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Surprisingly, Vincent glances over at me every so often as if he’s checking that I’m still okay. The first few times, I look back at him, but the next few, I only feel his gaze on me and make a point of pretending not to notice. If he realizes I’m watching him too closely, my secret mission will be blown right out of the water.
At one point, he even ambles back over to the table, looking annoyed by himself but following through anyway. A dark scowl settles over his features when he looks down at me, but there’s something in his eyes that isn’t just irritation. I may be mistaken, but it looks a lot like genuine concern to me.
“Are you still okay over here?”
“Why does everyone keep asking me that? I’m fine. Really. I’m watching all these people and learning more about what is considered normal behavior in the wild.”
The joke pops out before I can stop it, and Vincent’s lips quirk before he can do anything about that either. Maybe it’s the alcohol or the strange ease with which he seems to operate around pubs, but he doesn’t storm away immediately.
“The wild?” He cocks his head, narrowing his eyes in thought before he gives me a sudden—and very rare—grin. “That’s not a bad way of describing it actually. Things can get pretty wild at night. Are you sure you’re ready to be part of it?”
“Are you sure you care?” I ask, but not in my usual snide way when I speak to him. In fact, my tone is curious.
He frowns as if the answer to my question surprises him as much as it surprises me. “Do I care that something might happen to you while you’re out with me? Yes. My parents would kill me, and your dad would flay me alive if you get hurt on my watch. But you’re also one of us, Olivia. I have to care. I’m not a fucking psychopath.”
“You’re basing all that on the assumption that something is going to happen to me if I stay out here in the wild with you, but I’m fine. Really. No one has even bothered me all night, never mind made me feel unsafe.”
“If you’d seen the looks you’ve been getting, you might feel differently.” He sighs, but I see the movement of his chest more than I hear the sound. Sliding his hands into his pockets, he surveys me for another beat, then nods. “If you do end up feeling unsafe, wave at me. Until then, just leave me alone.”
“I have been leaving you alone. I haven’t approached you or even tried to get your attention once tonight, so you really don’t have to keep reminding me. Also, James is still here,” I point out. “I could wave at him too.”
Vincent smirks, and his brow twitches upward. “Really? Could you? You know, for someone who’s supposed to be trained in the art of observation, you’re not very good at it.”
My head jerks to the side toward where I saw James dancing with the blonde just a minute ago. He’s not there anymore, though. Immediately scanning the room, I finally find him furiously making out with her in a corner.
Yeah… There’s no way he’ll see me signaling to him.
“It looks like you’re stuck with me, then.”
He blows out another, deeper breath this time, expression darkening once more.
There. That’s so much more natural for him when it’s me he’s looking at.
“Yeah, it looks like it,” he says, sending an annoyed glare over to James’s corner before focusing on me again. It’s weird, but in the light of the pub, his eyes are an almost electric blue, and they’re mesmerizing.
It’s no wonder girls fall all over themselves for him in settings like this.
“Just do me a favor and stay out of trouble, all right? I got lectured on how we have to take care of you tonight, and now somehow everyone who was so worried about you has disappeared and it’s up to me to make sure nothing happens to you. Yay me.”
“I’ll be fine.” I assure him, not wanting him to get so irritated by the situation that he refuses to let me come out with him again when I need to be doing it for the foreseeable future. “Ignore the lecture and go do your thing. I’ll wave if I need you, but I won’t. I’m a big girl, and I’ve been practicing martial arts with my dad practically since I learned how to walk. Don’t let me spoil your fun.”
His gaze is still locked on mine, studying me for a moment before he nods. “Yeah, okay. I’ll check in on you again later. Do not, I repeat, donotmove from this spot. Do not disappear on me. Do not leave without telling me, and do not accept drinks or anything else from strangers. Are we clear?”
“Yes, master,” I tease, trying to lighten the moment even though it’s hilarious to me that he thinks he can give me orders and I’ll just follow them.But also, why is it turning me on a little when he looks at me like that and orders me around?
Crap. There must be something wrong with me… or my club soda. Vincent shouldnotbe turning me on. Unfortunately for me, I know there’s nothing wrong with my drink. I opened it myself, and I’ve been holding it the whole time. There’s no way someone doctored it with something, which means I’m turned on, in public, by Vincent, and I’m stone-cold sober.
In an equally unexpected twist, I swear I see heat flaring in his eyes when I call him that, but he tamps it down just as fast as I do and grinds his teeth, his jaw ticking as though he’s trying to control something within himself.
Without another word, he spins on his heel and stalks away, all smiles again when he reaches his girls. The smiles are definitely tighter, though, which is odd. I haven’t seen him looking at them like that before.
About an hour—and a few more drinks for him—later, he marches back to my table and motions to the door. “We’re leaving. There’s a club on the next block that’s supposed to be good. Are you still in, or do you want to go back to the hotel? I’m pretty sure James will be headed back soon.”
“Oh, no, I’m still in.” I stand, draining the last of my soda and picking up my purse, fixing a grin I definitely don’t feel on my face. “I’m having fun, and I’ve never been to a club. It’ll be interesting to see what all the fuss is about.”
“Fuck,” he mutters but then holds out his hand and pulls me to the door where the girls are already waiting.
I stumble after him, but I can’t seem to stop looking at our joined hands instead of focusing on where we’re going. Because with his skin on mine, his fingers tightly woven with mine, I feel something. Energy. A spark. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s definitely there, and I’ve never been more confused in my life.
