Go to a ball with Jak? I wasn't sure that was a good idea—not when he looked so damn good in black tie. "Mom supported a lot of charities, but I can't recall the foundation being one of them. And I doubt I could ring up at the last moment and get tickets."
"You can't. I've already checked, and they're sold out."
Which was good for the foundation but not so good for us. "So what do you expect me to do? Beat someone over the head and steal their ticket?"
He grinned, and it lit up his entire face, making that stubbornly stupid bit of me ache. "Well, as a last resort, maybe. But I figure that maybe you should try some of your mom's contacts first. Surely with all the work she did for charities, someone somewhere would owe her—or her daughter—a favor or two."
"Nice of you to remember how many charities she supported. Shame it didn't reach the damn article."
He patted my hand lightly. "Now, now, you know that's not true. I did mention it, if only in the introduction."
"Generous of you," I muttered, and once again slipped my hand from under his.
Amusement glittered in his dark eyes. He knew exactly what he was doing to me, the bastard. A thought confirmed by his next statement.
"The spark is still there, Ris."
"That spark is nothing more than werewolf nature," I said with determination. "And it's not something I'm about to give in to, so stop playing games."
"That's hard when—bruises aside—you look so damn good."
I was half tempted to look down just to see how hard it was, but I resisted. That sort of action would only encourage him—and was no doubt precisely why he'd chosen those words. "Then maybe you should have thought a little more about that story you wrote."
He was shaking his head before I'd even finished. "We both know I'd sell my soul mate for the right story, and we certainly weren't soul mates."
And that one sentence encapsulated why I—even if I could forget about the past—wasn't about to revive my relationship with Jak. I didn't need another relationship with a direct line to nowhereville.
And yet, even as that thought crossed my mind, a voice deep inside was whispering, Liar.