“For opening my door,” I replied.

His eyes went wide and he stared at me a second, then leaned forward. “Jess, if guys don’t open doors for you, then they aren’t worth your time. No need to thank me.” Then he leaned back and held out his hand to help me up into the Hummer.

I was pretty sure I understood the word “swoon” finally. I slipped my hand into his, and he closed his larger one around mine and then helped me up. It was higher than my truck, but my legs were as long as my momma’s. Still, I liked having him help me.

When I sat down, I noticed his eyes on my legs before he lifted his gaze to meet mine. “Sorry,” he said with a slight blush on his face. Then he closed the door and I had a moment to compose myself.

Had I ever seen a guy blush? Other than my high school history teacher who I’d had a crush on and had made sure to let him know it. I felt very underdressed. My sexy little outfit now seemed . . . kind of cheap. Jason opened the driver’s door and climbed in. His biceps flexed, capturing my complete attention. I wondered what his abs looked like.

“Where are we going?” he asked as he cranked the engine.

“It’s called Live Bay,” I told him. “Ever heard of it?”

Jason smirked. “Of course.”

JASON

This was probably a bad idea. I wasn’t ready to tell Jess who I was. From the stories I had heard about Jess, I knew she was a troublemaker. I had intended to return the bat and leave. Although the things the group had said about her were amusing as hell, I got the impression that once she knew my brother was Jax Stone, that would be the only thing she’d care about. I’d be on her radar but for all the wrong reasons. And I was only here for a month to get some alone time before school started back up.

Seeing her walk out of the house in that tiny skirt that hardly covered her ass and that tight T-shirt had made me forget exactly why I hadn’t been planning to pursue getting to know her better. All those legs had made me weak. Rock had acted so protective of her when everyone was talking about Jess, and I could see the concern in his eyes when he explained her actions. He knew a Jess none of them had been given a chance to get to know.

I wanted to know that Jess. Because the sexy, half-dressed one who liked to use her body to make men buckle at the knees was pretty damn hot. I needed more, though. I was curious. That was it.

“You’ve been to Live Bay before?” she asked.

I glanced over at her. “Yeah, once,” I admitted.

“Surprising. Normally, the island people don’t make it over to our hangouts.”

The way she said “island people” didn’t sound appealing. “You got something against the island?” I asked, amused.

She shrugged. “Not really. Just a fact.”

She was right. Jax, however, had blown that out of the water. He had not only come off the island, he had chased a girl down and made her his. “You ever been on the island?” I asked. I turned into Live Bay, then glanced over at her.

She shook her head. “Nope.” She cut her eyes at me, and her long lashes fanned her high cheekbones. “Guys from the island don’t normally invite girls like me over for dinner.”

That was a shame. Guys from the island didn’t know just how entertaining Jess was. “Their loss,” I said, opening my door. I had to jog around the front of the Hummer to get to Jess before she jumped out all on her own with those boots on.

She raised her eyebrows. “You help girls out of cars too?” she asked.

Damn, what kind of guys had she been dating?

I held out my hand, and she grabbed it before stepping down. Her chest pressed against mine, and I sucked in a breath. Her tits were not only on the generous side, but they were soft.

“Thanks,” she said, smiling up at me with a knowing look in her eyes. I let her have her fun. She knew I liked feeling her chest, and she was keeping it right there for me to look down and see up close and personal.

I wasn’t going to look, though. She expected me to. She had already caught me checking out those legs of hers. I wasn’t going to ogle her tits, too. Instead I winked at her and stepped back.

“Ready?” I asked her.

The flash of disappointment in her eyes made me wish I had taken a look. I didn’t want her to think I wasn’t attracted to her. She may be flirty, but she was a female and she had feelings.

“Sure,” she said, forcing a smile and turning to head inside. I started to grab her arm and assure her that her body was perfect. But I didn’t. I had a feeling she was used to that. I didn’t want to be what she was used to. She viewed me as different, and I wanted to be. I wanted to stand out.

Why? I wasn’t sure.

I took several long strides to keep up with her and get to the door before her so I could open it. She stopped and watched me as I stood back and waited for her to walk in. A small smile touched her lips, and the flirty Jess was back.

I followed her inside. The music was already loud and the bodies were packing in closer to the stage. The band wasn’t playing yet, but it must have been getting close to time.

Several guys called out greetings to Jess, who waved at them in return. They all knew her. Even the bartender, who winked at her. This was not something I’d be able to deal with. Glad I was getting to witness it tonight.

I saw several male eyes shift from her to me. They were all wondering if I was with her. I could feel it. I didn’t move to touch her because she wasn’t mine. We had just come here together.

“Where’d you find this one, Jess?” a girl with dark brown curls and bright pink lipstick asked as she stared at me with open curiosity. Her eyes scanned my body slowly.

“He’s with me, Tiff. Pour ice water on yourself and move on,” Jess said, reaching back to grab my arm and tug me closer to her.

I was trying real hard not to grin.

“When you get tired of her claws, come see me. I’m sweet as a kitten,” the other girl called out as Jess pulled me through the crowd.

“Friend of yours?” I asked, amused by the stiffness of Jess’s shoulders.

She stopped walking and looked back at me. “Uh, no,” she snapped. “You stand out, island boy. It’s all over you. It’s gonna draw the gold diggers.”

“What, it’s not my good looks?” I asked, teasing her.

She started to say something and noticed the amused look on my face, and her shoulders relaxed. “You’re hot, island boy. I’ll give you that. So it’s the whole package. Just stick close to me because Tiff is only one of many.”

I nodded and she flashed me a real smile. The kind that made her eyes dance with amusement. “Come on. My friends are right over here,” she said.

I followed her through the crowd. I noticed Rock first. He was sitting at a table facing the stage. Beside him was Dewayne. No sign of Preston or Amanda. I took an easy breath. I could deal with Rock and Dewayne.

Although, I was a little nervous as to how Rock would react to this. I didn’t want to piss that dude off.

My secret would be out after Rock told Jess who I was. She already saw me as a rich boy who was out slumming it. I wasn’t sure her knowing that my brother was Jax Stone would change her view that much. Her not knowing had seemed important to me at first, but now I wasn’t sure she’d change like most girls did once they knew. I was used to girls going from interested in me to obsessed with me the moment they found out who my brother was. Having Jax as a brother normally got me any female I wanted for all the wrong reasons.

I’d know soon enough. If Jess began acting like one of Jax’s crazy fans and getting clingy, I was out of here. This would be our test. I really didn’t want this night to end. I had hopes Jess wasn’t a Jax Stone fan.

Chapter Four

JESS

How did he do it? One sexy, amused grin from Jason and I was completely over being ready to bitch slap Tiff. I wanted to thread my fingers through his, but I didn’t want to scare him off. He seemed to be waiting on me to do something stupid. Or mess up. He didn’t have to say anything—I could see it in his eyes.

“That’s my cousin Rock and one of his best friends, Dewayne,” I told him, not wanting him to think I only had guy friends. Even if that was true, it didn’t sound good. In reality they were Rock’s friends. I had flirted with most of them and pissed off all their women. Except for Rock’s wife, Trisha. She loved me. And then, of course, Amanda. She had never judged me or looked down on me. At school she had always gone out of her way to speak to me and act as if we were good friends. Then a little over a year ago she had decided to take a trip on the wild side and came to me for guidance. Our friendship had been cemented then.

Rock’s eyes met mine and he smiled, and then they shifted to Jason and his smile faded. Was it because he was so obviously not from around here? I would have thought he’d be happy to see me with someone so clean-cut. Actually, anyone other than Hank should have made him smile.

Rock stood up, and I wondered if I should step in front of Jason. Before I could decide what to do, Jason stepped up beside me. “Rock, Dewayne, good to see you both again,” Jason said with a familiar ease. I froze.

This didn’t make sense.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Dewayne said with a loud laugh.

Rock’s frown turned to a scowl. “Want to explain this?” he asked Jason.

“I’m the Porsche,” he replied simply.

Rock’s eyebrows shot up, and he looked at me, then back at Jason. He ran a hand over his shaved head. “Why didn’t I think of that?” he muttered.

I opened my mouth and was about to ask what the hell was going on, when Dewayne let out another hoot of laughter. “Motherfucker! That’s priceless. And you didn’t say a word about it the other night.”

The other night? I turned to Jason, and he gave me an apologetic smile. He knew who I was? He was with Rock the other night? How?

“I should be pissed that you didn’t say anything, but I’m kinda glad you didn’t,” Rock said. “The Porsche has been the only thing in that story that makes Jess look innocent.” He sat back down on his stool.

Finally I found my voice. “What are y’all talking about?” I asked, slamming my hand down on the table to get their attention.

Rock stared at me like I was crazy, then looked back at Jason. The question in his eyes only confused me more.

“She left the bat in my car. I took it back to her tonight. We ended up here. We haven’t really talked about much else. We haven’t even gotten as far as last names yet,” Jason explained to Rock, then glanced back at me as if he was waiting on something to click with me.

“So you didn’t know she was my cousin until the other night?” Rock asked.

“Didn’t have a clue,” Jason replied.

Rock sighed and nodded at me. “Dude, she’s not gonna take this well. You should have told her before she waltzed in here with you.”

I was done trying to read between the lines. “Who are you?” I demanded.

Jason opened his mouth, then closed it. How hard was it for him to tell me how he knew Rock?