“Fine,” I pout, sliding on my socks and tennis shoes as Noah does the same.
Griffin herds Noah and me into his truck and drives down the street. He lets go of the steering wheel with his right hand, driving with his left, and reaches for my hand. Curious to see what his goal is, I comply.
Griffin weaves our fingers together and rests our clasped hands on the center console. His thumb lightly traces the side of my hand, which does crazy things to my stomach. It’s like he knows what he’s doing to me because as we wait at a red light, he smirks and winks at me. I do my best to keep a straight face, but he sees right through me and chuckles.
This man. I don’t know what I’m going to do with him.
My needy pussy has a few ideas…
After a few more minutes, I have a good guess of our destination. “The Wandering Raven isn’t exactly a surprise,” I say candidly.
“Just wait,” Griffin instructs, shifting his truck into park, but doesn’t cut the engine. He turns to Noah in the back seat. “With me, bud.” Then instructs me, “Stay here.”
I side-eye him. “What’s going on?”
Griffin ignores my question and takes Noah inside. I’m alone for only a few moments when Griffin returns. He hops back in the driver seat and steers his truck down the dirt road I wandered the other night. I’m thrown around my seat like I’m a feather as we drive over all the bumps and rocks. A cloud of beige dust hangs in the air behind us. The tall grass and trees don’t feel nearly as terrifying in the daylight.
“Noah is cooking with Camden in the kitchen. He’s teaching him how to make fries. I wouldn’t leave him somewhere he wasn’t safe.”
My head bobs up and down in affirmation. “I know.” The thought that Griffin could be leading Noah into a dangerous situation didn’t even cross my mind.
“I need your help with something. Actually,weneed your help.” He doesn’t take his eyes off the road.
My head cocks to the side. “Okay…”
“Knox came across another dealer and has him tied up in the barn. We need you to be there while we try to get information out of him. You know things about Lewis Whitlock that we don’t. We need to confirm that he’s The Alienist.”
I feel like I should be worried about this. Like I should be running away screaming. But I’m not scared. Not a single cell in my body is urging me to high tail it out of here.
Am I that fucked up?
“If you’re not comfortable with it, just say the word. I’ll turn around right now. We can pick up Noah, go back home, and you can finish your book while Noah and I play outside.” He glances at me periodically, searching my face for clues on how I’m feeling.
The barn comes into view ahead of us, another thing that doesn’t look so scary during the day. The paint could use a touch up, and the various plants around the barn could use some trimming. But other than that, it looks like an ordinary barn.
“I’ll do it.” It’s an easy answer to give. If having me sit in on their little interrogation helps take down Whitlock, I’m all in.
And I’m not under the notion that their questioning is friendly. I saw the last guy. He didn’t look like he’d just walked through a meadow or something.
Griffin stops a small distance back from the barn doors and turns to me, shifting in his seat and resting his forearm on the steering wheel. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Griffin unbuckles his seatbelt and mine then lifts me over the center console by my hips. I yelp as he sets me down in his lap and arranges my long legs so I’m straddling him.
My stomach does a somersault.
“Don’t we need to?—”
Griffin cuts me off as he places his hand on the back of my head and pulls my mouth to his. The kiss is simple but conveys everything he’s feeling. I squirm in his lap, my core aching for more. But all too soon, he pulls me back and leads us out of the car.
No explanation as to why. No apology for getting me ready to go then pulling away.
Griffin has no trouble picking up on my frustration, which he finds amusing. He giggles like a little kid who just played the world’s best prank as he grabs my hand, leading me into the barn.
My eyes narrow as I ascertain how to give him a terrible case of blue balls in retribution. But before my plan can take shape, we step inside.
Slivers of light bleed into the barn, painting a sinister and full picture. And interestingly enough, the inside of the barn is just as creepy as it was at night. I shouldn’t be impressed that these two have mastered inflicting fear in the light of day, but here we are.
