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“I should take you to a nice lunch,” he growled. “We can talk about when you are leaving town.”
He felt so heavy, it was hard to breathe. Summoning courage, she eased her eyes open. “I’m. Not. Leaving,” she gritted out.
“Oh, come on. Surely you can be persuaded. Let me take you for lunch at the Brass Buckle. That would be the perfect dining place for someone with your…character.”
“My character?” she uttered, fury heating her blood.
“You’re just like one of those whores, aren’t you, Miss Flemm?”
“It’s Mrs. Shaw,” she forced out through her gritted teeth.
“I think she declined your offer already, Mr. Jennings.” Garret stood in the entryway to the alley looking calm and unflustered. Except for the clenching of his jaw, which she focused on as she gazed over Clint’s arm, still locked beside her face.
“I don’t want to be here,” she said to Garret.
He nodded minimally. He’d heard her, he was taking her seriously, but his attention was fully on Clint Jennings. “I heard you invite my wife out for lunch, but you know how it is with newlyweds. Three’s a crowd. Get your fuckin’ hand away from my wife’s face.” She’d never heard this kind of snarl in Garret’s voice before, and it chilled her blood when she heard an answering growl from Clint. Something bad was about to happen.
“Garret,” she said, drawing his attention. “I want to go home. To our home. I want to feel safe.” Yeah, she was working him. If he turned into a wolf here in the middle of the day, there was no way of hiding that from the public. As much as she wanted to see the animal side of him, she didn’t want to see it here.
Garret’s glowing eyes were trained on Clint for three breaths, and then he twitched his head. “Come here, Eliza.”
Yep. Yes fuckin’ sir. She was comin’. Eliza steadied her shaking breathing on an exhale, took the time to stand straight and smooth the wrinkles from her dress, and then stepped around Clint and made her way to her husband.
The moment she reached him, he grabbed her hand and led her away. He pulled her into the nearby Brass Buckle and headed straight up the stairs.
Well, this was scandalous, but also, she wasn’t asking questions because she could hear the constant snarl rattling his lungs from here. He was barely in control right now.
Fear kept her from asking where they were going. His strong grip told her he was furious. He pulled up short and knocked on a door at the end of a long hallway. Burke opened it and looked first at her, and then at Garret. Something in the latter’s face made Burke backpedal into the room and invite them in. “Come on, then.”
There was a saloon girl lying on the bed, but she sat straight up and then stood up in a rush.
“Get out,” Burke said shortly.
“I’m sorry,” Eliza told the woman as she scurried past her, clutching her undone dress to cover her breasts.
“Clint was threatening her,” Garret said.
“Shit. You want me to get the boys?”
“Yes.”
“No,” Eliza barked out. “No, nope, absolutely not.”
Burke’s glowing eyes leveled her with an angry glare. “You ain’t the Alpha here.”
“You will not expose yourselves on my behalf,” she said sternly.
Burke and Garret just stared at her.
“I’m fine!” she said.
Uncertain, Burke looked to Garret and then back at Eliza. “You don’t want us to defend you?”
“I don’t require it, but I know sometimes men must. And if you must, all I ask is that you do it smartly.”
“Smartly. Woman, we could have his guts laying in the middle of the street in three minutes in your name,” Burke growled.
“And then what? The town knows for sure what you are?”
