Jason took his arm and steered him to a quiet corner of the room, far away from the guests and the linen-clad tables of food and drink. “Now, just listen. This girl, Sophia, she’s…well, believe me, you’ll like her. She’s a good person.”

Zach snorted. “Good people don’t sell their bodies.”

“She’s not a streetwalker. In fact, she does this because she likes it. She’s always ready.”

“Oh, God-”

“She’s pretty and clean and will only do what you want to do. You can fuck her brains out if you want to, or, if you’d rather just talk…she’ll listen. Really. It’s up to you.” Jason’s voice was filled with brotherly concern.

Zach knew he should walk away, but he couldn’t. An honest-to-goodness hooker. Waiting for Jason? A hooker who would just listen?

“I know you and I don’t always see eye-to-eye, but this time, for the love of Christ, listen to me. You need a woman. Bad. And it can’t be Kat.” Frowning slightly, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a room key, and pressed the cool metal into Zachary’s sweating palm. “Three blocks down. The Orion Hotel. Sophia. Don’t worry about money. It’s all been arranged.”

“I don’t want-”

“Do yourself a favor. Forget about Kat. Get laid.” With a friendly smile, Jason headed toward the bar, leaving Zach to clutch the damned hotel key in his clammy fingers. Swallowing hard, he opened his hand and stared down at the key to room 307, the key to his manhood, the key to his freedom from Kat.

Suddenly aware that any number of his father’s guests could have overheard his conversation with Jason, Zach jammed his hands deep into his pockets and wondered how many of the other people at the party had witnessed his humiliation on the dance floor. How many eyes other than his brother’s and his father’s had seen Kat’s lips brush against his ear, or watched as his sweaty fingers had itched to delve beneath the zipper of her dress to grasp one of those firm buttocks? Jesus, he had to quit thinking about her like this! The key felt heavy in his pocket.