“I’m too old. I’ve missed my chance. No woman would want an old fart like me.”
“Aw … that’s not true,” she insisted. “You’re not old. I would date you”—Ginny ignored Gavin going rigid under her—“if I didn’t love Gavin so much.” Giving the agent a sweet smile to show she meant it, she felt another hair parting from her scalp.
“Stop that! It hurts,” she hissed up at Gavin.
“Purely an accident. Besides, there is no way that hurt you.”
“How do you know? You’re not the one who’s getting his hair plucked out one hair at a time. Pure my butt, it does hurt …,” she add plaintively. “I’m tender-headed.”
“No, you’re not.” Dissing her with a hiss of air, Ginny saw red.
“How would you know? It’s not your head that’s getting snatched bald—”
Gavin leaned his head forward so he could look her dead in the eyes with an expression she recognized instantly. It was the one that said he could tear her apart in seconds when they were having sex, when he would roughly grab her hair to tilt her head back and she would melt into the flames of his ….
Ginny cleared her throat. “Never mind.” She snapped her mouth shut as she caught Agent Collins’ amused gaze.
“You don’t want to finish what you were saying?” Gavin prompted.
There was no way she was going to let him one-up her. She had her dignity to uphold.
Leaning her head back on Gavin’s shoulder as if she was going back to sleep, she painfully raised an arm over the top of her hair.
“Mr. Beck … would you mind bringing me another soda?”
Chapter Thirty
Smothering a yawn, Ginny sat in Viper’s SUV as she waited with Gavin for Viper to come out of the sheriff’s office. As soon as they’d landed, Knox had been waiting for them at the airport to transport Allerton back to his holding cell. Viper and the federal agents followed Knox straight to the sheriff’s office to have copies of the recorder made. The others on board had taken off in Shade’s and Cash’s vehicles.
“I still say we should stop by Dr. Price’s office and have him check you out.”
“No, I just want to go home.” Ginny put an end to that suggestion. “I’m sore. I’ll be fine in a couple of days.”
“Don’t you think we have something to discuss?”
“Like what?”
“About where we’re going to be staying.”
Her heart plunged. She had assumed he would be staying with her at Silas’s house. Was this it? The great send-off? Was Taylor still at the club? Was that why he wanted to get rid of her?
“Ginny … are you listening to me?”
She quit fiddling with her bracelet that Gavin had hooked back around her wrist after he removed the flower tape recorder.
“I’m listening. I … assumed that you would be staying with me at Silas’s. Are you not wanting to? Are you still angry because I smiled at Mr. Beck? I’m sorry. I was teasing you for being jealous.”
“I was not jealous.” Interrupting her flurry of questions, Gavin waved back at Greer as he came out of the sheriff’s office.
“You were—” Ginny broke off when there was a tapping on the window, she pressed the electronic button to roll the window down.
“What’s up?” Greer said.
“Not much. Waiting for Viper so he can drive me home,” Ginny told him.
“Viper said that fucker whining in the jail cell beat the hell out of you. You okay?”
“Yes, other than being sore. I’ll be fine in a couple of days.”
“Then you’re doing better than the twat waffle in the cell. He’s crying for a doctor.”
Greer’s gaze went to Gavin. “Boy, I’m disappointed in you. If that fucker had taken a cane to my wife, I’d have blown his hand clean off.”
Ginny didn’t doubt he would have. Greer was bloodthirsty as hell when came to defending women. Truth to tell, all the Porter men were. The other men in town would cross the road rather than take a chance on getting on their bad side.
“He’s not my husband,” Ginny quickly corrected his misunderstanding.
“I would have, but Ginny stopped me.”
Her hackles came back at Gavin agreeing with Greer’s violent dismemberment of Allerton.
“Take a piece of my advice. When it comes to shootin’ someone, what the wife don’t know don’t hurt her none.”
Ginny moved her finger back to electronic button. The last thing Gavin needed was to take any of Greer’s marital advice.
“Hey!” Greer shouted.
Ginny reluctantly took her finger of the button.
“You damn near cut my arm off.”
“Sorry.” She really wasn’t sorry, and from Greer’s keen gaze, he was aware of the fact.
“It’s a sorry day when you save that fucker’s arm who beat the fuck out of you, while you try to cut mine off with a window.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“Like I believe that crock. And here I only came over to give you my congratulations on getting hitched.”
“Thank-you. I appreciate your well wishes.”
Ginny raised her voice to be heard over Gavin’s. “Gavin and I aren’t hitched!”
Greer stared at Gavin pityingly. “Boy, you gotta show her who’s boss. She running over your ass now, it won’t be long before she’s taking over your checking account. Won’t let you drink a beer in front of the youngins—”
Greer poked his head up over the roof of the car as another car pulled in next to Viper’s.
Ginny saw Greer’s wife getting out the car as she said something to her sister-in-law, who was behind the steering wheel. From the open window, Ginny could hear the squabble of childish voices coming from the back seat before Holly closed the door to walk around Viper’s car.
“Hey, Ginny,” Holly greeted her.
“Hey, Holly,” Ginny responded. “Sounds like you and Sutton have your hands full with the kids.”
“They’re tired of being cooped up, and so are we. Sutton and I are getting them some take-out and letting them go hiking toward Big Eddy’s Creek.”
“Sounds like fun.”
Holly laughed. “We’re hoping they’ll come back and crash for the rest of evening. Sutton and I need a girls’ night.”
Greer snorted rudely. “How about a hubby night? You promised me for the last week that you would switch out with Sutton and Jessie. What’s a man gotta do to get some lovin’?”
Holly wiggled the back of her finger to Greer, indicting she wanted to talk to him privately.
Mulishly, Greer stomped over to her. “What?”
“I need forty dollars for the take-out.”
“Where you eatin’? Kings?” Greer sulkily took out his wallet. “There’s a twenty; take ’em to 7-Eleven. Their Big Gulps are on sale. Buy two for them heathens to share. It’ll cost you a couple of dollars. Take what’s left and go to White Castle; you can get a ton of those little burgers to feed all of you. Forget the fries; they’re too expensive.” Greer started to put his wallet back in his pants.