Club Amazon was packed with writhing bodies. Electronic dance music boomed loudly enough that it reverberated inside Felicity’s own body. The heady scent of expensive perfumes and the flashing strobe lights were overwhelming. Silver chandeliers hung from the ceiling, with beads glinting from the flashing lights, and surrounding the dance floor were areas with satin couches and bartenders offering drinks in crystal glasses. Everywhere around her was decadence and luxury.

Felicity swallowed hard and took an instinctive step back into Jared’s body. His arms wrapped around her from behind as she turned, pressing against him. Startled at her own actions, she tried to recover her control and put distance between them again, but he didn’t release her right away. She had to tug herself from his embrace.

“You okay?” His voice reached her ears, even through the shouting of the crowds. She knew that no matter how loud it got, she’d always be able to pick out the sound of his voice in a crowd, and knowing that was frightening. How could he affect her so much that she’d be too aware of him?

“Yeah, I just don’t like crowds,” she confessed.

Jared studied her, then held out his hand. She hesitated, knowing that if she touched him again, it would remind her how much she loved being close to him.

“I don’t want you to trip in this place—it’s a bit wild,” he explained, and curled his fingers in invitation. She took it, her palm fitting perfectly into his.

“Come on, I know where we can go.”

He led her to the back of the club where several private areas were cordoned off with glass doors that, when closed, would fog up to give the room privacy. Felicity would have balked if not for the trust she had in Jared. She’d always been a bit panicky in crowds and small spaces, but while Jared was there, holding her hand, she felt safe. He stepped up to the door of a private room and placed his hand on a glassy black panel, glancing back toward her with a wink. A small green light illuminated the pad under his palm, scanning it before the locked clicked. Jared pulled on the handle and it opened.

“Whoa!” she whispered. Her reaction made Jared chuckle.

“Thad doesn’t want anyone he doesn’t trust to use his VIP suite.”

Suite? She’d been expecting a cheesy booth roped off with a velvet cord, not a handprint-accessible, fog-glassed room.

When they stepped inside Felicity gaped. The air inside here was cooler than the heated room of the club, and she instantly relaxed. The room was beautiful. Cobalt-blue wallpaper with a dark-brown wooden base around the room set a seductive mood. Expensive white couches and armchairs were placed throughout the suite to accommodate several people. The ceiling had several modern glass chandeliers that lit the entire room with a seductive glow. At the back of the room, a small bar was waiting for them with bottles of champagne resting in an ice bucket and glasses ready. But it was the art that caught her attention, modern masterpieces that were splashes of vivid color in shapes that reminded her of the jungle themes.

“You made it.” Thad stood from a chair on the left side of the room.

Felicity had been so distracted by the room and the art that she hadn’t noticed Thad or the woman beside him.

A woman in a ruby-red silk dress that ended mid-thigh rose as well. A little tremor of jealousy passed through Felicity when the blond woman flashed Jared a brilliant, perfect smile. But when Jared merely nodded back at the woman, to Felicity’s dismay she felt a ripple of satisfaction that the woman’s smile faltered and then faded.

“I was wondering where you were, Jared, but now I’m wondering why you’re with my date?” Thad asked the question politely and with a hint of humor, but Felicity heard the edge to his voice.

“She needed a ride,” Jared answered slowly, but the answering hard stare he sent his friend’s way was unsettling. The air seemed to crackle with sudden animosity.

Thad focused on Felicity, his hazel-green eyes sparkling with curiosity, and yet she glimpsed a tinge of wounded pride behind them.

“I thought you said you were coming with Layla.”

“Uh…right.” Felicity bit the inside of her cheek before replying. “She had to cancel, so she called Jared, and he just showed up.”

Felicity had to step back when Jared and Thad stood almost toe to toe, sizing each other up in that macho way men did sometimes.

The woman in the red dress sighed and rolled her eyes. “Either get over it, guys, or get to measuring.”

Measuring? Felicity shot a glance at the woman, and she winked at Felicity and mouthed “male egos” before rolling her eyes again.

Thad was the first to blink, but Felicity knew it wasn’t any sort of concession in the silent battle of glares. He smoothed a hand down his dress shirt and then walked around Jared to get to Felicity.

“Come on, let’s go dance.” He stepped between her and Jared, effectively separating them and forcing Jared to move away. Taking Felicity’s red clutch purse, he smacked it into Jared’s chest, forcing his friend to take it, and then he grasped Felicity’s hand and led her from the room. She nearly balked at the thought of leaving the sanctuary of the room and Jared to go back out into the wild part of the club.

Throwing a glance over her shoulder, she saw Jared follow them to the door of the suite, eyes dark and brows lowered. His lips were pursed in a thin line, and a tic worked in his jaw, but he didn’t come after her. Something in her chest clenched, and her eyes burned. She wanted him to come after her, but she had pushed him away too often. He wouldn’t rescue her. Not this time.

She was supposed to be here with Thad, and she should focus on that.

He curled an arm around her waist as they stepped out onto the dance floor. Beams of light shot around their heads as they started to dance. Thad could really move, with a seductive roll of his hips against hers, and the way he could guide her around to the music, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that she’d left Jared and a woman back in the suite.

“Who was that woman in the suite?” She practically had to shout to be heard.

“That’s Shana, Jared’s old flame. They dated through law school and work together at the firm. It’s just a matter of time before they get back together. Everyone knows they’d make a killer lawyer duo if they got married. He’s not stupid. His promotion to partner pretty much depends on getting back with Shana since her dad’s Jared’s boss.”

For a second Felicity couldn’t breathe. Jared and Shana had been a couple and his promotion to partner depended on his dating Shana? Why hadn’t he mentioned that when he’d been declaring at Sabine’s that he wanted her? That seemed like something a guy should have mentioned before he demanded she take a chance on him and date him. Her stomach roiled, and she struggled to speak past the nausea.

“She’s his ex?” Surely they weren’t still an item. He’d never mentioned her before, hadn’t said he was still in a relationship. He couldn’t have lied about that, not after they’d… No. Jared wasn’t that kind of guy. Then again, what did she really know of him? He was sexy and charming, but she didn’t know him. Maybe he was the type of guy to lie about his relationships. But Layla knew him because of Tanner, and she would not have let Felicity get anywhere near a guy who wasn’t decent. Why hadn’t Layla mentioned Jared’s history with Shana?

“They’re always on-again, off-again, those two.” Thad didn’t say anything else, just pulled her out onto the dance floor and settled his hands on her hips.

“But—” She had to know more, but Thad pressed a finger to her lips, silencing her.

“This is our date, Felicity. You and me.”

He was right. She’d agreed to come here to meet him. Albeit she’d done it because Layla had made her, and she secretly hoped Layla would be right and Jared would be jealous. That hadn’t worked out well at all. How did other girls do this? Play the field with men and get them to be jealous and fight for them? She didn’t have a clue.

Heck, she hadn’t even wanted Jared to be jealous—she only wanted him to want her. She’d only pushed him away because she had to protect herself.

I can’t make up my damn mind. I want him, but I know I can’t have him because I can’t juggle a relationship and work and school. The thought of trying to do just that made her feel even worse. A headache began to throb just behind her eyes.

Playing games with him wasn’t fair to either of them. She just had to let him go, leave him alone. No more listening to Layla and being convinced to do these stupid, selfish things.

Trying to put her concerns aside, she focused on Thad and the way he danced. Her heart rate sped up with each touch, each caress of his hands on her body as they moved to the beat, but the fire beneath her skin simmered rather than erupted the way it did with Jared. Would anyone else ever make her feel the way he did? Was he making Shana feel that way right now? Were they at that moment rekindling their romance in the suite? The beautiful, poised Shana, who seemed to be everything Felicity was not.

Despite Thad’s excellent dance moves, Felicity was not enjoying herself. She was miserable. After a couple of songs, Thad seemed to notice his lack of effect on her. They both stopped moving on the dance floor. Panels of light burst through the darkness between them, painting his face with blues and reds, before vanishing and bursting back into existence a few feet behind them. Everywhere there were people moving, laughing, dancing, enjoying themselves. Thad curled one finger under her chin and lifted her face so he could look down at her.

“Come with me—this way.” He led her away from the main floor and into an alcove where the noise was muted by the position of the walls.

“Are we done?” Felicity tried not to sound hopeful.

“I guess I am.” He sighed, and his little disappointed smile made guilt twinge sharp in her stomach. “You’re not having any fun, are you?” He bent his head down a little, not to kiss her as she thought at first, but to get a better look at her face. Like Jared, he was easily a head taller than her. Such a gorgeous man, but not her type—he wasn’t Jared.

“I’m sorry. This really isn’t my thing.” She looked around, taking in the world of life and excitement, the other young men and women having a good time. Unlike her. If she could have been anywhere in that instant, she wanted to be back on Jared’s couch, his arms around her, his lips on hers, the quiet sounds of an old movie in the background.

“Why did you agree to come?” he asked. “You didn’t have to, you know.”

She ducked her head. “I know. Layla said—”

“Layla Russo? Christ, I should have known. Honey, don’t ever listen to Layla, okay? If you aren’t into a guy, don’t agree to go with him. Layla can play the game, but you…you aren’t that kind of girl. Understand?”

For some reason his words made her want to cry. She bit her lip and blinked back the burn of tears. Now was not the time to cry. He didn’t know her, didn’t know what kind of girl she was, but he was right, she wasn’t into games and didn’t know how to play them.

“You and Jared…are you…?” He made a vague motion of connecting his fingers as though to imply they were together.

“Uh, I really don’t know. He and I aren’t really, well, we’re at different times in our lives. He’s got his work, and I’ve got school, and we just don’t…But I want…” Him. She couldn’t finish the thought aloud.

Thad shook his head, then shot her a wicked grin. “Trust me, honey, if a man wants you, work won’t matter.”

Work won’t matter? Jared was a workaholic, and his job didn’t seem the type to give him a spare moment for himself, let alone someone else, just like her.

“I’m sorry this wasn’t a fun night for you. I didn’t mean to lead you on.” She tried to change the subject, and he let her. She could see it in his face, the barely hidden amusement.

“Let’s go back to the suite and relax before you go home. I’ll find Jared.” He looped his fingers through hers and led her away from the alcove.

When they stepped back out onto the dance floor, the wave of sound engulfed them, and it hit her like a passing L-train. Too many people around, too many sounds. Before she’d been so focused on Jared, she hadn’t let herself get bothered by the crowds and the lack of air. But now that she was feeling better about Thad and her non-date, that old claustrophobia and fear of crowds kicked in. The music pressed into her skull, the bass thudding at the back of her eyes and the base of her spine. Nausea struck her hard and without warning was quickly followed by a dizzy spell.

“Thad, wait, I need to sit down…” The world tilted wildly around her as she tugged on his hand.

“Hey!” Thad leaped to catch her just as everything went black.