Lucky shrugged. “How do I know? It’s not like we’re best friends.”

 “Good. Then it’s settled.” Moon slapped Rider on the back. “Sit back and watch the master at work.”

 Lucky frowned. “It’s not going to be as easy as you think.”

 “Why not?”

 Moon’s attitude toward Willa had gradually been getting on his frayed nerves, but his cocky arrogance was the last straw. Lucky turned on his heel, he had to blink several times to clear the red mist of fury nearly blinding him. He stood in the doorway as Drake’s car pulled onto the road.

 “Don’t worry, brother; I’ll make sure you get a taste.”

 Moon’s voice behind him released the fury that Lucky had been holding back. Without thinking, Lucky swung around.

 “Willa wouldn’t look at you on a good day.”

 “Brother, it must be my day then ‘cause she was looking,” Moon retorted.

 “Only because I was standing in front of you. Everyone in town knows it’s me she wants,” Lucky ground out, trying to convince himself that Willa wouldn’t be swayed by Moon.

 Rider shook his head. “I don’t know about that.”

 “Shut up.” Lucky’s scowl had Rider taking a step closer to Knox.

 “Is that a challenge? Let’s make a bet, brother. The first one who manages to get sweet tits in bed gets the pick of Rider’s bikes.”

 “Fuck no!” Rider shouted. “Why should I give up one of my bikes?”

 “You getting anywhere with her?” Moon surveyed him critically.

 “No,” Rider admitted.

 “That’s why. Isn’t getting that bitch to become a member worth giving up a bike?”

 Rider’s face reflected his dilemma. “Shit, if she wasn’t such a good cook, I would say no. I wouldn’t give one of my bikes for a hundred women, but Willa’s peanut butter candy anytime I want it is worth a bike,” he reluctantly agreed.

 The chance to get one of Rider’s cherished motorcycles didn’t tempt Lucky, but he had no intention of standing back and watching Moon initiate Willa into the club when he had stayed away from her for her own good. There was no way he could prevent Moon from trying to go after Willa, but he could place a road block in his path.

 “Fine, I’ll take the bet. To make sure it’s fair, none of the other brothers can get in on the bet, just you and me,” Lucky stated his terms.

 If the other brothers who didn’t have an old lady heard that one of Rider’s bikes was the prize, all the single men would be trying to get in on the bet.

 “Works for me,” Moon agreed with a calculating expression.

 Lucky’s fist connected with his cheekbone, knocking him backward and pushing several chairs over in the waiting area. Lucky then reached down and took a handful of his T-shirt, lifting him out of the chairs enough to punch him again. Knox and Rider both pulled him off the dazed man before his fist could connect a third time.

 “Stop it, Lucky!” Knox yelled. “What in the fuck is wrong with you?”

 Lucky shook him off. “Leveling the playing field.”

 After Moon was helped to his feet by Rider, spitting out blood onto the floor, Rider stared back and forth between Moon and Lucky, his body taut, waiting for the two men to go at each other. Moon sat on the chair that Knox had placed near him until the brother could regain what sense he had left.

 Lucky wanted to punch Rider for agreeing to put up a motorcycle because it would only incite Moon further. Moon’s bet would provide him with the woman he wanted with none of the work to actually get to know Willa.

 Lying in wait for Willa at King’s was the most effort Rider had put out on a woman. Usually, he sat back and let someone else lead his prey to him. As a result, Lucky wasn’t worried that Rider would get near enough to Willa to seduce the woman, because he lacked the one thing that would lure Willa to his bed.

 Lucky stormed from the police station before he changed his mind and taught Rider his own lesson. Reaching his bike, Lucky managed to calm his raging fury. With his hands on his handlebars, he sat facing the church that was completely dark.

 “I won’t be led back to you.” Unconsciously, Lucky lowered his head. “For years, I’ve watched and waited as others lived the life I wanted. I can’t live the life I would have to in order to serve You. Let me go.”

 Lucky raised his head, and the invisible thread that always seemed wound around him felt like it was suddenly released. Blood rushed through his veins, his heart pounding as Lucky felt the last tie holding him back evaporate. He breathed in as if his lungs were no longer constricted for the first time in years. Lucky breathed in deeply again then released it, tasting freedom on the tip of his tongue.

 Starting his bike, he pulled out of the parking lot, riding away from the church without glancing back.

Chapter 7

 Lucky glanced to his side, grinning at Viper as they rode their bikes through the countryside. Decreasing his speed as they neared Treepoint, which was busy with traffic, he heard Bliss make a sound at his back. The woman loved speed.

 As he brought his bike to a stop at the red light, a car pulled to a stop behind him. Looking in his mirror, he saw Willa sitting behind the wheel, her ugly minivan filled with the children she had taken in. His hands clenched his handlebars when he saw where her gaze was focused. He knew exactly because it was the same sight he had been treated to when they had first departed from the clubhouse.

 Bliss was wearing a black leather halter top with a pair of low, hip-hugger blue jeans that showed the top of her ass when she leaned forward to hug the rider. She had begun the trip on the back of Train’s bike, but when they had stopped for lunch and returned to the bikes, she had climbed on behind him. He had almost told her to get off, but the other brothers had already peeled out.

 He could imagine the thoughts going through Willa’s mind, remembering Georgia’s cruel comment to her about being too large to ride a bike.

 The sound of Viper’s accelerating engine when the light turned green had Lucky riding forward, following the president’s lead, but the hurt expression on Willa’s face tore at him the entire ride back to the clubhouse.

 When he came to a stop, Bliss jumped off, joining the rest of the members as they went up the steep flight of steps.

 “Coming?” Shade asked with his arm around Lily’s shoulder, keeping her close to his side.

 “No, going out for a while.” Lucky backed his bike out, turning once again to the road.

 He wasn’t ready to go inside yet. Shade would disappear inside his home with Lily, and the rest of the crew would be ready to party. However, with Willa’s reaction to Bliss heavy on his mind, he wasn’t in the mood to fuck or drink.

 The feelings the timid woman roused in him were harder to escape than leaving the church. The more he fought against them, the harder he was being wrenched back.

 After two hours of riding, Lucky came to a stop behind a stand of trees that hid him from the sight of a solitary small house where a light shone in one of the windows. He leaned against one of the trees, watching as the sun set and darkness fell.