One Night Only

  "The blond," I mumbled as I stared down at my hands. The really hot one with the sexy tattoos who's great with his hands.

  A muscled arm wrapped around my shoulders and pulled me over. I ducked my head against Everett's shoulder and let him hug me. Except he didn't let me go after a couple minutes like he usually did.

  I raised my head. "What are you doing, Ev?"

  He grinned, but there was a bit of steel behind his eyes. "I'm being a good boyfriend."

  I started to roll my eyes, but when he raised an eyebrow, I realized he was serious. He knew how upset I was, how shitty I'd been treated, and he wasn't going to let Jace get away with thinking that he'd hurt me.

  Everett pressed a kiss to my forehead. "I'm serious, Sav. Let me play the part and show that bastard that he lost the best thing that could've ever happened to him."

  It was appealing, I had to admit. Flirt and cuddle with Everett so that Jace could see that what he'd done hadn't destroyed me, that I wouldn't be spending my time mooning over him like some lovestruck schoolgirl.

  But was that really how I wanted to play things? I wasn't sure.

  Nineteen

  Jace

  The girl who'd gotten Alix all tied up in knots had been gone for like two weeks, but he still looked like shit. I knew Erik was worried about his cousin, and any other time, I would've been right there with him. Hell, I knew I should've been with him and Reb when it came to trying to cheer up our friend, but another part of me wanted to side with Alix, to tell him it was okay to brood.

  I'd been so sure I was in the right that when I stormed into Abel Updike's office, I'd been all righteous anger. I hadn't thought twice about threatening that smarmy little man with a lawsuit if he didn't immediately take Savannah off the story and assign it to someone else. I didn't want her anywhere near me or my show.

  Except when I'd stepped outside the office and she'd been there, all of the anger inside me had burned away, and I'd known that if I looked at her even once, I'd have been lost. Because deep down in my gut, I knew I hadn't been fair to her.

  "Jace." Reb elbowed me right before I walked into a wall. "Pay attention."

  "Sorry." I scrubbed my hand over my face. "Long day."

  I needed tonight with my friends as much as Alix did. We'd chosen a restaurant over a club, but a beer – or three – was definitely in my future.

  And then I heard a familiar laugh. For a moment, I froze, sure I had to have been mistaken. But then I saw her out of the corner of my eye and wondered how in the world I could have not seen that she and my masked woman were the same. I'd know her anywhere, no matter how painful it was.

  And seeing a tall, attractive man with his arm around her was definitely more painful than it should have been.

  I forced myself not to look directly at her, but I couldn't stop myself from sneaking a peek as we walked by. She was with two other women as well, but it was the guy who had my attention.

  I didn't like him.

  "You're not looking so hot," Alix said as he plopped down in the seat next to me.

  "Right back at you," I snapped. "I'm in the mood for something harder than a beer. What about you?"

  "Talisker," he ordered the moment the waiter appeared. "A lot of it."

  "So..." Erik launched into some story that I didn't particularly care about, and wasn't nearly distracting enough.

  She was laughing again. Dammit. I couldn't do this. I sighed, then leaned back so that I could actually see her.

  That blond douche had his hand in her hair, raking his fingers through silky curls before tracing a finger along her jaw. It wasn't just that he was touching her that irked me. It was the fact that he seemed so relaxed about it. Like it was his fucking right.

  It wasn't that I wanted to touch her, of course. Just that I didn't think she'd appreciate being manhandled in public.

  I was only looking out for her.

  Except that didn't explain why my hands kept clenching, or the churning in my stomach.

  Or why I couldn't stop myself from looking over at her constantly, needing to see what she was doing, if she was smiling. That was what I didn't understand. How could she be smiling after what happened? I'd gone off on her, then sabotaged her career. Hell, I'd be seriously pissed if she done something like that to me. But she seemed to barely care. Did that mean she didn't care about her job? That didn't really mesh with the woman I met, but now I wondered if anything about her had been real at all.

  "What the hell's up with you?" Reb asked as he motioned for the waiter to bring us another round. "You look constipated."

  "Shut up, jackass." I punched his shoulder harder than I probably should have. "You're one to talk. You look like shit."

  He gave me a one-shouldered shrug. "Yeah, well...bite me."

  "Eloquent, Reb. Really."

  As he picked up his now-full glass, he used his free hand to flip me off.

  "Jay, sweetheart!"

  Dammit. This seriously couldn't be happening.

  I hadn't seen her at all in four years, and now I couldn't get away from her.

  Just as I opened my mouth to tell her that I was busy with my friends, I saw something out of the corner of my eye that made me instantly do a one-eighty.

  Savannah was watching.

  I used my foot to push out the empty chair next to me and watched as Bianca artfully draped herself in it. As always, every move was made to draw as much attention as possible. I wasn't particularly interested, but I made myself look at her legs as she crossed them, at her breasts as she folded her arms in a way that pushed up her cleavage.

  "Ready to admit how much you missed me?" The toe of her shoe ran up the inside of my calf.

  I raised an eyebrow and ignored Reb muttering unflattering things under his breath. My friends hadn't liked Bianca any more than we'd liked Reb's ex. That was okay though. I wasn't inviting her to become a part of my life again, just letting her distract me. I didn't care much how she did it.

  Before the main meal arrived, she was sitting as close as possible to me, her thigh pressed against mine, her arm across the back of my chair. Her fingers raked through the back of my hair, nails scratching my scalp hard enough to sting. I knew what she was trying to do, but it wasn't working. I could appreciate that she was beautiful, but I felt no attraction to her. Hell, my cock didn't even twitch when she put her lips against my ear.

  Her words, however, made the rest of me sit up and pay attention.

  "So, is that woman over there, the one you can't take your eyes off of, the reporter I'm supposed to watch out for?"

  Twenty

  Savannah

  I wasn't really sure when I made the decision to take Everett up on his offer, only that it had been easy to lean into him, to let his touch linger. I didn't feel anything more than the same friendly, platonic warmth I'd always felt for him, but it'd been nice. So I'd let him flirt and joke and tease, and I'd gone along with it.

  And then a pretty, curvy woman with perfect chocolate skin sauntered over to Jace and started some very un-platonic flirting.

  It shouldn't have hurt to see him letting her run her hands over his neck and shoulders, whispering sweet nothings in his ear. The fact that she was practically sitting on his lap shouldn't have made me wonder when they'd met, if they'd already fucked, when they would fuck again.

  And it shouldn't have made me angry enough to move from where I was sitting to Everett's lap.

  He gave me a startled look but didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around my waist. He put his face close to mine so that he could speak without anyone else hearing. "Sav, sweetheart, I don't think this is the sort of place where a lap dance is entirely appropriate."

  I laughed and kissed his cheek before moving back to my own seat. Everett had gotten the message though and put his arm around me. I'd never thought of myself as a petty person, but I couldn't deny that I enjoyed knowing that if Jace looked over here, he'd see me with an attentive, smoking hot man...and not thinking about him at all.
>
  And it worked, made me feel better.

  Until I looked over and saw the woman with her hand in Jace's lap under the table.

  "Excuse me," I mumbled as I jumped up. "I need to use the restroom."

  I doubted my friends believed me, but I didn't wait around to explain. Heat flooded my face as I hurried toward the back of the restaurant. I'd been an idiot to think that this was a good idea. The moment I'd seen Jace come in, I should have told my friends I wanted to leave. I wasn't a woman who normally played games, and I shouldn't have tried to change that.

  After I washed my hands, I splashed cold water on my face, then patted it dry, grateful that my make-up was waterproof. It'd be bad enough to go out there with flushed cheeks. Looking like a raccoon was completely unacceptable.

  I automatically glanced up when I heard the door open, and then immediately wished I hadn't when I saw the dark-haired beauty who'd been hanging all over Jace. I turned my attention back to drying my hands and hoped she didn't catch the fact that I'd been staring for a few seconds before I caught myself.

  Heels clicked on the tiles as she came closer, and I realized that things were about to get awkward as I tried to explain why I'd been looking at her. I took a slow breath, fixed what I hoped was an adequate smile on my face, and straightened. As I turned toward her, I opened my mouth to apologize, but only got out the first syllable before she interrupted.

  "I know who you are."

  Shit.

  I had two choices, and neither one was appealing since they both required I stay where I was rather than run away. I could play dumb and pretend that I had no idea what she was talking about, or I could own up to everything and hope that she wasn't Jace's girlfriend.

  "I think it's tacky that you'd follow Jace here," she continued. "But he's too polite to tell you to fuck off, so I figured I'd do it for him."

  My jaw dropped. That hadn't been the angle I thought she'd play. "It's not like–"

  "Look," she cut me off again, "I get that he's probably the best sex you've ever had, but you should know that he only fucked you to make sure you gave him a good review."

  I flinched as her words hit me, but before I could take them to heart, logic piped up. I squared my shoulders. "If that's true, why did he get me thrown off the story? Seems to me, if he only slept with me so I'd give him a good review, he would've wanted to stay in my good graces. Getting me demoted wasn't really the best way to do that."

  The woman's eyes narrowed, but she didn't miss a beat. "Because I came back. Jace wanted me. He always wants me. And he didn't want to wait until the show was over to have me. I always come before his little hobby."

  I felt a flicker of anger at her referring to Jace's art as a hobby, but then remembered how he treated me and pushed it aside. I still wasn't going to accept this woman's version of how things had gone though. I could accept that he'd been angry with me for not telling him as soon as I realized who he was, and I could even understand why he'd think I might spill his secrets, but seducing me for a good review then breaking things off in such a humiliating manner didn't seem to be Jace's style. I might have misjudged him, but I doubted I'd done so that much. He could have walked away without making it personal, and gotten both a good review and still been with this woman.

  "Why'd he fuck me the second time, then?" I asked, crossing my arm over my chest. "If he was in such an all-fired hurry to get back to you, why didn't he just break things off and walk away the moment he saw me?"

  Something flickered across her eyes and her mouth tightened. I almost thought I'd struck a nerve by giving her something she couldn't explain away, but then she shrugged.

  "You threw yourself at him, so he gave you a pity fuck. I don't know many men who'd turn down free pussy, no matter how bad you are at sex."

  I sucked in a breath as the barb went deep. Was that what happened? Had I been so desperate to have sex with him again that I convinced myself that he wanted me when all he'd seen was an easy fuck?

  I clenched my jaw to keep back the tears burning my eyes and stepped around the woman. As soon as I was out of the bathroom, I headed straight for the exit. I couldn't stay, not even with Everett there next to me, pretending to be my boyfriend.

  The evening air was hot and muggy, thick with all the scents of the city, but I gulped in deep breaths all the same, willing the warmth to calm my fragile nerves. I needed to get myself together before I hailed a cab.

  "Savannah, what's wrong?" Lei asked from behind me.

  I turned to see all three of my friends standing there, wearing nearly identical expressions of concern on their faces. Lorde wrapped her arms around me while Everett and Lei transitioned from concerned to pissed.

  "What happened?" Everett asked. "Did that asshole–"

  I held up a hand. "He didn't do...he didn't say anything."

  Lei's eyes narrowed. "Spill it, Sav."

  They clearly weren't going to let me go home until I told them, so I just blurted out what happened. All of it. Pretty much verbatim. And then I leaned back against the wall and covered my face with my hands, pretending that none of this ever happened.

  Twenty-One

  Jace

  By the time Bianca came back from the restroom, Erik was eager to get back to Tanya, and Reb wanted to take Alix somewhere to get some harder alcohol. Since I wasn't about to get stuck at the table with just Bianca, I told the guys I was going to the bathroom before heading out, then said a quick goodbye to her as I passed. Maybe it was the coward's way out, but I wasn't feeling particularly brave or chivalrous at the moment.

  "Where the fuck do you get off, you self-centered bastard?!"

  I blinked down at the petite Japanese-American girl glaring up at me. She poked me in the chest to make sure I had no misconceptions about who she was talking to. It still didn't tell me who she was though...and then it hit me. She was one of the women who'd been sitting with Savannah.

  Shit.

  "How dare you use my friend like that? You sleep with her, so she'll give you a good review, and then when some old piece of ass shows up, you can't even walk away like a decent person? You had to humiliate her and get her demoted?"

  I shook my head and held up a hand, confused. "What the hell are you talking about?"

  The woman's eyes narrowed to a scary degree. "That tramp you had hanging all over you told Savannah everything."

  My stomach twisted painfully. "I'm going to need you to slow down and explain exactly what it is you think I did."

  The girl crossed her arms, the expression on her face almost making me take a step back. "Why? You didn't give Savannah a chance to explain anything before you jumped to conclusions and tried to ruin her life. So why shouldn't I believe what your friend said?"

  "Bianca's not my friend." I wasn't sure why that was important for me to make that clear before I addressed anything else. "What exactly did she say? And to who?"

  She seemed to be considering whether or not to slap me and walk away, or actually answer my question. "Savannah. Your Bianca bitch told Savannah that you only slept with her to get a good review for your show."

  What the total fuck?

  "That's not...shit." I closed my eyes for a moment as the events of the last few days replayed in my mind rapid-fire, each and every mistake I'd made showing up in glaring technicolor. "Savannah really didn't know who I was the first time we were together, did she?"

  "No."

  A sharp nail dug into my chest again, and I opened my eyes to see a look of pure disgust on the young woman's face.

  "And she'd never tell anyone the sordid little details of what you did either. She didn't even tell us. Just that the two of you met at a club and hooked up. We're not idiots. We know when she's lying or hiding something. But we also know that she would only do that for a good reason." Even as the guilt dug in its claws, Savannah's friend put her hands on her hips. "I have no clue why she'd keep things from us for you. You don't look like you're worth it."

  The sad thing was, as s
he walked away, I wasn't entirely sure I disagreed with her.

  I needed to find Savannah.

  I turned and rushed toward the entrance, fully expecting to have to find a taxi. Except, as soon as I stepped outside, I remembered that I didn't know where she lived. I turned, now at a loss of what to do next, but then I saw someone familiar. The tall, good-looking blond man who'd had his hands on Savannah.

  I took two steps toward him, then realized that he and the other woman from Savannah's table were both holding on to someone.

  Savannah.

  Knowing that I could quite possibly get a broken nose for what I was about to do didn't stop me from doing it. I owed her the risk at the very least.

  "Savannah?" Three pairs of eyes looked at me, and I wasn't sure which set was more pissed. "Can I have a word with you?"

  "Arrogant little–" The man took a step in my direction, but Savannah put her hand on his chest, a gesture of familiarity that made my stomach twist.

  "Everett." Her voice was quiet. "It's okay. Let me talk to him." She looked up at him. "I'll meet you at home."

  Home? Jealousy was a bright, hot lance through me. Why had I come out here to apologize to her for the misunderstanding between us if she'd been living with some guy this whole time? And there was no way in hell he was her brother. Brothers didn't touch their sisters like he'd been touching her.

  Still, I'd made a mess of things before because I made an assumption rather than talking things out. I'd say what I came here to say, then I'd listen to her. After I heard her out, I'd decide what I should do from that point.

  Everett and the unnamed woman walked away, shooting me angry looks as they went back inside. Before I could say anything else, Savannah gestured for me to follow her. We moved around the side of the building to a small and surprisingly clean alley. Half a dozen bicycles were locked up near a door that I suspected led into the kitchen or back room of the restaurant, but I doubted we'd be interrupted. The place had been packed.