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Rowan rested his side against the bar next to me, his elbow propped up casually as he brought his glass to his lips. I was momentarily mesmerized by the way his lips wrapped around the edge, how his throat bobbed when he swallowed. I had to give my head a quick shake to pull me from my stupor.
“Maybe asmallone,” he teased. “What? You thinking of becoming a gold digger?”
“Nah, not really my style.” I scanned the room once more, taking in all the money that was wandering around—an ideal scene for people watching, honestly. I gave Rowan a cheeky grin. “But I’m sure you’d have no problem finding one here if you’re in the market.”
It was like perfect comedic timing—only not funny whatsoever—when an elegant, French-tipped hand snaked over Rowan’s shoulder just seconds before a surgically enhanced blonde plastered herself to his side.
“Rowan,” she purred in an annoying nasally voice. From the strange look of her face, I could only assume the Botox had botched her attempt at a seductive expression. To Rowan’s credit, he at least appeared to be caught off guard, but that was more than likely because he’d forgotten the plastic woman’s name two minutes before she’d walked out his door—or he walked out of hers. None of that lessened the sharp sting I felt in the pit of my stomach as I watched the two of them.
“Uh… hi…”Yep, he totally forgot her name. His wide, icy eyes shot to me as if wanting me to step in and save him. Not a fucking chance in hell. He’d made his bed, had sex with the five-foot-nine Barbie Doll in it, he could very well lie in it.
“You don’t remember me?” she asked with what I was assuming was a pout. Hard to tell with all the collagen pumped into her lips. It took an act of God to prevent me from reaching for my phone and snapping a quick picture. I wanted to blast that baby all over Instagram as a warning to always seek a board-certified plastic surgeon.
Did she get that shit done in Tijuana or something?
When all he did was stand there like a dumbass mute, she continued. “Brandi… with ani?” She lowered her voice conspiratorially. “The bathtub at the Waldorf?”Oh, gag! “You called me sweetheart?”You and every other available vagina this side of the Hudson.
“Oh, of course!” Rowan lied through his teeth. “Brandi. Yes, I remember.”
She attempted a grin that couldn’t bust through the toxins she’d pumped into her skin. “I knew you would!” I wanted to gouge my eyes out. Or better yet, stick a fork in one of the airbags she called a boob and watch her fly away. “Are you here alone? We could leave a little early if you wanted, go back to my place…” She trailed a fingernail down the lapel of his jacket, lower and lower until Rowan grabbed her wrist, stopping her just inches from being indecent.
I was pissed.
Or more aptly, I was jealous. And that itself was enough to piss me off evenmore. I didn’t get jealous.Ever. I’d never been jealous in my life. Yet there I sat, fuming over the biggest man-whore on the eastern seaboard. Good Lord, how had things spun so out of control?
“Um, no. I’m actually—” he began to answer.
Clearing my throat loudly, I pasted on a saccharine-sweet smile as they turned to look at me. Boobzilla scanned me up and down, clearly finding me lacking. Rowan just looked downright uncomfortable, which was really saying something, considering nothing seemed to ruffle his feathers. Seeing his immense discomfort suddenly shifted something inside of me, tapering off the decent sized mad I’d been working on. He didn’t want her pawing all over him. He’d even begun to tell her he was with someone before I interrupted. While I would have loved to throw a Texas sized hissy fit, he honestly hadn’t done anything wrong. At least at that moment. For that reason, I decided to throw him a bone.
I extended my hand in the human blowup doll’s direction. “Hi, I’m Navie.” When her expression remained impassive, I continued. “Rowan’s date.”
She let out a less than feminine snort. “Youmustbe joking.”
“She’s not, actually,” Rowan answered, detaching himself from the she-bitch and moving to my side, snaking his hand around my waist. My heart did a little flip at his possessive gesture. My body liked thatwaymore than it should have. “It was nice seeing you again. Enjoy your evening.”
Just like that, he turned his back on her, stepping in front of me and effectively cutting her off. But I wasn’t done.
Taking a page out of Rowan’s playbook, I looked over his shoulder, smiling big as I said, “Lovely meeting you, Barbara.”
“It’s Brandi,” she glowered.
“Whatever.”
When I looked back at Rowan, his eyes danced with amusement and I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. “Something tells me I’m going to be very happy I brought you with me tonight.”
I pursed my lips together and blew out a long puff of air, creating a less than ladylike sound. “Pfft, of course you are. I’m delightful.”
“Come on then.” He chuckled, pulling me from the barstool. “Let’s go have some fun.”
“As long as I don’t end up behind bars again, I’m down. If you’re in there with me, who’d bail me out?”
He hadn’t been lying.
Holy hell, I was bored out of my ever loving mind. Sure, we’d had fun bidding people up on some ridiculous auction prizes, but that had been the highlight of the evening. There was schmoozing. Oh, dear Lord, was there schmoozing. My face ached from the fake smile I had to keep plastered in place as people came up to Rowan, droning on and on about the most trivial bullshit.
During dinner, it had taken Rowan pinching me on my knee several times just to keep me from falling asleep. I was pretty sure I was going to have a bruise tomorrow. And I might have dug my knuckles into the meaty part of his thigh in retaliation. Or just to liven up the mood. Whatever.
I wasneverdoing a black tie event again.Never!
