“Don’t you want to eat lunch with me?” Shade questioned, his gaze steady on her. He wanted her to learn to be honest with him about her emotions.

“No. Yes. I don’t want you to feel like you have to keep me company because of Razer and Beth being your friends.”

“Do I seem to be the type to do anything I don’t want to?”

“No.”

“Good, then that’s settled.” Let’s see her get out of this one.

Unless she came out and said she didn’t want to eat lunch with him, she was stuck, and Lily hated hurting anyone’s feelings. The beautiful woman didn’t understand he didn’t have any feelings to hurt.

After asking about job applications, Shade took a step further and insulted Lily’s lack of taking care of herself and getting into situations that could have gotten her seriously hurt, or even killed. He was setting her up and she was falling right into his trap.

“I can take care of myself just fine,” Lily snapped.

“You could if I taught you how,” Shade said, leaning back in his chair.

“What? How?”

“I could teach you self-defense. That is, unless you change your mind about being a social worker.”

“I’ll make a good social worker. I—”

“Good, that’s settled. Monday, when you come to work, bring some workout clothes. I’ll work with you an hour every day at the end of your shift.”

“But—”

“If you’re finished, could you ask Train to come here?” He wasn’t going to give her an attempt to get out of his trap.

Lily stood up, going out the door and closing it behind her. Train came in his office minutes later.

“What’s up?”

“I want to know why the orders to Darrel Finley were late.” Shade hated managing the factory, but Viper had asked repeatedly for him to take on the position full-time, and if he took the job on, he was going to do it right.

Train pointed to the spreadsheet, explaining the difficulty in getting some of the products on time for the shipment due to the high volume of orders. For the next hour, they talked over which items to increase production of.

When they finished, Rider came in, leaving his door open as Train left. Rider gave him the spreadsheet of the orders which had been filled for the day, then talked about the new bike he was thinking of buying as they waited for Lily to finish her last order.

As they saw Lily struggling to place the large order in the mail cart, Rider stood and said, “I’ll go help her.”

“Let her do it. She needs to regain her strength in that arm.”

Rider nodded before going outside to wait while Lily cleaned down her workstation.

Meticulously cleaning his desk, he saw the time. Closing the desk drawer, he stood and stretched, loosening his taut muscles.

Going to the door, he saw Lily reaching down to pick up a pair of scissors. Her perfect bottom pointing in his direction had him wanting to stride across the room to bend her over the table and fuck her from behind.

When she turned at feeling his gaze on her, her fingertips grazed over the red rubber band on her wrist; however, she was smart enough not to snap it with him watching. Anytime she felt sexual interest, she would go for the fucking rubber band. In a sense, it was a tell, showing when she was feeling desire she didn’t want to feel, because it frightened her.

Her trembling hands smoothed down her knee-length dress instead, and Shade almost praised her, though he didn’t think she would appreciate it. Yet.

“I’m done for the day, Shade.” Her eyes avoided his, going to Rider who was sitting on one of the tables nearby.

The other factory workers had left over a half hour before, yet her speed hadn’t increased by much since her cast had been removed earlier in the week. Beth had told him it would take time for her to regain the dexterity and strength she’d had before.

As she quietly stood there, Shade wondered what had caused the brief flash of pain he saw cross her face.

Rider was looking pointedly at the clock, anxious for their Friday party to start. He wanted Lily gone so they wouldn’t have to monitor their raucous behavior. With the factory empty, if Lily wasn’t here, Rider would already have a beer in his hand while he waited for him, but because alcohol terrified Lily, Shade had made it a rule that they weren’t allowed to have it out until she was gone.

“Hot damn. Let the good times roll,” Rider said, jumping off the table.

Shade threw Rider a warning look for wanting to get rid of her.

Lily picked up the scraps of paper lying on her table, throwing them in the trashcan before going back to the table and picking up her purse.

“See you guys Monday.” Lily headed out the door.

Shade frowned as Bliss passed her in the doorway.

“Finished for the day?” Bliss smiled warmly.

“Yes. Have a good weekend, Bliss.”

Bliss’s smile disappeared when she saw Shade wasn’t happy. The woman knew she and the other women weren’t allowed to flaunt their bodies when Lily was there. Not only was Shade not ready for her to discover the sexual relationship the men shared with the women, but Beth and Razer wanted her kept in the dark for the time being.

He smoothed out his expression when Lily turned her head.

Lily waved goodbye, closing the door behind her.

“I’m sorry. I thought she was gone,” Bliss apologized as she moved toward them.

“No, you didn’t. Her car is still outside.”

Shade didn’t care about her hurt expression. He hadn’t touched Bliss for the last three months since Lily had been hurt and nearly died. He wouldn’t have touched her the last time if he hadn’t wanted the brother’s markers to use to make Lily a member. He was a manipulative bastard, but Bliss had known the rules when she became a Last Rider. The sex they enjoyed didn’t equal a relationship, and the sexual relationship they had shared was over. The only thing she aroused in him anymore was anger when she pushed at his limits. Bliss was not going to be allowed to hurt Lily the way Winter had been hurt when she had seen Viper’s unguarded reaction to her overt sexuality.

“I think you’re missing being punished.” Shade ran his fingertips across the tattoo she was so proud of. It had the day she had become a member of The Last Riders with a daisy chain circling it. His finger tapped one of the daisies. “Don’t make me regret giving you my vote.”

“I’m sor—”

“I told you I don’t want to fuck you anymore, and do you really think, after all the time you’ve known me, I’ll change my mind?”

“No, but—”

Again, Shade ruthlessly cut her off. “You thought you would tempt me?” Shade shook his head at her. “I have no desire to punish you, but I think Rider does.” He lifted a brow at Rider as he took a step behind Bliss, his hand going to her belly.

Rider lowered his head, teasing the side of her neck. “Shade may not want to paddle that ass of yours anymore, but I have one which will make you just as wet,” Rider promised.

Shade enjoyed watching Rider when he let his dominant side out. The brother didn’t show it often, and when he did, he wouldn’t usually allow observers. Bliss, on the other hand, enjoyed being the focus of the men. The more she had, the more excited she became.