T.A. (Biker Bitches 6)

Shade’s lips tightened when she finished the glass in one swallow. She saw him looking down at her purse.

“Where’s she at? Sex Piston said she was going to be here.”

“She and Rachel are visiting a friend.”

T.A. saw the warning glint in Shade’s eyes and realized why he was steering her away from further questions. Darn, every time she really started to dislike Shade despite him being so hot, he would spoil it by doing something nice.

Trying to think of something to change the subject, she glanced at Dalton and saw that he had caught the exchange between her and Shade.

It was Shade who broke the uncomfortable silence.

“I’m going to check on the kids and help Penni put them to bed. I should be back before Lily gets here.”

“Take your time.” She couldn’t help the small goad that slipped out of her mouth. Swallowing the lump of her fear that rose in her throat, she gave a small squeak and moved to Dalton’s other side.

She thanked her lucky stars when he left without letting his tongue rip her to pieces, castigating herself for being foolhardy enough to bait him.

“That wasn’t very wise, was it?” Dalton’s voice was amused. It rose her hackles that he had witnessed her reaction.

“I like living on the edge. How about you?”

T.A. wanted to smack her hand over her mouth, regretting how suggestive it sounded.

“I’ll take that as my cue to make myself scarce,” Dax said, chuckling at her mortification as he left and disappeared in the crowd that was barging through the door.

She leaned against the bar, burying a red face in her hand.

“Just shoot me, please?”

“Why? I thought it was funny.”

She raised her face to star at him accusingly. “The last thing a woman wants to be around you is funny.”

Dalton tilted his head to the side. “Why not? I like a good laugh.”

Rolling her eyes, she reached for another little bottle of tequila. “That’s because you’re used to women making a fool of themselves in front of you. From a woman’s perspective it’s embarrassing.”

Dalton nodded his head as if he understood. Changing the subject, he picked up the little bottle she just emptied. “Was there a little worm in there?”

Her lips trembled in a smile. “No. You want one?” she offered. “I have two more. I brought one for each of my friends.”

“You already drank yours when Shade was here.” He nodded at the bottle in her hand. “Whose is that one?”

T.A. clumsily knocked the two miniature bottles over, at the humorous glint in his eyes. “Whoever is the last one to ask for it.”

Picking the bottles up, she went behind the bar in search of a trash can. Finding it, she dropped them inside.

“Why are you embarrassed?”

T.A. shrugged, blasting herself because he had picked up on her emotional upheaval around him. “I don’t know, maybe because you’re staring at me like I’m an eighteen-year-old at her first party.”

“I’m sorry. That wasn’t my intention.”

She lowered her gaze, hiding her hurt. “It doesn’t matter. I’m used to it. Why do you think the Last Riders hide their liquor?”

“It wasn’t my intention,” he repeated. “I was just enjoying being around someone who acts normally when they’re around me.”

She raised her lashes, giving him a mischievous smile. “If you think that my friends and I are normal, then you’ll be the first.”

He laughed. T.A. felt her friends and Dax turning toward them before continuing their conservations.

Coming from behind the bar, she returned to stand on the other side.

“Can I ask a question?”

She had been taking a sip of her drink when he asked.

“Go ahead.”

“Why didn’t Shade want you to ask about Lily?”

T.A. lowered her glass back down to the bar.

“Because she and Rachel were visiting a woman in their church who is sick.”

“She’s more than sick, isn’t she?”

“She’s dying.”

“Of?”

“Cancer.”

Dalton didn’t look at her as he nodded in understanding.

“I thought he was jealous of Dax and me being around his wife. I didn’t take him for being so thoughtful.”

T.A. tried to find a way to best explain Shade’s possible motives.

“It was probably a little of both. Shade is very protective of Lily. There isn’t a person in this town or mine, and I live about twenty minutes away, who doesn’t know that they’d be taking their life in their hands if they hurt Lily. They are very happily married, and anything or anyone who would threaten that… well, let’s just say it wouldn’t have a good outcome. I can also imagine that Shade can sympathize with you for the loss of your wife because he feels that way about Lily. And I’m actually giving him a big credit for that because that arrogant bastard couldn’t care less if anyone dropped dead in front of him.”

“He is very intimidating,” he said wryly.

“He’s a mean motherfucker.” T.A. believed in calling a spade a spade, and Shade was a mean motherfucker.