The women were standing at the counter when Shade entered the church store, his mouth tightening into a thin line when he saw Brooke was standing beside Lily. He took off his glasses as he went behind the counter, placing a kiss on his wife’s lips while ignoring Brooke.
“Rachel told me she saw you at the diner. I thought you would have already gone home.” Lily smiled up at him.
“I thought I would stop by and see if you wanted to close the store early and take a nap before the party.”
Rachel was throwing Mrs. Langley a birthday party. She was Winter’s aunt, so she was basically extended family to The Last Riders, and Beth cared for her; therefore, they had all been invited.
Lily bit her lip. “We haven’t had a customer in two hours.”
“Go ahead, Lily. I’ll stay,” Rachel offered. Shade noticed she hadn’t missed the look of envy Brooke had quickly concealed.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. Go. I have to stay in town anyway,” Rachel urged.
“All right then.” She gathered her purse.
“Go ahead. I’ll be right behind you,” Shade said.
Lily shot her husband a curious look yet left without question.
“Do you mind excusing us, Brooke?” His tone implied he really didn’t give a damn if she did. Brooke wouldn’t expose her true colors in front of Rachel. She wanted to keep up the pretense of being the sophisticated wife of a pastor when she was nothing more than a snake in the grass.
Brooke’s face blushed bright red. “Not at all.” She turned on her high heels, leaving with an expression that said she would pay him back for being rude to her.
“Anything wrong?” Rachel asked.
“Could be. You tell me.” He said anger tightening his lips.
“What about?”
“The men you had lunch with, how long have you known them?”
“An hour. Willa and I were having lunch and the restaurant was crowded, so they asked if they could sit with us. Is there a problem with that?”
“Those men are bad news, Rachel. Stay away from them,” Shade warned.
“Let me get this straight. You’re telling me not to talk to them again?” she snapped.
“Yes.”
“Shade, I can talk to anyone I want. I don’t even let my brothers tell me what to do anymore,” Rachel argued.
“Listen, Rachel. They aren’t someone to get involved with. You’ve never dealt with men like them before. You’re a friend of Lily’s, so I’m giving you a heads-up.”
More calmly, Rachel said, “As Lily’s friend, I’ll take it under consideration. Willa and I shared our booth with them. We ate, we left. It was that simple.”
“And Willa gave them her card?” he probed.
“They want her to make some desserts for them for their next cookout.”
Shade nodded.
“Satisfied?”
“Not really, but I guess it’s all I’m going to get. You might drop a word and tell Willa to think twice about going out with one of them. You’ll handle it better than me.”
“Of that, I have no doubt.” Rachel gave him a wry smile.
“All right, then I’ll see you tonight.”
She was a friend of Lily’s, and without her using her gift on Lily, he didn’t know if her mind would have remained intact, so he had tried. However, she wasn’t going to listen, and like her brothers’ stubbornness, it was going to get her in trouble.
“Bye, Shade.”
Shade nodded then left the store, crossing the street back to the diner’s parking lot where the brothers were waiting for him on their bikes. Viper had showed up while he was in the store.
“What did you find out?” Cash asked impatiently as he approached.
Shade came to a stop by his bike. “That Rachel and Willa have never met them before. They were having lunch, and the Freedom Riders asked if they could sit because the restaurant was busy,” Shade repeated what Rachel had told him.
“That was convenient,” Cash snarled.
“We didn’t have trouble finding a table,” Lucky agreed.
“You warn her?” Viper spoke up.
“Tried to.” Shade shrugged.
“She didn’t listen, did she?”
“Nope. Willa gave them her business card because they want her to make desserts for their next cookout.”
“Fuck.” Lucky’s hands tightened on his handlebars.
“Let’s go back to the clubhouse. I don’t like that they came into Treepoint. Curt might have turned their offer down by now, so they may have come into town to scout for new property,” Viper said grimly, pulling his bike out in the lead.
Shade climbed on his bike, starting the motor. “Looks like someone is going to steal your cupcake away,” Shade needled Lucky and Rider. “Look on the bright side, though.”
“Shade….” Lucky warned.
Shade gave him a mocking grin. “When they’re done with her, she won’t be a virgin anymore.” He gunned his motor, riding away from the furious brother.
*