Page 76 of A Suite Temptation

He was still musing over every single word of his and Chloe’s conversation as the sign for the Nevada state border came into view. While Chloe managed a tepid, “Yay,” Jordan couldn’t muster the energy.

“We should be at the Royal Resorts, Las Vegas hotel in about an hour. I checked with the team this morning, and they said everything is ready.”

Their confrontation in the desert had left Jordan’s head spinning. There’d been things he’d held to be the solid truth, which had now turned out to be false. People had lied.

What am I going to do about all this? That thing with Zapp was fake. Chloe never got my message. And she’s gotten rid of all her entourage.

It would have been easy enough to pull the SUV back off the road and find somewhere to have another heart to heart with Chloe, but Jordan resisted the temptation. He sensed she had reached her emotional limit for the day.

Get to the hotel. Get Chloe settled. Call the office in New York, then go take a long hot shower.

It was a simple enough plan, and Jordan was determined to stick to it. Allowing his head to get further muddled over Chloe on day one of their eight month commitment would be the height of stupidity.

Today’s revelations couldn’t undo the damage. His behavior in the months following his and Chloe’s breakup had cost Royal Resorts many millions of dollars. It had also cost him his father’s trust. He couldn’t put a price on that, nor on Bryce’s willingness to give him one last chance.

He glanced over at Chloe. She was slumped against the passenger upright bar. Her dark sunglasses hid any real signs of emotion from his view. The upturned collar of her light jacket into which she had sunk meant her face was barely visible.

But if he didn’t break the tension, it was going to be awkward as hell once they reached the hotel. “Have you been to Vegas before? I mean as a normal person,” he asked.

Chloe shifted in her seat and sat upright. She rolled her shoulders back. “I forgot how stiff you can get on long car rides. I won’t be rushing to do this again any time soon I can tell you.” Picking up her soda, she took a long sip. “I don’t know what it means to be just a normal person. I’m twenty nine years old and I’ve been famous since I was twenty. But in answer to your question, no I’ve never really been to Las Vegas. My trips here have always been ones where I fly in, do an awards or charity show, then fly out. Often on the same night.”

Jordan saw an opening. “Would you like to do some touristy type things while you’re here? I mean you probably won’t be able to wander the Strip with a fanny pack and camera, but we could look to maybe slip you secretly into a show at the Sphere at the Venetian Resort. I hear the LED screen is amazing.”

She let out a chuckle. “Heck, I’d be happy to go to a drive through for a greasy burger. That’s the sort of thing I want. Oh, and the M&M store. My old team would never have allowed me to go inside one of those.”

* * *

“So what happened? I mean with your entourage. Why did you let them all go? I thought they ran your life.”

Of course Jordan wasn’t going to let this go. He was like a dog with a bone. Marta had hated Jordan, and she was pretty certain that the feeling had been close to mutual. With his enemy now vanquished, Jordan would want to know the reasons why.

Chloe had practiced her response. Nancy had given her tips on what to say in public, or to the press about the recent changes in her management and private support team. And as much as Jordan might want to know all the sordid details, he was going to have to settle on getting the same bland explanation as everybody else.

“I just decided it was time to make some changes. And when you do that with any aspect of your life, it’s inevitable that some people are not able to continue to share your journey.”

It was a social media friendly, AI generated, group hug, publicist branded piece of utter bullshit, but apparently it was what people wanted to hear. They didn’t want to know that you had real emotions or that relationships were hard and dirty, or that despite your best efforts people could still fail.

To the outside world she was Chloe. She was perfect. Untouchable. And she never made mistakes. Even her most avid fans in Chloe’s Garden only got the rarest of glimpses of the real woman. Chloe was determined that it had to stay that way. If no one got in, then she couldn’t get hurt.

She kept her gaze focused on the road ahead. Jordan wasn’t stupid, he would want more than theconscious uncouplingpublic statement version of the truth.

“So how did your team take it? I mean was it a good parting? I’m only asking because we need to have a consistent narrative while you are performing at the resort,” he asked.

You can keep pushing, but I’m not telling you.

“I have my own agent and lawyers to handle all that stuff, Jordan, it’s not your concern. Rest assured that while I am working under contract with your family’s company there won’t be any negative publicity directly generated by me.”

It was as close as she could get to telling him to mind his own business, without coming out and actually saying it. She didn’t owe Jordan any more explanation than the one she had already given him. His job was to help her while she was in Vegas, hers was to put on a brilliant show for the fans. They should stick to their respective roles.

This gig was about shoring up her finances, making sure she kept her home. It was most definitely not about trying to make amends with her former lover.

That ship had sailed.

CHAPTERFORTY-FOUR

The bell of the private elevator dinged, announcing their arrival, but only Jordan and Chloe heard it. From the underground parking garage all the way to the twenty eighth floor, it had been just the two of them. The few staff who were in the know about the new resort resident had been instructed to keep well clear. Chloe’s arrival was a closely guarded secret. Until the official concert series announcement, no one was to even mention her name. The sky villa was under the name of Jordan Royal.

Jordan was the first to step out of the elevator. “Welcome to your sky villa, Ms. Fisher. This is your Royal Resorts, Las Vegas, home away from home.”

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