She looked so damn offended, but honestly, it was a fair question.

Wasn’t it?

“I keep forgetting about the money,” she said quietly as she forked one of the sprouts and put it in her mouth.

“Me too,” I admitted before feeling like a fucking idiot. That was something I couldn’t allow myself to forget about. That was how I’d get taken advantage of—by letting my heart take precedence over my head.

Sutton sucked in a long breath as our next round of drinks arrived. “I’m not sure I can drink another.”

She laughed, but I slid it closer to her.

“You deserve it after the night you’ve had.”

“Me? Your mom is probably going to disown you, and now, she’s never going to leave the country or the company. You’ll be stuck with her forever. We failed.” She grabbed the drink she had just claimed she couldn’t have and swirled the straw around before taking a sip.

“I thought we talked about that already. My mother will be fine. We didn’t fail. We stick to the plan.”

“Right!” Sutton pointed at me with the straw before putting it back in the drink. “Stick to the plan.” She took another swig before looking at me, her green eyes all doe-like and sincere, like I could take her to my bed and have my fucking way with her if I asked.

“I should probably get you home,” I suggested, and she looked crestfallen before she pulled her expression together and forced a grin.

“Oh, okay,” she agreed like I had known she would.

Tonight’s food and drinks would go on my credit card that the speakeasy had on file, so there was nothing to handle or deal with before leaving. Sutton moved toward the way we had come in, but I reached for her shoulders and spun her in the other direction.

“The exit’s over there.” I pointed toward a dimly lit doorway in the corner.

“This place is weird,” she said before clearing her throat and adding, “but in an awesome way. I’ve never been anywhere like it.”

“Privacy, remember?”

“I remember.”

I’d already fired off a text message to my driver, letting him know where to get us, so when we exited into the freezing air, I wasn’t surprised to see him waiting for us, rear door open and the car running. Sutton started to bend down to get into the car when I stopped her.

“Sutton, wait,” I said, and she turned to face me. There were no other thoughts in my head, except wanting to claim this woman as mine. I grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her mouth toward me.

The second my lips pressed against hers, I was a goner. Her mouth opened, and my tongue moved inside as my fingers fisted in her hair, holding her close. I was possessed. And possessive. And I never wanted to stop. But when clapping started from somewhere in the distance, I blinked and pulled away. It was a harsh reminder that we were on a public street even if the people cheering were doing it from a distance.