Fever (3 page)

“We?” she demanded. “
We?
What are you talking about? Who the hell is
we
? And I’m not fucking

anyone. You. We. They. No way.”

“Jace wants you.”

“Who the fuck is Jace?”

“And I’ve decided I want you.”

She barely suppressed her snarl of rage. Barely. She grit her teeth and then went on the attack.

“I am not putting up with sexual harassment on the job. I’m filing a complaint and then I’m out of

here.”

To her further surprise, he merely grinned and then reached out to touch her cheek.

“Cool your jets, sweetheart. I’m not harassing. I’m propositioning. Big difference.”

“Maybe in your book,” she pointed out.

He shrugged like he didn’t particularly care if she agreed.

“Who the hell is Jace?” she repeated. “And who are you? You don’t proposition a woman without

giving your name. And you have problems not knowing a woman’s name before going to bed with

her? What is wrong with you? You didn’t even introduce yourself.”

He laughed again and it was a warm hum that felt so good she wanted to hang on to it forever. It

was a carefree sound and she bitterly resented it, was so jealous she wanted to burn with envy. This

was a man who had no problems. Had no cares—except who he wanted to go to bed with next.

“My name is Ash. Jace is my best friend.”

“I’m Bethany,” she said reluctantly. Then her eyes narrowed. “And you both ‘want’ me?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Not so unusual. We share women. A lot. Threesomes. You ever had one?

Because if not, I guarantee we’ll make it an experience you won’t forget.”

Her nostrils flared. “Yeah. I have. Nothing special.”

Something flickered in his eyes. She could tell she’d surprised him but oh well. He should expect

to have it handed back to him when he made outrageous propositions like this.

“Then maybe you’re fucking the wrong men.”

Her eyes went wide at that because what could she possibly say in response? There was no doubt

she’d made a habit of fucking the wrong men. No earth-shattering discovery there.

“Ash.”

The sound was explosive in the confined area of the kitchen and Bethany jerked her head up to see

another man standing in the doorway, his brooding, dark gaze scorching the flesh right off Ash’s

bones. Ash didn’t seem overly bothered that this guy was obviously pissed.

Bethany was.

This guy was the one she’d caught watching her when she’d ventured out to bus the tables. Twice.

She’d felt his gaze on her. Burning a path over her skin until she’d shivered with the intensity. Where

Ash was lighter, carefree, that whole package of
wealthy and I know it
and
I don’t gotta do nothing

except what I wanna
, this man was . . . He was Ash’s polar opposite.

Intense
wasn’t the right word. It didn’t even come close to describing him. He looked like a

complete badass, and she knew badasses. She had plenty of experience with men on the street and

from the streets, and she had the sudden thought that she’d rather take her chances with the devil she

knew rather than this man staring holes through her.

Dark eyes, dark hair. Really great hair. It was mussed and unruly and longish. A lock fell over his

forehead and she imagined him pushing it impatiently back without care over whether it messed it up

more. It hung down his collar, giving him an untamed, wild look that probably made women want to

try to tame him. Tanned skin. Not the fake tan some of the metrosexual pretty boys went for. There

was a ruggedness to him even as he screamed wealth and polish like Ash did. It was just a different

kind of polish.

Where Ash wore his wealth like a skin, like he’d always known it, this other guy looked like he’d

accumulated his wealth later in life and wasn’t yet as comfortable in it as Ash was.

It was a ridiculous assessment, but there it was. There was something dangerous about this other

man. Something that made her stand up and take notice.

“Jace,” Ash returned mildly. “Meet Bethany.”

Oh shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

This was the threesome guy? Ash’s best friend? A man involved in the outrageous proposition Ash

had just given her?

Jace’s lips tightened and he stalked forward. Bethany instinctively backed away.

“You’re scaring her,” Ash said, a reprimand in his tone.

To Bethany’s surprise, Jace pulled up short, but he was still glaring holes in Ash. At least it wasn’t

her he was glaring at.

“I told you not to do this,” Jace said in a quiet, angry voice.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t listen.”

Bethany was utterly confused. But then Jace turned to her and there was something in his gaze that

caught her breath.

Interest.

Not just a look like a man gave a woman when he wanted to fuck her. It was something different

and she couldn’t put her finger on it. But then, he’d watched her all night. She knew that because she’d

watched him too.

“I’m sorry,” Jace began.

“Does this offer come with dinner?” she blurted.

She was instantly mortified, but she also knew in that one moment when he looked at her, that she

didn’t want him to walk away. Not tonight. Tonight, she wanted one night in the sun. Where it was

warm and bad things didn’t happen. She wanted one night to forget her life, Jack and all the problems

that came with both.

This man could give her that. She was absolutely positive on that count. And if he came with Ash,

she’d just have to take that too.

She did not want to walk out of this hotel into the cold and back to what awaited her.

“What?”

Jace stared at her like she’d grown two heads. His brows drew together and his gaze became even

more piercing, like he was peeling her from the inside out.

She gestured toward Ash. “He said you two wanted a threesome. I’m asking if the offer comes with

dinner.”

“Well, yeah,” Ash said, his tone suggesting he was insulted.

“Okay then,” she said before she could change her mind.

She knew it was stupid. She knew it was one of the most stupid things she’d ever done, but she

wasn’t going back.

“I have to finish here first,” she said while Jace just stood there, silent and brooding, his gaze

never leaving her even once. Not to look at Ash. Not to look away. Fixed on her.

“No you don’t,” Ash said. “You can cut out at any time.”

She shook her head. “I get the second half of my pay when I’m done. I have to finish.”

“Party’s about to break up. Gabe’s not going to remain out on a fucking dance floor when what he

really wants is Mia at home in his bed,” Ash said. “I’ll cover your second half.”

Bethany went cold and she took a step back, ice forming over her face. Then she shook her head. “I

changed my mind.”

“What the fuck?” Ash demanded.

And still Jace stood there. Silent and forbidding, watching her the entire time. It was unnerving and

suddenly that alley door was looking better all the time.

“I’m not for sale,” she said in a low voice. “I get that I asked for dinner. I shouldn’t have. You

were offering sex. But I won’t be paid for it.”

Pain crept over her. Distant memories, not ebbing. Choices. Consequences. It all drifted together

until it was a murky, impenetrable darkness surrounding her. One day. Just one day in the sun. But the

sun wasn’t for her. It never had been.

A low, muttered curse tore from Jace’s lips. The first sound he’d made in forever. Then that mouth

tightened. He was pissed.

His gaze skated sideways at Ash and it was then she realized he was pissed at Ash.
Really
pissed.

“I told you not to do this,” Jace ground out. “Fuck it, man. You should have listened to me.”

This was getting worse. Evidently Ash wanted some action. Jace did not. Ash wanted to approach

her. Jace did not. Could this get any more humiliating?

“I’ve got to get back to work,” she said, hastily backing away until her escape route to the door

leading back into the ballroom was secure.

And just as quickly, Jace was there, sliding over, a barrier to her freedom. He was so close she

could smell him, could feel his heat wrapping around her and it felt so damn good that she wanted to

do something really stupid and lean into him. Just so she could feel it brush over her skin.

Then his fingers slid underneath her chin, a touch so gentle she couldn’t help but respond, lifting

with him so that her gaze met his.

“You finish work. We’ll wait. Then we’ll have dinner. Anything in particular you like? And do you

want to go out or eat in the hotel room?”

The questions were softly worded. They sounded intimate. He never looked at Ash once. His stare

was solidly fixed on her and she was too mesmerized to look away. And she promptly forgot that

she’d changed her mind about sleeping with them.

Jerking herself from the intensity of the moment, she glanced down, taking in her clothing. There

was no going home and changing. No home. No clothes. Certainly nothing she could wear to any

place these two would set foot in.

She cleared her throat. “Hotel is fine, and I don’t care. If it’s hot and tastes good, I’ll eat it. Nothing

too fancy. In fact, what I really want is a burger. And fries.”

She’d kill for both right now.

“And orange juice,” she finished in a rush.

Amusement glimmered on Ash’s lips but Jace was still utterly serious.

“Hamburger. Fries. Orange juice. I think I can handle that,” Jace said. Then he checked his watch.

“People will be cleared out in fifteen. How much time you need to finish?”

She blinked. “Uh, not everyone will clear out in fifteen minutes. I mean even if the guests of honor

leave, people always hang out afterward. Especially when there’s food and drink.”

He cut her off before she could say more.

“Fifteen minutes, Bethany. They’ll be gone.”

It was a promise. It wasn’t speculation on his part.

“How much time you need?” he asked impatiently.

“Thirty minutes maybe?” she guessed.

He touched her again, his fingers gliding over her cheek and up to her temple, where he toyed with

loose tendrils that had fallen from her clip.

“Then we’ll see you in thirty minutes.”

chapter three

Twenty-five minutes was how much time it took for her to realize she was out of her mind. Twenty-

five minutes to know she’d made a huge mistake.

Bethany washed her hands and then checked her pocket again to feel the folded bills. The kitchen

had died down and most of the staff had left except for those remaining behind on clean-up duty. That

wasn’t her gig, thankfully. Her job was done.

She hesitated as she glanced between the door leading to the alley and the door that led back to Ash

and Jace.

Jace hadn’t lied. The ballroom had cleared in fifteen minutes. She wasn’t sure how he’d managed

to pull that one off, but then he seemed the type of man who always got what he wanted.

Now all that was between her and a night of hot sex and good food was that door.

The door to the alley swung open as one of the guys hauled a sack of garbage out to the trash bin. A

rush of cold air blew in, penetrating Bethany to the bone. She shivered as chill bumps raced across

her arms.

That was her other option. Cold. Loneliness. Another night of uncertainty.

Put that way, door number two seemed like the only logical choice.

She pushed off the edge of the counter she was leaning against and walked toward the exit. As she

reached it, she took in a deep breath and let herself out.

Jace stood there waiting, hands in his pockets, leaning one shoulder against the wall. His gaze

found her and penetrated as swiftly as the cold air had a moment earlier. Only this time, instead of a

bone-deep chill, heat spread like wildfire through her veins.

“You ready?”

Even before she responded, he moved, pushing off the wall and then he was next to her, his hand

sliding around her nape, his thumb brushing over the soft skin right at her hairline.

Damn but the man’s touch was lethal.

“Ash is in the room taking care of dinner.”

She glanced up at Jace, for the first time directly meeting his gaze. “So we’re staying here?”

A smile twitched the corners of his mouth. “I own the hotel. Seems as good a place as any to stay

for the night.”

He owned the hotel. Okay, not that she didn’t know he and Ash were stratospherically out of her

league, but hearing those words,
I own the hotel
, just reinforced that she should have chosen the cold

over temporary warmth.

“Obviously I didn’t prepare for this,” she murmured as they headed toward the elevators. “I don’t

have any clothes or . . . stuff.”

She wanted to laugh because the entire conversation was absurd. Even if she’d known, she

wouldn’t have been prepared because she didn’t have stuff. She had nothing except the hope of the

next day being better than the last.

Again, Jace’s mouth twitched and his eyes gleamed as he ushered her into the waiting elevator.

“You won’t need clothes. Or . . . stuff.”

Her hands trembled and her knees shook. This was her last chance to back out. He leaned forward

to punch the button to the top floor. The door was still open. It would be easy to walk out, say she’d