Slowly, Jenny spun in his arms. She focused on his tie, then her hands found his coat lapel. The delicate touch glanced off the fabric, sliding down its edge until her hands fell to her sides. She raised her chin, and the heat in her eyes nearly made him kiss her right in the middle of the bar, in front of the world. That would make tabloid gossip rags before they even left. She didn’t need that. Nobody did.

“Your dinner went fast.”

“I couldn’t stay away. Let’s get out of here.”

She looked away at a few people he recognized from the audition room earlier. “I can’t just walk out.”

“You’re right.” It was selfish to steal her from her celebration. Didn’t keep him from hovering close enough to kiss her lips. “I’ll—”

One of the men next to her stepped closer. “Jenny, this guy bothering you?”

“No. I’m not.” Ash’s chest rumbled when he spoke.

Another guy elbowed the man who’d interrupted. “Oh, man. That’s—”

A split second later, the flash of a camera phone caught him broadside.

Shit. He ducked his head. Ricky walked over, and Asher heard a brief exchange that resulted in the picture being deleted.

Her eyes were wide. “Maybe we should go.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Ash grabbed her hand. “Tonight’s your night to celebrate. Ignore that; next round is on me.”

He tucked her close and flagged down the bartender.

Another flash of a camera.

She spun toward the camera. “Do you mind?”

“Ignore it,” he whispered. “Just you and your buddies here tonight. Forget everyone else.”

“That was one of my so-called buddies.” Her brow furrowed, and she mumbled, “Bitch.”

“Don’t react.” He knew how hard it was to ignore. “They’ll get bored, and the pics won’t sell if there’s nothing interesting.”

She burrowed into his arm. “All right.”

Another snap of a camera. Damn it.

One of the men raised his glass. “To Jenny’s new part and the free publicity.” Several people clinked glasses and offered happy-hour cheers. A couple more clicks of cell phone cameras sounded. Asher could hear Ricky in the background working his way through the crowd, trying to let her have a semblance of privacy. Maybe Asher should have thought this through before he’d shown up.

She smirked at the man who offered the cheers then turned to Asher. “It’s not like that. You’re not free publicity.”

“I know.” Too bad this had New York’s trashy newspaper coverage written all over it. “I messed your night up.”

“Screw them. I want to bail.” She ducked her head. “Let’s go.”

His arm went around her shoulder as they turned to leave. Asher nodded to Ricky, who he knew would do his best to clean up the pictures. Jenny leaned against him as they pushed through the mess of barstools and bodies. Her sweet scent teased him. Asher dropped his chin to the top of her head. “I wasn’t trying to cause a scene, sweetheart.”