“When you see your friend that happy,” Zane went on, “you want to be happy for him. And you are. But when his girl’s as awesome as his is, you also want to hate him just a bit.” As the white light caught in Zane’s ice-blue eyes, I swore he looked right at me. “Happy birthday, Katie. This one’s for you.”
I glanced at Jesse. He just shrugged; apparently he hadn’t put Zane up to this. I felt the blush heating my cheeks, like everyone in the place was staring at me, though in reality, their attention was still on Zane. And maybe Jesse.
With the opening notes, and definitely the opening words, I recognized the song.
Jessie’s Girl.
I looked at Jesse. A huge grin split his face, his white teeth gleaming in the spotlight that was trained on him as he shook his head at Zane. I laughed and shrank back into the couch, out of the spotlight, hoping to disappear.
No such luck. By the time the chorus kicked in, Jessa had yanked me up off the seat and over to one of the knee-high tables, where she proceeded to pull me up and force me to dance. Which was to say that she started to dance, and I could either stand there like a party pooper and let her dance alone, or join her. I chose the latter.
We danced our asses off. Because why the hell not?
Zane Traynor was singing a song, forme, to a packed house. I was here with Jesse Fucking Mayes and his sister wanted to dance with me, on a table. It was my motherfucking birthday, I was turning twenty-five, and life was pretty fucking good.
I, Katie Bloom, was Jesse’s girl.
More or less.
When the song was over I collapsed back onto the love seat with Jessa, laughing. More drinks were waiting for us. Jesse handed me a glass of bubbly and leaned in, his lips grazing my ear, sending a shiver of sparks down my spine. “Happy birthday, Katie,” he said, brushing my hair back over my shoulder and down my back.
And that’s when I saw her.
Elle.
The one member of Dirty I hadn’t yet met.
Jesse’s gorgeous ex-girlfriend.
She was ensconced in a big leather booth at the other end of the VIP area, surrounded by a bunch of people, including Dylan and Ash. Maybe she’d just arrived. Maybe she’d been there the whole time. I had no idea.
She wasn’t looking at me. Maybe she hadn’t noticed me.
I was pretty sure by now she knew who I was. By now, everyone who knew Jesse knew who I was.
But table dancing aside, it was pretty packed in the club. If she hadn’t noticed I was there, she was definitely about to, since my hand was attached to Jesse’s, and my other hand was intermittently attached to his sister’s.
Was she there duringJessie’s Girl?
I wasn’t sure why I cared. Why I was so nervous to come face-to-face with her. I had as much reason to be here as she did.
So why did I suddenly feel out of place?
“What’s wrong?”
I looked up into beautiful molasses eyes, dark eyebrows that were furled together. And I had no desire to add to the stress of whatever he was going through with his sister with my petty insecurities. So I said, “Nothing. Just going to find the ladies’ room.”
I was kind of hoping to drag Jessa with me as a gorgeous security blanket, but no luck. She was deep in conversation with Jude, so I went by myself, leaving Jesse with what I intended as a quick kiss. Instead, he delved his hand into my hair and held me to him, lip-locked, for a long, breathless moment before letting me go.
I got up a little dazed, straightened my halter dress, and weaved off in the direction of the exit signs at the back of the VIP area.
Moments later, I emerged from the cubicle in the ladies’ room to find a number of women gathered at the sinks. Actually, they were gathered around a striking platinum blond.
Elle was talking with one of her girlfriends in a hushed voice and fiddling with her long, white-blond hair, which was teased up into a super-cool fauxhawk, the sides braided back, her slim, tan figure wrapped in an asymmetrical white mini-dress.
Her eye caught mine in the mirror.
I slipped up to the sink next to hers. Her girlfriends finished up and left; Elle stayed put, her eyes on me.
