“You going to let me do Beth’s hair?” Crazy Bitch asked Razer.
“No.” Razer didn’t try to soften his answer. He was wearing a bandana on his own head of long, dark hair.
“I’ll let you do mine,” Lily offered, finishing her lunch.
“No.” Shade’s dark sunglasses landed on Lily.
Lily turned to Shade with a stubborn look on her face. “If I want her to do my hair, then she can do my hair. You don’t tell me what to do.”
“You still wanting that summer job?” he asked in a soft voice.
Shade saw a glimmer of stubbornness as she refused to back down.
“Yes.” She stiffened in her chair, staring defiantly back at Shade.
“Then she doesn’t touch your hair,” Shade said. “It’s fine the way it is,” he supplied as an afterthought.
He had plans for that hair. He had fantasized too many times of fucking her while he held it gripped in his hand.
“She’s going to need someone to practice on, and I was thinking of getting it cut anyway.”
Shade stiffened, not in anger as everyone thought because of her arguing with him, but that she was learning not to be afraid of him.
He decided to push a small amount, just to see just how much better she was becoming in dealing with her panic attacks.
“Then think again.” Shade’s hand went to hers on the table.
Her delicate wrist wore no jewelry, but the damn red rubber band was still there. Placing his hand over her wrist, he turned more fully toward Lily, leaning into her space. He lifted his other hand to her black hair, twining a curl around his finger and pulling it taut.
“You want your hair cut? Don’t you know men like long hair, especially cowboys? I, on the other hand, think short hair is sexy.”
Lily’s body leaned as far away from Shade’s as she could without falling out of her chair. His heart sped up when she didn’t stand up and run from the table.#p#分页标题#e#
“I kind of agree with Shade,” Sex Piston butted in. “Your hair is beautiful; leave it alone. It just needs a little trim. Stop by my shop during spring break, and I’ll trim it for you.”
“Okay.”
Shade stared at Sex Piston, perfectly aware she had known he didn’t want Lily’s hair cut and had sought to change Lily’s mind.
He released Lily’s hair, letting it slide from between his fingertips. He had wanted to know how her hair felt since he had first seen her. At that point he had to concentrate on lifting his coffee cup and not reaching out to touch it again.
“I can give you a new look, but not have to cut much off the length.”
“Do you think you could introduce me to Pike while I’m in Jamestown?”
Shade’s satisfied look disappeared at Lily’s request, and he stiffened in his seat. “Who’s Pike?”
“Someone Sex Piston and Fat Louise know. They said he’s from Arizona,” Lily said, waiting for Sex Piston’s answer.
Fat Louise started to answer, but Sex Piston cut her off. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to wait until you move to Arizona to meet a cowboy, Lily. Pike has a girlfriend, and I don’t think she would appreciate me introducing him to you.”
Shade’s hands clenched on his coffee cup. He had been walking on eggshells around her for three fucking years to make sure she could deal with a relationship, and she was actually asking Sex Piston to set her up?
He opened his mouth, about to tell her the only way she was going to see Pike was at his funeral.
“When you going to give me a ride on that bike of yours, Shade?” Killyama asked.
Shade’s chair screeched as he slid it back from the table. “I’ll wait for you outside, Razer.”
He threw some cash down on the table then strode outside, wanting to hit something or someone.
A minute later, Rider joined him. “I don’t know which of those bitches is the worst.”
When Shade didn’t answer, taking a seat on his bike, Rider threw him a wary look, getting on his own bike as Razer came out next, his face pale.
Shade didn’t wait for him to start his bike before he was peeling out of the parking lot toward the clubhouse. As he parked, Razer pulled in next to him.
Shade got off his bike, but Razer caught his arm. “Shade, you can’t be angry. She doesn’t know you’re interested in her. If she did, she wouldn’t have said anything. Lily didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“She’s a woman, and she has wants and needs. Lily is trying to tell you both she wants someone in her life. Whether you and Beth realize it or not, she’s ready to face her fears so she won’t be alone. I’m not jealous; I’m about five fucking seconds from getting back on my bike and showing her she doesn’t have to be alone.”