Never Say Never (The Price of Fame Series) (11 page)

“I didn’t think you would.”

She offered him a polite smile, and Sander wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless. He was beginning to hate that smile. He figured it was a mask, something she hid behind, but he didn’t want her to hide when she was with him.

When she didn’t make a move to enter, he walked in and flicked on the light. The spotlighted entrance hall illuminated the cream walls. Chloe’s heels clicked against the dark wood floor as she entered behind him. He led her through to the lounge. Sander snapped his fingers and the side lights came on, followed by the artificial fireplace.

“Show off,” she whispered.

He turned to see her staring at him with a wicked grin on her face. He smiled right back. “I’ve more than one way to impress a lady.”

Shaking her head, she made her way over to the window. His apartment didn’t have much of a view, not when he compared it to the Beverly Hills mansion he grew up in, but it was his, he’d bought it with his own money and that’s all he gave a shit about.

He crossed the room to stand behind her. Despite his oath to keep his hands to himself, he settled them on her hips. She didn’t flinch at the contact, and he was glad. All he wanted right then was to hold her for a while.

The thought was so foreign he released her and stepped away. What the hell was wrong with him? When had he just wanted to
hold
a woman before? He didn’t even do stuff like that after sex, never mind before it. His lungs seemed to expand. Either that or something had constricted his chest because he suddenly found it hard to breathe.

He cleared his throat. “What do you want to eat?”

Chloe turned to him, her eyes more black than amber, and a shy grin curved her lips. Arousal zapped straight to his groin.

His body burned up like he had a fever. He unfastened a few more buttons on the collar of his shirt and slipped his tie off. Her gaze dipped down to his throat, and her amber eyes swirled and darkened. Hell, he was hard already and she hadn’t even touched him. .

She started toward him and a pearly, supple leg poked out of the slit in her dress. Every drop of blood in his head drained down to the biggest erection he’d ever had. Sander briefly wondered how the hell he managed to stay alive with all the blood in his body pulsing in the one place.

“I don’t want to eat.” Chloe stopped a step away from him.

Her floral scent only increased the burn of his desire. He clenched his fists and forced himself to keep his hands off her, but with her standing so close he was finding it hard to remember why he should.

“What do you want?” he asked.

Her gaze dropped to his chest, and he shoved away the urge to pull her to him. If she wanted this, he had to regain control or it would be over much quicker than either of them would appreciate.

“I want to get to know you.”

Sander staggered back, cursing his inability to control his damn hormones. She may as well have thrown a bucket of iced water over him for the effect the statement had. Of course she wanted more. Didn’t they all? And more wasn’t something he couldn’t give anyone, even her.

“Chloe—”

“I don’t mean the way you think I mean. I don’t want a relationship with you, and you’ve already made it clear you don’t have the time or inclination for one.” She didn’t even look upset, merely stoic, like she was discussing something that didn’t matter. Like the damn weather.

“What do you want?” he asked.

He didn’t think for a second she was like Sienna or the others, promising him something right before they sunk their claws in and demanded more. But he needed to make sure she wanted the same thing as him, otherwise it would all go to hell and he’d end up breaking his promise. He’d end up hurting her. His chest tightened at the thought.

“Can we do this sitting down? My feet are going numb.”

His gaze was drawn down the red silk peep toe platforms he wanted against his shoulders, with Chloe on her back. Naked. Screaming his name. His blood rushed south again. Fuck.

“Take a seat.” He gestured to the black leather sofa facing the fire and had a vision of peeling the thin straps off her shoulders, letting the silk slip down her curves and expose all of her pearly skin. Shaking away the thought before he burst through his pants, he cleared his throat. “Can I get you anything to drink?”

“Do you have wine?”

“Sure.”

She retreated to the sofa and perched on the end, her back ramrod straight. He headed over to the mini-bar and pulled out a bottle of white. Turning to her, he asked, “Is this okay?”

She nodded and offered that damn smile again, making him feel like a stranger. He decided to ignore it for now. Pregnant women probably had less mood swings than he’d had in the last hour, and he didn’t want to seduce her, freeze her out, and bite her head off all in the one night.

He joined her on the sofa with a beer and handed her a glass of wine. Chloe offered another platonic smile, then downed half the glass. He lifted one of his brows in question.

“Dutch courage.” Her smile this time was more genuine, and the last of his anger dissolved. “I…I’ve never slept with anyone I didn’t know first. I mean it when I say I understand we can’t be together, and I don’t want that.” She closed her eyes and sucked in a breath. “But I was lying when I said I’d never want you.”

He laughed. Her eyes flew open and irritation pursed her lips.

Sander jumped in with damage control. “I knew that. I told you, never say never.”

“You’re an egotistical—”

“Chloe.” He removed the glass from her hand and placed it on the coffee table next to his beer. Shifting closer, he lowered his voice, “I’m not stupid, but that doesn’t make me an ass.” He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and watched her eyes light up with irritation. He stifled a smile. “You want to get to know me? Ask whatever you like.”

* * * *

With her heart hammering against her ribs, Chloe couldn’t think let alone breathe. The pushy, big-headed sex god. Well, that wasn’t much of an insult really, but she couldn’t focus on much other than the fact his lips were mere centimeters from hers.

But she also couldn’t sleep with a man she barely knew, no matter how much her resolve was flaking. Though the voice at the back of her head screamed that this was a bad idea. She’d slept with one man—Dane—and she’d fallen head over heels for him. Could she keep this
just
a fake relationship with benefits?

She had no illusion that this fling would end up with wedding bells and two point four children, and she knew she couldn’t have more than a few weeks with him. Chloe never thought she’d date a celebrity again, and after Dane broke her heart she’d vowed to steer clear. But Sander wasn’t Dane. Far from it. He was sexier, kinder, and he didn’t want to keep her a secret.

But also, he made it very clear he didn’t want her heart.

“Your parents,” she blurted. He pulled away and his expression shuttered. She’d lost him again. “I mean, that must have been hard growing up on your own, without them. And for your father to say you disappoint him.”

She snapped her mouth shut before she said anything else. Irritation warred with lust and insulting his parents wasn’t polite. Still, she couldn’t help the resentment she felt toward them on his behalf.

Sander reached for his beer and took a long pull before setting it back on the table. Focusing on the flames dancing in the carved, white fireplace, he said, “They were never around when I was growing up, as you know.” He sucked in a breath and held it for a second. “So when I asked one of the nannies to switch my acting lessons for singing lessons instead, it was a whole three years before they noticed.”

His words hit her like a slap to the jaw.
Three years?
She couldn’t believe parents could be so unobservant. If she ever had children she couldn’t imagine being as callous, as uncaring as Sander’s mum and dad. Biting her tongue against the torrent of angry names she wanted to call his
parents
, Chloe let him speak.

He turned back to her, his eyes shining with humor, and her suspicions of his mental state came back full force. “I did it in part to see if they would notice. My dad hated music, and pop music, in his opinion, is as low it comes. But after a while I began to enjoy it. I started writing songs, learned the decks, and when I was sixteen I joined a rock band.”

Sander laughed and she smiled at the way his eyes lit up.

“I struggled with the guitar, so they tried me on the drums. After a year of almost deafening every audience we played for, I decided to stick to writing music.”

“How did you get into Paul’s band though?”

His good humor slipped away, and a haunted look darkened his eyes. Chloe realized her mistake instantly and opened her mouth to apologize when he rose abruptly.

“Sander, I didn’t—”

“It’s okay. It was Paul’s band.”

He walked over to the bar, pulled out a glass, and filled it with two fingers of rum. After knocking it back in one swallow, he refilled the glass and moved back to the sofa, except he sat at the opposite end. Unease skittered down her spine. She gripped the material of the dress and scooted closer to him, hoping he could see from her expression how sorry she was. She hadn’t meant to offend him.

Sander sighed. “I moved to London after meeting Sienna. She wasn’t famous then, and by that point, I couldn’t wait to get away from LA. My parents found out a month before I met her what I was doing with their money and kicked me out of the house. They told me I was a disgrace to the family name.

“I’d sold a good few songs by then, some to famous recording artists, and had my own money. Sienna wanted to get noticed in London, so we moved over together and I used some of my contacts to find her an agency. When I went with her to check out one agent, I saw a poster for auditions to a new band. They were a pop band, and the position was as a vocalist, which meant I didn’t have to play an instrument, so I called them. I got the part, and everything went uphill from there.”

A lump seemed to stick in her throat, but she didn’t think it was because she was upset for him. She reached for her wine glass and downed the other half, trying to suppress the anger coursing through her body. She couldn’t believe how callous Sienna really was. Before, she hadn’t thought much about it. From what happened with herself and Dane, she’d assumed Paul had taken Sienna away. Now though, she was beginning to realize Dane had gone because he wanted to, just like Sienna had.

Chloe couldn’t understand how a woman could leave a man after he had done everything for her. Sander had moved Sienna to London, helped her find work, and she repaid him by jumping into bed with his bandmate. Her hands shook as she replaced the empty glass on the coffee table and turned to see Sander studying her with his brows drawn together.

“What’s wrong?” He lifted one of her trembling hands and his eyebrows shot up. “Chloe, are you okay?”

Before she could reply he’d tugged her into his arms. She rested the side of her head against his chest and he stroked her cheek. “I’m fine. Just angry.”

He moved her back by the shoulders, his confusion highlighted by the slight creases at the corner of his eyes. Since he’d pulled her close though, her body had hummed with a different kind of heat.

“At me?” he asked. The corner of his mouth kicked up in an amused smile.

Her breath caught. God, he was gorgeous. “At Sienna. You helped her and she threw it back in your face.”

He released her shoulders and slid his hands down to her waist. Chloe gripped his hard biceps and pulled herself closer. She wasn’t ready to let him go. Especially not when her whole body burned for him.

“I can’t blame her completely. I was never around.”

Seeing regret fill his eyes, a pang of jealousy hit her hard. She didn’t want him to pine for his ex, didn’t want him to think of anything other than her. Logically, she knew she shouldn’t react this way—they had an end date—but that didn’t stop her from straddling his hips with her legs.

The blue in his eyes shrunk as his pupils swallowed the color almost completely. Breathing became harder as her heart thumped against her chest, heating her whole body and seeping into her knickers. She shifted closer until his erection wedged between her legs. She held her breath at the contact and a jolt of unease darted down her spine. Christ, he was huge!

“Chloe…” His hands slid down to cup her rear, and even through his voice sounded thicker, hungrier, she saw doubt in his expression. “Are you sure—”

She fisted her hands in his hair and brought her face toward his, pushing his doubts away with her lips. Heat zapped through her where her skin met his and her whole body tingled. Sander’s fingers dug into the flesh of her backside and pulled her closer still, so close his erection rubbed between her legs, right where she throbbed the most, and a moan of pure, unadulterated pleasure rumbled in her throat.

His answering growl sent shivers up her spine. Sander shifted them until they were both lying side by side on the soft leather, still not releasing her mouth. His tongue dueled with hers, soft, controlled, demanding, and she plundered him in return. Nipping her bottom lip, his fingers found the peak of her nipple and he mimicked the movement there. A shot of pheromones exploded inside her and her knickers soaked through.

Chloe knew then she couldn’t wait another second. Her core felt empty, desperate, unsatisfied. She needed him inside her now, and she didn’t give a damn how long it had been—she knew the discomfort would be worth it. She released his hair and slid her hands down mouth-watering abs to his hips while Sander continued to eat her alive and stoke her hunger to insanity with his kisses.

She slid a hand inside his trousers and grabbed the solid, throbbing length of him with all the urgency she felt. The thick length swelled beneath her touch.

“Fuck.” His breath hissed out of his mouth in a rush, bathing her neck and raising her hunger to a level she’d never experienced. “Chloe, wait.”

He reached for her hand, but she tightened her grip and slid her palm along the velvet skin of his shaft. He cursed under his breath and looked at her like he wouldn’t mind screwing her into the floor. At that moment, Chloe would have been okay with that.