We each stepped onto the padded floor and circled around each other. Jack moved as if he was going to jump at me and then laughed when I jumped away from him.

“Scared?”

I bared my teeth at him. “No. Are you?”

Before I could even think another sassy thought, I was on my back on the mat. Jack stood over me, grinning down at me.

“Should I have counted down or something?”

I pulled myself to my feet and scowled. “Was that the best you could do?”

It went on like that for longer than I cared to admit. Jack dropped me over and over again until my back ached and I was so frustrated that I thought I might cry. He was all smirks and laughter as he kicked my ass.

I decided to give myself one more time to make a real effort. Then, I was going back up to Brent’s office to lick my wounds in private. When Jack moved that time, I saw him coming and dove to the side. I popped back up and then jumped on his back. With my arms wrapped around his throat and my legs wrapped around his waist, he pawed at my legs, but still couldn’t get my arms off of him.

He dropped us both to the ground, with his weight nearly knocking the air out of my lungs. I tried to hold on as best as I could, but he was a powerhouse and had no problem rolling me over. When my arms slipped, though, I tried to grab his hair and when it was too short, I threw my body on top of his, hoping my weight held him back. Instead, he easily flipped me over onto my stomach and held me down.

I gasped as I realized the position we were in. He was spread out on top of me, his impressive bulge pressing into my ass. My pulse throbbed in my clit as I became painfully aware of his body on top of mine, of the soft material of his pants rubbing against my bare thighs, of his chest completely covering and wrapping around my back.

Using all of my strength, I pushed up onto my knees. Jack’s arms immediately wrapped around my stomach and held me tighter against his body.

I wiggled around, not sure if we were still wrestling or not, and not sure about whether or not I wanted us to be. “Jack?”

He immediately released me and lay back on the mat behind me. I glanced at him over my shoulder and blushed when I saw the massive boner he was sporting.

“That’s a first for my wrestling career.”

I laughed and fell back. “What is wrong with us?”

He let his head fall to the side so he was staring at me. “I don’t know. I’ve never fought with someone like this before. You drive me crazy.”

“Well, you return the favor, buddy.”

He reached out and pushed my hair out of my face. “I can’t seem to help myself around you.”

I sighed and pushed his hand away. “You have a fiancée. This can’t keep happening. It makes me want to scratch your eyes out and if you’re supposed to be helping me with Snake, then that can’t keep happening.”

“Things are…different with Stacey. She’s just…”

“Don’t start complaining to me about her, Jack. This isn’t going to work. Let’s just make a deal. We work together, but we don’t spend any time other than that together. Obviously, something is wrong with us that makes it impossible for our brains to work when we’re together.”

Jack groaned and sat up. “There’s a problem with that, Red.”

“What?”

“I’m teaching you self-defense. Brent’s orders.”

I pulled myself to my feet and pushed my skirt down. I tried to straighten my hair the best I could, but I knew it was a wreck. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Well, too bad. Now, can we meet in my office and talk about Snake?”

“Make it the conference room and you’ve got a deal.”

“That’s fine.” He hesitated and looked up at me from his reclined position. “Thanks for making sure Brent got out of there safely this morning.”

I looked away and then back at him. “He seems happiest when he’s in dangerous situations. Is he okay?”

Jack stood up and started redressing. The act felt too intimate, as if we’d just finished having sex, so I turned away. “He’s had a tough few years. He’s okay, though.”

“Okay. I’m going to head on up.”

“Wait a second. I’ll go up with you.”

I looked down at my rumpled clothing and then to his. “No way.”

He finished putting his tie on and raked his eyes down my body. “It’ll be fine. I can keep my hands to myself.”

“That wasn’t what I was talking about, dumbass.” I shook my head and headed to the door ahead of him. “I meant we look a little rough, and I’m afraid that people will see us and get the wrong idea.”

He followed right behind me. “Well, they wouldn’t be too wrong.”

I punched the button for the elevator and kept my back to him. “You’re so annoying. I know we have a truce, but I just need to tell you that.”

“You’re terrible at our truce. You’ve already insulted me multiple times.”

“Well, you’ve already crossed the line with your—”

“Oh, there you are, Jacky!” I recognized that sweet voice and thought about sprinting away.

Jack made a grunting sound and then an expensive-smelling perfume surrounded me. “Hey, Stace.”

I punched the button again. If the doors didn’t open up as soon as possible, I was going to lose it. I couldn’t listen to Stacey’s sugary sweet voice anymore.

“I have tennis with Amber and Becca at the club in a little while, but I wanted to stop by to say hi and show you some colors for the invitations. There’s the common eggshell, but we also have a satin and a pearl. I just have to get this right.”

The doors opened and all my hopes that Jack would be nice enough to not subject me to his fiancée’s wedding planning went out the window. They followed me onto the damn thing and crowded together behind me.

“Mom wants you to come with us to the club this week. She says we haven’t put in an appearance in a while and it doesn’t look good.”

I jammed my finger into the button for our floor and sang the alphabet in my head. I’d faced off with a giant biker that morning, but I was ready to bash my own head in at the idea of listening to Stacey talk for one more second.

“I know you’re busy, but people talk, Jack. I can’t look like I’m always alone. The girls already talk about how little time we spend together. I have to come by here to see you, and it’s not like we can really…” She finished the rest of her sentence with a giggle and whispered words.

I jammed the button harder and swore under my breath. If I had to listen to her for one more minute I was going to call Snake and give him my exact GPS location. I couldn’t handle it.

The elevator jerked to a stop, in between floors, and I cursed louder than I ever have in my life. I swung around on Jack with a wild look on my face. “Fix it!”

He pushed his fiancée out of his arms and edged around me to get to the panel. “I’ll look at it.”

“Don’t look. Fix. I can’t be trapped on this godforsaken thing!” I pulled at my hair and then bunched the curls in a ponytail and wrapped it up. “Is it getting hot in here? I think it’s getting hot.”

Stacey shot me a sympathetic look. “Are you claustrophobic? I had a friend once in college who was. She would just freak out over the littlest thing. Just imagine you’re in a big space, honey.”

I wasn’t claustrophobic, but I was prone to freaking out when trapped in an elevator with the guy I’d been making out with lately and his fiancée. I pulled my camisole away from my body and fanned it in and out, trying to get a breeze. I could tell my face was bright red and I was seconds away from prying open the ceiling hatch and scaling to the next floor.

Jack pushed a button and the elevator immediately started moving again. “Looks like you accidentally pushed the stop button.”

I laughed, but it sounded more like a shriek. “Silly me. Oh, man.”

Stacey was staring at me, at my appearance, and then glancing at Jack with uncertainty, like she was afraid I was going to snap and kill them.

“You okay, Raelyn?”

Hearing him say my real name just made it worse. I felt like the dirty side chick who was trash. I bit my lip and nodded. I just needed to get away from them. As soon as the door opened, I sprinted out of the elevator and to Brent’s office as I’d never sprinted before.

Not ten seconds after I shut the door, it opened again. I turned to see Jack shutting the door behind him. He frowned and moved closer to me.

“I’m sorry. That was bad timing. I have to talk to her for a few minutes, but then we can have our meeting.”

I crossed to Brent’s desk and leaned against it. “Fine. Go back to her, Jack.”

He nodded. “I’d better.”

When he just kept standing there, I frowned at him and pointed to the door. “Go, Jack.”

He groaned and pulled his hands down his face before turning and leaving.

I sank into Brent’s chair and grunted. Things weren’t good. I let my thoughts drift to Carly and what she would do in a situation like the one I was in with Jack. She’d definitely go for it. I looked at the phone of Brent’s desk and sighed. I wanted to talk to her. I wanted her to know that I was okay. I wanted to know that she was okay.

I slipped into the heels that Brent had delivered and walked down to Bo’s office. He was on the phone, but he waved me in and pointed to the chair in front of his desk.

I sat down and looked around. His office was nearly bare. It had a laptop and a few notepads, but that was pretty much it. I raised my eyebrows at him.

“Alright, I’ll be in touch.” Bo hung up his phone and then smiled at me. “What brings your judgmental eyes to my office?”

I frowned. “I have a question.”

“No, I can’t go to prom with you. I have my hands full with a case I’m on.”

I rolled my eyes. “I have a friend I left behind in Jackson. Is there any way for me to contact her safely?”

He sat back in his chair and nodded. “Sure. I can get a line for you to call her on. As long as you don’t tell her where you are, you’ll be fine. Unless she’s grabbed and interrogated about you. In which case, it’d be better for you if she didn’t know where you were.”

I swallowed and got an uneasy feeling in my stomach. “I need to hear her voice and make sure she’s okay.”

He punched a few buttons and then had me give him her number. The phone rang for a few seconds before it clicked on. No one answered, but I could feel that someone was there.

“Carly?”

“Ahh… I was wondering when you’d call, bitch.”