Grabbing my purse off the table, I pried it open and dug out my phone. I saw that it was now getting close to nine. Oh God. Would we still be able to go to the steakhouse? I wasn’t sure what time they closed. My gaze flicked up as anxiousness burned a hole straight through my stomach. I had no idea how long I sat there, but when I checked the time again, it was past nine.

This wasn’t happening.

Tonight was supposed to be different—special.

I couldn’t let this happen.

Gathering up every ounce of courage that existed inside of me, I slid off the barstool and started walking forward. At the very last minute, I veered to the left and before I knew what I was doing, I was walking to the ladies’ room.

Oh God, I sucked.

Once inside the obsessively clean restroom, I dug around until I found the tube of red lipstick. I reapplied it with a shaky hand as I gave myself a little pep talk. I was going to leave the bathroom and walk right up to Brock. Wasn’t like I was interrupting him. I would ask if we were leaving soon, and he would then realize the time and how long I’d been waiting. We’d leave and tonight—tonight would get back on track.

I grabbed the little bottle of perfume, gave myself a spritz, and then smiled at my reflection. My bangs had fallen back over my forehead, dammit. Nothing could be done about that.

Slipping the strap of my bag over my shoulder, I walked back into the bar. I passed the group of girls, and luckily, Kristen wasn’t attached to his side when I reached them. She was standing there, though, her head bowed alongside another girl’s. They were whispering and giggling about something. Reece saw me first. His brows lifting, and my heart pounding, I touched Brock’s arm.

Brock turned sideways and looked down. He was well over six feet, and I was barely pushing five foot six. He towered over me, and I barely came up to his chest. “Jillybean,” he said in that deep, rough voice of his. “Where in the world have you been?”

“Um, I’ve been talking to Katie,” I said. “She had to head back to work.”

He grinned as he reached behind and picked up his beer from the bar. “She didn’t even come and say hi to me.”

“Well . . .”

Brock dropped his arm around my shoulders and drew me against his side. He smelled wonderful. A fresh, crisp scent that reminded me of the outdoors. My entire body shivered. “I was just looking for you, actually. Thought you ran off without me.”

“No.” I couldn’t stop the smile racing across my face.

“Good to hear that.” He squeezed my shoulder. “It would’ve hurt my feelings.”