Page 19 of Forever Yours

She groaned. “That came out wrong.”

“So you didn’t mean to sneak out of the room while I was sleeping?” I was being a hard-ass, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself. I’d practically been mooning over her and even tried to find her, and her use for me had been for one night only.

“No… yes… I don’t know. It all happened so fast, and I guess I panicked. I don’t normally do that.”

I glared at her. “You’ll have to be more specific. You don’t normally do what, exactly? Give guys fake names and then sneak out of their rooms under the cover of night?”

She threw her shoulders back, and a spark ignited in her eyes. “All of it. I’ve never given anyone a fake name, and I’ve never gone home with a guy I just met in a club.”

My anger faded as I realized that my initial impression of her was truer than not. Not everything I’d thought I’d learned about her in the short time we’d spent together had been a lie.

I exhaled. So we’d shared a night together. Big deal, right? It happened all the time. She didn’t need to know that I’d tried to find her after she’d clearly bailed on me. We were going to be working together for the next few weeks at the very least, and it would be better for both of us if we forgot about what happened.

Easier said than done, though, when every time I looked at her, I visualized her naked, and damn if I wouldn’t mind seeing her that way again. But I could be professional. “So I guess this is the opportunity you had mentioned.”

“Yes.” She smiled genuinely for the first time since walking through the door. “I haven’t told anyone, not even my parents. But that’s a different story.” She added that last part under her breath, so I let it go. Her family drama was none of my business.

I cleared my throat. “I’ll be honest—I’m doing the show as a favor to Evan. Someone dropped out at the last minute.”

“Oh.” She frowned, and I could practically read her thoughts—she was worried that I didn’t actually want to be there, which was partially correct. Chatting with her again without the pressure of the cameras, though, made me feel more optimistic about the experience. With those few lines she’d sung, I could tell she was more talented than I’d dared to hope. She had a real shot, and my competitive side appreciated that. Unless we really fucked up, she was going to make it a long way in the competition. That potentially meant months of having a camera shoved in my face while I was supposed to ignore it was there. But it also meant I would get to spend more time with her, and I didn’t mind that one bit. What had happened between us didn’t change the fact that I liked her.

“Don’t worry,” I assured her. “I’m not going to phone it in.”

Her frown deepened. “I wasn’t worried that you would. Do you think the other celebrity partners are going to do that?”

I shrugged. “Hard to say. I don’t know all of them.”

“The paperwork says three hours of rehearsals per performance.”

I scoffed. “That’s it?”

She nodded. “That’s the minimum they’re holding the celebrities to.”

“But not the maximum?”

“Yes. Didn’t you read the paperwork?”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “Not entirely. Like I said, I was a last-minute addition, and I trust Evan.” My buddy might have liked to play a prank on me, but he would never do anything to seriously jeopardize my career. I would have staked my life on it. He and I were brothers in every way but by blood. I would have said the same for all of my former bandmates.

“So,” Ali said, “you were saying about it being the maximum?”

“As long as three hours is the minimum and not the maximum, we’re good. My schedule is clear, and I want to make sure we both look good out there.”

She flashed a relieved-looking smile. “Since we’re being honest, I’ll tell you I’m not thrilled about this whole duet thing. They sprang it on us this morning. When I auditioned, I didn’t know.”

From that last part, I surmised that she might not have auditioned if she’d known. “That’s kind of messed up.” I shook my head. “Welcome to the music business.”

“I’m feeling better about it now, though.” She sounded shy all of a sudden, and her expression was earnest, almost innocent.

I was tempted to run my fingers through her crazy hair. But I didn’t, because revisiting what had happened between us couldn’t happen. We were basically business partners for the duration of the competition, and mixing business with pleasure was always a bad idea.Too bad I want to ignore my own advice.

“You know,” I told her, “you don’t look like a Seraphina.”

Her cheeks flushed again. “I didn’t feel like one either. It was stupid.”

“At least you figured it out before you announced that name to the world.” I undid the buttons at my wrists and rolled up my sleeves. “Ready to get to work?”

She beamed. “Hell yeah.”

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