“I’ll take what I can get,” she mumbles.
Watching her shrink into herself makes me sick to my stomach. This isn’t the vibrant woman I’ve had my eyes on for years. I place a hand on the small of her back and guide her through the crowded clubhouse. We’ve reached out to our members to put them on rotation to keep security beefed up. Spotting Grimm, I walk over to the end of the bar.
“We’re going to take a ride,” I say over the loud rock pouring out of the speakers overhead.
“Where?” Grimm asks.
“Nowhere in particular. Going to take one of the vans with tinted windows.”
“That’s what the councilman drove,” she says quietly.
I turn to face her. “What?”
“I thought it was one of you guys because he had a black car with tinted windows. He was the last person I expected to get out of the driver’s side door.”
“I bet that was a shock,” I whisper.
“Yeah. About as much as seeing Flint. I only knew him because he tried to get Dad on his take once, rather aggressively.”
“At the funeral home?” Grimm asks.
“No. We were out on a grocery run of all places. He caught us in an aisle. Dad shut him down like that.” She snaps her fingers. “Then he decided to show how charming he was and hit on me.” She sneers. “Not even my type.”
“Why not?” Shadow asks, leaning back from the bar a couple of stools down.
“I like my men a little more well-read and older.” The last part is whispered.
“Well. Good to know.” Shadow salutes her and returns to the beer in front of him.
Grimm leans toward her. “And how did he react to that snub?”
“With male blustery and loud comments about how he wasn’t interested in the first place. All the things that make a girl feel warm and gooey inside.” She bats her lashes, and I snicker.
“So there’s no chance he was out there stalking you?” I ask lightly.
“Gross. Hell no. That was years ago, and I think he did it more to piss off my dad than anything else.”
“Have you looked in the mirror, love? He didn’t need to feign interest,” I assure her.
“And you’ve never seen Flint sniffing around the funeral home?” Aries asks.
“I didn’t. But if you really wanted the answer to that, you’d have to ask my father. Now, I’d be happy to call him for you …”
“I get it.” Grimm turns back around to face the front of the bar.
“It’s an open offer,” Queenie croons with a grin.
“I’m going to grab keys to one of the vans.” I grasp her hand and tug her away.
“What was with the game of fifty questions?” she asks as I move over to the hooks holding the keys.
“We’re just trying to make sense of the actions taking place.”
Pressing her body to me, she looks over her shoulder. “Why are they letting you take me out of the clubhouse?”
“Believe it or not, love, I’m a trusted member of this society.”
She laughs. “If you can’t trust Preacher, who can you trust?” she teases.