Her mother had drilled into her mind since infancy to be a virtuous woman. Her mother would not only disapprove of her unwanted attraction to Lucky, whom she’d never met, but if she were still living, she would have heart palpations at the thought of her pure daughter being near the sexually magnetic man. Did people suffer anxiety attacks in Heaven? Willa placed it on her ever-growing mental list of questions she wanted to ask God when they met, hopefully in the far, far future. Lord willing that I meet him, Willa corrected herself. Her feelings for Lucky were putting her everlasting soul in jeopardy.
“God, if you’re listening, I have something to confess. I lied. I kind of do have a crush on the big jerk,” she said out loud, watching for oncoming vehicles in the other lane, afraid she would be punished for telling an even bigger lie. “Okay,” she said, starting her confession over. “I like him a lot.”
Lucky stood on the front porch, watching until the taillights of Willa’s car could no longer be seen. Reluctantly, he turned to confront a glaring Evie and King.
When Evie’s mouth snapped open, Lucky raised his hand to stop her angry recriminations. “There’s nothing you can say that I’m not saying to myself. I’m aware I came off looking like a dick and hurt Willa’s feelings.”
“You going to fix it?” Evie’s features fueled his regret.
“No. I’m going to leave it alone. I didn’t mean to hurt her, but it’s for the best.” Lucky averted his eyes from King’s discerning gaze.
He smothered his guilt, something he was becoming an expert at. Willa’s infatuation with him needed to be stopped, and he would rather her feel hurt now than prolong the attraction she felt for him.
“When did you become such an ass?” Evie stormed inside the clubhouse, leaving him and King alone.
King leaned against the porch banister, folding his arms across his chest.
“Go ahead and give me shit. I know you’re dying to.” Lucky was aware King had taken a liking to Willa.
“Why should I say anything? You wanted Willa to hate you, and you succeeded. You have your reasons. They’re probably bullshit, but they’re your reasons.”
“They aren’t bullshit. Willa’s a sweet woman, and I refuse to lead her on. I’m not attracted to her, and I never will be,” Lucky denied heatedly.
“Who are you trying to convince, me or yourself?” King’s mouth twisted with a mocking smile.
“Neither. I’m stating a fact. The sooner she gets over me, the sooner she’ll find someone else.”
King looked at him in disbelief. “You really believe she has a thing for you?”
“Yeah, Evie told me … and the way she acts around me.” At first, he had thought her keeping her distance was because she didn’t approve of him as her pastor, but Evie’s comments on Willa’s attraction to him one night had opened his eyes to the fact that she didn’t know how to deal with the one-sided attraction she felt toward him.
King shook his head, making Lucky doubt the validity of Evie’s claim. “That woman has a thing for you about as much as I do. Willa is very perceptive; she sees past the pretense you put on in front of everyone, and it scares the hell out of her. She has a thing for one of The Last Riders, but it isn’t you.”
Lucky stiffened, as if receiving an imaginary punch to the gut. If he didn’t know better, he would think it was jealousy. Fuck, he didn’t get jealous. There wasn’t a woman he wouldn’t share or hadn’t shared with the brothers, so why would he give a fuck if Evie was wrong about which brother Willa wanted?#p#分页标题#e#
“Who?” he demanded, not realizing his voice had deepened into a growl.
“Rider.” King gave a sardonic laugh. “That’s why she was so embarrassed when she heard your big mouth spouting stupid shit. Rider was behind her when she came outside.”
Lucky felt a lessening of his tension. “She doesn’t like Rider. She’s never been around him,” he stated confidently.
“Really? Hmm … I wonder whose ass is sitting in my restaurant every Wednesday afternoon when she’s scheduled to make her deliveries. It sure as fuck looks like Rider helping her carry all those pastry boxes inside.”
“You’re shitting me.” Lucky started to brush off King’s words then remembered Rider had been disappearing from the factory every Wednesday afternoon.
“Why would I do that when you said you don’t care about her and want her to find someone?” King threw his own words back in his face.