“Don’t leave the gym,” she cautioned.
“I won’t,” Charlie said before running off to join the two boys waiting at the next booth.
Willa reached down to take Caroline’s hand again, only to find the little girl had disappeared.
“Oh, God…” Frantically, she looked around, searching for a small figure wearing the bright orange shirt she had helped her put on before leaving the house.
“Caroline!” Willa yelled, her voice smothered in the noise from the crowded gym.
She moved forward, panicking when she didn’t immediately find her. Chrissy started whimpering at being tugged along, so Willa stopped and picked her up.
“It’s okay. We’re going to find her.”
Chrissy nodded her head, placing her hand on Willa’s shoulder.
“Caroline!” Chrissy pointed in a direction that was blocked by a large group of people.
Trusting that Chrissy had seen her sister, Willa went in the direction she was pointing. She was jostled several times as she tried to squeeze past and accidently knocked a plastic cup out of a man’s hand as he was served at one of the booths.
“Excuse me.”
Curt Dawkins lowered his angry eyes to his wet pants then shuttered them before lifting them. Willa noticed how quickly he was able to hide his irritated reaction.
“That’s all right. Next time, try to be more careful, or you could hurt someone. It’s a shame you never played football. You could have taken out half the opposing team.” Willa listened to his snide comment as he placed a charming expression on his face. No one looking on would know how cruelly he had just insulted her.
Willa held Chrissy tighter to her as his eyes roved sleazily over her body.
“Send me the cleaning bill, and I’ll take care of it.” Willa attempted to move away, desperate to escape his venomous presence, only to bump into someone passing behind her.
Curt grabbed her arm, pulling her nearer to him. “Watch out.”
Willa’s eyes widened when she saw it was Lucky and Rider she had nearly bumped into. As both men came to a stop, Willa tried to hide her fear of the man who hadn’t released her arm and was now pressed like a leech to her backside. She wanted to heave when she felt his penis hardening against her butt.
“Hi, Willa.”
“Hi, Rider,” she greeted before she reluctantly acknowledged the man standing quietly. “Lucky.” Jerking her arm away from Curt’s tight grip that she was sure would leave a bruise, she tried to step around Lucky and Rider. “I need to find Caroline. I’m afraid she managed to escape from me.”
Willa didn’t slow down, trying to put as much distance between her and Curt as possible. Why was it every overbearing person in Treepoint tried to overpower her? Did she have a freaking sign on her back that told them she was a coward?
“Let us help you find her,” Rider offered.
“That’s not necessary. I have it under control,” Willa said without turning around.
“That’s not what it seems like to me.”
She ignore Lucky’s snide comment, blinking away frustrated tears. Why did she have to always make a fool of herself in front of him?
Willa released a sigh of relief when she saw Winter with Caroline as they walked in a circle while music played. As the melody came to a stop, the two stood on the last available circle, winning the cake walk.
Winter laughed, picking Caroline up and tossing her into the air. “You’re my good luck charm.”
The girl squealed in laughter when Winter caught her.
“Thank God you found her. I was worried sick.”
Winter took the cake she had won. “Caroline’s been helping me win one of your cakes.”
“Thank you, Winter.”
“I’m going to share my winnings with my partner.” Winter gave Caroline a wink.
“I don’t think she deserves it for leaving my side.” Seeing that Winter was about to protest, she relented. “I have several cupcakes at home. I’ll give her one of those. You keep the cake for yourself and Viper.”
“I’ll take you up on that. I’ll be lucky to save Viper a slice when the other members find out I won it. All the men tried to win it as soon as they saw it was chocolate on chocolate.”
“Would you like me to hold it for you?” Rider asked, greedily eyeing the cake.
“Over my dead body.” Winter pulled the cake closer to her. “I’m going to lock this beauty away in my office until I’m ready to go home. Want to help me, Caroline?” Winter held her hand out, and the girl took it. “I’ll keep her with me and let her play a few games if that’s all right, Willa?”
“Are you sure? She can be a handful,” Willa warned.
“I deal with The Last Riders every day. Caroline will be a breeze compared to them.” Winter moved away with Caroline obediently walking beside her. Willa wished she handled her as easily.
Winter bent to place Chrissy on her feet. Straightening, she saw both Lucky and Rider gaping at her. Glancing down, she turned bright red at seeing her top button had come loose when she had been carrying the child. When she had leaned over, she had flashed the men a generous view of her breasts.
Clutching Chrissy’s hand in one of hers, she tried to button her top with her other hand.
“Where are the other three tonight?” Lucky’s hoarse voice had her taking an involuntary step backward.
“Charlie is with his friends at one of the booths, and Leanne and Sissy are both at home. They said they were too old for school carnivals.”
“Neither volunteered to help you with their cousins?”
“You know teenagers …” Willa began to defend the two older girls.
“Yes, I do, and they’ll take advantage if you let them.
” Lucky’s eyes were still pinned to her trembling fingers trying to button her blouse.
“I wanted to give them some free time.” His nerve-wracking observation of her fumbling attempts made her even clumsier.
“Exactly when was the last time you had any?” He took a step forward, brushing her hand away then fastening the button for her.
Her mind went blank as she stared into his hazel eyes. “Wh-What?”
“Free time?” This time, a small smile played on his sensuous lips.
“Oh.” Reason gradually returned when Lucky reached down, picking up Chrissy and placing her in Rider’s surprised arms.
“Keep her occupied. We’ll be back in an hour,” Lucky told Rider before taking Willa’s arm.
“Wait. I can’t just leave her with him.”
“Why not? He’ll take good care of her.” Lucky hustled her through the crowd toward one of the booths.
Willa stared down at the rubber ducks going in a circle of water, dumbfounded at Lucky planning to spend an hour with her. She had never managed to be in his presence for five minutes without feeling awkward. An hour would be torture.
Lucky handed the girl behind the table a dollar. “Pick one.” He motioned at the innocuous yellow ducks.
“Why?” Willa asked in confusion.
“For fun. Do you even know what fun is?”
“Yes, I do.” Willa pretended to be fascinated by the ducks going in a slow circle, hurt by his comment. “For your information, you being rude to me is not fun.”
She reached out, picking up one of the ducks and handing it to the girl who reached into a box and pulled out a string of brightly colored beads. Before she could take them, Lucky did then lifted them over her head, and they nestled in the cleft between her breasts. He reached out, taking the beads in his hand, his knuckles resting against the flesh of her breasts. Her breathing escalated at his intimate touch, so she tried to move away yet was held in place by the necklace until she felt it biting into the back of her neck.
Her nipples hardened as she tried to calm her breathing and pretend to be unaffected. His eyes moved to her side before returning to hers. Willa turned to see what had caught his attention and saw the biker who had been with Lucky and Rider the night she had picked Sissy up at the sheriff’s office. The stranger had two black eyes and looked frightening with the determined expression on his face. Before she could try to move away from Lucky again, he released the necklace then steered her toward a photo booth tucked against the wall.