Cooper Johansson might be incapable of pulling off subtlety. Or he can’t do it with me. Either way, he aggressively suggests Audrey should show me one of the family’s bars. When I announce I’m not in the mood for redneck B.O., he nearly jumps across the room to tackle me. Only his wife’s gentle touch keeps him from getting his ass whooped by a man half his age.

“It was Pop-Pop’s bar,” Audrey says and hurries to the closet to find a jacket. “I had my first legal beer there.”

“Well, then I ought to check it out,” I tell her, though my gaze never leaves Cooper.

He grinds his teeth and mutters obscenities under his breath, but the fucker gets his way when I walk outside with Audrey and head to my truck.

“What’s the con?” I ask, opening the door for her. “Are his club brothers going to jump me? I could use a workout after that big meal.”

Audrey waits until I walk around to the driver’s side and join her in the truck. “Let’s bail on the bar and go somewhere else.”

“Why exactly should we do that?”

“My sisters left just before we came inside. I think they’re setting something up for Pop at the bar.”

Struggling not to laugh, I ask, “Wait, do you really think his biker bros will rough me up?”

“It’s not funny.”

“I can break asses with the best of them, Pip,” I say, turning in my seat to see her better in the dark truck. “But I’m not opposed to driving to my hotel and hanging out. Of course, if we bail tonight, your father will only find another time and place for his big move. Why not get it over with when we know it’s coming?”

Audrey scoots closer. “What if they hurt you?”

“Your father won’t have me fucked up in a serious way. He just wants to scare me, so I’ll understand whose turf I’m on. You worry too much.”

“My father makes people disappear.”

“So does mine,” I say and start the engine. “I’ve also added more than a few assholes to the missing persons list.”

Obviously stalling, Audrey takes a seriously long time to snap her seatbelt into place. I finally look up the address to Whiskey Kirk’s and set the GPS directions.

“I’ll buy you a fuzzy navel,” I say, driving down the long road past her grandmother’s house and to the main highway.

“If things get dicey, I’ll have your back.”

“I know.”

Audrey frowns at my response, likely expecting me to tell her to stand down and let the men handle shit. She isn’t wrong about my first thought. My second consideration is how Audrey needs to embrace her gut decisions. If she wants to charge into battle, I won’t be the one to stop her.

“It’s a good-looking place you grew up in,” I say as we wait at a light two blocks from the bar.

“But it’s not White Horse, right?”

“Nowhere is, but Ellsberg ain’t bad.”

Audrey stops pouting long enough to point at a small, corner restaurant. “I worked there for three weeks when I was sixteen. It was my first job, and I made good tips.”

“Why only three weeks?”

“A tourist pinched my ass, and I went psycho on him.”

“No special treatment for Johansson’s daughter?”

“Oh, I got special treatment. Anyone else would have ended up in jail.”

“Psycho, huh?” I ask, laughing at her expression. “Man, I would have loved to see you fuck up that guy. Bet it was a sexy sight.”

“I was sixteen.”

“Not everything sexy has to lead to fucking. Get your head out of the gutter, little one.”

“Shut up,” Audrey says, but I bet she’s blushing in the darkness. “I can’t help where my mind goes when you’re around.”

“No, baby, you really can’t. I should give you more slack about that.”

Audrey reaches over and rests her hand on mine while I drive the final blocks to the bar. “Promise me you won’t do something stupid and get yourself hurt tonight.”

“No.”

“Can’t you lie?”

“Not to you.”

Audrey’s smile lights up the truck. I don’t even fully park the truck before my lips cover hers. When she lets herself believe in us as completely as I do, my woman is fucking fearless.