Lily set down the box she was working on, going to Shade’s office. Shade sighed to himself at seeing her determined stride and clenched hands. Here we go again. Shade was curious what her new excuse would be to get out of sharing lunch with him.
She took the seat next to his desk as he closed the door and resumed his, handing her one of the trays with a grilled chicken salad. Lily ate her lunch quickly while he ate his more slowly to annoy her.
“What’s the rush?” Shade asked.
Lily finished chewing the bite in her mouth. “I think it’s better if I eat lunch with everyone else,” Lily delicately began.
“No.” Shade took a bite of his own food while Lily sat stunned. It took her a second to recover from his denial.
“But—”
“Did you bring a change of clothes?” he asked, looking at her pink dress.
Lily flushed as his eyes lingered on the tiny buttons at the front of her dress. “Yes.”
Shade kept eating while Lily ate more slowly now, chewing her food thoughtfully.
“Why didn’t you eat lunch at the diner yesterday?” Shade asked the question which had been bothering him since Beth had shown up after church at the diner without her.
“I wasn’t hungry,” Lily snapped.
Shade’s stern mouth twitched in amusement. “If you didn’t eat lunch in here, what would you do for lunch, Lily?”
“I would eat lunch outside with the other workers.”
“You don’t need to eat lunch with them. You would become too friendly with them, and they would start to take advantage.” Shade gave her the partial truth.
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it? They all are aware that your sister is married to one of the owners of the factory.”
As Lily finished eating her salad in silence, Shade placed his plate back on the tray.
“I would never use my connection to Razer.”
“I think it’s better to not put you in that position. Is it so hard to keep me company for lunch?”
“I don’t think you lack for company, Shade,” Lily teased him wryly as she got to her feet.
“Really, what makes you say that?” His eyes bore into hers.
She speculated, “I’m pretty sure that any of The Last Riders would join you for lunch, not to mention the other women who work here. Several of the women are interested in you. They ask me constantly if you’re seeing someone.”
“Tell them to mind their own business,” Shade snapped, seeing no jealousy in her eyes.
Lily laughed at his disgruntled expression.
Opening the door, she glanced back. “I can’t do that, Shade. I wouldn’t presume on my relationship with you to speak for you.” She closed the door before he could say anything else. The seductive witch had actually managed to one-up him.
Shade leaned back in his chair, smiling.
*
Shade stood when he saw Hardin go out the metal door. Lily had left for break a few minutes before, and it didn’t take any of the skills he had acquired in the military to figure out what the man was after.
He went outside, seeing Hardin had made his move and was talking to Lily as Shade strolled to where Rider was working on his bike.
“What’s up?” Rider asked, picking up a wrench.
“Nothing,” he said, watching the expressions cross Lily’s face. She has no problem talking to Hardin, Shade thought sarcastically.
Rider laughed, shaking his head. “I’ll never understand you, Shade. You have every woman in town wanting to fuck you, and most of the women in the clubhouse would rather be in your bed than anyone else’s. But you’re working a job you fucking hate just to even be near her. I wouldn’t put that much effort into buying a bike, much less a woman,” Rider bragged.
“That’s why your bike is broken down all the time,” Shade told him as Georgia walked up to Hardin and Lily.
The floor supervisor was a bitch. Rider had promoted the single mother when he had been managing the factory, and Shade had to put up with the evil bitch because of Rider’s bad decision.
He waited until break was over before going into his office. It wasn’t long before Georgia came in after briefly knocking, placing her clipboard on his desk.
“We’re going to need an extra truck today. We have too many orders.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Shade replied, not looking up from his computer.
“I overheard Hardin asking Lily out.”
Shade took his eyes off the computer. The bitch seemed absolutely giddy about spreading gossip.
“Why would I care who my employees see in their free time?”
“I just thought … It seemed like you were interested in Lily.” She became wary when Shade’s expression darkened.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had to deal with tattletales, Georgia. I don’t feel the need to encourage gossip, either. Mind your own business, or I’ll transfer you back to the production line to keep you busy.”
“Yes, sir.” The woman hastened out of his office.
He picked up his cell phone as soon as her ass was out.
“What do you need?” Viper hissed.