“Oh, Jack,” she whispered not even sure if he could hear her over the music.

Her eyes fluttered closed, but he leaned forward and whispered in her ear, “Don’t close your eyes. I want to see everything.”

Her eyes shot open at his command. His breath was hot on her neck as he moved his mouth to the soft spot under her ear. He trailed kisses down her neck as his hands continued to stroke her until she was trembling. Then, when he didn’t think she could hold back any longer, he inserted his finger gently inside her. She gasped clutching on to him as waves of pleasure rushed over her.

She slumped forward resting her head on his shoulder. He pulled back from her and reached for a napkin to clean himself up.

“Let’s get some privacy,” he said gesturing for them to exit the kitchen. As they stood, Jack paused and fished around in his pockets. “Hello?” Jack answered the phone pressing it firmly to his ear to try and drone out the background noise. “Yes sir, this is Jack Howard.” After a pause, Jack spoke up again. “I am still interested. I am definitely interested,” he said enthusiasm creeping into his voice.

Lexi looked up at him, her eyebrows rising in curiosity. She mouthed, “What?” to him.

He held his hand up a huge smile on his face. “Sure. Absolutely.” The smile faltered. Lexi really wished that she could hear what was going on. First, he was ecstatic. Now he looked a bit hesitant, and she didn’t even know who was calling. “Tonight? Yeah, no, that won’t be a problem. Yes, sir. I’ll be right there.”

Jack hung up the phone. His face was apprehensive as his blue eyes turned to Lexi. “What’s going on?” she asked smiling brightly.

“I got an interview!” he said leaning down and kissing her on the mouth.

“That’s awesome,” she cried.

“But I have to go tonight…now,” he muttered looking away from her.

“What? Why? Isn’t it kind of late for an interview?” she asked realizing why he had looked anxious.

“Last minute kind of thing.”

“Oh, well, go! Get out of here! Good luck!” she cried throwing her arms around his neck.

“You aren’t mad?” he asked his brows coming together.

“Of course not. I want you to do well.”

He looked a little suspicious of how well she was taking the news, but didn’t want to question her again. “I’ll make this up to you. We’ll pick up where I left off. I promise.”

“No need,” she said waving him off.

“Oh, there’s need,” he murmured raising his eyebrows. “I’ll call you when I know something.”

Jack leaned down and kissed her deeply once more before rushing out of the room. She exited the kitchen in search of Chyna. Without Jack, she was missing her source of sunshine, her ability to forget what had happened earlier that evening. Her heart was aching from the memories and she needed someone to fill that void.

“I just saw your hubby leave the building,” Claire slurred coming up out of nowhere and grabbing onto her arm. “He was escorting some blonde outside.” She wiggled her eyebrows up and down suggestively. “She was fucking drunk.”

“I think you’re fucking drunk,” Lexi told her snatching her arm away from the girl. “And I know he left, because he has a job interview. They just called him.”

“Whatever you wanna believe,” Claire said falling backwards into a tall guy who jostled her back in the other direction. She stumbled a few feet before crashing into another unsuspecting partier sending a ripple effect through the rest of the dancers.

Lexi turned from the angry drunken mob to restart her search for Chyna. She didn’t particularly care what happened to Claire. She had too much alcohol in her system and normally got on her nerves without the extra effect. She was literally grating on her just by being in her presence right now.

She spun in place scanning Chyna’s penthouse suite. It was going to take forever to locate her friend who literally could be anywhere. More people continued to stream in through the front door while others were devastating the premises. Lexi searched the apartment as fast as she could unable to locate her lost friend. Finally, as she was about to step into Chyna’s bedroom, the door popped open and a fuming beefy man stalked out of the room. His nose had blood running freely from it and he seemed to favor his right side. Lexi heard him mutter a string of curses as he exited.

She staggered backwards out of the man’s way. He didn’t even seem to realize anyone was in front of him. A peel of laughter broke free from the bedroom, and Lexi peeked her head around the corner into the room hoping to find out what was going on. Chyna readjusted her bra strap which seemed to have been pushed out of place.

“You okay, C?” Lexi asked concerned that perhaps the laughter hadn’t been pleasant.

“Yeah, had to get rid of some asshole,” she commented yanking her skirt back to its appropriate length.

“Did you do that to that guy?” Lexi asked unable to keep the humor out of her voice. Chyna nodded a smug smile across her face. “He looked pretty messed up.”

“I’ve been taking self-defense classes for as long as I can remember. He got too friendly too fast and I didn’t want it. So I jabbed my palm into his nose. Then rammed my elbows into his kidneys until he squealed like girl and ran out of here,” Chyna said grabbing her hair and pulling all to the right side of her body.

Lexi doubled over with laughter. “That’s impressive. You’ll have to teach me a thing or two.”

Lexi leaned back against Chyna’s bed. Chyna eyed her for the first time. “So, where is your man? Aren’t you supposed to be sexing it up by now?”

Lexi cringed. “He got called away for a job interview.”

“Uh huh…” Chyna said coughing into her hand. “A job interview. At this time of night.”

“Don’t tell me you don’t believe him either,” Lexi cried throwing her hands up into the air.

Chyna threw her own hands up in defense. “No, I believe you if you say so, but it does seem just a little suspicious.”

“Well, you weren’t there so you didn’t hear the conversation,” she said trying to dispel the feeling of foreboding coming over her. Jack wouldn’t do that. They had been about to have sex. There would be no need for him to run off for anything else unless it was important. That is what he had said the very first night she had seen him back in town. He wouldn’t leave her side for anything else.

It’s not like he had been acting sketchy anytime recently. It’s not like he had a reason to do anything when he had her. They had been almost too happy. She had kept him too…satisfied for him to want anything else. She couldn’t even think about that possibility. He said he would never lie to her again and she had to believe that was the truth. She couldn’t let old fears win out.

“No, you’re right,” Chyna said not convinced. “Let’s just forget about it. You’ve had a long couple of weeks and we’re here to party.”

Lexi took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You’re right. You’re always right. Let’s party!”

And so they spent the remainder of the night doing just that. Neither thought about their worries, complications, or futures, they simply enjoyed the company of a crowded room of strangers. Lexi tried to keep the drinking to a minimum, but she danced until her heart’s contentment. Her roommates were slumped all around the room making out with random guys. Lexi would have never believed it if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes. Without her own guy to be affectionate with, she decided to call it an early night.

She realized at that point that she hadn’t even checked her phone since Jack had left. He could have called and she might have missed it. Anxious to find out what had happened, she quickly kissed Chyna on the cheek and told her good-bye.

Once she got in the cab, she pulled out her phone to check for any messages. Her heart fluttered when she saw that she had a missed call from Jack and a voicemail waited for her.