“He knows I’m a woman,” Shayla whispers as we follow the bouncer along the hallway to a huge, smoky lounge. “What’s Fuzzy’s problem?”

The backstage lounge is heaving with people, and it takes us a few minutes to find Vetch, sprawled on a couch with a blond tucked under each arm.

“Hey, dancing girl.” He waves Penny over, and Shayla and I share a glance.

“He doesn’t remember her name,” I say.

Shayla’s eyes narrow. “From the dilation of his pupils, I’d be surprised if he remembers his own name.”

“I don’t like him. Something about him makes my skin crawl.”

She snorts a laugh. “Could it be that he looks like he just slithered out of a swamp?”

“Hey, Vetch, you sharing?” The keyboard player, a skinny ginger-topped dude with a tiny goatee slides an arm around Shayla’s waist. Her hands clench into fists and her jaw tightens. Dude is in for a whole lot of pain. I feel compelled to warn him out of the goodness of my heart.

“You might want to reconsider the position of your arm,” I say to him. “Shilla the Killa is a top-ranked MMA fighter and she doesn’t take kindly to uninvited affection.”

“What about you?” The deep voice in my ear is accompanied by a cheeky squeeze of my ass. “You a fighter too? Because you got a mouth made for sucking and I have a special treat.”

I look back over my shoulder at the greasy-haired bassist behind me. “Do you seriously think I would waste this mouth on you?”

A disturbance at the door behind us draws everyone’s attention. Taking advantage of the distraction, Shayla quickly extricates herself from the unwanted arm clasp and sends the keyboard player flying across the room. She doesn’t even break a sweat. In that moment, I want to be her. I want to make men fly.

She reaches up to high-five me, and the naughty hand disappears from my ass. When I turn around, the bassist is up against the wall with Jake’s hand around his neck.

“That’s my f**king girl you’re touching.”

Two burly security guards push their way through the crowd, and I spot three more coming from the other direction. I put a hand on Jake’s arm. “It’s okay.”

“Get out of here, baby.” He shakes off my arm and his eyes glitter, enraged.

Nononononono. Too many for him to handle. He’s going to get hurt. “Let’s just go, Jake. He just copped a feel. No big deal. I’ve dealt with worse.”

“Amanda.” He gives an exasperated shout, his body thrumming with anger. “I told you to go.”

I tug on his arm and try another tactic. “I don’t need your help. I have the situation under control.”

And then Fuzzy is there. He puts a firm hand on Jake’s shoulder and murmurs in his ear. Whatever he says has the desired effect. Jake grunts and releases the quivering bassist. He pushes me behind him, and we back out of the room while Fuzzy holds the security guards at bay with the ferocity of his gaze.

“Are you going to be okay, Penny?” I call out. “Do you want to come home with us?”

Vetch throws an arm around her shoulder and she smiles and waves.

“I’m good. Vetch is going to give me a ride home in his limo.”

Outside the club, we shuffle cars. Fuzzy and Shayla go home together in Fuzzy’s vehicle. Jake and I climb into his Jeep. Wary of Jake’s tight jaw and stiff posture, I don’t even try to make small talk and we drive home in uncomfortable silence.

When he pulls up outside my house, my stomach clenches, and for once I am at a loss for words. Ever the gentleman, he walks me up the sidewalk and waits until I’ve unlocked the front door and flipped on the lights.

“I guess I’ll see you around.”

“Thanks for inviting me tonight.” I give him a breezy, fake smile. “It was fun…at least until the end.”

He rakes a hand through his hair and cocks his head to the side, continuing our painfully stilted conversation. “Yeah.”

A moment of silence. Something in his expression falters. “I’d better get going. I’ve got a late-night underground fight tomorrow after the gym closes. Gotta get some sleep.”

“Do you want me to come and watch?” He always wanted me at his fights before.

“Maybe not the best thing,” he says, his voice tight. “We cut loose on those underground fights. No rules. No restraint. It can get pretty bloody. Some guys lose control.”

My heart sinks. Something is seriously wrong, and I’m not sure what it is. I watched him at dozens of underground fights before. I was always in his corner. Doesn’t he remember? Or maybe he does but he’s changed his mind about us. Maybe it was a game after all. “Sure. I get it.” I step inside and turn to close the door. “Good night.”

“Wait.”

A moment of silence. Something in his expression falters. “I just want to make sure we both know what we want before we start something.”

Before we start something? The night he kissed me after the renovation party something started for me.

“What does that mean?” My voice rises in pitch. “You just want to be friends? For how long? Or do you like driving me crazy? Is that the game?”

His jaw tightens. “I don’t kiss my friends.”

“You kissed this one.”

“I don’t want you as a friend.” He brushes his lips over my cheek and turns away.