When we arrived at the double doors of what I assumed was a penthouse because it wasn’t a normal-size apartment, he rang the bell and the doors swung open almost immediately. The music was loud and the girl at the door looked like something out of a magazine.

“Jason!” she squealed, throwing her arms around him. “You’re here! We’ve missed you.”

I watched as he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. I would not care. Besides, she was probably the girlfriend of his friend who was throwing the party.

“Told you I’d be here,” he replied, stepping back and scanning the room. I was almost prepared for him not to introduce us. I wasn’t sure how I would respond if he didn’t. It wasn’t like I could leave. I had no money. I hadn’t brought my purse because it didn’t match this dress and wasn’t nice enough.

“Vanessa, this is Jess. Jess, this is Vanessa, a friend of mine from school,” he said, surprising me.

Vanessa’s appraising gaze made me nervous and angry at the same time.

“Guess it’s a good thing Jo isn’t here,” she replied, shooting Jason a look that made me cringe. “It’s nice to meet you, Jess.”

“You too,” I managed to choke out.

Jason placed his hand on my back and led me inside. That small touch helped ease my fear a little, but the moment we were inside he dropped his hand.

“Jason, you’ve been hiding,” a guy said. “Talked to Jax last night, and he said you were vacationing.” The guy shifted his gaze to me, and a slow grin touched his face. “And who is this?”

“Cameron, this is Jess. Jess, this is Cameron,” Jason said in a bored tone.

“Jess, huh? Well, Jess, how have we not met before?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer that.

“Because you don’t visit south Alabama,” Jason replied, taking a shot glass from a tray as a waitress walked by.

Cameron raised his eyebrows. “You’ve been hiding out at Jax’s summer place? Why no invite?”

“Been busy,” Jason replied.

Cameron’s eyes shifted back to me. “Yeah, I can see that.”

Jason glanced at me. “I need something more than this to drink. You thirsty? I’m going to the bar.”

Those were the first words he had spoken directly to me since we were in the limo. Startled, I just shook my head. Jason didn’t ask if I was sure or take my hand. He just walked off and left me there.

Cameron, on the other hand, didn’t go anywhere. “So, you and Jason been seeing each other long?”

I wasn’t sure if we were seeing each other now. “Not really,” I replied.

Cameron’s grin changed, and I knew that grin. The guys here might be wealthy, but they were still males. I knew how to handle men. I also knew that just because Jason was bored with me, standing back and playing the victim wasn’t my style.

“Since he seems to have left you,” Cameron said, glancing over at the bar, “and is now preoccupied, why don’t you dance with me?”

I looked over at the bar and saw a girl with dark brown hair pulled up in a classy bun, dressed like the elitist she no doubt was, curled up against his side. He wasn’t moving away from her and he seemed to be deep in conversation with her. Had I been the means to make someone jealous? A rebound?

My stomach felt sick. How could I have been so stupid? Guys like Jason didn’t take girls like me seriously. Momma had been trying to warn me with her screwed-up Gilmore Girls analogies.

“Sure, I’d love to,” I replied, slipping my hand into Cameron’s.

Cameron pulled me out onto the dance floor as the live band played. Luckily, it wasn’t a slow song. I wasn’t in the mood to get close to anyone at the moment. I felt as cheap as my dress. Thinking about it would make me cry. I wasn’t going to cry. Not here. I blocked it out, all of it, and danced. Forgetting myself, I enjoyed the sound of the music and moved my body to the beat. When Cameron’s hand touched my hip, I didn’t move away. I let him get closer. I might as well. If I was going to get through this night without being destroyed, I would have to deal somehow.

“I’m trying to decide if this is worth getting my ass beat over. I’m thinking it is,” Cameron said, and I opened my eyes to look at him. He was dancing close to me, but his eyes were on my body. I could see the gleam in his eyes, and I knew he was turned on. He lifted his eyes to meet mine, and the lust was there.

“No one will beat your ass for dancing with me,” I replied, hating the bitterness in my voice. A few times spent with Jason and I start expecting more from guys.

Cameron’s other hand rested on my waist. “Yeah, he’s watching us. He’s considering it. I can feel his extremely jealous glare from here,” he said as he pulled me closer.

“You’re imagining it,” I told him. I was pretty sure Jason would be glad to get rid of me for the night. The thought hurt, and I pushed it back. I wasn’t going to think about it.

“If that were true, I’d call him a fool. But I’ve known him since we were thirteen. He’s ready to rip my arms off,” Cameron said close to my ear.

I wouldn’t look for him. He wanted to ignore me? Then I could ignore him, too. I closed my eyes again and started to move to the next song that started up.

“Damn,” Cameron whispered as his hand flexed on my hip.

Normally, knowing I was getting to a guy made me smile. I felt powerful. But not now. I was empty.

“Move.” Jason’s hard tone startled me, and I opened my eyes to see Cameron’s amused grin as he winked at me and held up his hands and backed away.

“Sorry, dude. You looked otherwise occupied, and I figured if I didn’t grab her up, someone else would.”

Jason’s angry snarl as he shot a warning glare at Cameron wasn’t hard to miss. By anyone in the room.

Jason’s hands were on my hips as he pulled me against him hard.

“Oh,” I said, grabbing his arms to steady myself.

“You aren’t wearing fucking panties,” he growled in my ear.

No, I wasn’t, because I couldn’t with this dress. But what did that have to do with anything? “Uh, yeah, so?” I replied, wanting to be mad at him.

“His hands were on your hips. He could tell. He’s fucking you in his head right now, dammit,” he said, tightening his hold on me like someone was trying to pull me away.

“We didn’t talk about my panties,” I told him.

“Every damn guy in this room is watching you. Is that what you wanted? To come out here and make sure they all wanted you? Because moving your body like that—it sure seems like you wanted attention.”

The anger set in, and I stopped moving and shoved away from him. He may have brought me here and he may have been nice and kind before. But I wasn’t going to be talked to that way. I would walk back to the damn hotel and get my purse. I had enough money for a bus ticket. I wasn’t doing this. Turning, I walked away. I knew people were watching.

“If you’re done with Stone, baby, I’m very available as of right now,” a guy said as I walked by.

“Back the fuck off, Myles,” Jason yelled, and I realized he was right behind me.

I was just going to ignore him. Once I was outside, he would come back in here. He just didn’t want me in his world anymore. Asshole.

Jason’s hand wrapped around my arm just before I reached the door, and he pulled me in the other direction. I considered making a scene and screaming, but I bit my tongue and followed him. We walked upstairs and then into a bedroom, and he closed the door.

He was breathing hard when he turned around to look at me. I couldn’t read him. He had me so confused right now. Why hadn’t he just let me leave?

I started to say something, and then I realized Jason was shaking. Oh shit. He was going to hit me. I had seen Hank shake from being so angry before. He always ended up slapping me or throwing me down.

Backing away, I wondered if I could possibly outrun him in these heels.

“They’re looking at you. Cameron was touching you. He was too close to you,” Jason said in a low, scary voice. I gripped the edge of a chair and decided I would use it for protection. I could hide behind it and maybe shove it at him before I ran. It would slow him down.

“Then Hensley points out that you aren’t wearing panties. There’s no line, and the way the dress is hugging your ass, there is no way you could be wearing panties. They were all looking then. And Cameron’s hand was on your hip. His fingertips were brushing your ass. He shouldn’t have touched your ass.”

Okay, so he was upset over the fact that I was commando. I would leave if he would just let me. “I’m sorry. I don’t wear panties with this dress. Didn’t realize it was a big deal. Just let me leave. I’ll get home. If you’ll just let me out of here.”

Jason frowned and stared at me. Why was this a confusing concept to him? He didn’t want me here, and I was going to leave. Very easy.

“What are you talking about?” he asked.

I took that moment to move behind the chair. His gaze flicked to the chair, then back at me. His frown turned to confusion. Good thing was, he wasn’t shaking anymore. That was always a good sign.

“You regretted bringing me, and I should have left. But then Cameron asked me to dance and you were busy with that girl, so I said okay. I didn’t mean to make you mad. I thought you’d be glad to get me out of your hair. I wasn’t aware the panty thing was a big deal. Sorry. Just let me out of here and I’ll go and we’ll be good.”

I had talked down an angry Hank enough to know the tone of voice to use. Jason didn’t have the crazed look in his eyes that Hank got. That was a relief.

Jason’s eyes went wide and he took a step toward me, then stopped. He ran his hand through his hair and cursed while looking at me in horror.