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She got it.
Her lips were already forming the first word when his gaze caught hers. Her mind went blank immediately at the shock of how he was looking at her—as if he wanted to eat her up in the best way possible right here, right now, whoever was watching be damned.
Aaaaaaaaaand that was end game for her panties.
Startled into movement, she pulled her hand back from his chest. Her fingertips tingled and her bra was suddenly way too tight.
He glanced down at the spot where she’d pressed her palm to his chest, and a look of confusion flickered across his face.
“Okay, if you two are done eye fucking,” Andy said as if he wasn’t the guy being forced to face-plant on the bar. “Can I get up now?”
Astrid cocked her head and scrunched up her mouth as if she was really thinking about it. Yeah, they all knew how this was going to end, but she was petty enough to want to drag it out a little longer.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Open mouth as if to speak.
Close mouth.
Tap chin.
Was that a slight upward tilt of her protector’s lips?
Were those butterflies performing aerial acrobatics in her stomach?
“Astrid,” Andy grumbled.
Fine.
She looked down at Nola’s jerk-face cousin and smiled—it wasn’t a nice one—and then locked eyes with her mystery man. “Thank you for this very thorough demonstration of what happens when you’re a jackass, but you should go ahead and let him go. I’m sure Andy has learned his lesson.”
Her watchdog in human form didn’t look convinced. He released his grip but didn’t step back. Instead, he stood his ground—arms crossed, glare on point—as Andy did his best to sit up without even coming close to brushing against the other man.
She didn’t blame him, even though Astrid was already trying to think of all of the different ways she wanted to be doing a lot more than brushing up against him. In five point six seconds, she already had more ideas than could be completed in the span of her usual one-and-done timeframe—unless, of course, he had killer stamina.
She bet he did.
The man she was doing very dirty things with in her imagination gave her a searching look. “You good?”
“Absolutely fabulous.” And horny as hell.
He nodded, shot one last death glare Andy’s way, and then went back to his end of the bar where his barely touched pint was waiting for him.
Did she watch him walk away?
She sure as hell did.
When a man had an ass that filled out a pair of jeans that perfectly and thighs that were thick enough to put his seams to the test, attention had to be paid.
God, she really was a mess. Next time Nola asked her to cover her shift at the bar, she was going to say no.
Okay, that was a lie. Astrid knew the situation. Nola’s aunt had the pub up for sale, and that meant all the bartenders were fleeing for more secure employment. That meant Nola was working double the number of shifts she normally would. And that meant Astrid covered for her so she could have a rare night off because that’s just what friends did. Nola and the third in their best friend trinity, Thea, had been there for her after the debacle of her almost wedding day, and she’d always be there for them.
Ride or die—or, in this case, ride and pour pints.
Andy sat in his seat and sulked while his buddy kept his attention focused solely on his beer. Meanwhile, Astrid couldn’t stop sneaking looks over to the other end of the bar where her muscled hero sat scrolling his phone. Yeah, staring wasn’t polite, but she’d basically grown up in one hockey locker room or another, and that hadn’t exactly been etiquette school.
