I’d expected a dance club, maybe something fancy with twenty-dollar drinks and miles of twenty-something coeds in tiny black dresses. What I hadn’t expected was a low-key bar in the suburbs, with darts and what Julia called “the best sampling of beer in Illinois.”

As long as they could make me a vodka gimlet and I could be in constant physical contact with Chloe, the night might not be too much of a disaster. I followed the girls inside, shooting daggers at every leering douchebag in the place as we made our way up to the bar. Julia plopped herself down on a worn leather stool, shouting something to the bartender about the usual for the ladies and something pink for the pretty boy.

On second thought, this was going to be a long night.

Sara—clearly still a bit unnerved by my company—sat on the other side of Chloe, and made her recount every last detail about her defense. Chloe told her about Clarence Cheng, about how I’d barged in there and been an ass**le, how she’d presented both projects, and even been offered a job.

“Two jobs,” I clarified, staring her down so she knew I was thinking she’d better damn well f**king take the job at RMG.

She rolled her eyes but none of us could miss her proud smile. With their beers and my pink Cosmo raised in the air, we toasted Chloe on a job well done.

Beside me she downed her beer and then wiggled off her seat. “Who’s up for some darts?”

Sara raised her hand and jumped a little. After a single beer, she seemed tipsy and loose enough to not act like we were still in the office. I slid my gaze down the length of Chloe’s body. I rather liked the idea of watching her stretching and moving to play darts in that tight little number.

“You coming?” she asked, leaning down and pressing her br**sts into my forearm.

Fucking tease.

“Hoping to, very soon.” I let my eyes linger on her mouth before dropping to her chest. Beneath the thin fabric of her top, her ni**les pebbled.

Her laugh brought my attention back to her red lips and she pushed them together in a playful pout. “Is Bennett a little keyed up?”

“Bennett is a lot keyed up,” I said, pulling her between my legs and kissing the curve of her ear. I wanted to be patient and let her enjoy this night, but patience had never really been my strong suit. “Bennett wants Chloe naked and touching his cock.”

With a giggle, she danced away and to the back of the bar, her arm linked with Sara’s.

Julia put her hand on my shoulder, glancing quickly behind us to make sure Chloe was out of earshot. “You did good.”

I was uncomfortable discussing personal issues with all but a few people in my life, and this most personal of all conversations was the last thing I wanted to have with a virtual stranger. Still, Julia had taken the time to track me down for Chloe’s sake. That definitely took balls.

“Thank you for the call,” I said. “But I do want you to know I would have gone to her anyway. I couldn’t stay away anymore.”

Julia took a sip of her beer. “I figured if you were anything like her, you were about to head in for another round. I called because I wanted you to have that confidence you needed to go in and just be your best bastard self.”

“I wasn’t too much of a bastard.” I frowned, considering. “I don’t think.”

“I’m sure,” Julia drawled. “You’re the portrait of compromise.”

Ignoring this, I lifted my fruity girl drink and drained it.

“She’s so happy tonight,” Julia murmured, almost to herself.

“She’s thin.” I glanced at where she stood, poised and ready to throw a dart. She did seem happy, and for that I was thrilled, but the difference in her body was also hard for me to ignore. “Too thin.”

Nodding, Julia said, “She exercised too much, worked too much.” Her eyes searched mine for a beat before she added, “It wasn’t good, Bennett. She was a wreck.”

“So was I.”

She acknowledged this with a teasing smile. The sadness was in the past, after all. “So if you’re going to keep her in bed for the next few days, just make sure you give her breaks to eat.”

I nodded, moving my eyes to the back of the room, where my girl spun a couple of times, took aim, and then barely hit the dartboard. She and Sara broke into laughter, pausing only to say something that then made them both laugh harder.

And while she played and danced to the Rolling Stones, I felt the weight of my love for her settle into a heavy warmth in my stomach. Two months apart was nothing in the grand scheme of what we had ahead of us, but in our shared history it felt enormous. I wanted to dwarf it with time spent together.