me how pathetic I was or snap back at me for being an ungrateful jerk.
“Brandon’s checking his truck to see if he can find some more dry clothes.”
I nodded, temporarily unable to speak. The sight of my pretty silver, strappy sandals caught my eye, and I shifted so I could slide them on.
I could feel Jack watching me. I could feel all of them watching me.
My eyes burned with the effort to hold back tears. I’d never felt more alone in my life. What was I doing here, stranded in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of idiots who hated me?
I glared at Jack. Anger. Anger I could do. “Did you do this?”
He drew his brows together in disbelief. “Do I look twelve?”
“No, you look like the smug loser who hated me at first sight.”
“Actually, I disliked you before that,” he said evenly. “I heard about these rich girls who’d rented the apartment and figured I wouldn’t like you right then and there.” He leaned forward slightly. “But no matter how much I don’t like you, I wouldn’t stoop to a stupid prank to get you naked and wet.” One side of his mouth hitched up in a ridiculously sexy lopsided smile. “I wouldn’t have to.”
I drew in a quick breath at his unexpected candor and the not-so-subtle double entendre. I would not laugh, dammit. He was not amusing. Somebody over there had done this to me, and they would pay. No one humiliated Lila Devereaux and got away with it. I nodded toward the others. “If you didn’t do it, who did?”
He shrugged. “Some of the girls standing over there trying not to laugh, I’d imagine.”
Heat surged through me, but it wasn’t just embarrassment anymore. In fact, it was mostly rage.
He held his hands up as if to calm me. “Whoa there, Princess. Before you go declaring war, you should know it’s not just you. They’ve done it as an initiation every time a new person hangs.” He gave another small shrug. “Normally, it’s lowerclassmen so they know what to expect.”
I stared at him for a while because I wasn’t sure he was serious.
He was.
I let out a short humorless laugh. “It must be so insanely boring around here if that’s what you people do for fun.”
His lips twitched. “It is.” He eyed me from head to toe, and I had the distinct impression that he was seeing past the hoodie. My skin burned all over again. “Or I should say it was. Something tells me your presence here will make life at Pinedale High a lot more interesting.”
I opened my mouth and clamped it shut again. I wouldn’t go to your lame ass school for all the money in the world.
But of course I couldn’t tell him that. Not yet. Get in, get the guy, get out. That was the plan. I’d be back at my Beverly Hills Academy in time for the first day of first semester.
Instead of answering, I bent down to do up the clasps on my sandals and something about the utterly ordinary movements helped me to calm down. By the time I stood back up, I remembered who I was.
It might not mean much to this group of heathens, but to the rest of the world, I was a bona fide celebrity. An heiress. The daughter of a freakin’ legend with a name that inspired fear and awe.
When I came to stand, I found that Jack was still watching me, and wariness was written all over his features. “Don’t cry.”
I arched my brows. Funny how, now that he’d said it, crying was the last thing I felt like doing. “Why would I cry?”
I saw a flicker of laughter in his eyes but not the mean kind. There may have even been some respect there—albeit grudging.
He shifted closer, his voice low so no one could overhear us. “Don’t give them the satisfaction.”
I peeked past him and saw that I was indeed still the center of attention—as if there had ever been any doubt.
But here’s the thing these losers hadn’t factored into their stupid prank.
I was born to be the center of attention. I’d been raised to live and breathe the philosophy: no such thing as bad publicity. Anyone who was anyone could tell you that. It wasn’t about how you got the attention; it was how you spun it.
I took a slight step away from Jack and shoved my shoulders back. His eyes glinted with something, and for a second there, I had