Page 49 of The Price of Forever

I pushed at her hips, eager to get my holster back in place and my pants on. Disappointment lapped at the edges of my awareness, claiming its throne in my subconscious.

What the fuck did you get yourself into, Seven?

Jumbled shouts on the other side of the VIP room door told me it was time to get back on track. Stat.

“Who is that?” My voice came out sharp.

“I have no idea.” She stood and stumbled away, reaching for her strewn bikini and quickly retying it. I had my holster in place, pants zipped, and belt buckled just as the door flew open. I surged to my feet, my heart hammering for a different reason altogether now.

“It’s my turn!” A squat, pear-shaped man burst into the room. Hands grabbed at him, trying to pull him back outside. My hand hovered over my hidden gun.

“I said it’s not your turn!” A feminine voice shouted. The hands holding him slipped, and he burst back into the room.

“My slot started five minutes ago! I get Sapphire now, what the fuck is the problem?”

I stepped toward the guy, placing myself between him and Jordan in case he decided to lash out. But my read on the situation was that he was horny and impatient. I can identify with that.

“You need to back off,” I warned him, approaching slowly. I could have him on the ground in two seconds. But I didn’t want to escalate the situation unless absolutely necessary.

“Sir, you cannot act like this!” Jordan’s friend Roxie—gemstone name Amethyst if I remembered correctly—grabbed at him again, and the owner approached from behind.

“Please step outside of the VIP room.” The owner’s stern voice made the belligerent customer turn.

“Why the fuck do you have us sign up for these slots if some shmuck is gonna take up his own slot and then all of mine?”

He was referencing me. I was the shmuck.

Maybe Jordan and I had lost track of time. I’d have kept her in there for another three hours if I could.

The owner and Roxie argued with the man just outside the VIP room. When I did a final sweep of the room to make sure Jordan and I hadn’t left anything behind—like a thong or my better judgement—I realized Jordan was gone.

She’d slipped out of the room.

I excused myself as well, leaving the heated tones of the customer dispute behind me. In the bathroom, I took a few moments for myself at the sink, splashing cold water on my face and trying to wrap my head around what just happened.

You gave in to your base desires, almost fucked your ward, and ruined any bit of moral standing you might have accumulated in your stupid life.

Disappointment shuddered through me again, alongside lightning bolts of excitement as flashes of the VIP room came back to me.

It had been the hottest moment of my life. Didn’t make it right or something I could do a second time.

That had to be that.

I left the brightly lit bathroom and returned to the sultry, thumping strip club. Outside the VIP room, I felt back in one piece, sewn together with regret. I swept the club, scanning for Jordan. I spotted her coming out of the staff area a moment later, deep in conversation with Roxie. Their return to the VIP room marked my return to guard dog status.

Jordan appeared unaffected as she breezed past me to confer with the owner once more. The belligerent customer had been kicked out, which meant her next booking would begin early. She disappeared into the room with two very eager looking men who were probably not even thirty years old, and the door shut.

I leaned against the wall, resuming my bored scan of the area while Jordan entertained the next clients.

But no matter how bored I seemed, my insides didn’t match.

My head and my heart roiled. Fingers curled at the thought that she might be doing the same exact moves with the two that just walked in there. Desperation clawed at me, urging me to kick them out and continue where she and I left off. I knew, deep in my bones, that we could never continue what happened in the VIP room if I wanted to keep her on my client roster and maintain a working relationship with her brothers.

I considered all possible scenarios while she worked.

Scenario one: She’d lured me in there to get me fired, so she could get out from underneath my and her brothers’ thumbs.

Scenario two: She really just wanted to practice a new move on someone safe and the chemistry between us had popped off unexpectedly. She never meant to kiss me or have me respond like I did.

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