Page 145 of The Price of Forever

“Trojan’s on data review tonight, isn’t he?” I whispered.

Seven nodded, biting back a silly grin.

“Hi, Trojan,” I said with a laugh, to the thin air. “Hope you enjoyed that make-out session.”

“He wants us to have another,” Seven said, dipping down again.

I tilted my head, pressing a finger to his lips. “Hey. Rules are rules. I said I’d let you know tomorrow. You’ve made me miserable for weeks. I need the next twenty-four hours to assess whether I need you in my life.”

He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me flush against him. I gasped softly, the steel heat of him overwhelmingly, unbearably right.

“Twenty-four hours,” he whispered. “Not a second more.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

JORDAN

Back in the party, I glided back up to Eli. He lifted a brow. “What took you so long?”

I sighed. “Just woman stuff.”

He crumpled slightly. “Oh. Well that changes my plans.”

I didn’t like that comment at all. “No big deal, though. I took care of it.” I shot him a breezy smile. “Besides, I needed to have a word with my guard.”

Eli’s gaze hardened as he looked over my shoulder then back at me. “Do you want me to get rid of him?”

“He’s been so overbearing.” I paused, a flimsy idea forming in my head. “In fact, I…want to talk to you about something. Kind of related to that idea. Maybe we can go have a dance and chat about it? And then we can see where the night takes us.”

Eli wet his bottom lip, guiding me by the small of my back. “Let’s go upstairs, gorgeous.”

I stuck to his side, my skin prickling as I sensed Seven following. Eli paused near one of the attendants at the base of the stairs, whispered something into his ear, and then led me up. Our footsteps thumped softly against the carpet until we reached the landing.

“You can stay out here,” Eli said to Seven as we neared the bedroom with the pole area.

“I’ll be coming inside,” Seven said gruffly.

“No, Seven, I think you need to stay out here,” I spoke up, putting a little extra emphasis into my tone. I had to convince him somehow, without admitting my half-formed plan. “Eli and I have something we need to discuss in private.”

Seven looked at me sternly. “Not allowed.”

“What, do you think I’m speaking Czech?” I looked at him pointedly. It wasn’t the safe word, but maybe the small clue would give him an idea that this plan was intentional. Once I got Eli inside, I could work him for more information. But it wouldn’t work if Seven was there.

Seven backed down slightly. “Half hour.”

“How generous of you,” Eli said condescendingly, “but we’ll be taking all the time we want, thanks.” He pushed opened the door, gesturing for me to enter first, then sauntered in after me. He shut the door loudly behind him, exhaling a sigh of relief.

“Finally. I get you to myself.” He ran a hand through his blond hair, knocking the finger wave at the front askew, and rolled his neck in a slow circle. “Only took me how many weeks and how many thousands of dollars?” He led me over to the minibar.

“You know what they say about the best.” I kept my handbag clutched close as I came up to him, sliding my palm along his shoulders. “It’s fucking worth it.”

He cocked a smile, pulling open the fridge. “You better be.”

I pushed down a wave of revulsion. He pulled out a bottle of wine, then hunted down two glasses.

“Go sit over there,” he said brusquely. “I’ll get these ready.”

Alarms were going off again. No way in fuck I’d let him prepare my drink. I needed to get some intel, immediately. “I need your help, though. And I thought you wanted me to dance?”

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