The Men With the Golden Cuffs(83)

Maybe she was the drama queen.

“How is your wrist?” Adam asked solicitously. He had been deeply polite, avoiding eye contact and anything that might be controversial. He was the bodyguard, and she was the client. There was nothing more.

“I’m fine.” It hadn’t been nearly as bad as she’d made it out to be. She doubted she would bruise. It was nothing compared to the ache on her insides.

Adam and Jake she could almost handle. After all, she’d known deep down that they wouldn’t really stay. Men like them didn’t end up in permanent relationships with women like Serena. They found trophy wives when they were ready to settle down. In some ways, it just spared her the pain for later.

But Lara was another story.

Jake pulled her arm into both of his hands. Serena tried to pull away, but he had her by the elbow and the palm, turning her forearm over and inspecting her skin.

“Stop it.” She didn’t want him to touch her. It felt too nice, his callused hands on her skin. It reminded her of how it had felt to be in his arms.

“No.” He traced a finger over the light chafing on her wrist. “I think she’s fine. On the outside. We did a number to her on the inside.”

Adam simply watched the floors go by.

“He’s going to be the difficult one,” Jake said, his voice almost conspiratorial. What the hell was his game now? When she didn’t reply, he merely carried on the conversation as though she had. “I know. I’m surprised, too. I’m usually the obnoxious asshole. I don’t like this whole ‘being the moderator’ thing, but I guess compromise is key in this relationship.”

“There is no relationship, Jacob. The relationship died about a half an hour ago when you called me a whore.”

He shook his head. “I didn’t call you a whore, baby. I mentioned that you would make a good slut. A whore takes money. A slut just loves sex, and you really like sex.”

Asshole. When had he decided to try to get back into her good graces, and why would he bother? Was he afraid his boss would get pissed off? She was pretty sure Ian Taggart was about to tell her she was on her own. Lara had lied to him, too.

Were Bridget and Chris in on it? She didn’t know if she could handle it if they were. She would really be all alone in the world.

“Can I have my arm back?” Serena asked.

His thumb made little circles over the pulse at her wrist, a tiny touch that threatened to send shivers right through her. It reminded her that she might not have loved sex before, but after Jake and Adam, she was an addict. And she would just have to go cold turkey because she wouldn’t fall for their line of bullshit again.

“Serena, don’t make this hard. You know you want to forgive us. We were wrong. We were complete assholes, but you saw that evidence. Come on, baby, let’s get through this meeting with Ian and then we’ll take you out to breakfast, which is exactly what we should have done in the first place. It’s what Adam wanted to do.”

“It doesn’t matter what Adam wanted. All that matters is what happened, and I won’t ever trust either one of you again. So give me my arm back, and let’s get this little farce out of the way so we can get on with our lives.” After today, she might never trust anyone again.

Jake brought her hand up, kissing her palm. “I’m not going away, Serena.”

“Great, so now I can have two stalkers. Oh, wait. One was a fake, so you can be my first.”

He let go of her hand, but his eyes heated up in that dark, Dom, sultry, get-her-panties-wet way he had. Damn him. “I was your first in other ways, too.”

He’d been her first real man-given orgasm, and it didn’t seem like he would let her forget it.

The doors opened, and Serena walked out. At least Adam seemed to have given up the game. He didn’t look her way or say anything that didn’t need to be said.

Grace looked up from her place at the front desk, a bright smile on her face which disappeared when no one returned it. “Oh crap. They fucked up, didn’t they? I knew something was wrong when Ian called us all in on a Saturday. He’s in the back with your agent. Is everyone all right?”

Serena liked Grace, but she didn’t need to plaster her problems across the walls for everyone to see. She gave Grace what she hoped was her best smile. “We’re fine. I think the case is wrapping up, and that’s a good thing.”

Jake wouldn’t let up. “We’re not fine. We did fuck up. We accused Serena of lying and using us, and we were complete assholes and now she’s not talking to us and it’s shut Adam down emotionally.”

Adam turned cold eyes on his partner. “Really? You want to go there?”