Afterburn

reluctantly.
    “Gianna,” he said, again with that hint of a regional accent. “An unusual name, isn’t it? Jackson knew a Gianna in Las Vegas a few years ago.”
    As I’d expected, the evening was quickly moving from uncomfortable to disastrous. I had assumed I’d been a secret. Instead, it seemed Jax had been telling everyone about me. That didn’t give me the warm fuzzies.
    “It’s a family name,” I answered tightly, feeling terribly awkward.
    “It must have been a pleasant surprise, seeing him again.”
    I studied him. Would Jax look like his father when he reached the same age? I hoped not. I hoped he’d have more laugh lines around the eyes and less tension around his beautiful mouth.
    “I’m more surprised that Ian felt the need to involve him in our business.”
    “I involved Jackson,” he murmured, looking over my head with narrowed eyes. “Ian did me a wonderful favor when he introduced me to Regina, so I help him whenever I can.” He looked at me again. “I wasn’t aware of you, though. I’ll assume Ian was.”
    Unease slid down my spine. I felt like a clown fish swimming with sharks, in way over my head.
    “Excuse me.”
    God. The sound of Jax’s voice reverberated through me.
    “I’m cutting in.”
    Parker stopped and I turned my head, my heart pounding when I came face-to-face with Jax.
    “I didn’t think you’d show,” Parker said to his son.
    Jax glanced at me, then back at his father. “You didn’t give me a choice.”
    For a second, I considered slipping away while the two men were occupied with staring hard at each other. Then Jax’s arm slipped around my waist from behind, pulling me into him and away from his father.
    Parker glanced at me. “I’ll bow out and see you at dinner, Gianna. Enjoy yourself.”
    Jax rounded me, cutting off my view of his dad’s retreating back. “You look amazing,” he said softly, pulling me closer.
    My shoulders ached with tension. “I’m glad you approve.”
    He took the first step and I followed.
    “Breathe, Gia,” he admonished. “I’ve got you.”
    “I don’t want to be here.”
    “That makes two of us.” He caressed my back with a soothing brush of his hand. “I hate these things.”
    “But you fit right in.”
    His eyes were shadowed with an emotion I couldn’t name. “I was born into it. I don’t live in it.”
    The heat of his body began to soak into mine. Every breath I took was filled with his scent; every movement he made sent echoes of memories sliding through me.
    “That’s better,” he coaxed. “Relax into me, baby.”
    “Don’t.”
    “You’re in my world now, Gia. My rules.”
    I shook my head. “I was tricked into coming here.”
    He pulled me closer, his lips at my temple. “I’m sorry.”
    “You just had to get that out, didn’t you? I don’t see why. Clearly I wasn’t the dirty little secret I thought I was.”
    “Not dirty.” His voice lowered. “Except when you wanted me that way. A little rough, a lot hard. Jesus. You used to turn me inside out.”
    I stepped on his foot on purpose.
    His low laugh rippled through me.
    “You’ve been drinking,” I accused, smelling the faint trace of liquor on his breath.
    “Driven to it.” He pulled back, his jaw set. “I didn’t know it’d be so damn hard to see you again.”
    “I’ll make it easier. Help me and Lei get out of here.”
    “Not yet.” His soft mouth brushed over my brow. “I spent a night with your family. You owe me a night with mine.”
    “Then do I get to disappear, never to be seen again?”
    I really wanted to. Cinderella at the ball had turned into the unsuitable girl once more.
    His chest brushed against my breasts as he urged me closer. “That’s the plan.”
    * * *
    J AX KEPT ME dancing through two more songs, bluntly refusing to relinquish me to Ian or two other gentlemen who attempted to cut in. I got the message as loudly as I’m sure everyone else did: I arrived with Ian, but I was now with Jax.
    At that point, I decided to play my Cinderella role to the hilt. I kicked the voice in my head that had been depressing me for the past two days into a corner and flexed my toes in my proverbial glass slippers.
    “I want champagne,” I announced abruptly.
    Jax eyed me. “Is that right?”
    “Yep.”
    His eyes took on a wicked gleam I recognized. “Come on.”
    Grabbing my hand, he led me off the dance floor and through the crowd. It surged around him, trying to pin us in, but he was adept at brusque