Lily sat at the table, eating her sandwich while watching him lie on the bed on his back, watching the television.

When she was finished, she threw away the trash and the empty milk carton.

“Will you take me back to my dorm now?”

“Later. Come here.”

Lily wasn’t stupid; she wasn’t going near him.

Getting up, she went to the phone on the bedside table instead. Before she could place a call, however, the phone was jerked from her hand and she felt herself falling onto the bed. Lily froze as Shade picked her up and adjusted her until she was lying on the bed with her head on the pillow.

“I’ll take you back in the morning in time for your eight o’clock class.”

“I want to go now,” Lily spoke between clenched teeth.

“Too bad.” Shade lay down on the bed next to her, adjusting the pillow until he could see the television.

“You’re unbelievable. You think you can do anything you want,” she said resentfully.

Shade ignored her, turning the volume up.

Lily crossed her arms over her chest, hating the stubborn man. She lay there, gradually unable to help being drawn in to the old black-and-white movie. She fell back asleep before it ended.

The next thing she knew, Shade was waking her up.

“Move it if you don’t want to miss your class.”

Lily got up from the bed, following Shade outside. She climbed back into the truck, not saying anything. Shade went through a drive-thru, getting her breakfast and handing it to her as he continued driving back to her campus while she ate. She finished as he pulled up outside her dorm.

Opening the door, she slid out of the truck, slamming the door behind her. She heard the truck finally pull out as she walked into her dorm. She had an hour to get changed and get to class, so she rushed upstairs to prepare for the day.

It was only later, as she walked to class, that she realized he had known what time her class was.

* * *

Shade showed up the rest of the week, taking her to his hotel room every evening. Lily quit trying to argue with him. She had tried to evade him, only to lose. She hadn’t spoken to him since the first day, though, and what irritated her the most was he seemed not to care that she was giving him the silent treatment.

Friday, he was waiting for her once again.

She climbed into the truck, expecting him to turn into the hotel again; instead, he headed past it, staying on the road. Lily turned to see his hard profile, wondering where he was going.

A few minutes later, there was no doubt in her mind left.

“I don’t want to go home for the weekend. I have a test Monday.”

“Your books are in your backpack. You can study at home.”

Lily didn’t have a temper, but when it was roused, he was usually the cause, and she’d had enough of him deciding what was best for her. It was a good thing he was driving or Lily would have jumped from the truck.

The closer they came to Treepoint, the madder she became at him. She didn’t even have her car so that she could drive back to school. She would be forced to have Beth take her back, which she was certain was what he had planned.

When he finally pulled up in front of her house, Lily’s hand immediately flew to the doorknob.

Sliding out of the truck, she shot Shade a hateful glance. “Enjoy your Friday night!” She slammed the door, turning toward the house, sick at her behavior.

She opened the house’s front door and was about to shut it when a hand prevented her. Shade propelled her forward with a hand on her arm, shutting the door behind them.

“What are you doing?” Lily tried to jerk away, dropping her backpack.

“Doing something I’ve warned you repeatedly about,” Shade said grimly.

He jerked her to the couch where he took a seat then yanked her over his lap.

“What!”

The smack across her butt caught her by surprise. He had threatened several times, but she had never thought he would actually lay a hand on her.

She tried to throw herself off his lap, yet his hand on her back prevented her. She kicked her legs, which earned her another smack across her bottom. She was wearing a dress, which was sliding dangerously high with her lying over his lap. She was mortified and angrier than ever all at the same time.

“You can’t do this!” Lily screamed at him.

“Watch me.”

His hand swatted her butt several more times until Lily stopped struggling and lay limply across his thighs, defeated. When he was done, he lifted her to sit next to him on the couch, gripping her jaw in his hand.

“Do not ever talk to me that way again. Do not slam doors to show your anger and throw me a fucking look like the one you did, or I will smack your ass with no dress and panties in the way. Do you understand me?”

Lily tried to turn her face away, her lashes hiding her eyes. She was embarrassed at her childish behavior. “I understand.”

“How do you fucking address me?”

“I understand, Sir.”

As his hand released her jaw, Shade got to his feet, going out the door without another word.

Lily sat there for several minutes, wishing she hadn’t lost her temper. In a matter of minutes, Shade had ripped her icy detachment away, leaving her raw and hurting.

Any woman who wanted his vote needed her head examined.

Chapter 12

Lily had dinner waiting for Beth and Razer when they came through the door. She could tell they weren’t surprised to see her, which wasn’t all that shocking.

They ate dinner with Beth asking about her classes. Lily answered her questions, but she continued to keep the barrier between them; the same barrier she had put up against Razer.

While Beth was trying to be over friendly, Razer made no attempt to hide his anger at her. Lily didn’t blame him, either. It was obvious Beth was hurting. Lily just couldn’t reach out to her yet.

After dinner, Lily got up to clean the table.

“I’ll help.”

“I’ve got it. You go ahead and get ready.”

Beth looked her in the eye while Razer put his arm around her shoulder.

“Go, Beth. There’s no reason to sit around the house, bored to death. Besides, I have a test to study for.”

“I don’t want to go,” Beth said.

Lily sighed, ignoring Razer’s angry glare. This was between Beth and her, and while he was angry, it was up to them to settle the problem.

Lily sat back down at the table, facing the couple, doing what she hadn’t been capable of doing a couple of weeks ago. Her buried emotions allowed her to discuss the situation detachedly.

“Beth, you enjoy being a member of The Last Riders and their lifestyle. That’s your personal business. That’s what I tried to tell Miranda about Kaley. You should never take what I think or feel into consideration when it’s something you want to do.”

“Lily—” Beth protested.

“I am not a child any longer. I have to become more self-sufficient without you, as you are without me.” Her fingertips went to the rubber band on her wrist.

The couple didn’t say anything this time, listening.

“I think it’s best, after your house is built, we sell this house and you keep the money. I have several job applications in and enough money saved up from working this summer that I can rent an apartment.”