Finn kept his word, and the other guys watched Sam, making sure he wasn’t going to make another move. Sam, apparently not wanting to get arrested for a witty comeback, flipped them the bird and then spun around to head for the door, bumping into other people along the way.

Kincaid let out the breath she’d been holding and tried to ignore the tremble that was working its way through her body. “Show’s over, everyone,” she announced, trying to feign a smile. “Drunken asshole has exited the building.”

A few people clapped half-heartedly, probably disappointed that the entertainment was over, and her friends made their way back to the table. When Ash turned around, there was anger simmering hot in his eyes. Kincaid reached out as he got close, taking him by the arm and steering him toward the back of the bar and into the hallway near the bathrooms. “Hey, are you okay? Let me see your hand.”

“I’m fine,” he said stonily. “Prick.”

“Yeah, his momma must be so proud,” she said, taking Ash’s hand and examining his knuckles under the bluish light in the hallway. His hand was already starting to swell a little. “Well, damn, you’re going to feel that in the morning. You shouldn’t have risked your precious typing hands on a jerk like that. I could’ve handled him.”

Ash’s gaze flicked up to hers, an argument there. “He was going to hit you.”

She looked down, a ripple of unease going through her again. “Yeah, well, hurt egos and alcohol make men do stupid things.”

“Don’t,” Ash warned. “Don’t give him an excuse. There’s no excuse for the things he said to you. And there’s damn well no excuse for him even thinking about hitting a woman.”

She nodded and let out a breath. “I know. I’m not trying to give him a pass, believe me. I think I’m just a little shaken up. And a lot embarrassed.”

“Embarrassed?” he said, confused.

She shrugged and focused on his hand, flexing each of his fingers as she went, her stomach tying in knots. “Yeah. For sleeping with that idiot in the first place. For having my sex life announced to all my friends and everyone else in the bar.” Her cheeks burned. “Even though he has no right to call me anything at all, it still rattles me to be called a slut. Feels like middle school all over again. Makes me wonder if I’m more like my mother than I think.”

“Hey.” Ash slipped his hand out of her grasp and cupped her chin with his good hand to force her to look at him. “Don’t even go there. You’re not your mother. You could walk naked down Main Street and fuck a whole county of single guys and you wouldn’t be her.”

“Hashtag life goals,” she whispered, trying to make a joke, but the words got caught and her eyes stung with tears.

“Ah, hell, KC,” he said, pulling her in for a hug and setting his chin atop her head. “Don’t cry. That idiot doesn’t deserve your tears. He should be thanking God that he got to touch you once because he’s never going to be near anything that good again.”