The Line Between

I hated lying to her, but I was afraid that she just wouldn’t understand. Hell, I didn’t even understand how I’d gotten myself into this situation, and to explain it would only make me feel worse. Jade would blame Dane when in reality it wasn’t his fault.

“If you say so.”

She wasn’t satisfied, but she had to accept it. I wasn’t willing to get into it with her, especially when all I wanted to do was erase it from my mind completely.

Beyonce’s ‘Baby Boy’ boomed through the speakers, and I had the urge to start dancing. Jade had the same idea, and after another tequila shot, she grabbed my hand and I followed her to the dance floor. We started moving to the beat, grinding our bodies in unison. The music filled my ears, my lungs, my limbs, and soon the rest of the world faded away. The song changed, and Kings Of Leon’s ‘Sex on Fire’ bled through the crowd. I was high on the energy pulsating around me, and focused on feeling the lyrics, how they made my pulse race, and my skin dampen with a light sheen of sweat. I wasn’t drunk, not even close, but anyone watching me could’ve made that assumption.

I spotted the giant speaker next to the DJ booth, and before Jade could talk me out of it, I hoisted myself up. I slipped my shoes off, dropping them to the floor, and reveled in the way the sounds of the music vibrated beneath my feet. I bent my legs and dropped down, swaying my hips while pulling my fingers through my hair. On the way up, I trailed my hands up my sides, and moved my head from side-to-side in a slow, seductive motion.

I startled when a pair of hands grabbed my hips, and jerked me from the speaker. I opened my eyes, and found a furious-looking Dane glaring at me. I opened my mouth to speak, but one moment I was standing, and the next I was in the air being flung over Dane’s shoulder.

“Dane!” I squealed, trying to pull my dress down at the back before the people got to see my butt cheeks. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

He either didn’t hear me, or he was purposefully ignoring me. My bet was on the latter.

His steps were determined, and he shouldered his way through the crowd while carrying my weight like it was nothing. The people we passed gave us strange looks, but no one bothered to help. Apparently, being hauled out of a club on the shoulders of a guy was the norm, and no one seemed to think that anything sinister was going on.

I squirmed in his hold, looking around frantically to see if I could spot Jade. I found her in a corner, close to the bar, but she was preoccupied with…wait, was she making out with Reid? I was being jostled around so much it was hard to tell.

“Dane,” I hit his back with my fists. “Put me down! Now.”

Rather than respond with words like a normal human being, he embraced his inner caveman and slapped my butt.

The sting traveled over my skin, and I jerked in surprise. That was actually kind of…hot?

Oh my God. You are hopeless, Kennedy.

The door opened, and I saw Bobby smirking as Dane stormed past.

“Thanks for the help,” I yelled.

He snickered, and replied with, “Doesn’t look like you need it.”

Seriously? I was being dragged out of the club on Dane’s shoulders, kicking, and hitting him, and no one thought I might’ve needed help? Idiots.

“Where are you taking me?” I hissed, turning my head to try and look at Dane. From his profile I could tell his jaw was tense, and his brows were furrowed. Still, he ignored me, and once he’d marched across the parking lot to his car, he finally let me drop to my feet. His arm was tight around me as I slid down the front of his body, but I didn’t have a chance to notice how my body reacted. The door behind me swung open, and Dane lifted me by my waist to deposit me in the front passenger seat. I scowled when he shut the door, and rounded the hood.

He climbed in, and turned the ignition.

I folded my arms across my chest with a huff. “What the hell is your fucking problem?”

He finally cut his eyes in my direction, and what I saw not only terrified me but excited me too.

“You, Kennedy,” he replied harshly. “You’re my fucking problem.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Dane

THIS WOMAN WAS on the verge of making me question my sanity. After a week of staying away from her, you’d think the aftermath of my night with her would disappear, but I was deluded if I thought that was going to happen.

I had to laugh at myself though. I’d become what my sister would have called a cliché – I used to catch her reading romance novels all the time. I’d tease her by telling her not to believe in those kinds of stories and that the heroes on those books weren’t real.

“They’re real,” she’d say. “As soon as they meet the one girl who drives them crazy, they’ll get a taste and think once will be enough. Then they’ll realize that it isn’t, and end up falling hopelessly in love.” A wistful sigh would follow, and then she’d add, “It’s very clichéd, but the best romance stories always are, and I look forward to the day you, my darling brother, become the cliché.”

Naturally I’d brushed it off and laughed at the idiocy of her idea. Turns out, she was half right because I’d had Kennedy once, and it wasn’t enough. Except this wasn’t a book, and we weren’t a pair of fictional characters trying to find our way to one another. We were a mismatched set of complications, and craptastic pasts, and everything else that made us a colossal disaster in the making. Stupidly, it didn’t change how badly I wanted to push her away and pull her closer at the same time.

I’d barely put my car into ‘park’ when Kennedy flung the door open, and jumped out.

“You are unbelievable!” She shouted, raising her arms in the air. “Why did you do that?”

I shut my door, and tried to get a handle on the hurricane of feelings spinning uncontrollably inside me. I wanted to reply, but I was afraid of what would come out of my mouth so I remained silent. Kennedy looked like the spitfire I knew was buried beneath all her hang-ups, and I couldn’t deny how alluring it made her. I hadn’t been able to keep my eyes off of her the minute I saw her walk into the club looking like every guy’s wet dream. Her dress was short, and tight, and without showing too much skin, still accentuated her curvaceous silhouette.

“Hello? Earth to Dane? Are you going to answer me or just stand there and stare at me?”

Man, she was so damn tempting when she was pissed at me. I wanted to lift her onto the hood of my car, and do all kinds of dirty things to that body.

“I saved you the trouble of humiliating yourself,” I replied, my voice thick with exasperation. “You wanted my attention, now you have it.”

Kennedy’s eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open. “How was I humiliating myself? I was dancing on a damn speaker!”

“Exactly.”

“And you think I was doing it to get your attention?”

“I assumed so, yes. Was I wrong?”

Kennedy’s laugh was filled with disbelief and incredulity. “Wow, Dane. Just wow.” She took a few steps closer to me, until the sweet scent of her perfume aroused my senses. Irate green eyes looked up at me, challenging me.

“Newsflash asshole, I didn’t even know you were there, and the fact that you think I’d do anything for your attention is completely laughable. I’m not one of your fuck buddies waiting in line to get any scraps you’re willing to give.”