Page 44 of A Suite Temptation

“Call me when you have a spare minute.”

She accepted his brief farewell kiss, then closed the door. As the sound of his car’s engine slowly faded into the night, Chloe let the tears fall.

What the hell just happened?

He’d said she was his, but had her own lack of response to him saying those words make Jordan want to leave? And was that phone call just the thing he needed in order to escape, to avoid talking about them. She wanted nothing more than to hear him say he loved her but saying it back was easier said than done.

“I don’t know how to tell him I love him.”

And what if her inability to say those words ended up costing her the one man she wanted in her life.

CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE

Chloe’s House

Three weeks later

The make-or-break album launch

Jordan was convinced that the sheer number of people crowded into the house would make anyone with an ounce of social anxiety immediately book an Uber the second they arrived. The crush of bodies was terrible.

He could only count one or two people he’d set eyes on before, and even then, he didn’t know their names. The only people he was on any sort of standing with were Chloe and her inner circle. And from the look of it, they were all upstairs getting their pop princess ready for the album drop.

I think that’s what they call it when you launch an album.

He was still a long way from getting his head around the lexicon of the music business. To Jordan’s way of thinking it was less of a business and more of a circus. Clowns to the left of him, jokers to the right. He didn’t give a damn about any of these people.

I only care about Chloe. I’m losing her, and I don’t know what to do.

They had somehow managed to make it through the past few weeks without having had any real sort of conversation. Sex had become the way for them to communicate, but even then, the simple act of lovemaking had begun to lose it connection.

He and Chloe were constantly juggling competing calendars. His rare moments of spare time never seemed to match up with hers. He would arrive at her house just as she was leaving for a photoshoot. Foster and the rest of Chloe’s people hadn’t done anything to make their lives easier. All they seemed to care about was the album.

She is just a commodity to them. A product. None of these people here care about Chloe or what this is doing to her.

The album’s release was late, and the record company had pressed for Chloe to release it on a short pre-order window. If her album dropped just before the All American Music Awards on July fourth,then while the fans were out celebrating her old music, they would be primed to go and buy her new stuff. Jordan couldn’t fault that logic.

When a smiling waiter graciously offered him a glass of champagne, Jordan waved the guy away with a polite, “Thanks, but no.” How anyone with an addiction could manage to stay clean in this world of constant temptation was beyond him. He hadn’t had a drink in almost five years, but even he was feeling the thirst tonight. The small clusters of people huddling in private corners bent over what surely had to be lines of cocaine didn’t help with his mental fatigue.

His phone buzzed in his jacket. Jordan pulled it out.Please don’t let it be another crisis at the resort.His heart sank as he checked the screen. The name Chelsea FC shone bright. Edward Royal followed Chelsea Football club in the English Premier League.

Scratch that, I think a crisis might be better.Terrible timing, Dad.

He was in a crowded room, with dozens of important music industry people, all talking at the top of their voices, all vying for mastery of the scene. Jordan headed for the door to the patio, hitting receive as soon as he stepped outside. “Hi, Dad. Give me a second to find a quiet space.”

“Where are you for heaven’s sake? It sounds terribly busy,” asked Edward Royal, in his crisp British accent.

“Um … just out and about in LA. You know how loud this city can be what with all the tourists.” It was a strange thing to say but it was the first thing which popped into his head. Anything to set his father’s mind at ease.

“Yes, I saw several coach loads of tourists on Sunset Boulevard earlier this afternoon. I think they were doing one of those homes of the stars tours, or whatever they call them.”

Jordan’s body tensed. His father was in LA. Again. Edward rarely travelled out to the West Coast, much preferring New York City, but he had made several trips to town of late. And if he was in town, then it meant he was on business and would want to visit the new resort. His being here, spoke of his father not fully trusting Jordan.

No it doesn’t, he means he’s a CEO making sure of a billion-dollar investment. You have to stop being so damn paranoid.

“So you are here? In LA tonight?”

A gruff laugh rolled down the phone line. “Well yes, I don’t recall Sunset Boulevard being located in any other city of the United States. I was hoping that you and I could take a trip down to Laguna Beach and have a look at how things are progressing. I meant to come down earlier today, but I got stuck in meetings. And I can’t delay our flight back to New York tomorrow morning as your mother has a gala dinner I’m expected to attend.”

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