Willa caught the surreptitious look that Lily sent Beth at her answer. The sisters weren’t very good at lying. In fact, they sucked. This was why Willa really didn’t consider herself their friend or anyone else’s, for that matter.
She always fell in one of two groups. One was where they took pity on her, drawing her into their group. The other was where they took advantage of her to get what they wanted. Lily, Beth, Rachel, and Winter were in the former group. They felt sorry for her and tried to include her, but they didn’t consider her a friend enough to really confide in her. They kept her at arm’s length, something someone who didn’t belong to their club couldn’t breach.
Unlike the rest of the town, Willa didn’t want to know their secrets. She simply wanted to be a friend they could trust with their confidences, and know she wouldn’t spread the gossip to the entire town. She was too used to being the object of malicious tongue-wagging to ever bring that down on someone else’s head.
Willa gave them both a strained smile. “I wanted to say hello before I left. I need to leave to pick the kids up from school.” Willa made up the excuse to get herself away from the uncomfortable situation.#p#分页标题#e#
“I’m sorry you have to leave so soon. I haven’t opened your present yet—”
“That’s okay. It’s not much. I hope you like it.” Willa started backing away, downplaying the hours she had spent knitting the powder blue baby blanket that was lying unopened by Lily’s side. “Bye, Beth … Lily.” She turned to leave, relieved she could finally escape. The room was becoming more crowded by the moment, filling with even more men.
As she made her way through the crowd, she neared the front door which had been left open from the last bikers entering.
“Why won’t you at least say hi to Willa?” Willa slowed, recognizing Evie’s voice.
“Because I don’t want to give her another reason to feel awkward. She sticks out like a sore thumb in there. Every time I approach her, she runs like hell. I’ll be glad when she gets over her crush on me. It’s damn uncomfortable.”
Willa paled. Rider, who had been coming down the steps, came to a stop when he heard Lucky’s words and saw her eavesdropping.
Humiliation flooded through her. Straightening her shoulders, she continued toward the door and went outside. Evie saw her first, her mouth dropping open. King, who was standing next to her, was able to hide his surprised reaction, but not by much. Lucky glanced over his shoulder to see who they were staring at, and their eyes met.
“Willa…”
She hadn’t believed anything could embarrass the confident man who had a tinge of red beginning to show on his firm jawline.
“I’m leaving. I wouldn’t want you to be uncomfortable.” She gave him a fixed stare, determined not to make a bigger fool of herself.
“I didn’t mean…” Lucky ran his hand through his hair that had grown even longer since he had stepped down from the pulpit.
“You meant exactly what you said. If you think I’m attracted to you, you’re wrong, Lucky,” she said. “I would never be attracted to a man like you. The man I would be attracted to would share the same faith and beliefs I have, be kind and considerate to others, and never deliberately hurt someone’s feelings. That man is the one you pretended to be for years, but I knew it wasn’t the real man standing behind the pulpit every Sunday. That’s why I switched churches. My pastor has to be a man I believe in. I never believed in you, and I was right.”
Willa brushed past King with an apologetic glance, leaving the group staring after her in bemusement. She forced herself to go carefully down the long flight of steps to the parking lot when all she wanted to do was run. She felt Lucky’s shocked gaze on her as she got inside her car then pulled slowly out onto the road.
She was humiliated yet proud of herself for giving him a piece of her mind. The arrogant man was used to women catering to him, trying to catch his attention. Well, she was one woman in Treepoint who wasn’t going to make that mistake.
She was so angry she felt like baking him a cake then smashing it in his face. A giggle escaped her as she drove down the road, leaving the clubhouse behind. The image of Lucky with cake all over him gave her a tiny bit of confidence, as did the fact that he now believed he had been mistaken in his assumptions that she was harboring lovelorn feelings for him. Which I don’t, she told herself firmly. No, she wasn’t in love with him at all. However, she was forced to admit to herself—because she was afraid God was privy to her innermost thoughts—that she might have had a few fantasies about the self-assured man. He did fill her dreams late at night when her defenses were down. The longings she kept at bay during the daylight hours couldn’t be suppressed during those long, lonely nights that seemed never-ending until the first streams of daylight would return, and she could bury them once again in hard work, exhausting herself so she could make it through another one.#p#分页标题#e#