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I settle back against the booth, studying him. "That's what you've been thinking about all night?"

Rowan shifts in the booth and reaches for his glass again. "I'm serious."

"I know." My gaze drags to his mouth before lifting again. "You looked terrified of me the first day at Caervast."

His chin comes up. "I wasn't terrified."

I grin. "You were. You kept looking at me like I was about to eat you alive. And when I joined you in the pool…"

"That's because you kept staring at me."

"Mm." I drag my thumb slowly along the rim of my glass. "Maybe I liked the way you looked staring back. I most certainly liked the way you kissed me back…"

Rowan's cheeks darken in a way that should be illegal. "That's because you didn't give me a choice."

He reaches for his drink again just to have something to hold, and beneath the table, I slip off one of my shoes before letting my socked foot slide slowly between his legs.

"That's right, little mouse."

I drag my foot slowly along the inside of his thigh beneath the table, enjoying the way his breath catches and his fingers tighten around the glass.

"Ciaran…"

"Keep talking."

He stares at his drink instead of me. Fuck me, he's pretty when he's flustered.

"You said you invited me because I looked scared of you. That's a terrible reason to invite someone anywhere."

I grin. "And yet you still came. You even came apart in my hands at the pool like a dirty boy."

Rowan huffs out a breath and shifts in his seat, the movement pressing him more firmly against my socked foot beneath the table.

I watch him swallow before I murmur, "Ask your questions, baby. I'm listening. I know you want to know more."

"Okay, um⁠—"

Noise from downstairs bleeds through the walls around us. Somewhere near the bar, somebody laughs too loudly. Glass breaks. The Black Chapel keeps moving around us while Rowan sits across from me looking like he accidentally wandered into the wrong life.

Lie.

I mean, he did, but Dad ordering me to keep an eye on Rowan was the true reason I invited him. Or perhaps I would have invited him anyway. I fucking love the Noctis.

My foot rubs against the hardening outline between Rowan's legs beneath the table, feeling the way he tenses around the pressure.

"Your family owns this place, doesn't it?"

I lean back against the booth, keeping my foot where it is. "Is that what your research told you? Yeah, we own most of the clubs on Sero."

"It must be nice to be so famous." Rowan presses his lips together and adjusts his grip on the glass. The movement nudges him harder against my foot beneath the table.

I raise a brow. "Famous?"

"You know what I mean. Having people talk about you all the time."

"Do they now?"

Rowan glances into his drink. "You know they do."