She frantically began washing herself, rubbing between her legs so hard she was becoming red and raw.

"What in the h.e.l.l are you doing?" He jerked the wet cloth from her, tossing it into the sink.

Evie burst into tears, burying her face into her hands. "Don't hate me. I was supposed to go on another form of birth control. I made my appointment with my OB-GYN, but with Beth on bed rest, I didn't have time."

"Evie, baby, calm down. It's all right."

"You hated Brenda for getting pregnant."

King closed the toilet lid, sitting down. His hands pulled her between his legs then his mouth kissed her bare belly. "Evie, there is no comparison between you and Brenda. I was high and don't even remember f.u.c.king her; I wouldn't have touched her with a ten-foot pole otherwise. The b.i.t.c.h never even told me she was pregnant. She kept Lily hidden from me because the woman knew I would be furious."

The day he had seen Lily sitting outside that apartment building, dirty and underfed, was the worst day of his life. That he hadn't known of her existence hadn't eased his conscience; it had made him ache at the time he had lost with Lily. Her being born, her first step, her first word. To see the little girl run to him yelling Daddy when he came home from work. The bonding of a father to a daughter. That time couldn't be recaptured. He hated Brenda. There was no comparison between her and Evie.

"To be honest, I wouldn't mind if you became pregnant. I missed raising Lily and would really like a do-over at it. So, if you do get pregnant, I promise I won't suck as bad at it the second time around." The thought of holding a child they had created filled an empty hole he hadn't even been aware existed. This would be a love he could make himself worthy of earning this time.

"Really?" Evie raised her face from her hands.

"Really." His violet eyes were filled with agony. "Do you know Lily's only called me Dad when she thought she or I was going to die?"

"King, you haven't been the perfect father, but it's not too late. I've known Lily a long time; it won't be the last time she calls you Dad. Knowing her, she wants to make sure it's okay with you. Talk to her."

"I don't know how I ever created something as beautiful as her."

"Baby, you didn't do it alone."

"Brenda doesn't deserve any credit for giving birth to Lily."

"I wasn't talking about Lily." Evie looked down into the face that looked so much like his daughter. "Lily told Shade that, if things hadn't turned out the way they had, she wouldn't have ended up in Kentucky. I don't believe that, but I do believe she ended up exactly where she belongs. Just like you, King. Maybe you weren't a good father to her when she was a child, but you have the rest of your life to make it up to her. Talk to her and clear the air. Lily's not the only one who needs to heal."

"I don't want to bring up the past and upset her."

"Then don't. Talk about the future, and let her know you're always going to be there for her. She's come so far over the last six months, and once she knows you're not against her marriage anymore, she won't feel torn between the two of you."

King stood, taking her in his arms. "Let's get some sleep."

"No stripper pole tonight?"

"Tonight, I'm going to be the one to please you. I have a lot to live up to. It's hard for one man to live up to so much compet.i.tion."

King packed her back to the bedroom, laying her down on the bed.

Evie searched his eyes, looking for censure or jealously, and found none. "King..."

"Evie, I have never been afraid of a little compet.i.tion." His fingers twisted her nipple. "I'm certainly willing to prove I can keep you satisfied."

Evie grinned back. "King, you can prove yourself to me all night long."

Evie set her orange juice down on the table, staring at King in shock. "You're going to do what?"

"Don't look so shocked," King grumbled. "Shade invited me to go on the fishing trip with all the men the night you have Beth's shower, and I accepted."

"You've never went fishing or camped out a night in your life."

King shrugged. "How hard could it be?"

Evie spread some jam on her toast. "The only reason they are going to get out of attending the baby shower is Lily scarred them for life with s.e.x Piston's."

"All of The Last Riders are going, so I take it as a good sign they invited me."

"Bulls.h.i.t. You just don't want to be stuck with all the women by yourself."

"That's not true," King denied, pouring himself a cup of coffee. He had come to the conclusion that building a relationship with Lily was more important than breaking her marriage to Shade. He still didn't trust the man, but he was certain he would never hurt Lily. He figured going on the camping trip with Shade would show Lily he was willing to try. Shade had looked surprised he had accepted the invitation King was certain had been given after Lily's prompting.

"You do know you'll have to s.h.i.t in the woods?"

"Are s.e.x Piston and her crew coming to the shower?"

"Yes."

"Then camping will be a new experience I will thoroughly enjoy."

"Sure it will," Evie said doubtfully.

"I'm beginning to feel insulted." King looked at her over the real-estate section of the newspaper.

Evie eyed King's immaculate clothes. "When I look at you, 'outdoorsman' doesn't come to mind."

King sighed and changed the subject. "I have a meeting this morning with the owner of the property I told you about that I want to buy for the restaurant."

"I can f.u.c.king guarantee he won't be wearing a two-thousand-dollar suit."

"It's all about intimidation to get the best price for the property," King informed her.

Evie took a bite of her toast, chewing it thoughtfully. "Have you met Drake Hall yet?"

"No, the realtor set the appointment up for me."

"He's not going to be intimidated by you. You want a better price on the property, take Bliss with you; he'll be too busy staring at her t.i.ts to concentrate on you chewing his price down."

"I think I can handle him. I've bought over a hundred properties in Queen City."

Evie finished her toast, placing her plate in the sink. "Don't say I didn't warn you." She went back to the table, bending down to give him a kiss. "I have to go. I need to see a couple of Beth's patients before I go to the grocery store to buy the groceries for tonight's party."

"You need me to do anything before I leave? Shade and Rider aren't picking me up until this afternoon."

"You could blow the balloons up for me. They're on the table in the living room." Evie could tell from his face he was less than thrilled by the challenge of blowing the balloons up.

"I meant errands you needed done." He clarified.

"Nope, just the balloons. I think if Shade could make another masterpiece out of diapers, then you can blow up a few balloons."

Chapter 27.

"So, what's it like going from a whole clubhouse of men f.u.c.king you to just one man?"

Evie stared at Killyama as she refilled her tea gla.s.s, tempted to dump the whole pitcher on her head.

"Killyama!" Beth reproved her friend, saving Evie from having to answer her question in front of a whole roomful of women, one being the daughter of the man she was in love with.

"s.h.i.t, it's not like everyone else isn't thinking the same thing," Killyama continued.

Evie avoided Lily's amused gaze as she sat down on the couch beside Beth.

"Well?"

Evie was trying to remind herself the woman was a good friend of Beth's and that was why she had invited her and s.e.x Piston's crew. However, she was seriously thinking of shoving one of the many pacifiers Beth had received as gifts down her freaking throat. The woman wasn't going to shut up until she answered, though.

"I'm in love with him." Where in the h.e.l.l did that come from? Evie had never had any intention of stating it so bluntly, but the b.i.t.c.h hadn't let up since she had let them in her door.

The room went silent, which wasn't an easy thing with so many women packed into the small house. All eyes shifted to Lily, waiting for her reaction.

She got up from the chair she was sitting at. "I know you hate hugs, but I'm going to give you one anyway." Evie opened her arms and Lily bent down, giving her a hug that brought tears to her eyes.

"f.u.c.k, if I'd know we were going to turn into a bunch of crying p.u.s.s.ies, I would have kept my mouth shut," Killyama griped.

Evie and Lily broke apart, laughing.

"That would have been asking for the impossible," Beth threatened her friend with a heated glare.

Evie gave Beth a rea.s.suring smile that she wasn't upset, picking up the bowl of chips and pa.s.sing them around like nothing had been said. She was determined to make a success of her party, despite her guests. She had promised Razer that Beth would have a good time after he had packed his wife in earlier, placing her on the couch. He hadn't wanted to leave her, despite the men impatiently blowing their horns from outside, until Evie had promised to take good care of her until his pickup of her tomorrow. Both Beth and Lily were spending the night with her, and Evie was looking forward to the girl time.

Evie pa.s.sed the chips to Willa.

"No, thanks."

"Motherf.u.c.ker. What is this?" Crazy b.i.t.c.h asked.

"Peanut b.u.t.ter candy," Willa answered.

"My freaking G.o.d," Jewell moaned. "This is better than s.e.x with Lucky, and if you tell him, I'll deny it," she threatened.

The women turned to look at Beth.

"How would I know? The extent of my knowledge about Lucky is kissing." She shrugged, blushing. "We stopped seeing each other before it progressed that far."

Evie noticed Willa pick up the bowl of chips. Thinking the casual talk about s.e.x was upsetting her, Evie sought to change the subject.

"It's really delicious, Willa. Could you show me how to make it?"

"What about you, Evie? Which is better, the candy or Dean?" Killyama b.u.t.ted in before Willa could answer. She recognized the crushed look on Willa's face. Evie wondered if Knox would arrest her if she killed the b.i.t.c.h.

Fed up, Evie put her hands on her hips, glaring at the interested women, who were avoiding Willa munching on chips, and Lily's embarra.s.sed expression.

"I am only going to say this once, then we're changing the subject. There are two brothers I never did. One is Shade, the other is Lucky. Now, the candy is freaking awesome, and if you want to compare it to something, then it's better than Winter's lasagna."

"It can't be that good," Bliss said, getting up from her chair to get a piece of the candy. The women burst out laughing at her expression. "I'm your new best friend," Bliss stated, picking up another piece before turning to sit back down. "That stuff is addictive."

"It's my best seller. I can't make it fast enough," Willa explained with a shy smile.

"I'm going to take some back to the clubhouse, if you don't mind. Rider loves peanut b.u.t.ter. I've been trying to get him to fix the garbage disposal for a month, and that stuff will give me the bribe I need," Bliss stated around a mouthful of candy.

s.e.x Piston reached over to take a piece of the dwindling candy. "Girl, you could get any man in town with that stuff."

"I'd do her for it," Jewell said, reaching for another, but Bliss got up, moving the tray to the kitchen.

Willa turned so red Evie almost laughed, but she didn't want to draw even more attention to the embarra.s.sed woman.

"The only men who want me are the ones who think I'll be their slave in the kitchen."

"I'm sure that's not true," Lily said, reaching out to take her friend's hand.

Willa made a face. "Believe me, it is. When I get asked out on a date, they never take me out to a restaurant; they expect me to cook for them."

"Lewis one of those men?" Evie questioned, watching Willa's reaction.

"Lewis thinks I would make a good replacement for the wife that ran away with another man." Willa's face was white and her eyes held fear that turned Evie's stomach. "Now that he's raising his sister's kids with his own three, he thinks I would make the perfect mother. He says I'm too fat and ugly for other men to chase, and I can cook, clean and babysit. Of course, the most important part is I have a thriving business to sponge from."

"You need me to have a talk with this f.u.c.ker?" Killyama asked, sitting down next to Willa.

Willa's eyes opened wide at Killyama's blunt words. "That's okay. I've got it under control." Evie didn't believe her; she would have a talk with Shade when he came back tomorrow.

While Beth continued opening her presents, Evie organized all of them so Razer wouldn't have any difficulty loading them up tomorrow when he picked her up.

"Who is this one from?" Beth asked when Lily handed her the last one. "It's from Pastor Patterson's wife. He gave it to me today. He told me Brooke had left it before she had gone to visit her mother."

"Did she know we were having a shower for Beth?"

"Yes, she called the store today to ask if I could see the pastor had dinner tonight. I told her I couldn't because I would be too busy helping you with the shower. Rachel volunteered to fix him something before she left, though," Lily said, picking up the discarded wrapping paper.