Page 50 of The Bad Wedding Date

I’d heard enough. Unlocking the door, I pulled it open and stepped out in front of both men. Their eyes widened as they turned to look at me, wearing their designer suits, their hair styled almost identically.

My arms folded over my chest, purposely pushing out the biceps before I bounced my shoulders, flared my nostrils, and stared at them in waiting.

Tristan looked to Penn, and Penn’s eyes went wide.

“Please… carry on,” I said. “Finish what you were saying. I’m all ears.”

Penn took a step back, and I didn’t miss the small smirk on his face. Tristan, however, held his hands up in surrender. “Shit, dude, I didn’t know you were in there.”

“Don’t call me dude.” I shook my head. “I want to hear what you had to say.”

Tristan looked to Penn for help, but Penn was a coward and a smarmy one at that. He had nothing to offer. Nothing that would help his friend.

Tristan’s eyes slid to my arms before they found my face again. “We don’t want any trouble here.”

I tilted my head to the side and narrowed my eyes. “No?”

He shook his head.

I took a step closer, and he flinched, the back of his legs hitting the urinals. “Then let me make one thing crystal clear: so long as I don’t see you looking in Charlotte’s direction for the rest of the night, there’ll be no trouble.” I took another step closer. “But if I so much as hear you whisper her name, or even see a look in your eyes that tells me you’re thinking about her, I will drag your undercooked arse back in here with my John Rambo arms, and I will smash your face into a urinal full of another man’s piss before I put your body through a wall.” I leaned in closer, bringing a smile to my face and raising my brows. “Do you understand me?”

Tristan’s features hardened before he begrudgingly offered me a nod.

“I can’t hear you,” I pressed.

“Yeah, man, I under—”

“I’m not your dude. I’m not ‘man’. I’m not mate, pal, buddy, or a friend. I’m Charlotte’s guy, and I will fucking end you. Are we clear?”

“Crystal,” he croaked.

Standing back, I let my hands fall by my side before I reached up to pat his weak arm. “Glad to hear it. You fellas have a good evening, and don’t even think about taking anything from a woman without her permission because I’ll find out about that, and you don’t want to see that side of me.”

I didn’t look back as I walked out of that bathroom. I didn’t need to see their faces to know I’d just made two brand new enemies for the night. I didn’t even care.

The only thing I cared about now was protecting her…

And hoping I didn’t give myself away before all of this was over.

15

Charlotte

I’d stayed longer than I thought I would, and that had to count for something. My duty had been fulfilled. If it hadn’t been for Fraser, I’d have left a long time ago.

My fake date wasn’t there now, though, and I had a bad feeling I wouldn’t see him again after the way I dismissed him before, but I wasn’t anybody’s puppet. I’d spent too many years saying yes when my heart meant no.

“I see your bodyguard has finally disappeared. A welcome relief, I’ll admit,” Matteo said behind me, his voice too close for comfort, forcing me to spin around on my heels and take a step back to put some distance between us. Two glasses of champagne rested in his hands, and he held one out for me to take. “I make good on all my promises.”

I held up my own glass. “I already have one but thank you.”

“That’s almost empty. Come now,” he said, rocking the offered champagne glass. “Don’t hurt an old man’s feelings by rejecting his kindness.”

With a flat smile, I dropped my almost empty glass to a nearby table and politely took the crystal champagne flute from him, not missing the way his fingers brushed over mine when I did.

The guy was old enough to be my grandfather, and I didn’t want to be rude, but if he kept looking at me that way, I’d have to make an excuse to escape before my big mouth said something entirely inappropriate. Like how I’d rather rub myself in birdseed and lay in the park to offer myself as a sacrifice to the winged.

“That wasn’t too hard, was it?” he asked. “Please… drink.”

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