“Lily, don’t do this. It’s your wedding day,” Beth said.
Lily turned, facing the front again. The silence coming from the backseat was deafening. Shade was the worst. Lily thought back to every incident that she had witnessed since she had moved into The Last Riders’ Clubhouse and knew it wasn’t that long ago that Shade also had been participating… and now she knew he had been considered the worst among them by the club itself.
Her mind whirled as they drove home where Beth turned into the parking lot. When she parked and cut the motor, the women members used the opportunity to escape.
Beth turned to her. “Talk to him.”
Lily gave her a smile, trying to regain the same cheerfulness she had possessed before she’d left the church. “I will. Let’s see if we can make it up those steps without breaking our necks.”
The men ended up carrying them up the steps then several went back out to clear them and the pathway for anyone who came by later. As soon as Shade set her back on her feet, she escaped to their bedroom to change. Lily pulled on soft brown slacks and a green sweater.
Dressed, she went back downstairs where the men were standing at the bar congratulating Shade. She watched the men from the stairway, her mind not on what they were drinking but the camaraderie they shared. A bond like theirs was unbreakable; they would die for each other without a second’s hesitation.
Shade saw her standing on the steps and came to her. His hands circled her waist, lifting her off the last two steps and holding her against his chest.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Watching you.” She smiled, touching his cheek.
“Why?” Shade smiled down at her.
“Shade, we need to talk. We should have talked before we were married this morning.” Her serious tone wiped his smile away.
“Not today.”
“But, I really need to tell you—”
“Not today, okay? Today is Christmas Eve—our wedding day—and we’re not going to talk about anything else except that today.”
“Okay.” Lily gave in to his demand.
“I’m going to go get out of this get-up. I’m never going to live this down.”
“I think you’ll survive,” Lily teased. Shade bent down, brushing his lips with hers.
Before he could start up the stairs, a knock sounded on the door behind them, and Shade gave her a quick grin.
“I have another surprise for you,” he said, turning to open the door.
As it opened, Lily caught sight of Penni standing on the porch. When she saw Shade, she threw herself into his arms. “You big doofus. Only you would give me a day’s notice to get here. My stupid flight got cancelled, and I didn’t think I would ever get through the roads from Lexington. I didn’t even know you two were seeing each other. How come neither of you told me?”
Shade set Penni back on the floor. “Slow down, Penni. If you hadn’t been so occupied with your new job, you would have known,” he told her.
Penni saw Lily when he took a step back. “Lily!” She grabbed her, pulling her into a tight hug. “I missed seeing you in your wedding dress. I was supposed to be there,” she wailed.
“It’s all right. Razer took a video for us.” Lily tried to keep the reserve out of her voice, yet she was unsuccessful. Penni’s eyes flashed her hurt, but she wasn’t one to take anything without giving it right back.
“I know you’re probably mad at me for not telling you Shade was my brother, but he threatened to take the car back if I told.” Lily saw Shade’s face go blank at his sister’s revealing words.
“Your car?”
“Yes. The one he bought me for transferring colleges so that I could be your roommate because he didn’t want Beth to worry. You’ll be part of the club now; they’ll watch out for you like they did Beth. I’m glad, too; you tend to be a little accident-prone.” Penni finally stopped for a breath.
“I’m not accident-prone,” Lily denied, trying to process her friend’s words. She was coming to the conclusion that Shade was a devious man.
Penni rolled her eyes at her denial. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter anymore. You have my big brother to watch out for you now.”
“Your half-brother.”
“That doesn’t matter. Our families both get along. It wasn’t an ugly divorce. Our mom was just sick of moving every couple of years. Our parents are pretty cool; Shade’s dad especially.”
“We’ll save that for another day. He couldn’t make it to the wedding. He and my stepmother are in Florida taking a long vacation. He just retired,” Shade explained to Lily. “Why don’t you take Penni into the kitchen and let her see everyone while I go get changed.”
“You’ve met them before?” Lily asked, surprised.