Page 142 of Jaked

Chapter 55

Jake slammed the door behind him. He looked around. "Where is he?"

Startled, I shot to my feet. "Who?"

"Vince."

"He's gone," I said.

"So hewashere?"

"Yeah." I made a sound of annoyance. "Who told you? Trey? God, what a tattle-tale."

Jake's voice was flat. "A tattle-tale?"

"Yeah. Totally," I said. "Because I would've told you myself. And, just so you know, I didn't let Vince inside, if that's what you're worried about."

"You thinkthat'sthe problem?"

"Well, obviously, there's some sort of problem."

His jaw clenched. "You could say that."

"Oh for crying out loud," I said. "Whatever you're thinking, that's not it." After all, it wasn't like Vince had propositioned me. Well, not sexually anyway. "Get this," I said. "He offered me a job."

Jake gave a hard laugh. "A job. Nowthat'sfunny."

Funny how? Did Jake think I wasn't qualified or something? Okay, IknewVince's job offer had nothing to do with me. But did Jake really have to be so scornful about it?

My gaze narrowed. "Why is that so funny?"

"Because," Jake said, "a couple minutes ago, someone called my cell."

"Yeah? So? What'd they say?"

"They claimed," Jake said, "that they just saw you."

"Where?" I looked around the penthouse. "Here?"

"No. In the elevator." His jaw tightened. "Giving Vince ablowjob."

My jaw dropped. "What?"

In front of me, Jake said nothing.

"Who said that?" I demanded. "It wasn't Trey, was it? Because that's not funny."

"No," he said. "It wasn't Trey. And you're right. It sure as hell wasn't funny."

Suddenly, a horrible thought occurred to me. "Wait a minute. You didn't think it was true. Did you?"

He glanced toward the front door. Just outside that door were the doors to the elevator. Justwhatwas going through Jake's head?'

"Jake," I snapped. "I'm waiting for an answer."

As if shaking off an ugly image, he turned toward me. He shook his head. "No."

"No, what?"