Jacked (Trent Brothers #1)(140)

“You going to invite me in?” she purred.

I blocked the doorway. “I didn’t look at the contract yet.”

She focused on my hair for some reason, then down to my crotch. “You look a bit frustrated. Anything I can do to help?”

My grip on the doorframe tightened. “No. I’m good.”

She wet her lip. “A man of few words. Did you get my gift?”

“Gift?”

She tried to look past me. “I ordered a bottle of wine for us. Thought we could have a drink, discuss things. Whatever concerns you may have. I hate that you left my office so angry.”

“I don’t respond well to strong-armed tactics. And I sent the bottle back.”

“You what?”

I hated having to explain myself. “I’m a little busy right now.”

Erin put her hand on my ass. How other guys could juggle more than one woman at a time was beyond me. It’d be more of a pain in the ass than it was worth.

“You’re busy,” Melissa repeated, as if she didn’t believe me. “Too busy to have a drink and go to dinner with me? I know a great place. The food is fantastic.”

Erin’s hand shifted just enough to be a reminder that she was standing right behind me.

I opened the door wide enough for Melissa to see in. It was time to shut down her unwanted attention.





EVERY WOMAN WANTS to believe that the man she’s with only has eyes for her. That old adage is almost akin to flipping a coin in the air and hoping you guessed correctly. My mom had a saying that she repeated often: “You can find trash on every street corner. Try to find gold instead. You’re gold. Never forget that and never settle for anything less.”

Not only was Adam handsome, he was extremely cute, too. Killer dimples when he smiled. That boyish charm he exuded without even trying. All of that mixed in with a fantastic body and formidable badass vibe made him very desirable. And so far, though he may have stumbled along the way, he’d treated me like gold.

It was only natural that I wanted to classify him the same.

Apparently the woman on the other side of the door thought so, too. I could hear it in her delivery, the way she drew out each of her words to give them a flirtatious undertone all meant to entice him.

I had no idea what was really waiting on the other side of that door, but I was more than ready to confront it. New York, meet Philly. We hit just as hard and probably with less finesse.

Adam shocked me by opening the door wider, letting me size up what I could only assume was the competition. I felt my inner claws coming out, ready to scratch out the shocked eyes attached to the raven-haired model staring back at me.

“You’re kidding,” the woman murmured.

I didn’t think Adam would bring me with him to New York to humiliate me, though the thought did cross my mind seeing he was right in the middle of being caught unexpectedly. Why else would I be staring down a very attractive woman who knew which door to knock on?

At least Adam didn’t seem too worried about this showdown. No, he was definitely unruffled.

“Erin, this is Melissa Werner. She owns the production company that oversees our show.”

I saw her switch tactics, donning one of the many masks women wear when we don’t want to appear beaten by the game. In an instant I had to decide what kind of woman I wanted to be. I’d allowed women just like this one to defeat me before, to take what was mine right out of my hands and leave me in the dust, feeling victimized, crushed, and lonely.

I’d been hurt before, been tested more times than I cared to admit, but I still had a choice on how I was going to react.

I stuck out my hand, waiting while she decided to return the gesture. I found the action to be just as unappealing but I wasn’t going to be rude.

She eyed me shrewdly. “You look familiar. Have we met before?”

I dropped her well-manicured hand, her fingers just as cold as the aura that surrounded her. I stopped trying to have pretty nails my first year of med school. “I don’t think so.”

“I never forget a face.” She stepped inside our room uninvited, scrutinizing our bed.

Her perusal felt like a violation. “I’m sure we’ve never met.”

Her simple “hmm” was annoying. “You returned the wine?”

“I don’t drink,” Adam simply replied.

This also confounded her until she turned back on me. “I know where I know you from. You’re the doctor they pulled over in the stolen car, aren’t you? That’s how I know you.”

No. Wrong. “That was my car. It wasn’t stolen.”

She gaped at Adam. “Wait. You’re dating her now? You don’t waste time.”

Adam glared back. “My personal life is none of your business.”

“It is when it turns my show into a media embarrassment with the network,” she snapped.

His stare turned lethal, a wordless warning that he was one more snide comment away from tossing her out into the hallway.

“What does that mean? Why would that even be a concern?” I was sure there was something in that contract that I must have missed.

“The footage they filmed of you,” Adam muttered over to me, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

“I’m not a criminal.” Renewed panic rolled through me. “I didn’t do anything wrong. You can’t show it, can you? I told them no. I didn’t give my consent.”