Disconnecting the cell phone from the charging cable, Ginny felt an inexplicable rush of pleasure at doing something some couples refused to share. She knew it was silly, but it felt as if Gavin was sharing another part of his life with her.
Making the call, she felt better once she had spoken to Dr. Price.
Disconnecting the call when she finished, she put it back on the charging station.
As they were driving past Mick’s bar, Ginny was tempted to ask him to pull over for a burger, then decided against it. Her mouth was still too sore, and she realized she hadn’t put the ice pack back on her lips and jaw, moving her finger up to explore her face.
Confused at the absence of pain, she lowered the sun visor to look in the mirror. She was still staring at her face in bewilderment when the SUV stopped.
Flipping the visor up, she saw they were at The Last Riders’ clubhouse and factory.
“You dropping Viper off before taking me home?” Holding her anger back until her suspicion was confirmed, Ginny gave him the opportunity to answer before she reached for his phone to call Silas to come get her.
“Viper, you go ahead. Ginny and I will be up in a few.”
Waiting until Viper closed the door behind him after getting out, Gavin turned the motor off, studying her face as he unbuckled his seat belt before turning in his seat to face her. “You’re looking better.” Reaching out, he brushed a fingertip across her bottom lip. “Ginny, for now, it makes more sense to stay here.”
She didn’t let his softness sway her. “How does it make more sense?”
“Allerton may be in the FBI’s custody, but he has enough money to take you out in the blink of an eye. No one will be able to get near you at the clubhouse. We both know you won’t stay in Silas’s house. You’ll be running all over the property, putting not only yourself at risk, but your brothers.”
“No one comes on our property without the dogs or one of my brothers knowing.”
“Silas’s house has a road right in front of it with another property that someone could get access to without your knowledge. A sharpshooter could take you out while Silas is out of the house, or they could take him out also.”
Ginny swallowed hard at the thought of one of her brothers being caught in the crossfire. She started fiddling with the ice pack on her lap, unable to come up with another reason not to stay at the club.
“Ginny, am I taking it too much for granted? Do you not want to live with me?”
“I do.”
“You just want it on your terms, then.”
“That’s not true. I want us both to be happy.” Ginny licked her dry lips, still shocked at how much of the swelling had gone down. “I thought you liked living at Silas’s house and working with my brothers.”
“I do, and I will be again when we build our home where you want to. I’m too old to be waiting for Silas to go to bed for you to sneak down to my room, and yours is too small. And take into account whether you would be comfortable having sex with your brother in the house. Would you?”
“No,” she admitted.
“Why don’t you want to stay at the clubhouse?”
Her stomach did a flip at the gentle way he spoke to her.
“I know why Willa and Viper made it a rule for me not to go upstairs when I worked at the club and why I had to be out of the clubhouse by five on Fridays.”
“Killyama told you?”
“Gavin, if you get Killyama in trouble, I’ll never forgive you. She’s like a sister to me.”
“Ginny, it wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what goes on upstairs. It’s a motorcycle club, hell, not an apartment building.”
“I would die if I were to see one of the men naked.” She hastily qualified, “I wouldn’t be thrilled to see any of the women naked either.”
“I’ll make sure that they’ll behave themselves as long as we live here,” he promised.
“Won’t that make them mad at you?”
“They can deal. It’ll only be temporary.”
“How long are we talking about?”
Gavin shrugged. “However long it takes you to build our house. With your brothers and The Last Riders working on it, shouldn’t take longer than three or fourth months. If the weather stays good and it doesn’t rain much, two or three.”
“Is Taylor still here?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t asked. If she is, I’ll tell her to leave.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want to be with you if your mind is still on her.”
“Taylor is the last thing on my mind. I’m more concerned about making you happy right now.”
“You are?”
“I am.”
Her heat melted. It was the nicest thing he had ever said to her.