Page 40 of Guarded Knight

I spin.

“So how do I stack up?” He quirks an eyebrow. “Rate The Mate?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty archaic for politics today.” I keep myself even, not wanting my body language to invite this guy in too far. “Just having a laugh.”

He smirks. “Oh yeah? You like to laugh?”

“Yeah.” I swirl my straw in the ice, wishing the bartender would stop flirting with the girl on the end so I can get a refill and feel the numbness everyone talks about finding at the bottom of a highball.

Blue Eyes leans onto the bar. “You want to hear a dirty joke then?”

I shrug. “Hit me.”

His lips carve into a dangerous smile. “A girl walks into a bar and tells the bartender she only needs one thing—something strong, fast, and guaranteed to make her moan in public.”

I raise a brow.

“So he hands her to me.”

I laugh, trying to sound confident, like I heard something flirty and cute, not something that makes me want to back away. Idon’t like him; he’s not my type, but for as long as this guy is here, G is not.

Maybe I should have joined Freya with Kat and Santi after all…

But now, facing Blue Eyes, I have the perfect view of G, who is only about ten feet behind the giant hunk of muscle, daggers somehow blasting right through the dark lenses of his aviators.

Gabriel’s body shifts. His shoulders roll back. A fist tightens at his side.

I tip my head back. Toss an ice cube in my mouth and crunch in defiance.

“Can I get you another?” Blue Eyes asks.

“I shouldn’t,” I say, even though I want one. But I’ll buy it for myself.

Blue Eyes stands, blocking my view of Gabriel. He’s at least six five and towers over my small frame. If I stood, I’d be staring at his belt buckle.

He leans closer. “Then how about another joke? I like your laugh.”

I smile, but it doesn’t reach my eyes. Because he’s moved closer.

Not Blue Eyes.The other one.The one I’ve been trying to forget since the second I saw him walk in.

“Lara.” Gabriel’s voice cuts through the wall that is Blue Eyes and even the music.

I lean to the left and see him there, standing now just behind Blue Eyes. He’s unreadable but charged, a lit fuse.

“We need to talk.”

I blink. “Now?”

“Yeah. Now.”

Blue Eyes turns and smiles at him, flashing sharpened teeth. “Is this your girl?”

“No,” Gabriel says dismissively. “But she isn’t yours either. And never will be.”

Blue Eyes straightens. “Is that so?”

“Gabriel…” I murmur, already bracing.