Page 1 of Jake Forever
Chapter 1
I was in love with a maniac.
No surprise there. I mean, this was Jake, after all.
We were sitting at a table for ten near the front of a huge banquet hall. On a raised platform a few feet away, some famous sportscaster was entertaining the crowd with tales of player-exploits, both on and off the field.
With a toothy grin, the guy leaned closer to his podium and said, "So remember, people, when you're gonna spike something, make sure it's the ball." He winked. "Andnotthe referee."
The crowd, nearly a thousand strong, roared with laughter. Around us, I heard glasses clinking and saw waiters moving. The way it looked, they were getting ready to serve dinner.
I frowned. I'd ordered Chicken Florentine. I liked Chicken Florentine. But I had a sneaky suspicion that I wouldn’t be getting any tonight.
In fact, I was pretty sure that by the time the dust settled, we'd be dining somewhere else. And if things wentreallybad? Well, in that case, Jake would be dining in jail.
Again.
I leaned toward him and whispered, "You're kidding, right?"
He gave me a wicked smile. "Maybe."
I studied his face. His thick, dark hair framed his perfect features, those luscious cheekbones, those dark, intense eyes, and that mouth. Oh, my God. I swallowed. That mouth, those lips, his tongue – I couldn’t see his tongue now, but I knew what it was capable of.
Damn it.
Focus, Luna.
From the look on Jake's face, there was no maybe about it. Something was definitely going to happen, because Jake was going tomakeit happen. I looked around the huge room. The place was jam-packed with sports fans, players, coaches, and management types, along with a scary number of burly guys in business suits – security, obviously.
This was the fifth annual Mid-Western sports award ceremony, and it had drawn a huge crowd, triple the size of last year.
I knew why. It was because of Dorian North. The guy's little brother was up for college athlete of the year, and everyone knew he was going to win it – not because he was the best, but because he was the brother of Dorian, the big, bad-ass brute who'd ditched the wrestling ring to become the latest, greatest thing in Hollywood action movies.
I looked to the far side of the room, where Dorian was sitting at a prime table with two brunettes and a blonde, along with the rest of his entourage. They'd arrived late – and loud. They werestillloud. For the fifth time in the last half-hour, a cell phone rang.
The phone belonged to Dorian. I knew because the ringtone, if you could call it that, was his own voice, delivering his famous catch-phrase, "Suck onthat, Jones."
God, what an asshat.
Dorian answered the phone and started talking. "Screw that," he bellowed to the poor slob – whoever they were – on the other end. "You get me double, or the deal's off. Got it?" Not bothering to say goodbye, he ended the call and tossed his cell phone back onto the table.
Next to him, the blonde squealed out, "You tell him, baby."
Grinning, Dorian leaned back in his chair. "Already did, sugar-tits."
I snuck a quick glance at the girl's chest. If her tits were sugar, they were definitely – How to put this? – in need of a bigger bowl.
Her halter-dress, some silver thing with sequins, was overflowing on all sides. She gave a little jiggle, and I saw the briefest flash of nipple before she quickly tucked it back in.
I heard a muffled moan and looked to my left. Sitting next to me was Trey, Jake's assistant. He was staring, hypnotized, at the girl's chest.
I leaned toward him and hissed, "Did you just moan?"
"It wasn't a moan." He straightened in his chair. "It was a sound of appreciation."
I rolled my eyes. "Oh, please." If he were anymoreappreciative, he'd need a change of underwear.
His face split into a huge, sloppy grin. "I think I saw a nipple."
