The club was rocking out to the DJ’s tunes and the dance floor was crowded. Kade found us a spot, and a cocktail waitress took our order and brought us drinks.

You couldn’t really talk, at least not if you wanted to be heard, so I just sipped my drink and watched the crowd. I could feel Kade’s arm around my waist, his hand resting lightly on my hip, and for a moment, it seemed surreal. If someone had told me nine months ago that I’d be having a fabulous time in Las Vegas with Kade Dennon, I’d have laughed myself silly. But now, it didn’t seem silly at all. It felt right somehow. I was the happiest I’d been in a long time, and I had Kade to thank for it.

“Dance with me,” Kade said loudly near my ear, taking the drink from my hand and setting it aside.

I didn’t resist as he took my hand and led me into the mash of people on the dance floor. It was hot, and crazy, and personal space was nonexistent, but I loved it. The music filled my ears and throbbed through my body. I closed my eyes and danced, moving to the rhythm of the pulse. All the alcohol I’d consumed had left me feeling pretty darn good, a little tipsy but not enough to make the room start spinning.

Kade’s hands settled on my waist and I opened my eyes, smiling up at him. I raised my arms, lifting the heavy mass of my hair off my neck. The heat was making the strands stick to my skin.

People pressed in close and no one seemed to notice or care who they touched. It was just a mass of bodies moving in time to the music. Kade was even closer, one leg insinuated between mine. He caressed the bare skin of my back above my jeans. His touch felt good. Really good.

I let my hair go and rested my hands on Kade’s silk-clad shoulders. The heat from his body soaked through the delicate fabric. The undone buttons exposed the skin that I’d admired earlier, only now it was right in front of me, glistening slightly with sweat. I didn’t think, I just leaned forward and fastened my mouth to a spot right under the tantalizing dip between his collarbones.

Hot. Salty. Soft. Hard. Sensations filtered through my brain as I pressed against Kade, my tongue licking the addictive flavor of him from his skin. His fingers dug into my rear, dragging me closer until I could feel his arousal against my abdomen. I took this as encouragement and continued on my path, undoing another button or two to give his body the attention it most certainly deserved. Kade’s hands slipped underneath my blouse, settling on my waist before sliding tantalizingly up my ribs. My breasts ached for his touch.

It felt good to be wanted.

The darkness of the club was punctuated by a swirl of lights that spun and sent rays of color over the dance floor, briefly illuminating Kade in shades of neon blue and yellow before plunging us back into the black. I closed my eyes, blocking out the mass of people surrounding us, many of whom were in similar clinches with their partner. Or partners.

The DJ switched tunes and I was abruptly jolted from my hypnotic reverie. I knew this song. It had played on the jukebox the night Blane had come to the bar for me, the night I’d met my three “fairy godfathers.” He’d walked through the door, put me in his car, and then we’d—

I jerked back, horrified. What was I doing? I’d already come between them once over a lie, was I now going to make it a truth? Was I just using Kade to make myself feel better?

“I-I need some air,” I stammered, pulling away from Kade.

The look of confusion on his face made more guilt swell inside me, and I hurriedly pushed through the crowd that now felt oppressive until I was outside.

A high fence barricaded the edges of the roof, but it was blessedly cooler out here and the music was muffled. Couples dotted the roof, though few appeared to be talking.

“What’s wrong?”

I turned. Kade had followed me.

“Nothing.” How could I possibly put into words how confused I was? How much I regretted that I’d come between him and Blane? How every moment I spent with him made it harder and harder to remember why I shouldn’t want him?

“Liar,” he said without heat. He advanced until my back was pressed against the fence, then took my hand in his. The wind blew my hair and he tenderly smoothed it away from my face. “Tell me.”

His sweetness was my undoing, and I broke. “I don’t know, Kade. I don’t know what I’m doing or why. I feel guilty all the time for what happened with you and Blane—” My voice broke at the pain those words produced. “I came between you, you and your brother, and I never wanted that. Please believe me. I’m so, so sorry.”

“Shhh, it’s okay,” Kade whispered. His brows were drawn together in concern as his thumb brushed my wet cheeks. “It’s not your fault.”

“It is,” I insisted. “It really is. I never should have… have…”

“Been my friend? Is that what you regret?” Kade interrupted.

His eyes seemed to beg me to contradict him, to not deny what we’d built between us.

Did I regret it? If I hadn’t spent time with Kade, Blane never would have had reason to suspect we’d had an affair. We wouldn’t have broken up. We’d still be getting married. Kade and Blane would still be speaking to each other.

My hesitation was too long and Kade’s expression turned cold.

“That’s what I thought.”

“Kade, that’s not—”

“Turn it off, princess. Time to get back to work.”

He was looking to my right now and I looked, too. The guy Kade was supposed to target stood nearby with a small group of people.

“I need you to keep him occupied for the next thirty minutes,” Kade said. “Can you do that?”

I swallowed, nodding. “Where will you be?”

“Breaking into his room, of course.”

Alarm shot through me. “What if you get caught?”

“I won’t. After thirty minutes, excuse yourself to go to the bathroom and leave. Meet me back in the room. The key is in your back pocket.” I felt him slide the card into my jeans.

I chewed my lip in worry. I hated that I hadn’t gotten the chance to answer Kade’s question. “Kade, I—”

“Not now,” he interrupted. His tone was such that I immediately shut up. “Put it aside. We have work to do. Everything else will have to wait.”

I gave a reluctant nod. “All right.”

“Can you cry on demand?” he asked. “That would help.”

That was an easy one since I was already fighting back tears. I looked up at Kade and allowed the tears to leak out my eyes. For a moment he looked stricken before he schooled his features into a grim mask.

“I’m going to grab you, shake you,” he said. “Try to push me away as hard as you can. I’ll let you go and you head in his direction, but not directly for him. Understand?”

“Yeah.”

“You ready?” he asked, looking slightly skeptical.

“I’m fine,” I said. “Just do it already.”

Kade’s hands closed on my upper arms and he shook me. “Start fighting me,” he hissed. His face hard with anger. I tried to push him away, squirming, but he just held me tighter. “Try harder. He’s watching.” I put all I had into it, twisting to get away from where Kade had me pressed against the fence.

“Let me go!” I demanded, pushing at his chest. His arm was within reach, and I clamped my teeth around it and bit.

“Ow! You bitch!”

Kade released me and I wasted no time pushing past him toward the man, but was careful not to look at him. I hurried, glancing over my shoulder to see Kade was jogging after me. He reached out and I cringed away with a cry.

I was suddenly snagged around the waist and yanked toward someone. It was the guy. He’d grabbed me and had moved me behind him while he faced off with Kade.

“Get out of the way,” Kade ordered.

“I don’t think she wants to go with you,” the man said.

“I don’t give a shit what she wants,” Kade snarled. He pushed roughly past the man and grabbed my arm.

The guy threw a punch at Kade, which I knew he could have blocked, but he chose not to. The crunch of bone on bone made me flinch. When Kade looked back at me, his mouth was bloody.