Shade's Fall (The Last Riders #4)

“It makes all of our hard work worth it, doesn’t it?” Rachel said, straightening one of the clothes racks.

“Yes, it does.”

Rachel went to lock the door, staring out the window. “Now that’s one man I wouldn’t mind fighting my brothers over,” she said.

Lily kept filing the paperwork but glanced up briefly, noticing Rachel still staring out the window. “Who?” Lily asked curiously.

“There’s someone new in town. He’s talking on his cell phone. The hood to his car is up. Jeez, Lily, he’s dressed in a suit. I bet he was driving through town and his car broke down. Darn, why can’t someone who looks like that move to town?”

“That good?”

“Oh, yeah. If I knew anything about cars, I would have been gone five minutes ago. That car looks expensive, too. Good looking and has money. What else could a woman ask for?”

“Maybe he’s a jerk,” Lily warned.

“I wouldn’t care,” Rachel said reverently.

Lily laughed, coming out from behind the counter and walking toward the window.

“Where?” she asked Rachel, gazing out the window.

“There.” She pointed out the window. “He’s going inside the diner.”

Lily saw a tall, broad shoulder man walking into the diner. She only managed to catch a brief glimpse of his back as he walked inside. He had jet-black hair and even Lily could tell the suit he wore was expensive.

The car parked in front of the diner was one of the luxury models she had seen advertised on television.

“Maybe it’ll take a couple of days for him to fix his car,” Rachel said hopefully.

Lily grinned at her friend before turning away. “You could always go to the diner and get us some coffee,” Lily suggested.

“You think?” Rachel grinned back.

“Go for it.”

Rachel grabbed her purse, taking off out the door before Lily could suggest it twice.

Lily went back to work, and Rachel was gone quite a while before she walked back into the store carrying the coffee.

“How did it go?” Lily asked curiously.

“We were right. He was passing through when his car broke down. He’s even better looking close-up, too, but he’s older than I thought. My brothers would lock me up and throw away the key if I tried to get to know him better.”

“Did you get his number?” Lily wanted to know how bold Rachel had gotten with the stranger.

“No, but I did get his name,” she said triumphantly.

“Oh, what was it?” Lily asked.

“King.”





Chapter 31


“Well, that’s different.”

“I know. Isn’t it cool?” Rachel said, setting the coffee down on the counter.

“Did he say where he was from?” Lily pulled a stool up to the counter, taking one of the coffees.

“I forgot to ask.” Rachel looked nonplussed for a second. “Oh, well, it really doesn’t matter. He already has two strikes against him: he’s too old and he’s from out of town.”

Not long after, Lily saw Shade pull up outside. She threw her empty coffee cup away in the nearby trashcan. “I’ll see you next week.”

“Bye, Lily.”

Until Pastor Dean could find someone to run the store, it would only be able to stay open on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The store really needed to be open more frequently during the winter; she worried about so many going without their basic needs during the winter months.

Lily climbed onto the bike behind Shade after putting on her helmet, noticing the broken-down car was already gone.

When they got back to the clubhouse, she recognized Sex Piston and her crew’s car. Killyama was leaning against it with her arms folded, glaring at Rider as he talked to her.

Train was working on one of the bikes, watching the argument with an amused expression.

Lily got off the bike and Shade took her helmet from her hand. Lily greeted Beth’s friend as she drew closer.

“Hey, girl.” Killyama didn’t remove her glare from Rider.

“What’s going on?” Shade asked.

Lily listened curiously; she had been too polite to ask, but obviously, Shade didn’t have the same hesitation.

“I was supposed to give her a ride today,” Rider nodded his head sharply at Killyama, “but my bike won’t start. She thinks I’m fucking with her.”

“Babe, if you were fucking with me, I’d hope I would know it.” Killyama grinned evilly at the furious Rider.

Lily had to look away to keep from laughing at Rider. The laid-back man didn’t stand a chance against the biker woman.

“I meant that I wasn’t trying to get out of giving you a ride.” His choice of words didn’t make the situation any better; he kept digging himself into a bigger hole.

“I know what you meant. Do I look stupid?”

Silence met her question.