“You know, if we didn’t like you so much, we wouldn’t put up with this bullshit.”
Jace felt the familiar heat of embarrassment rise up his throat. He had no idea how to respond to declarations of affection from Dare Mills. “I—uh. Thanks. Eric convinced me that this would be fun.”
Dare shook his head, smiling. “Yeah, well, his sense of fun is a little different.”
“Everything about him is a little different,” Dave Blake said. Jace hadn’t noticed him standing, wheelchair-less, behind Dare. “I’m not sure why my sweet baby sister fell for the guy.”
Jace didn’t feel inclined to remind Dave that his sweet baby sister was a little different herself.
“So what’s the story with you and the porn star?” Dave asked Dare.
Dare’s dark brows drew together. “Porn star?”
“Yeah, that redhead you’re walking with in the wedding. She’s a porn star. A stripper. Prostitute?” He glanced at Jace for verification.
Jace shrugged and shook his head. He didn’t know if Starr was a prostitute. She was a friend of Aggie’s, so she was all right in his book.
“No story between us,” Dare said. “Though I did notice she’s a little hands-on.”
“I’d think you’d be used to that,” Sinners’ soundboard operator said with a laugh.
“I think you’re confusing me with my little brother.”
The three of them glanced at Trey, who happened to be getting hands on with his best friend, Brian, at the moment. He had him in a headlock while Eric tried to force a white stocking on one bare foot.
“I figured he learned it from you,” Dave said.
“Not me,” Dare said. “I’m a paragon of self-control.”
Jace busted out laughing. He’d spent four months on tour with the guitarist and his band, Exodus End, over the summer. Jace didn’t think self-control was quite the right word for Dare’s interactions with the female gender. Speaking of females… He could be enjoying his favorite female’s company right now, rather than shooting the breeze with the guys.
He slapped Dare on the arm. “I’ll catch up with you later.”
“See ya. In the meantime, I’ll try to retain my virtue from the porn star you set me up with.”
“Don’t struggle too hard,” Jace said. “She’s the kind of girl who likes a challenge.” He winked at Dare and left him standing with Dave.
Jace hadn’t gone five steps before being swept into the arms of the porn star in question.
“Hey, babydoll,” Starr said in his ear. “Where did Aggie run off to? I haven’t gotten the chance to talk to her at all since I got here.”
“I think she’s changing into her ball gown.”
“If the two of you need assistance, let me know. She’s the only woman who has ever topped me properly. Seems a crime that she’d marry a man.”
Okay, that was a very odd thing for her to say. Aggie had mentioned that they’d trained together, but Starr made it sound as if there was something deeper between them.
Surely he was mistaken. Aggie would have told him something that important. Wouldn’t she?
“Excuse me,” he said. “Aggie’s waiting for me.”
“Let her know I’m available if she needs me.”
Jace tilted his head, trying to make sense of the undercurrent he sensed in her words. She seemed to be hinting at something, but he wasn’t sure what.
“Needs you for what?” he asked.
“Why taking care of you, of course,” she said. “We all had a good time on your birthday. Remember?”
He remembered quite well. Remembered too the unfounded jealousy he’d felt whenever Starr had touched Aggie. Maybe that jealousy hadn’t been so unfounded after all.
“I have to go,” he said.
He scowled to himself as he stalked away. Aggie wouldn’t fool around with someone, would she? She was always very clear about what she did with her submissive clients, and he trusted that she told him the truth. Trusted that she wasn’t sexually attracted to any of them. Trusted that she wanted only him. Loved only him. But something about the way Starr acted had him wondering if Aggie had been playing him for a fool all along.
By the time he reached the cottage, he was seething. He slammed the door behind him and tossed the box containing his costume on the floor. He might have held on to his rage for a few more seconds if Aggie hadn’t been leaning against the bedroom’s doorframe wearing nothing but a pair of black satin panties and her red lipstick. He cursed the surge of lust that flooded his groin. Cursed her for looking so fucking hot and so uncommonly cold all at the same time. Cursed himself for being so goddamned weak to the woman.
Her come-hither smile faded as he remembered the reason for his anger and glared at her.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Why would anything be wrong?”
“You tell me. Last time I saw you, you were happy. And now, now you’re obviously not.”
“Have you been lying to me?” he asked.
Aggie’s eyes shifted from his face to the space over his shoulder. “About?”
“Your clients. Your training. Fucking everything?”
“I thought we were past this,” she said.
“Past what? Other men and women seeing your body, being privileged to your abuse, and you allowing them to worship you? What am I supposed to be past exactly, Aggie?”
“All of it. You said you were cool with me continuing to dominate clients. Remember?”