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“Invitations have already gone out,” Cam told her as he drew his jeans over his legs and let Jaci fuss with her hair. “The Brockheim Ball is important to Courtney. She wants you there. ”
“Too bad. ” Jaci frowned at the announcement. “I know the Brockheims. Their events are too damned rich for my bank account to afford the dresses. I’ll work on the house plans. ”
“Taken care of. ”
She turned to Cam as he drew his shirt on, buttoned it, and tucked it back into his jeans.
“Excuse me?” she asked him, holding onto her temper now.
This wasn’t fair. First they drove her crazy, taking her in the middle of the day, and now they were driving her crazy another way. The Falladay twins were going to cause her to lose hair.
“The dress is being delivered to your room. You’ll be the belle of the ball. And you’re going. ”
“Not on your life. ” She stood toe-to-toe with Cam, trying to ignore Chase’s amusement.
Cam’s brow lifted, amusement sparkling in his eyes. He was loving her anger, and that just pissed her off more.
“You can walk into the ball or I can carry you in. ” He shrugged. “Your choice. ”
“I really don’t like you,” she ground out, knowing it wasn’t true, just as she knew it made no sense whatsoever for her to attend that damned ball.
He grinned back at her. “No, you just don’t want me to kill Richard Roberts when he strikes out at you at that party. ” He tilted his head, and his eyes grew hard. “He’s going to learn, Jaci, no matter where, he doesn’t touch what belongs to me, either physically or verbally. You can’t stop that. ”
Her lips parted as she fought to pull in air.
“I can take care of the Robertses. I don’t need you fighting this battle. ”
“Then you should have taken care of them before now,” he told her firmly. “Now it is my battle. ”
“By what right?” She felt like screaming. She would have screamed, if her voice wasn’t already hoarse from her earlier screaming.
“By the fact that you’re mine. ” He didn’t yell, his voice wasn’t cold. A simple statement, as he touched her face gently with calloused fingertips. “All mine. ”
“And you think that’s reason enough to order me to this damned party?”
“No. To tell you. You’re going to this damned party with me. After that ball, no one will doubt who stands in front of you. Not the Robertses, or anyone else. ”
Her eyes narrowed. “We’ll see about that. ” She turned and strode to the door, jerked a few times on the knob, then turned back to him furiously.
She caught the glare he shot his brother, as Chase hit the electronic control and unlocked the door.
She snarled at both of them, then yanked the door open and stalked through the house to where she suspected Courtney would be. And of course, Cam was following her. That only irked her further.
The solarium was a small breakfast room set to the side of the dining room. Sunlight streamed through the glass-enclosed room, gilding Courtney in warmth and light. Jaci had to smile. That was Courtney. She made an impression no matter where she was.
She was with her husband, laughing up at him, in the corner of the room. Her expression was filled with love, with teasing, sensual knowledge, while Ian’s was dark with desire.
Jaci came to a full stop, ducking her head as the knowledge that Ian was a part of that club slid through her mind again. That he obviously shared his wife with other men. That he was there—he watched, and he allowed her to be touched by another man.
Jaci was suddenly more confused than she ever had been, because she knew Courtney, she knew the other woman’s possessive tendencies. Courtney did not share well. How in the hell had Ian convinced her that it was okay for him to share another man’s woman?
“There you are. ” Flavored with her native Spanish, Courtney’s voice was smooth, exotic. “I swear, if you don’t stop wearing those business suits, I’m going to scream, Jaci. Wear jeans for a change. ” She laughed, then paused as she surveyed Jaci’s expression. “I gather Cam has informed you of the party tonight?”
Jaci’s chin snapped up, Courtney’s words ignored, as another thought hit her mind. Had Cam been in Courtney’s bed? Had Ian shared the other woman with Cam and Chase? She had to suddenly force her anger back, because Courtney knew, she had known Cam’s name for years, knew what he meant to Jaci. Surely, she wouldn’t have thought it was okay to take him into her bed with her husband.
She couldn’t handle this. She could feel her heart racing, feel the perspiration gathering along her back and the sudden force of the anger building inside her, as she stared back at Courtney.
Then Jaci glared back at her. She felt like declaring ownership, or something, just as Cam had.
