked up to him in the doorway. “I guess the other brothers will have to pick up the slack,” she joked.
“I think Rider can handle the job himself.”
“I think so, too.”
As they laughed together, Shade noticed Lily’s eyes kept glancing over to them. He thought he might have seen a spark of jealousy, but he couldn’t be sure.
He walked across the room to her workstation where Raci was talking to her.
“Ready?” Shade asked, coming to her side and touching her arm.
Lily jerked away from his touch. “Yes.”
Lily turned to the door, ignoring him. Oh, yeah, she was jealous.
She went to the front door and he followed behind her, watching her flouncing ass as she went up the path angrily. He still couldn’t believe she was jealous. Maybe Raci had said something?
On their way to the clubhouse, Train and Kaley were standing in the middle of the walkway, blocking them from passing. He could hear Kaley’s big mouth as he walked up the path.
“Please, Train, talk to them.” Her voice was pleading against Train’s stony face.