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Lilly stirs once more. This time, her beautiful teal eyes meet his. “Good morning,” she mumbles, burying her face against him.
Gage gives her a light squeeze and kisses the top of her head. “Good morning. Hungry?”
She nods into his chest.
“Okay, breakfast it is,” he says and begins to rise.
Lilly stops him with a hand on his arm, her eyes rimmed with unshed tears. “Gage. I’m sorry for yesterday. I was a complete bitch and overreacted.”
He gives her a sweet kiss on her lips. Drawing back, he cups her face in his hands so he has her full attention. “You never have to apologize for your feelings. You are important to me, and I will move heaven and hell to make you happy. I love you.”
After climbing out of bed, he walks down the short hall to the kitchen and begins preparing breakfast. A comfortable warmth fills him now that he’s finally told his mate how he truly feels.
The patter of Lilly’s bare feet on the hardwood floor announces her presence before she enters the kitchen. He glances toward where she is preparing the coffee and smiles. Her oversized t-shirt and sleep shorts can’t hide her delectable curves, distracting him as he’s cooking.
Lilly glances over her shoulder. “Eyes up here, and you’re burning the eggs.”
“Shit!” He pulls the pan from the stove and places it in the sink, the burnt mess a testament to his concentration on her ass and not what he was doing.
Once she stops laughing, Lilly holds up the loaf of bread and smirks. “Toast?”
He shakes his head at his breakfast disaster, but to hear her laugh? He’d burn every meal.
She hands him a cup of coffee and motions for him to sit at the table. “I’ve got this,” she giggles as she scrapes out the offending meal into the garbage and starts anew.
Gage sits and sips his coffee while she flits about the kitchen. Her movements are relaxed and fluid, the tension from yesterday all but gone. His heart lightens when he hears her hum as she works. She brings the toast to the table just as his walkie-talkie chirps.
“Gage, it’s Matt. Over”
Gage reaches out and picks the handset up off the table. “Here. Over”
“Calling a meeting in twenty at the bar. Need all hands on deck. Over.” His tone seems urgent.
“I’ll let Lennon and my crew know. Lilly and I will be there shortly. Over.”
Lilly’s frown mirrors his own. “I knew Matt was calling a meeting, but this seems big,” she says before rushing over and turning off the stove.
“I agree,” he says as he rises, snagging a piece of toast before heading to the bedroom to get dressed. With the handset still in his hand, he clicks it on and relays the message to Lennon. Lilly enters the bedroom and throws on a pair of jeans and a red tank top. She turns to him as she ties her hair back into a ponytail. “Ready?”
“Yeah, let’s see what the fuck is going on now,” he says as they walk out the front door and hop in his truck. Gunning the engine, Gage tears out of her driveway, making good time to get to the meeting.
Pulling into the parking lot, Gage mentally clocks the vehicles already here. Most of his crew has already arrived or is pulling in behind him. Satisfied, he parks and shuts off the engine. Then, reaching over, he gives her hand a squeeze. She glances at him and holds his gaze.
“You good?” he says.
“Yeah. Let’s go.”
He places his hand on the small of Lilly’s back as they enter the bar. It takes a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the dim lighting after coming in from the sun.
She looks at him with a small smile and pats his chest. “I’m going to go talk to Dawn,” she says, motioning to where her friend is handing out coffee to the people sitting at the bar.
Matt rises from his seat and lets out a sharp whistle, piercing through the chatter and clinking glasses in the bar. The noise gradually subsides as all eyes turn toward him.
"We just got word over the radio that Vance and his men have been seen in Hope, just over an hour from here," Matt announces, his voice grim.
Gage's heart skips a beat, his mind preoccupied with thoughts of Vance. What could he be up to this time?
He shifts on his feet. The tension in the room is palpable. The wounds Vance’s ruthlessness and cunning put on this town haven’t even begun to heal. And what he did to Lilly and April? Unforgivable.
