“Fine. You can get ready for bed.” Shade got up from the chair, turning the television on. Since he had gotten the results he wanted, he needed to let her deal with the aftermath.
Lily gathered her pajamas before going into the bathroom. As soon as the door clicked shut behind her, Shade stood, placing the papers back in the envelope then setting them on the nightstand. He went back to the chair to sit down, listening to the shower running and knowing she was spending the time trying to figure a way out. There wasn’t any; he’d had a long time to make his plans. Too long.
Finally, she opened the door, dressed in flannel pajamas which were ugly as shit, but Shade pretended not to take his attention away from the television as Lily climbed into the bed.
He gave her a moment to settle her nerves before turning the television off and going into the bathroom. Then he took a long shower, letting her have some time to herself before putting on a pair of shorts and returning to the bedroom.
He could tell she was only pretending to be asleep as he climbed in the bed then turned off the lights. She was hugging the side of the bed so tightly he was surprised she hadn’t fallen off, and the whole bed was practically shaking with her frightened tremors.
Shade made himself comfortable. He had lost track of when the last time he had slept more than a couple of hours had been.
Her tense body gradually relaxed, and her fingers holding the side of the bed loosened to curl under her cheek.
Shade forced his body to remain still long after Lily had managed to drift off. When he was sure she had finally gone into a deep sleep, he rolled closer to her, fitting her against him as his warmth seeped into her chilled body. All his years of experience had led to that one moment: holding Lily close in his bed.
He was an expert at moving his body a centimeter at a time, slowly moving his fingers to play with the wisps of her hair on the pillow. A small smile tugged at his lips.
Chapter 53
Shade followed Lily back to the club the next day after picking up her car from hers and Beth’s house. He had driven her to work at the church store that morning then picked her up to take her to Diamond’s house. He hadn’t gone inside, letting her find out for herself the contract was ironclad. When she had come back outside, she hadn’t said anything other than for him to take her to get her car, which Rider had gone to her college to pick up for her with his trailer.
As they drove, the sky darkened with storm clouds. Shade remembered Razer telling him Lily hated storms. The strong winds were buffeting her vehicle and his bike. He had almost asked her to wait until tomorrow to talk to Diamond, not wanting her out in the storm, but he didn’t want her to think he was hiding something, so he had hoped the storm wouldn’t hit until they were back at the club.
She pulled into The Last Riders’ parking lot, driving toward the back where he motioned for her to park before he turned his bike around. Then he headed back toward the front where he parked his motorcycle with the rest. Shade walked over to her car when she got out, carrying a car cover.
He pulled it over the vehicle as she asked, “Why cover my car?” while watching him curiously.
“Just being careful. If someone is looking to find out where you’re staying, they’ll either have to follow you or come onto the property to see if this is your car.”
“If they do?”
“Then we’ll see them.” Shade pointed to the cameras. “We placed a few in your home, too, so if they try to break in again, an alarm will go off at the sheriff’s office and here, also.
“Maybe they gave up and moved on.”
“Possibly, but I don’t believe so. Whoever’s been watching you has been doing so for a while.” Shade tried to ease her fears. “Don’t worry; we’ll find out who it is and deal with it.”
“You’ll turn them over to Knox?”
“Maybe. Let’s get some dinner.” His answer was purposely evasive, because whoever had tried to run her down wouldn’t be getting any protection from Knox.
By the time they walked up the pathway to the kitchen door and stepped in, most of the members had already been served. Lily took a plate before handing one to him, both of them getting into the buffet line. When she finished filling her plate, Shade followed her to the table Winter and Viper were sitting at with Bliss and Raci. She took a seat next to Winter, and Shade sat down across from her, next to Bliss.
They ate while listening to Winter and Viper argue over him donating money so she could buy computers for her students at the alternate high school where she was principal.
“It’s not fair, Viper. They deserve the computers as much as the high school students do.”
“If they had kept their asses out of trouble, then they wouldn’t have gotten thrown out of the school district.”