Jason glanced at his watch. “It’s only ten-thirty. This is your bachelor party. You’re supposed to get wild one last time before you’re forever leg-shackled to one woman.”
“I’d rather get wild with the woman I’m going to be leg-shackled to.” Max punched Jason in the shoulder. “Besides, I don’t see you downstairs getting a lap dance from either Candy or Angel.”
“Charlie said no smoking in the salon. I went upstairs to enjoy one of the excellent cigars Nathan brought.”
“And this has nothing to do with the warning you gave Ming tonight?”
Jason cursed. “You heard that?”
“I thought it was cute.”
“Jackass.” Swearing at Max was a lot easier than asking himself why he’d felt compelled to tell Ming to behave herself and not break any hearts at the club. He’d only been half joking. The thought of her contemplating romance with another man aroused some uncomfortably volatile emotions.
“And it doesn’t look like she listened to you.”
“What makes you say that?”
Max showed him his cell phone screen. “I think this guy’s pretty close to having his heart broken.”
Jason swallowed a growl but could do nothing about the frown that pulled his brows together when he glimpsed the photo of Ming dancing with some guy. Irritation fired in his gut. It wasn’t the fact that Ming had her head thrown back and her arms above her head that set Jason off. It was the way the guy had his hands inches from her hips and looked prepared to go where no one but Jason belonged.
Max laughed. “I know Nathan and Sebastian are ready to leave. Are you up for taking the launch in and leaving the boys to play by themselves?”
Damn right he was. “This is your party. Where you go, I go.”
Eight
Rachel Lansing, bride-to-be, laughed at the photo her fiancé sent her from his bachelor party. Sitting across the limo from her, Ming wasn’t the least bit amused. Her stomach had been churning for the last half an hour, ever since she’d found out that there were exotic dancers on the boat. And her anxiety hadn’t been relieved when she hadn’t spotted Jason amongst the half dozen men egging on the strippers. He could be standing behind Max, out of the camera’s range.
She had no business feeling insecure and suspicious. It wasn’t as if she had a claim to Jason beyond their oh-so-satisfying baby-making activities. Problem was, she couldn’t disconnect her emotions. And heaven knew she’d been trying to. Telling herself over and over that it was just sex. Incredibly hot, passionate, mind-blowing sex, but not the act of two people in love. Just a couple of friends trying to make a baby together.
Whom was she kidding?
For the past two weeks, she’d been deliriously happy and anxiety-ridden by turn. Every time he slid inside her it was a struggle not to confide that she was falling in love with him, and her strength was fading fast. Already she was rationalizing why she and Jason should continue to be intimate long after she was pregnant.
It was only a matter of time before she confessed what she truly wanted for her future and he’d sit her down and remind her why they’d made love in the first place. Then things would get awkward and they’d start to avoid each other. No. Better to stay silent and keep Jason as her best friend rather than lose him forever.
“If you’re worried about Jason, Max texted me and said he’s on the upper deck with Nathan and Sebastian.” Rachel gave Ming a reassuring smile.
“I’m not worried about Jason,” Ming hastily assured her as she sagged in relief. She mustered a smile. “No need for me to be. We’re just friends. Have been for years.”
A fact Rachel knew perfectly well since the four of them had gone out numerous times since she and Max had gotten engaged. Ming had no idea why she had to keep reminding people that she and Jason were not an item.
“Jason’s a great guy.”
“He sure is.” Ming saw where this was going and knew she had to cut Rachel off. “But he’s the sort of guy who isn’t ever going to fall in love and get married.”
Rachel cocked her head. “Funny, that’s what I thought about Max and yet he lost his favorite car to Jason over a wager that he wouldn’t get married.” Her blue eyes sparkled with mischief. “What’s to say Jason won’t change his mind, too?”
Ming smiled back, but she knew there was a big difference between the two men. Max hadn’t found his father trying to kill himself because he was so despondent over the loss of his wife and daughter. And after getting the scoop about how Max and Rachel had met five years earlier, Ming suspected the reason Max had been so down on love and marriage was that he’d already lost his heart to the woman of his dreams.
“I don’t know,” Ming said. “He’s pretty set in his ways. Besides, you weren’t around when my engagement to Jason’s brother ended. It made me realize that I’m happier on my own.”
“Yeah, before Max, I was where you are. All I have to say is that things change.” Rachel nudged her chin toward her soon-to-be-sisters-in-law. “Ask either of those two if they believed love was ever going to happen for them. I’ll bet both of them felt the way you do right now.”
Ming glanced toward the back of the limo, where Emma, nine months pregnant and due any second, and Missy, four months pregnant and radiant, sat side by side, laughing. They had it all. Gorgeous, devoted men. Babies on the way. Envy twisted in Ming’s heart.
She sighed. “I’m really happy for all of you, but love doesn’t find everyone.”
“If you keep an open mind it does.”
The big diamond on Rachel’s hand sparkled in the low light. Ming stared at it while her fingers combed her hair into three sections. As she braided, she mused that being in love was easy when you were a week away from pairing your engagement ring with a wedding band. Not that she begrudged any of the Case women their happiness. Each one had gone through a lot before finding bliss, none more so than Rachel. But Ming just wasn’t in a place where she could feel optimistic about her own chances.
She was in love with a man who refused to let his guard down and allow anyone in, much less her. Because she couldn’t get over her feelings for Jason, she’d already lost one man and almost made the biggest mistake of her life. And as of late, she was concerned that having Jason father her child was going to lead to more heartache in the future.
Ming mulled Rachel’s words during the second half of the forty-five-minute drive from downtown Houston to the Galveston marina where the men would be waiting. Maybe she should have gone home from the club like Rachel’s sister, Hailey, instead of heading out to meet up with Jason. They’d made no plans to rendezvous tonight. She was starting to feel foolish for chasing him all the way out here.
If Jason decided to stay on the yacht with the bachelor party instead of motoring back to the dock on the launch with Max and his brothers, would she be the odd girl out when the couples reunited? Her chest tightened. Ming closed her eyes as they entered the marina parking lot.
The limo came to a stop. Ming heard the door open and the low rumble of male voices. She couldn’t make her eyes open. Couldn’t face the sight of the three couples embracing while she sat alone and unwanted.
“What’s the matter? Did all the dancing wear you out?”
Her eyes flew open at Jason’s question. His head and shoulders filled the limo’s open door. Heart pounding in delight, she clasped her hands in her lap to keep from throwing herself into his arms. That was not how friends greeted each other.
“I’m not used to having that much fun.” She scooted along the seat to the door, accepting Jason’s hand as her foot touched the pavement. His familiar cologne mingled with the faint scent of cigars. She wanted to nuzzle her nose into his neck and breathe him in. “How about you? Did you enjoy your strippers?”
“They preferred to be called exotic dancers.” He showed her his phone. “They weren’t nearly as interesting as this performance.”
She gasped at the picture of herself dancing. How had Jason gotten ahold of it? So much for what happens at a bachelorette party stays at a bachelorette party. She eyed the women behind Jason. Who’d ratted her out?
“It was just some guy who asked me to dance,” she protested.
“Just some guy?” He kept his voice low, but there was no denying the edge in his tone. “He has his hands all over you.”
She enlarged the image, telling herself she was imagining the possessive glint in Jason’s eye. “No he doesn’t. And if this had been taken five seconds later you would have seen me shove him away and walk off the dance floor.”
“Whoa, sounds like a lover’s spat to me,” Rachel crowed.
Confused by the sparks snapping in Jason’s blue eyes, Ming realized a semicircle of couples had formed five feet away. Six faces wore various shades of amusement as they looked on.
Jason composed his expression and turned to face the group. “Not a lover’s spat.”
“Just a concerned friend,” Max intoned, his voice dripping with dry humor.
“Come on, we’re all family here.” Sebastian’s gesture encompassed the whole group. “You can admit to us that you’re involved.”