I blushed.
Not from the way this stranger was staring at my boobs, but from the fact that Iain was sitting right there.
Watching him do it.
He was stoic, but I caught the single tick in his jaw and it made me feel all warm and tingly all over.
Frickin’ Mia, I cursed inwardly, embarrassed and at the same time, weirdly thrilled as I remembered that she had yanked my neckline down before I came over here, just so my boobs would be extra booby for the famous Mr. Ass—who was in fact Iain Fucking Thorn, literally the person I used to think of when I fantasized about being a grown-up, dressing sexy someday and showing off the miracle boobs I got the summer after sophomore year, that no one in the world knew about because of the stupid, childish clothing Mom always forced me to wear.
“Would I be wrong about that, sweetheart?”
Shit.
My focus snapped back to Ruddy when I realized he was still talking to me.
“I’m sorry—what was that?” I asked, sounding breathier than I had wanted. He grinned.
“I said the way you strut around in that lil’ dress… would’ve guessed you were plenty experienced,” he said, bringing his heavy gaze back up from my skirt and tossing me a cheesy wink that would’ve made me want to roll my eyes if I weren’t so busy being completely distracted.
Because I didn’t have to look to sense Iain’s displeasure.
I could feel it.
The shift in the air. The heat of his gaze. Without even looking at him, I could feel his shoulders tensing, his body stilling. Every hair on the back of my neck was suddenly standing up now, because I could literally feel all his attention zeroing in on me, locked tight on me as Ruddy geared up with another question.
“So, new girl. What time do you get off tonight? ‘Cause my boy Ty Damon is outside and we were thinking of taking the night to a club if you wanna recommend any—”
“Oh, pfft! Don't ask her,” Lana snorted hastily, interrupting the way she generally did when the spotlight strayed from her. “She wouldn’t know anywhere cool, she’s like, a baby. Total city virgin.”
Ruddy lifted his eyebrows at me.
“Oh yeah?” he said, a dirty grin spreading his lips so slow that it made my skin actually crawl. “Well, that’s perfect for me. You know why?”
He paused, seeming to savor the look of discomfort I had on my face before I humored him reluctantly.
“Why?” I asked.
He chuckled.
“’Cause there ain’t nothing I like better than little blonde virgins with nice, big—”
“Watt,” Iain cut in.
Holy fuck.
A single word and a chill erupted up my spine, settling into a hot buzz on the back of my neck, because God, that voice.
I missed that voice.
It was so low and crisp, with an effortless command that froze me right in place as I watched Ruddy—rather, Watt—react like a kid who’d just been scolded by his teacher. His mouth snapped shut and I’d caught the way he startled before recovering fast, giving a scoff and flashing a cocky grin as he turned around.
But when his mouth opened to say something, Iain spoke brusquely over him.
“Go wait outside with Ty,” he said.
Whoa.
My mouth fell open at the steely command, because it rolled off his tongue so smoothly, with no hesitation—like a man whose authority had never once been disobeyed. And maybe it hadn’t, because Watt stared in disbelief for another second, but then he sneered and muttered something under his breath, knocking back the last of his beer before getting right up and stalking wordlessly past me and a completely wide-open-mouthed Lana.