“Come on!” Pepper yelled over the music. “VIP has bottle service. We’ll get a drink then go dance.”

Standing between Harlow and Pepper, the three of us linked hands as Pepper led us up the stairs. I was so focused on not getting my heel caught and falling on my face that I ran smack into the back of Pepper when she came to an abrupt stop at the landing.

“Oh, hell no!”

“What is it?” Harlow asked. I looked at her over my shoulder and gave her a shrug before turning back to see what set Pepper off.

“Evening, ladies.” I knew that voice. Once I shoved Pepper out of the way enough to make it to the landing, my gaze settled on the man standing in front of her wearing a cocky grin.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

Unfazed by the fire in Pepper’s eyes, Griffin’s smile grew brighter as he took a step toward her. She tried to back up, but with Harlow and me standing directly behind her, she had nowhere to go.

“Just having a night out with the guys.” He tilted his chin, dragging my attention to where Rowan and another guy sat on plush looking loveseats that surrounded a square table. From the looks of it, the entire VIP area was filled with small seating sections just like theirs.

My breath stalled at the sight of him sitting there. If there was one thing I’d been looking forward to, it was a chance to escape the constant thoughts of Rowan that had been plaguing me. Seeing him there, completely at ease, caused all those hopes of forgetting, at least temporarily, to burst into flames.

“You have got to be kidding me!” Pepper shouted as the other guys made eye contact with us.

“Sis!” the unfamiliar one called out excitedly. Pepper’s brother was most definitely not what I expected. The guy next to Rowan was the complete opposite of his fiery sister. He was most definitely attractive, but in a straight-laced, casual way and none of the flash of Pepper.

“I cannot believe you crashed our girls’ night!” she seethed at Griffin between clenched teeth. “And you brought my brother?!”

“Total coincidence,” he answered smoothly. “I don’t see cause for such hostility, sweetness. Can’t we all just get along?”

From the way her entire body grew rigid, I was willing to bet that was the absolute wrong thing to say. “No, we can’t. And there’s a perfectly good reason for the hostility.”

“Oh, please, enlighten me.”

“It’s simple. I can’t stand the sight of you.”

If the venom in Pepper’s voice hadn’t been enough to convince me what she was saying was true, the way Griffin’s laidback demeanor shifted as he flinched was enough to do it. I had no idea what had happened between those two, but whatever it was, it wasn’t pretty.

Just as quickly as the hurt appeared, it was gone and Griffin’s carefree mask was back in place. “Can I buy you lovely ladies a drink?” he offered to all three of us. “I can speak for the other guys when I say we’d be honored for you to join us.”

“It’s bottle service, party crasher,” Pepper bit before shoving him out of the way. “Move. I need a damn drink.”

As Pepper stormed toward Rowan and her brother, I caught a brief glance of Griffin watching her ass as she walked. Harlow’s elbow nudged my side, drawing my attention to her. From the grin on her face, I knew she’d seen it, too.

“Tonight’s certainly going to be interesting,” she whispered.

“That’s one word for it,” I responded as we slowly made our way over to the table.

“So, that’s him, huh?” she asked with a tilt of her chin in Rowan’s direction. “Jesus H, he’s even hotter in person. And there’s two of them?” Her voice was laced with bewilderment as her focus bounced back and forth between Griffin and Rowan.

“They’re cousins,” I answered.

“Can I have one?”

I tried to sound as casual as possible, even though I was feeling anything but. “Go for it, but I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t be the only one either of them ended up with tonight. Hope you don’t mind sloppy seconds… or thirds.”

“You’re no fun,” she pouted. “What about the other guy?”

“Never met him before, but I’m pretty sure I’ve heard Pepper mention his wife and kid before.”

“Damn. Well, looks like I’ll have to broaden my search.”

I looked at her and shook my head, a smile on my face. “Go forth and conquer,” I teased. “But I need a drink.”

“Me, too. Drink then dance?”

“You’re on.”

Pepper was still pouting by the time we made it to the table, taking a seat on the couch across from Rowan and the guy whose name I still didn’t know. The moment Rowan’s eyes landed on me, I felt them like a physical touch. His icy blue gaze raked over me, sending a chill across my skin. The starkness of the black button-down shirt and slacks he was wearing, combined with his black hair, made his eyes even more prominent. My lungs constricted as I averted my eyes, unable to hold his stare. A myriad of emotions rioted inside me at that very moment—first and foremost, confusion as to why he affected me so greatly, followed by lust as a very close second.

“Wendy let you go to a club opening without her?” Pepper asked her brother before taking a large gulp of the drink in her hand.

“She thinks I’m at poker night,” he responded with a pleased chuckle.

“Not when I call her, Dexter.”

Huh. Dexter and Pepper. They must have really interesting parents.

“Aw, don’t be like that, sis. I didn’t know these two assholes were set on crashing your night. I just wanted to get out of the house for a little while.”

“So, you did crash girls’ night out,” I said, looking back to my boss. The man was too good looking for his own good. Damn it! Rowan hardly ever smiled—at least from what I’d seen—but when he did, it was like a punch right to the gut. And the lazy grin that tugged at the corners of his mouth as he sat back casually, one arm thrown along the back of the couch, his other hand gripping a glass, was too disarming. I quickly looked away, my palms beginning to sweat as I scanned the table in front of me for something to drink. Spotting a bottle of tonic next to a bottle of vodka, I quickly went about making Harlow and myself a vodka tonic.

“Would you believe me if I said it was a coincidence?” Rowan asked in a low voice I hadn’t heard before. When I looked up, the way he was staring back at me had goose bumps breaking out across my skin. Was he… flirting with me? Surely not.

Deciding to let it go and act as normal as possible, I handed Harlow her drink and took a sip of my own. “Nope. Not one damn bit.” Thankfully, Pepper decided to chime in, cutting off our awkward exchange by starting introductions for everyone.

“Navie, huh?” Dex said. “And I thought our mom and dad were thinking outside of the box. How did your parents come up with that?”

My smile felt flat as I looked back at Dex. It was a question I was used to getting, but answering it never got any easier. Suddenly, Harlow’s hand touched my back, offering up encouragement when I needed it without drawing attention. Other than my self-made family at Willow Ranch, Harlow was the only one I ever talked to about my upbringing. I never hid the fact that I grew up in foster care, but I didn’t go around advertising it, either. And I certainly never talked about my mother with anyone I wasn’t extremely close to.

Relaxing a bit with Harlow’s touch, I answered, “My mom gave me that name because of my eyes. She said they were the same color as my dad’s.”

That was the truth. And also the extent to which I ever spoke about my mother. I breathed a sigh of relief and took a large gulp of my drink when my answer didn’t spur on any further questions.

Pepper downed her drink and shot to her feet.

“Let’s dance!”

Gladly.