Instead of jerking away, I found myself falling into his firm chest as another round of helpless tears came, hot against my skin. As much as I hated being touched - with Jace, it didn’t bother me at the moment. In fact, as I lay in his arms I felt safe for the first time in a long time. I was still alive and it was thanks to him. He didn't have to help. No one did, but he still chose to.

After a few minutes of silence, I collected myself and looked up at him. He was staring down at me with caring eyes. "Thanks," I whispered. "Thank you for helping me. You didn’t have to do that." Suddenly, I felt terrible for the way I had treated him earlier. "About this morn-"

He put a finger to my lips to silence me. "I'm not worried about it and you shouldn't be either." His intense eyes lowered to my bruised leg and widened as he noticed the red blood trickling down it. "Shit! Let me clean you up." He grabbed my arm and gently helped me to my feet. "I'll take you to my house and clean you up."

I backed away from his grip and shook my head. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't leave. I had to get that money. "No! I can’t. I have to go to work. I need to pay my rent. Its past due and-"

"No," he cut me off. "I'm not letting you work in this condition." His eyes hardened with worry, as he grabbed my purse from out of my tight grip and began to walk away. "Come on."

I stormed up behind him and yanked my purse from out of his hand. He just didn't seem to understand. "No, you don't understand. If I don't get the money by tonight then I'll be out on the streets." I turned on my heels and headed for the door of the club, eyes wild. "I can't live on the streets, again. I won't."

I felt a pair of hands grip my waist as he hoisted me off the ground, face close to mine, as he carried toward his car like a mischievous child. It both excited and shocked me at the same time. I opened my mouth to scream, but was quickly silenced by his soothing smile and gentle disposition.

He stared into my eyes before opening the door with one hand and setting me down in the passenger seat of the car. He made sure my head was safely inside before shutting the door and getting in himself, muscular arms gripping the steering wheel with force.

"That wasn't so hard. Now was it?" he questioned.

We sat there awkwardly as he pushed his keys into the ignition, started the car, and took off.

I began to play with the strap on my purse nervously before I finally looked up, swiveling my head to the left so that I could focus on his expression. He had such a beautiful profile – full lips, angular jawline, and dark stubble, it made my heart ache, clearly confused by his presence.

I cleared my throat to make sure that I had his full attention. "So, do you come to the club often, because I've never seen you there before last night?" I paused to swallow. "Then you came back today."

He glanced over at me with a smirk on his face. That was when I noticed the lip ring on the left side of his bottom lip. It looked sexy on him. "No actually. Last night was the first time. I saw something that caught my eye so I decided to come back for a few drinks and to clear my head." He mindlessly ran his tongue over his lip ring and bit his lip.

I looked away from him and decided to rub my fingertips on the window next to me. The rest of the journey passed quickly – and I was just about to ask him where the hell we were – before we pulled up next to a big, cream house with a pretty blue door.

He turned off the engine and looked over at me. "Well this is it." He smiled and opened his door before hopping out and stretching. He looked down into the car at me as I sat there, frozen in time. "Well are you coming in or do you want me to bring my bathroom outside and clean you up?" He laughed in amusement and walked to the front door, looking confident and sexy as he let himself inside.

I couldn't help but to notice how good his ass looked in his fitted jeans.

I exhaled, blowing a strand of hair out of my eye, attempting to think clearly. I stepped out of the car and shut the door before standing outside for a moment and trying to decide if it was a good idea to go into Jace’s house. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to run inside, run home or run back to work.

I stepped through the front door and looked around the living room, dark eyes searching for his figure in the dimness. It looked cozy. Black leather furniture, a fireplace, a huge TV, a bookcase and a computer desk that sat in the corner. It was also very tidy and smelled of light, sweet vanilla.

I walked through the hallway slowly and poked my head into the first open door. It was the bathroom – a sterile, blue room - but still, no sign of Jace. I looked down the hallway again and noticed a door that was partially opened, a crack of amber light spilling out and into the hallway.

I slowly walked toward the door, brows arched, and pushed it open. I jumped back in embarrassment as my gaze set firmly on a half-naked Jace. A mess of inky, vibrant tattoos covered his toned back causing me to blush. His muscles flexed with every move that he made, somehow making it hard to breathe.

Jace slowly turned around to face me, denim jeans dropping down to his ankles in the process. I stared - eyes wide - like a moron at the defined muscles that led down to his boxer briefs.

He cleared his throat, clearly amused, and gave me a cocky grin. "Do you mind?"

I sucked in a burst of hot, heavy breath and covered my face in humiliation. I was so embarrassed. "I'm sorry; I couldn't find you so I just thought I would check this room. I’m going to take off now. I need-"

"It's fine. Don't act like you haven't seen a guy half naked before." He laughed. "Just think of it this way, I saw you half naked and now you've seen me." He looked me up and down before turning around and reaching for a fresh pair of jeans. "Now we’re even." He pulled up his jeans, walked past me, and grabbed my arm for me to follow him. He didn’t even bother putting on a fresh shirt and his low hanging briefs were a distraction that I didn’t like.

We made our way into the kitchen and he pulled out a chair for me to sit on. "Sit."

His kitchen was a clean gray room with black granite countertops, a glass table with black leather chairs, and a stainless steel fridge.

He placed his hands on my hips and forced me to sit down, gently guiding me to my seat. My heartbeat rattled against my chest as he bent down with a wet, warm cloth. His closeness made my stomach do flips.