Lucky's Choice (3 page)

Willa hastily dragged her eyes away, concentrating on diverting her thoughts. She had long ago learned not to focus on Lucky, too afraid her expression would reveal her secrets. There was nothing more embarrassing than when a popular man realized the fat chick had a crush on him. She tried to never wish for something she couldn’t have, and he was as unattainable for her as being a size six.

Willa waited patiently for Lily and Beth to notice her, not wanting to interrupt the sisters’ conversation.

Lily saw her first, giving her the gentle smile that never failed to make Willa or anyone else feel as if she was her best friend, even though she knew it wasn’t true.

“Willa, thank you for coming. My cake is amazing. I made Shade take a picture before I let them cut it.” Lily’s sweet voice enfolded her in genuine warmth.

“You’re welcome. I’m glad you’re home,” Willa returned sincerely. Her eyes went to Beth, who winced slightly when she shifted to a more comfortable position on the couch. “Are you all right?” Willa became concerned at Beth’s pallor.

Beth nodded her head. “I’m fine. I must have pulled a muscle,” she answered evasively.

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.

“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.

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?

“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.

“I do. Then why did Evie think Willa liked me?” His brow furrowed in thought. He had even been given the impression that Shade had believed the same thing.

Looking over King’s shoulder, through the open doorway, he saw Shade eating a large slice of the cake Willa had made. Could that cold-hearted bastard have his own agenda? Like feeding his sweet tooth? Could Shade have been the one to give Evie the idea?

“I don’t know. Evie’s not the best judge. She believes I’m helpless around the house.” King gave a laconic shrug.

“You are.” Lucky remembered King’s failed attempts to do even minimal household chores. Hell, one day, Lucky had ridden past his house and seen him trying to mow the lawn. Lucky had pulled over to the curb and finished the job for him instead of leaving Evie to find an uneven lawn when she arrived home.

“Am I? Or maybe I’m smart enough not to have to do that shit. I’d rather get someone else to work on a broken disposal, mow the lawn, or put together a bookshelf. I have the money to pay for it, but Evie insists I at least try. Pretending to be helpless keeps Evie off my back, and I don’t have to fix crap on my day off. I also have the advantage of seeing the men my wife used to fuck have to do my shit jobs.”

“I’m going to tell her,” Lucky threatened, becoming madder by the second. It had been hot as fuck that day he had mowed the lawn. He didn’t know what was pissing him off more: King’s attitude or the thought that Willa did actually want Rider.

“Go for it. She won’t believe you.”

King’s smugness had Lucky wanting to punch him as he straightened from the banister.

“I don’t know why you’re getting so angry. A few minutes ago, getting rid of Willa was more important than making sure she was having a good time. Rider wouldn’t hurt her. In fact, I think they would make a great pair. He’s obviously more sensitive to a woman’s needs.”

“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about! Willa needs someone who will lead a quiet life with her. She’s very firm in her beliefs. She’s shy. Rider would—”

“Rider’s very gentle with her,” King cut him off. “See for yourself. Come to lunch at the restaurant on Wednesday.”

“Why would I do that? It’s no concern of mine if she becomes involved with Rider. I’m not her pastor anymore.”

“Suit yourself. The only reason I told you was so you would quit making an ass of yourself around her, but I can see that’s going to be impossible for you.” King went inside, leaving him on the porch alone.

Could he be wrong about Rider chasing after Willa? Lucky didn’t think so, but he recalled Rider’s face when he had stood in the doorway. When had Rider ever given a fuck about anyone besides himself? The brother forgot about women as soon as he found a new place to stick his dick. He loved breaking in new women …

Lucky cut the thought short.

Maybe he would stop by King’s restaurant on Wednesday. He would reassure himself that Willa was safe from Rider’s charm. After all, the man didn’t deserve a woman like Willa. She deserved a man like he had pretended to be—a decent, God-fearing man, a man like he used to be before he joined the military and left his hometown that was even smaller than Treepoint.

It hadn’t taken long for the war to strip away his beliefs in the integrity of the human race and then turn him into a man who had discovered his own weaknesses and failings. She deserved more than a man with blood on his hands and a target on his back. No woman deserved to be made a widow and left alone brokenhearted or to have her children left behind to mourn his passing. He had been forced to deliver too many condolence visits to want his own family to experience that kind of grief. That was why he had long ago decided he would have no children he wouldn’t be around to protect. Even if he were to get married, it would be to a woman who lived off the logic that one man was as good as the next. After all, a slut wouldn’t grieve for him when the man who was waiting to end his life finally struck, when his luck finally ran out.