I grabbed the little bottle of perfume, gave myself a spritz, and then smiled at my reflection. My bangs had fallen back over my forehead, dammit. Nothing could be done about that.
Slipping the strap of my bag over my shoulder, I walked back into the bar. I passed the group of girls, and luckily, Kristen wasn’t attached to his side when I reached them. She was standing there, though, her head bowed alongside another girl’s. They were whispering and giggling about something. Reece saw me first. His brows lifting, and my heart pounding, I touched Brock’s arm.
Brock turned sideways and looked down. He was well over six feet, and I was barely pushing five foot six. He towered over me, and I barely came up to his chest. “Jillybean,” he said in that deep, rough voice of his. “Where in the world have you been?”
“Um, I’ve been talking to Katie,” I said. “She had to head back to work.”
He grinned as he reached behind and picked up his beer from the bar. “She didn’t even come and say hi to me.”
“Well . . .”
Brock dropped his arm around my shoulders and drew me against his side. He smelled wonderful. A fresh, crisp scent that reminded me of the outdoors. My entire body shivered. “I was just looking for you, actually. Thought you ran off without me.”
“No.” I couldn’t stop the smile racing across my face.
“Good to hear that.” He squeezed my shoulder. “It would’ve hurt my feelings.”
Colton turned from Reece and he had that look on his face, that off-duty cop look. “Hey, Jillian.”
“Hi,” I squeaked out, because Brock’s hand was moving on my arm. Well, it wasn’t his entire hand. It was just his thumb. He was tracing a circle along my skin.
He lifted his bottle. “Didn’t realize you’d turned twenty-one.”
“Um,” I mumbled.
At that exact moment, Jax appeared behind the bar. His eyes widened when he saw me standing next to Brock. “Hey,” he said, crossing his arms. “You know I got mad love for you girl, but you can’t be in here. Twenty-one and under is only on Wednesday nights . . . thank God,” he added under his breath. “When did you even get here?”
I sighed inwardly. Considering I’d been here for two hours, it was kind of embarrassing how easily I went unnoticed. I could probably strip naked and no one would see me.
“Oh hell.” Brock slid his arm off my shoulders and put his beer on the bar. “Didn’t even think about that.”
My face was burning as he looked down at me. “It’s okay. We were—we were leaving anyway, right?”
Brock’s brows knitted together. “What? Oh! Shit. What time is it?”
“Um.” I started to dig my phone out, but he’d already pulled his out of his back pocket.
“Here,” a soft voice interrupted, and I looked up. It was Kristen. She was holding two shot glasses. “Do one with me, Brock.”
Brock glanced down at me, still holding his phone.
“Come on,” she coaxed, and I stiffened as my fingers tightened around the strap of my purse. “You promised me.”
“I did.” He took the shot, but he didn’t drink. His eyes, so dark they were almost black, met mine. “Damn, Jillybean, I’m sorry. I didn’t know it had gotten so late.”
Fully aware that Kristen was waiting, like, right beside us, I said, “It’s okay.”
His gaze flickered beyond me, and an odd shiver coursed down my spine. He was looking at Kristen. “What are you doing tomorrow evening?”
Tomorrow evening? I blinked slowly. I was planning to head back to Shepherd, and he would be leaving with my father and the Lima Team. So why was—?
“How about we grab something to eat tomorrow? Yeah.” Brock’s smile could stop traffic. Right then it stopped my heart. “That would work better.”
“What?” I breathed, thinking I didn’t hear him right, because he wouldn’t be home tomorrow. He wouldn’t have time.
“We can grab dinner then,” he continued, lifting the shot glass with an easy grin. “Spend some one-on-one time together.”
My body flushed hot and then cold as realization sunk in. He was ditching me. He was ditching me for his friends and for Kristen, and there’d be no dinner tomorrow night, because he wouldn’t be here. He was flying out with Dad, and Dad liked to get to the airport early.
“Jillian,” Jax said, his brows lifting.
Flushing to the color of my lipstick, my gaze darted around the group frantically. Reece was looking away—looking at his long-time girlfriend Roxy, who was down at the other end of the bar. Colton was studying his shoes. The guy I didn’t recognize was smiling at the group of girls, oblivious to everything except the girls. And Kristen . . . Kristen was looking at me the way every girl looks at that girl, the one who has no clue—the one who gives you second-hand embarrassment.
Oh God.
“Yeah. Um, that’s cool.” I backed up, blinking back the sudden tears in my eyes. This was so humiliating. I needed to go. I needed to leave right now. “Tomorrow is fine,” I croaked out, knowing that tomorrow wasn’t going to happen.
Tonight was no different than any other night, and I’d been so dumb to think otherwise.
“Jillybean.” He turned to put the shot on the bar. His mouth was drawn in a tight, flat line. “Hey, let me walk you out.”
I smiled, kept on smiling even as his face began to blur. “No. That’s not necessary. It’s okay. I have to go anyway.”