“Did you . . . ? Are you . . . ?” He looked down at the chair again, and then at me. “Why are you behind that chair?” he asked with disbelief in his eyes.

Did the guy have multiple personalities? He had gone from angry to horrified in a split second. “In my experience, getting behind something you can use as protection is the best course of action,” I replied carefully.

Jason put both hands in his hair, and he froze as he stared at me. We just stood there like that. I wasn’t sure what the shocked look was for.

“Motherfucker,” he finally said, dropping his hands and hanging his head. “You thought I was going to hurt you?” he asked incredulously.

Of course I did. “You were shaking. Guys shake from anger before they strike,” I pointed out.

“Strike?” he repeated, still staring at me. “God, Jess.” He sank down on the bed and dropped his head into his hands. What was wrong with him? He looked upset. Like I had hurt him, not the other way around.

I didn’t move, but waited on him to say something. Finally he lifted his head and looked at me. “I would never hurt you. I don’t hit women. I’ve never . . .” He closed his eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m having a hard time dealing with the fact that you’ve obviously been hit by guys enough to assume I would do it. I can’t comprehend the fact that someone would hit you.”

Oh. Yeah, well, that made sense. He’d never seemed like the kind of guy who hit, but then, I tended to make guys so mad they snapped and lost it, so I wasn’t sure if I had done the same to him.

“You were angry,” I explained.

He nodded. “Yeah, I was angry. Cameron was touching you. Guys were watching you like you were their last meal, and I didn’t like it, and I didn’t fucking like the fact that I didn’t like it. This . . . I can’t . . . We can’t have anything more than this. I don’t want to care if other guys look at you.” He stopped and fisted his hands in his lap.

“I know this is just a little fling. I’m not expecting more,” I said, suddenly wanting to reassure him.

He just sat there staring at me. I moved over to sit beside him now that I knew he wasn’t about to take a swing at me. “I wasn’t dancing with Cameron to make you mad. I was trying to get out of your way. You seemed like you regretted bringing me, and I was trying to salvage your night for you by not being a burden.”

Jason closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. When he opened them, he looked at me. “I’m sorry,” he said. “You felt that way because I made you feel that way. This is my fault.”

I didn’t argue with him. He was right. He had made me feel that way.

“I don’t get possessive. I can’t get possessive. I don’t have time for that. You are making me feel that way, and it doesn’t fit into my world. I was trying to distance myself.”

He didn’t want to share my body. So that was his problem. Well, I didn’t want to share my body either. And I wouldn’t be sharing it with him anymore. He needed to distance himself? Then fine. I needed that too.

“Okay. Then we get through the night. Take me home, and that’s it. You can even send me home tonight if you like. I don’t mind the bus.”

Jason groaned and turned away from me. “I’m not putting you on a bus” was all he said.

“Fine. Then you get me home however you want to.”

Jason reached over and took my hand in his. “I don’t like this,” he said.

And he thought I did? I wasn’t going to admit it, though. I shrugged. “It is what it is. And I’ve had fun.”

Jason wouldn’t look at me. “How do we distance ourselves?”

“We start with very little touching and of course nothing sexual. I won’t dance with anyone else if that bothers you, but you can’t dance with anyone else either. To keep it fair.”

Jason turned his head to finally meet my gaze. “Nothing sexual?”

“Can’t have distance if we’re naked and wrapped around each other,” I replied.

Heat flashed in Jason’s eyes, and I stood up before he could act on that. As much as I loved to be in his arms, I also knew that no matter how many times I offered myself to him, he would be leaving me. I was not someone he would ever have a relationship with, and it was time I protected myself.

“That’s gonna be fucking impossible,” he said.

No, it wasn’t. He wanted distance. He was going to get it. “It’s the only way,” I replied.

JASON

I placed my hand on Jess’s lower back as we walked back into the party. I could feel the eyes on us—or more like, on her. Every damn guy here was looking at her, and I had no right to care. Which sucked. I wasn’t going to think about it.

“You thirsty yet?” I asked her.

“If you go to the bar and get sidetracked, someone may approach me, and I don’t want to be rude to your friends,” she said.

I reached for her hand. “I’m not leaving you alone. They’re all fucking vultures,” I replied, taking her with me.

She went with me willingly. “What do you want to drink?” I asked her.

She glanced at the bartender. “Do you have whiskey?” she asked hopefully.

“Straight?” the guy asked, smiling at her like an idiot.

“Please, I need it,” she replied.

He poured her more than the normal and slid it to her. Even the damn hired help was ogling her. “I can’t believe you’re drinking whiskey,” I said.

She stopped with the rim almost to her mouth and gave me an amused grin. “Yeah, well, I don’t know what else you expect from me. I’m not one of them,” she said, waving her glass out at the crowd. “My momma ain’t a trust-fund baby. She’s a stripper.”

I heard someone choke beside me, no doubt from her statement. She took a much longer drink of whiskey than I’d ever seen anyone take.

“Her momma is a stripper?” Hensley asked as he stared at her in openmouthed amazement. As if Jess hadn’t already drawn attention, this piece of information was going to go through the room like wildfire.

“Shut up,” I replied, and picked up my drink, needing to hover over her and protect her from the horny males who were just going to get worse when they found out her momma’s profession.

“I can’t believe you announced that,” I said to her quietly as I led her away from the bar.

“Why? They’re never going to see me again, and they’ll all talk about you like you’re a badass for bringing a stripper’s daughter commando to one of their uppity parties. And whoever I’m supposed to be making jealous, I assure you, she is fuming. You’ll have her back in your arms in no time. Just get rid of me first.”

What the hell was she talking about? Make who jealous? Had someone told her about me and Johanna? That relationship had only been in Jo’s head. All I had done was have sex with her once, months ago. “What are you talking about?” I asked her.

She took another long drink. “I’m talking about the reason you brought me to this thing. I couldn’t figure out why you’d want me to come as your date when you could do so much better. I get it now. I’m the bad girl from the wrong side of the tracks meant to drive the ex-girlfriend mad with jealousy.”

That was what she thought? Shit. Of course it was. The insecurity that she was so damn good at hiding was still there. She had been used so many times in her life that she expected it. I had only wanted to spend some time with her and treat her differently. But in the end I had treated her the way she expected.

I grabbed her drink and set it on a tray as it went by, then led her to the door. I’d call later and apologize for leaving. Right now I was getting Jess out of here so we could talk.

“Where are we going?” she asked as I pulled her out the door and toward the elevator.

“We’re leaving,” I replied.

“Why?”

“Because I need to get you alone so I can explain to you how very wrong you are.”

She stiffened beside me. “If that means sex, we aren’t doing that anymore.”

I started to say something, when the elevator opened and I watched her ass as she walked inside. Just imagining it bare under that silky material was driving me fucking crazy.

When the elevator doors closed, I backed her up against the wall and pressed against her so she could feel just how turned on she made me. “No panties, Jess. No fucking panties. Don’t tell me we aren’t having sex anymore.”

She opened her mouth, but the elevator door opened and I reached for her hand and pulled her outside. I had forgotten to buzz the driver. I texted him and then pulled Jess over to a dark corner of the lobby.

“I didn’t bring you here to make anyone jealous. I brought you here because I like spending time with you,” I told her.

She bit her bottom lip and I watched, transfixed, as she let it free. “But you want distance now,” she said, breathing hard.

“This can’t happen. Us. It won’t work. I don’t have time. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want you,” I told her, sliding my hand down her hip until I finally touched the silk-covered bare ass of hers. “Fuck,” I whispered.

“Don’t. Please. If we can’t . . . If this is over when we get home, then don’t.” Her chest was rising and falling so rapidly I was positive she was about to pop free of that dress. If she could just wait until we were in the limo, I would make sure to give those sweet nipples all the attention they needed.

“But I want you. So damn bad,” I whispered before lowering my head and pulling her lip into my mouth and sucking on it. Women paid thousands to have lips this full and plump. I couldn’t get enough of them.

She kissed me back, pressing closer, and I felt my chest ease up. She was giving in.

“Your car is here, Mr. Stone,” a voice said behind me. Jess backed away immediately. I tucked her hand in the crook of my arm and led her out to the waiting limo. After the door closed, I reached for her again and she moved away, shaking her head.