Jaike surprised the whole table by giggling.
“What’s so funny?” Christien asked curiously.
“Nothing.”
A sly look entered Reid’s eyes and Jaike tried not to grimace. Trust the Prince of Darkness to be the first to catch on.
Before she could tell Reid off, Derek whispered into her ear, “You giggled.”
“Errr…yes?”
“It was sexy as hell and now I’m turned on.”
She half-twisted around to gape at him. “Derek!”
The passion in his gaze made her want to sigh, and the determined look on his face succeeded in making her shiver. Suddenly, it felt like the collar around her neck burned, as if it had been heated by her desire.
“Now, Jaike. Before I touch you here.”
She shot to her feet. “I think I need to, umm, go to the ladies room again.”
Derek stood up, too, his movement more lazily graceful than harried. “I will accompany her.”
His friends groaned, making Jaike blush.
“Just because she giggled, Derek?” Nathan asked incredulously.
Jaike groaned.
“Wait until you’re in love, gentlemen, and then you’ll know.”
Chapter Ten
What the hell did she think she was doing, talking to strangers when she didn’t have a damn thing under her dress?
It didn’t matter that she probably knew the guys surrounding her. Jason didn’t know them, and that was all that fucking mattered. It didn’t matter that no one knew she didn’t have panties on. Jason knew, and that was what fucking mattered, too.
When Keanne only continued laughing and chatting with the other guys, not even glancing his way when he was standing just a few feet away from her and glaring murderously at her back, Jason’s temper snapped and he stalked towards her.
“Keanne.”
The hairs on the back of her neck stood at the ominous tone of his voice even though she pretty much wanted to cry and laugh at the same time. Jaike had told her that Jason had never been really jealous over Lilac, except for the one time that he had been drunk. That had to mean something, Jaike told her. So if he was to act jealous now when made to believe she was flirting with other men, surely that had to mean something, too?
And it did. She didn’t care what it really did mean, but all she knew was that it was a good thing. A person only got jealous over someone he – she – loved…right?
When she was sure she had schooled her expression into something that would not betray how happy she was, she turned around, her smile welcoming. “Jason, I’d like you to meet---”
Someone accidentally bumped into the guy to her right from behind, which shoved Archie straight into her breasts.
Merde.
Keanne’s gaze flew to Jason’s. “No---”
But it was too late. His blue eyes had turned into ice, his rage the cold and precise kind. She knew it meant he was thinking very clearly, and he was focusing every bit of his impressive intelligence in figuring out how to best destroy the man in front of him.
“Jason, no, you don’t understand---”
When Archie straightened, Jason’s fist greeted him, and the other man promptly fell flat to the ground.
Someone in the crowd shrieked in surprise.
“Oh my God!” Keanne fell to her knees. “Archie, are you---what the hell are you doing?” Keanne struggled ineffectually against Jason’s hold as he hauled her back up.
“You don’t have panties,” he hissed to her in French.
Oh, oh, shit.
This was just getting worse and worse. She prayed fervently that there were no hidden reporters in Christien’s club – or at least that no one around had been lucky enough to take a snapshot of her most private parts.
“Why are you flirting with these men?” His voice was lethally quiet.
She looked at him a little fearfully. “It wasn’t like that.” Had she really wanted Jason to be jealous? She was so stupid to wish for it. Maybe she wasn’t as mature as she had hoped to be. Never again did she want to see the look in Jason’s eyes now – he looked fit to commit murder…because of her.
She wanted her gentle Jason back, the white knight everyone ran to. He might have a dark side, but that had only been a secret between the two of them and something she didn’t want anyone else to know.
“Answer me,” he snapped when he saw a frowning Christien making his way towards them. He knew he had little time left before he had to fix the mess his jealous rage had created.
“They weren’t...I wasn’t…”
“Don’t lie!”
“They are gay!”
Jason’s jaw dropped.
She had a hard time meeting his gaze. “I just wanted to know if you would be jealous over me,” Keanne whispered. “I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry. I won’t do it again.”