“Say it, baby.” His demanding words bring me back.

My lips part. My body burns with lust. But some part of me says it is too much. This is not me and I have been pushed as far as I want to be pushed. The DJ spins Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain.” Max tightens his arm around me and sings the lyrics in a soft, deep voice only I can hear. His deep baritone rumbles in his chest. Slow, delicious warmth spreads through me and something strange and new penetrates deep into my bones. Tilting my head back, I look up through my lashes. His dark eyes glitter, unyielding, and yet filled with sensual promise. “Say it.”

I squeeze my eyes shut and whisper into his chest, “Not yet.”

Chapter 11

That’s gotta hurt

“Are you sure you’ve got the right address?”

Amanda directs our cab to a large, clapboard house in prestigious Menlo Park. The tree-lined street is littered with cars. Lights flicker through the windows of the attached four-car garage. It looks like there should be a party going on, but there is no music, and no one hanging out on the lawn. Maybe it’s a party Menlo-park style.

Amanda points to a group of pale, pasty-skinned men sporting bad haircuts, ripped jeans, screen-print T-shirts, and flip-flops. “It’s called the Geek Club. I think we’re in the right place.”

I slump back in my seat. “I can’t believe you dragged me out here.”

“It won’t take long, I promise. I’ll surprise Jake, let him know he’s forgiven, and then we’ll all go home and you won’t hear from me until Monday.”

“Couldn’t you have just called?”

Amanda pays the driver and we step out onto the street. “It’s a surprise. He doesn’t know I saw the details in his calendar the last time I was at his place. Plus I want to see him fight at this club. He told me it’s one of the more dangerous underground fight clubs in California. No rules. No mercy. Nonfatal weapons are allowed.”

“Anything wielded as a weapon can be fatal.” We skirt around a child’s wagon and three jolly garden gnomes. “Especially if people get carried away.”

Amanda gives my shoulders a squeeze. “Such a grouch. I really appreciate you coming with me. I know you’re upset Max hasn’t called since we left the bar last night.”

“I’m not upset. I’m glad I found out about his bossy and controlling side when I did. Makes the breakup that much easier.”

Amanda shoots me a sideways glance. “You didn’t tell me you broke up.”

“He danced with me, tried to get me all hot and bothered right on the dance floor, then took me home, dropped me off, and all I got from him was a text this morning that said he was keeping Redemption closed all weekend in case the CSAC showed up. By the time they got to the club on Saturday, everyone was gone and Jake had the place shut down. I guess he was worried they might try again or maybe he was making it up to get rid of me.”

“Hot and bothered, huh? And you didn’t invite him home?” Amanda clearly is not interested in the fate of Redemption.

“I’m not good with dirty talking. When I didn’t play his game, I guess he decided to leave me hanging to punish me. I swear if Doctor Drake had walked by, I would have been grinding with him on that dance floor like there was no tomorrow.”

Amanda’s eyes widen. “If you had done that, we would be visiting Doctor Drake in the hospital instead of Jake at the Geek Club. I thought Max was literally going to combust when he saw you and Doctor Drake on the screen. He is seriously into you.”

I shake my head. “For once, you’re wrong. He’s done with me. I got the message from the old drop-her-off-at-the-door routine. I just don’t know what I should do with this.” I pull out my new phone.

Amanda sucks in a breath and reaches out her hand. “Oooooh pretty. When did you get it? You can give it to me. I have no qualms about taking secondhand gifts.”

I pull it away, reluctant to share the most expensive and exciting piece of technology I have ever owned. “Colton brought it to the hospital this morning. It’s been very distracting. I just speak to it and it does what I say. Watch.” I stare at the phone and say, “CALL AMANDA CELL.” The phone dials. Amanda’s phone rings. She gives the phone a thorough inspection, then adds it to her Christmas list.

I knock over a garden gnome with a turtle on his head and stop to pick it up. “Maybe I should sell it to pay off the debt collector.”

“You could ask a friend to bail you out instead.”

Shaking my head, I tuck my phone away. “You know I would never do that. If I’m stuck, I can use the money Susie sent me to buy a plane ticket to visit her in London.”

Amanda’s face tightens. “You haven’t seen Susie in five years. That money was her way of making amends.”

More like her way of assuaging her guilt over abandoning the family and especially me.

We knock at the side door to the garage. A thin, reedy man wearing a plaid wool vest steps outside and closes the door behind him.

“We’re here to visit the Geek Club.” Amanda tosses her blond curls. I flip my bone-straight hair.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” He sniffs loudly. “Just a private party going on inside.”

Amanda’s jaw tightens. “We both know it’s not a party. I’m with one of the fighters, Jake Donovan.”

“Does he know you’re here?”