Page 116 of Jaked

Chapter 44

Together, Jake and I stood looking at her. Bianca was dressed in high red heels and a skimpy red dress that was way too sexy for a chilly Sunday morning. She threw back her shoulders and said, "Alright. Where is it?"

Jake gave her a cold look. "Where's what?"

"My dress." She looked toward me. "You told me to pick it up today. Remember?"

"Yeah. I guess," I said. "But honestly? I didn't think you'd actually do it."

She pursed her lips. "And why is that?"

"Well, for starters," I said, "because I haven't had a chance to get it cleaned or anything."

Next to me, Jake's gaze zoomed in on the key card, still in Bianca's hand. "Forget the dress," he said. "Where'd you get that?"

"You gave it to me," she said. "Remember?"

His jaw tightened. "No."

"Well, you did," she said. "I don't know why you're acting all surprised about it. I used it just last night." Bianca turned toward me. "Or didn't you bother to tell him?"

I turned to Jake. "Oh hey," I said, "Bianca stopped by last night."

"I didn't meannow," Bianca said. "I suppose you didn't give him my message either."

"What message?" I asked.

With a long-suffering sigh, she turned to Jake and said, "I'm terminating our arrangement."

I stared at her. "You never gave me that message."

"Yes, I did," she said. "I told you that I'm working for Vince Hammond now. Remember him? The guy you were drooling over last night?"

"Oh please," I said. "I was not."

"Whatever." Again, she turned to Jake. "I'll be sending you my final invoice. And you know what? Forget the dress. I'll add it to the bill."

"Wait a minute," I said. "Didn't healreadypay for that dress?"

She turned to give me a little smirk. "Well, he sure paid foryours. Didn't he?" A nasty edge crept into her voice. "Tell me. Did he get his money's worth?"

My face grew warm. Hehadpaid for my dress. And if she was talking about sex, he did, in fact, get his money's worth. But so did I, a few times over, in fact. But that hardly seemed the point.

Either way, the reminder still stung. It didn't help that Jake and I were literally on our way out the door to do even more shopping. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea after all. What was I, anyway?  

"Bianca," Jake said in a barely controlled voice. "Whatever you wanna say to me, go ahead, say it. But you're not dragging Luna into this."

"Well isn't that sweet," she said.

I looked from Bianca to Jake. Obviously, they had a history together. And obviously, that history extended well beyond their business relationship. "Come to think of it," I said, "I just remembered that, uh, I need to call my sister." I gestured toward the guest room. "I'll just, uh, be in there."

"Hang on," Jake said. "I'll walk you."

"Oh for heaven's sake," Bianca said, "it's just down the hall."

Jake gave her a cold look. "Or," he said, "you can get the fuck out now. Your choice."

"Fine," she muttered. "I'll wait."