“Did Ginny just make a move on Reaper?” Lily asked Shade.
“Yes.” Shade didn’t try to hide his amused expression.
“Are you sure? I’ve never known her to do that before.”
“Pretty sure.” Shade’s amusement deepened. “That’s not the best part,” he told Lily.
“What’s the best part?”
“Watching Reaper unable to get a word out. He had the same problem when I saw them in the parking lot.”
“He did?” Lily looked away from Shade to give Reaper a heartening smile, as if he were a thirteen-year-old boy who needed her help to pursue his crush. “You should go have coffee with her. She wouldn’t have asked you for coffee if she didn’t like you.”
“Maybe you could give Reaper a few pointers so he won’t be so nervous around her.” Egging his wife on wasn’t Shade’s best move when Reaper was in a I-want-to-kick-someone’s-ass mood.
“I’d be happy to.”
Lily’s encouraging nod toward him had Reaper seeing red at Shade’s smug satisfaction. The brother plainly wanted to rattle him. What Reaper couldn’t understand was: Why?
Reaper picked up his dishes, and as he passed in front of Shade and Lily’s table he stopped to glower down at them. “You’re lucky Lily and your kids are here.”
Shade’s smile disappeared in a split second. “No. You are.” Picking up a butter knife, Shade dipped it into the jelly jar, slathering a large amount onto his toast.
Fuck. He realized too late why Shade was trying to irritate him; it was payback for the waffles and jelly.
The son of a bitch couldn’t stand anyone getting the better of him. Shade was a dominate personality inside and out of the bedroom. In another lifetime Reaper would let it slide, not caring enough to insert his own dominance. Those days were long gone.
He couldn’t do anything with Lily and his children there, but Reaper promised himself that Shade’s enjoyment of the jelly would be a fond memory ... and the waffles ... and the fucking bacon ....
Fucking gone. Forever.
When Lily began trembling at the men’s prolonged stares, Reaper forced an amicable smile on his lips. “Later.”
Shade received his silent message and gave one of his own. “Later.”
Chapter Two
Carrying his dishes to the kitchen, he placed them in the sink, then went through the swinging door just as Rider was coming into the kitchen. He sent the brother backpedaling to keep from getting knocked to the floor.
“What’s the fucking rush?”
“Fuck off,” Reaper muttered. As much as he had wanted to fight in the dining room, he now wanted to get to his room to settle the turmoil wreaking havoc on him, like a vicious undertow he couldn’t escape. It wasn’t safe for anyone to be around him until he could gather his rioting emotions back under his control. He had no fear that he would hurt Lily or the children. But he wasn’t confident he could restrain himself from the feelings Ginny awoke within him, and he’d take out every brother in the club to combat the tender emotions he hadn’t felt since he laid Gavin to rest.
Shoulder-checking Rider aside, Reaper was disconcerted to see Ginny sitting on the couch with Winter, watching the interaction between him and Rider. Viper had also turned to look, his jaw hardening in warning to behave in front of their guest.
Held motionless—not from Viper’s unspoken admonishment but from Ginny’s gentle gaze on him—Reaper stood frozen, taking the hard shove that Rider gave him back as he went into the kitchen.
“I’m sorry, Ginny,” Winter apologized. “My brother-in-law obviously got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.”
Ginny kept her gaze pinned to him as her lips curled in a calming smile that stroked over his bruised and battered soul begging to be touched again. His fight and flight instinct was working overtime.
After picking up Shade at T.A.’s wedding, he had been determined to head to Ohio this morning, and when he saw her in the parking lot, the need to escape had kicked into overdrive, wanting to avoid seeing Ginny again at any cost. The harder he tried to get away from her, the more she appeared. His failed attempts weren’t giving him any time to regroup.
“I’m sorry. I thought the room was empty.” Managing to get the words out, he was able to spur his body into motion, heading toward the front door.
“There’s nothing to apologize for. I’ve been known to use that particular phrase myself, especially when it involves Rider.”
He didn’t respond to Ginny’s humorous attempt to excuse him for the way he acted and glared at the doorway, his main objective to get away from her.
“Reaper, before you leave, I want you to meet a friend of mine and Viper’s.” Winter’s firm request had him silently cursing. He recognized her tone; she had no intention of letting him leave so easily.
Deciding that fleeing wasn’t working, he changed his trajectory, moving closer to the couch where the two women were sitting. Inwardly fighting Ginny’s effect on him, he coldly gazed down at her.
“We’ve met.”
His abrupt revelation had no effect on her.
“Gavin was in the parking when I arrived. I introduced myself.” Scooting to the side of the couch, Ginny patted the space between her and Winter for him to sit down.
Was the woman insane? He was making it plain that he wanted nothing to do with her, yet she sat there, patting the couch cushion as if they were close acquaintances.
If it wasn’t for her young age, Reaper would begin to doubt his recollections of the past, that the drugs had fucked with his brain, and there had been something between them. Only two things held him grounded. One, he would never have touched an underaged girl, and two, he hadn’t cheated on Taylor. Ginny was the one living in a parallel universe, not him.
“I even offered to help him work on his motorcycle.” Laughingly grimacing at herself, Ginny lightly explained to Viper and Winter, “He was smart to ignore me. I’ve never rode on a motorcycle before, much less worked on one.”
“I hadn’t either, until I rode with Viper.” Winter laughed. “I was terrified I was going to fall off. I held on so tightly that I probably bruised his ribs.”
Viper shook his head at his wife. “I didn’t even know you were afraid.”
“What would you have done if I told you?”
“Took my car instead.”
“That’s why I didn’t.”
Viper frowned. “Are you still afraid when we go out for a ride?”
“No, I actually miss riding as much as we used to.” Winter switched her gaze from her husband to Ginny. “Having Aisha curtailed most of our joyriding, but at least once a month, we ride around to spend time together alone.”
“I saw Aisha at the wedding yesterday. She’s adorable.”
“Thank you. Luckily, she takes after her mother,” Viper joked.
Reaper agreed. His tiny niece’s features were more like Winter’s than the hard angles of his brother’s.
About to take the opportunity to leave, Ginny forestalled him by bringing him back into the conversation.
“Her hair color is more like Gavin’s.”