“Do you ever wish you hadn’t seen her that day?” Razer asked softly.
The first day he had seen Lily was the first day he had actually felt alive. Before then, he had merely existed; there were no highs or lows, no thinking about her constantly—if she was all right or if she was ever going to care about him. All the emotional bullshit he had suffered through would never have happened. Her purple eyes, smile, and gentle beauty filled his mind.
“Not once.”
Chapter 31
Shade watched Viper and Winter’s ceremony as far away from Lily as he could sit. There was only so much he could stand before he reached his breaking point.
He had called in all the IOU’s he had earned playing poker and from the betting pool he had started on whether Knox’s squirrel had lived or died. They had used Evie to get Knox drunk off his ass then questioned him. The squirrel had survived, and Shade had made a bundle of cash, giving the money to Viper to give to Winter with the idea of redecorating the club room so Lily wouldn’t be smacked in the face with their lifestyle when she entered the first time.
He made sure he was one of the last in line after the wedding. He even sat at another table and was carrying his dirty plate to the sink with every intention of passing the table where Lily sat, without even looking her way.
Evie and Bliss were getting up from the table, excusing themselves to wash dishes as Diamond and Lily started to rise to go help.
“Let them take care of it; it’s their punishment.” Knox stopped Diamond with a hand on her arm.
“Punishment?” Diamond questioned.
Lily’s eyes widened at Knox’s words.
“They screwed up an order that went out last week. The kitchen is the punishment they drew.”
“You punish them when they make a simple mistake?” Lily questioned.
“It wasn’t a simple mistake; a customer was kept waiting for the supplies they needed. They gave us a bad review and took their order somewhere else,” Shade said, pausing by their table.
“Then write them up,” Lily snapped back. “But punishing them like children is ridiculous.”
“Is it?” Shade said. “Do you think a written paper telling them they made a mistake is as effective as making them wash all the dishes and clean the kitchen for a week?”
“For a week?” Lily asked. “They should report you to OSHA.”
Shade’s lips twisted into a smile. “It was handled as a club punishment, which is different than what we would have done if they had been one of the hired employees.”
“What would you have done to a hired employee? Make them mop the floors for a month?” Lily asked with fight in her eyes.
“No, we would have fired their asses,” Shade answered.
Shade could see the wheels turning behind her eyes.
“Do you have to take punishments like that?” she asked her sister.
When Beth didn’t answer immediately, Lily drew taut beside her sister.
“Then you don’t need to belong to the club anymore,” Lily declared.
“She’s Razer’s; she belongs to him and the club,” Shade said bluntly.
Lily stared at her sister, wanting her to deny their ownership.
“We’ll talk about this later, Lily,” Beth said, taking Lily’s hand. “But I love Razer and you do, too, and you know it. The Last Riders are a big part of his life; he considers them family. I did know he was in a motorcycle club when I fell in love with him, and it’s not like it’s an overly harsh punishment. The worst thing that could happen is dish-pan hands.”
Lily gave her sister a rueful smile. “I’m sorry I overreacted. I just couldn’t stand the thought of you taking any punishment for any reason.” The women shared a private moment. “Besides, it’s your life, and I know for a fact you’re very happy.”
“Yes, I am.” Beth smiled.
Shade once again started to walk on until Lily’s next words stopped him dead in his tracks.
“We need to go to Arizona. They have cowboys, Diamond,” Lily said to her mischievously.
He almost tripped spinning back around so quickly.
“Cowboys?” Diamond asked, not understanding the abrupt subject change.
“I’m going to marry a cowboy. They’re gentlemen, kind, and protect their women,” Lily said with authority.
“They do?”
Lily nodded.
Shade gritted his teeth. The only man who was going to be in her life was him. Cowboy? Fuck, he could outshoot any of those mother fuckers.
Beth laughed at her sister’s idea of a perfect husband. “Our father wouldn’t let us watch television. The only shows he would take us to every now and then were cowboy movies. Lily has been infatuated with them ever since,” Beth explained.
Shade’s hands itched to show her exactly what a real man could give her instead of those dreams she had built around cowboys. He was about to ask her how far she had gone with the imaginary cowboy of her dreams when Winter came up behind him.