It was for the best. She wasn’t for Asa. She’d probably be better off with one of those other guys standing around ogling her. He knew he was no doubt better off with one of the women surrounding him right then.

Women who entertained him, but he didn’t think about it much more than that. Women who liked it hard and rough. Who were old enough to know what it was they wanted.

Though PJ had made a fair enough point about him telling her what she felt and wanted. It had been sort of dickish. He probably should have talked it over with her more before breaking things off entirely. It wasn’t as if they’d remained friends like they had been before that conversation in his office. She’d kept her distance and he’d felt it.

One of the men with PJ put a hand at her waist and Asa was three steps in her direction before he even realized it. He paused then, watching through a haze of annoyance that she’d even consider letting a dumbass like Craig Salazar touch her in the first place.

Much less give him the smile she just gave him.

That smile said they had some history. Some intimacy. Had they slept together? Had Craig seen her naked with that look she got right before she came? Had she licked down Craig’s spine? Nibbled the backs of his knees? Which, by the way, had been an unexpected pleasure.

Asa frowned.

She had a fantastic smile. A fantastic mouth.

He flashed back to the first time they’d been together, that mouth of hers wrapped around the head of his cock. Her tongue dancing over his piercing.

It had been so fucking good he’d reeled for days. And now she was… with someone else. And he realized suddenly that wasn’t okay after all.

Craig leaned down from where he stood behind her, sliding an arm around her waist. He spoke in her ear and Asa could see her blush from where he stood.

“Excuse me,” he said to the group of people he’d been standing with as he moved away from them and toward PJ.

He could hear her laugh as he approached, like a hook; he was caught until she looked up from what she’d been doing and noted him standing there.

Mine.

Those big blue eyes peered up at him. He held a hand out and she took it without any hesitation. He pulled her to him and danced her away from her admirers. Stealing her away all to himself.

“I surrender,” he said in her ear.

She turned so they were nearly nose to nose. “Yeah? What does that mean?”

“It means I want you. It means you want me and I’ve been dumb to think I could cruise on by and let you go. I don’t want to.”

He kept her close and she didn’t make any attempt to move away from him. Damn, he liked the weight of her against his body. Couldn’t wait to get her back to his place so they could continue in private.

However, he got the sense it was going to take more than a squeeze and saying he wanted her to get past the wariness in her eyes.

“Can we talk?” he asked.

“Aren’t we talking now?”

“You’re going to make me work for it, aren’t you?” He couldn’t stop his smile of appreciation. She was so much stronger than he’d given her credit for.

“Everything worth having is worth working for, don’t you think?”

He kissed her. In front of everyone in the club. In front of all her friends and every man who even entertained a fantasy that he could have her the way Asa did. He claimed her.

Oh yeah, this was much better than the last discussion she’d had with Asa, that was for certain. He’d hauled her close and hadn’t let go, and then the kiss…

He tasted her for a few moments. It was sweet, gentle. She sighed into his mouth and he gripped her a little tighter as everything sweet and gentle fled. His kiss heated to scorching, carnal hot as his tongue slid into her mouth and owned it.

This wasn’t just a kiss of reunion. This kiss told everyone in that room that she was with him. Seemed like her plan to awaken his possessiveness had been pretty effective.

It sent shivers all over her as his taste settled back in to her system. She wasn’t prone to making out in public, but wow, this was pretty fantastic. She might have to reevaluate her prior stance on it.

He nipped at her bottom lip and she stared up at him. “I’ll make it worth your while if you agree to come to my house so we can talk. We could go to your apartment, but I don’t want to walk up the hill. And all my gear is at my place. I have champagne and beer and food and a lot of condoms.”

“I’ll agree to the former. We’ll see if you get to use the latter after I hear you out.”

His grin told her his thoughts on the matter, and truth be told, she wanted him. This was what she’d hoped for. Now he needed to grovel a bit and they could get on with the fun part of the evening.

“I need to tell my friends I’m leaving.”

“Okay.” He spun her neatly, his arm around her shoulders, holding her close as they headed through the crowd.

Craig’s eyes widened as they approached and Asa stiffened, so he’d clearly seen that they’d been flirting. Hell, Craig had suggested they go back to her place and finally actually fuck to see if they had something.

It had been halfhearted, but a nice thing to hear anyway.

“Hey, Asa,” Craig said.

Asa tipped his chin as a hello. PJ turned to him. “I’ll be right with you. Just need to tell Audra I’m going.”

He kissed her again and she avoided rolling her eyes. If he wanted to mark his territory she’d let him. Temporarily, until she got a better read on whether he was in this all the way or just to get his dick wet.