Page 103 of From Us, Forever

“Bitch,” I mumbled under my breath, downing the rest of my drink. “How do you know her?”

“We had a shoot once,” Jay replied. “Come on, let’s go.” He gestured, but I stayed glued to the spot.

“And?”

He glanced over his shoulder. “And we went out for drinks. That’s all.”

“Did you pay, or did she pay?”

He gave me a baffled look. “Of course I did.”

“Then it’s a date.”

“It’s not. We just had a good time, and I would never let a lady pay, Evelyn.”

I folded my arm, tapping a finger. “Explain good time.”

He wrapped both his arms around me, giving me an innocent smile. “Babe, it’s from the past, remember? And a good time was us getting high and hitting a few clubs. The boys were with us too.”

His words brought a sudden flash of memory to my head. After all, I meticulously followed his social life for years, so I was well attuned to it. “I remember that now—summer, two years ago—J.J. was seen partying with supermodel Amber Locks till early morning Sunday.”

“I’m sorry.” He placed a quick kiss on my nose.

“Fine, but when we get home, you’re going to give me a list of all the girls you partied, dated, or had fun with so I can mentally prepare myself when they throw themselves at you. Why in the world did you have to be so fucking gorgeous? Why can’t you be boring like me so no one would look at you?”

He scoffed, raising a brow. “Are you kidding me, Evelyn? Do you know the number of men gawking at you right now? I had to stare them down so they would look away from what’s mine.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You’re lying.”

“Try me. Do you see that man to our left by the crystal fountain? He’s been staring at you ever since we arrived at the bar.”

“No, he’s not,” I mumbled, my eyes shifting to the direction he gestured, and very well, a man in his early thirties with smooth tan skin and pale green eyes was staring straight at me, and when he noticed my eyes on him, he gave me a leering smile.

I grimaced, shooting him a glare as I twisted my attention back to Jay. “Creep.”

Jay chuckled, pulling me closer to him. “If he’s a creep, then half the men in this room are creeps. They like to stare at shiny, beautiful things.”

“Only creeps would stare at something that is not theirs. I only belong to my man,” I said softly, dropping a kiss on his cheek.

Jay’s eyes glinted with softness. “Have I told you how fucking much I love you?”

I nodded, grinning. “Yes, you have a hundred times.” I dropped another kiss on his cheek. “How long do we have to stay here? I want to go home and cuddle and ask you about a million times who your favorite person in the whole wide world is?”

“Still you.” He placed a quick kiss on my lips. “Maybe another thirty minutes. I have to say hi to a few more people,and then we’ll gather the rest of the crew and call it a night. Does that sound good?”

“Yes.”

“Come on. There’s someone I want you to meet.” Jay led me away from the bar to a table by the dance floor, where a couple caught our eyes.

“J.J.” An older-looking man standing next to a beautiful lady greeted Jay with a warm smile.

“Tom.” Jay shook his hands, smiling like they were old friends, before his attention turned to the lady next to him. “Louisa, always a pleasure.”

“Of course, darling.” She gave him a gentle smile that made her brown eyes shine.

“Evelyn, meet Tom and Louisa Flemming. Tom owns Aspen Records.” Jay gestured toward them.

Somewhere from the back of my mind, I recall Katy telling me they were one of the big five in the industry.

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