Page 34 of Forbidden Desires

It was not necessarily Eric’s first choice in venue—his first choice would have been the gallery itself—but another investor had insisted and used his money and charm to secure it. I knew this, because it was something that Eric had spoken about before, when we had initially met and he had been explaining the various events I would be expected to accompany him to. I wondered if he realized that I had actually paid attention to those details, or if he just assumed I’d discard those facts since he was so easily capable of doing the same thing.

We said nothing more to each other, but the tension between us was now palpable. Even though I was cordial and put on a smile, I wondered if others could feel that conflict, too, as we walked by. I wanted that to be the case. To make it impossible for Eric to ignore my feelings or hide behind his carefully constructed veneer of being totally in control of everything at all times. A part of me wanted to shatter that control, but he remained just as cool and stoic as ever.

Maybe that’s why, unlike other events we’d attended together, Eric didn’t go out of his way to introduce me to people. If someone approached him, he would merely call me his date, but I could tell that even doing that much was uncomfortable for him.

Each time I put on a wide smile, though. Told the person my name. Really emphasized that I was here with Eric andeven fawned over him, which I knew he hated. I didn’t push any farther than that, but it was enough that I could practically feel his temperature rising beside me with each new interaction, until he finally pulled me out of sight of other people, behind one of the massive pillars that served as form and decor for the venue.

“What are you doing, Jasmine?” he asked, his tone sharp and his eyes flaring with displeasure. “I don’t understand why you’re acting like this.”

My heart withered a bit, but I held tight to my own indignation. “Well, that makes both of us for not understanding how the other’s acting,” I snapped back. “I’m just trying to have a good time, Eric. You want me here to be something pretty on your arm, that’s what I’m doing, isn’t it? If you’re not happy withme, you could ask someone else to come with you—”

“My, my,” came a male voice from behind us. “I had heard that Eric Maxim had someone pretty on his arm tonight, but I would have never thought that it was Jasmine Greene.”

The both of us straightened at the intrusion, though I had to be the only one whose spine went cold at the familiarity of that voice. When I looked over and verified who it was, that chill turned straight to ice.

James Dupont used to be a client of mine—one of the first after I became an escort under Dominique’s wing. He was, in a word, a bastard. Far too possessive to warrant dealing with, and while arrogance was something that ran in most of the circles of the men that I entertained, James’ conceit bordered on dangerous. He had a quick temper for a slighted ego, and what was worse, he didn’t like being told no, to anything, even on clauses that were negotiated in contracts and were one hundred percent a no-go.

What the hell was he doing here? I didn’t have time to deal with him and Eric’s shit, too.

Eric pulled away from me, though he stayed at my side. I would have clocked it as protectiveness if it weren’t for the fact that I couldn’t convince myself, even in this, that Eric cared that much about me.

“James,” Eric said stiffly. “I didn’t realize you knew Jasmine.”

“Knowingis a bit of a stretch,” I interjected.

James smirked, a toothy grin showing off what were abnormally pointed canines, giving him a wolfish appearance. “I think that’s a little harsh, don’t you, Jasmine?” His gaze all but undressed me as it flitted down my body with a familiarity that made me nauseous. “We got along just fine with each other a while back,” he said, looking to Eric. “You know what I mean, right?”

Yep, still a raging asshole.

Eric’s eyes narrowed just so at James’ offensive words and tone, but he looked down at me rather than keep that scrutiny on James. Another round of annoyance coursed through me; wasIsomehow the problem? In this world, it was ridiculous to think I hadn’t escorted for anyone in Eric’s social circle, except Eric. That wasn’t how this worked.

Then again, James hadn’t liked client overlap, either.

“I’m Eric’s date for tonight,” I said clearly. “That’s all.”

“Hmm. I’m sure.” Smirking, James slid another looked to Eric. “Dinner’s almost ready. I expect you and Jasmine will be there, too? I hear catering is planning something delicious for all of us. Lots of imported meats and desserts.”

Eric shook his head. “No. We’re leaving early.”

This was a surprise to me. Eric never left venues early, not since that first one, but that had been under very different circumstances than this. Was another man having known me really enough grounds to do that?

James seem to delight in the obvious tension between Eric and me. “But the investors—”

“Can tell me all about their thoughts in an email,” he said through clenched teeth. “We’re leaving.”

Eric took my arm, no room for protest as he led me out of the venue and back out to the parking lot. We’d been here barely an hour, maybe a little over it if I was being generous, and suddenly now we were leaving?

“What’s your problem tonight, Eric?” I asked as he typed away on his phone—presumably calling for Jeff to come get us unexpectedly early. “There was no reason for us to leave so soon.”

“There are plenty of reasons,” he muttered irritably. Finally, he put his phone away and looked at me. “I didn’t expect you to know someone like James.”

The accusation in his voice stung. “So,youcan know him, but I can’t have worked for him before? You seem to know him well yourself.”

“He’s the reason the venue was here instead of the gallery,” he said in a harsh tone, indicating there was some kind of bad blood between the two. “We’re not close.”

“And you think that James and I are close?” I asked incredulously. “Just because I worked for him before?”

“Working for someone doesn’t mean you didn’t get close.”

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