that Olivia could handle herself and was capable of taking care of herself. But this was different. The danger level was different. The consequences were different.
The worst that could’ve happened back then was her getting a broken bone. The worst thing that could happen now was her getting assaulted or…I couldn’t even think about it.
I glanced back over to them just in time to see Mr. Wall Street checking out Kenna’s ass as she took the order at the table beside them. He wasn’t even trying to be sly about it. I didn’t understand how any guy could even notice another woman when they were with Olivia.
When I looked at her, the entire world disappeared.
Travis’s phone buzzed and he grabbed it off the table. “That’s it for me boys. Mia needs me to stop by the store for a diaper run. Doody calls.”
“Dad jokes?” Bentley shook his head with disappointment. “Really?”
“Yep.” Travis was beaming, looking anything but disappointed that he was calling it a night to go home to his wife and baby. “Later guys.”
“Alright, man. Good seeing you.” I lifted my hand in a wave.
“You too.”
Travis hadn’t even made it out of the bar before Bentley’s phone lit up. From the smile that spread on his face, I didn’t need ask who the text was from. “Maisy’s done with her meeting early.” Bentley downed his drink. “I gotta go. Booty calls.”
“That was worse than Travis’s dad joke.”
“’Cause I’m not a dad. Yet.” Bentley stood and his face split in a grin from ear to ear, clearly excited at the prospect of future fatherhood. “You gonna head out or…?”
“Nah, I’m gonna hang for a bit.”
“Alright, man. Well don’t be a stranger.” He pulled me in for a one-armed man hug. “And do me a favor. Keep an eye on Liv.”
Bentley didn’t have to ask for a favor. That was exactly what I planned on doing.
Chapter 14
Olivia
“Don’t wear your wishbone where your backbone needs to be.”
~ Maggie Calhoun
“Did you always know that you wanted to be a lawyer?” I asked, doing my best to appear interested in Matthew’s answer even though I was counting the minutes until this date could end.
He turned back to me after checking out yet another woman that walked by. If I had a dollar for every female’s ass he’d ogled I’d be going home with at least a hundred bucks.
“What?” he snapped, obviously irritated that I’d interrupted his gawking.
“Nothing.” I finished off my second drink of the evening, one that I had been nursing for the past hour.
When I set my glass down, Matthew leaned forward, his eyes gleaming with more interest than he’d shown all night. “Are you ready to take this party out of here?”
This “party” was going absolutely nowhere and under any other circumstances, I would’ve been out of here an hour ago after one drink if I didn’t have such a captive audience. Even though I knew it was ridiculous that I was playing games, I couldn’t help myself. Holden Reed was watching me like a hawk, and I was more than happy to be his prey.
As much as I wanted to believe that his interest in me was personal, I had a feeling that it was the same motivation that had caused him to move next door to me. He was Bentley’s spy. That was the only thing that could possibly explain why he was still at the Cow.
My brother and Travis had left over an hour and a half ago, but Holden was still perched at the high top with his eyes glued to me. He wasn’t even trying to be subtle about it. Every time I looked in his direction, we locked eyes.
I hated myself for it, but I loved that he was so focused on me, even if his reasons were just out of loyalty to my brother. So, I planned on squeezing every last second out of this date I possibly could, because I was not ready to relinquish Holden’s undivided attention.
“Do you want to dance?” I asked Matthew.
He stared at me for a beat, and I could actually see him calculating whether or not it would be worth it to put in the work of getting off his ass and taking a spin on the dance floor with me to get a chance at tapping my ass. That was never going to happen. But over the last ninety minutes I’d discovered Matthew suffered from two conditions that made it impossible for him to recognize that. He