Only Forever (2 page)

Murmurs from the crowd burn my ears. Laughter too. The announcer drops a joke—I can’t even understand the words. I’m frozen, and my mind runs faster than my thoughts of escape. Consumed by an overwhelming wave of emotion, my mouth dry, I can do nothing but think that I’ve got to get out of here. The announcer’s laughing too, saying I’m a Ginger Raine impostor and calling for the real one.

I know the music. Only seconds have passed by, but it feels like hours since I walked on stage. I fold my arms and hold my sides, and my gaze falls to the VIP faces looking up from center stage.

Grayson Ford stares back at me.

Grayson

One second I’m confused and glaring at the stage in disbelief. The next, I’m growling and gripping the wooden railing as I stand, ready to explode.

“Emma?” The word bellows out from my chest.

Hands grab me. Muffled words fall deaf because there’s a rush of blood in my ears. That’s my girl!
On stage.
None of this makes sense. Sweet, innocent Emma. In what world is this happening? In what world did I
cause
this to happen?
Fuck me
—I want to tear the walls down and maim any man who has ever seen this before.

I fight against the hands that knock me down, swinging my fists for release. I don’t look anywhere but on stage. “Emma?”

A fist connects with my jaw, and my head snaps to the side. I wasn’t expecting the blow, and it knocks some sense into me. I’m here with Delta. There’s a job to do.

But I don’t give a shit. I push out of their hold, ready to storm the stage. Brock and Ryder take me down.
Fuckin’ A.
I hit the floor. I’ll kill this entire team. “Get off me!”

Fists fly. My body growls as I attack, cursing and pleading. The team hits back, keeping me in place until Brock gets me in a choke hold. He leans close. “Get your shit together, Ford.”

Not a chance.

Brock flexes his arm around my neck.
Goddamn it.
My pulse slows, and my head pounds. I fight the choke hold until he pushes away, dropping me back.

I fall to the floor again, and Ryder crouches down. “If that’s your girl, you’ve got to pull your shit together.”

My eyes swing back to the stage, but she’s gone. Close by, Colin and Javier play down the scuffle to security, telling them they’ve got it under control, and it’s just a bachelor party beat-in, an old joke from college.

I jump to my feet and shake it off. My eyes search for Emma, but security steps into my line of sight.

“You good?” he asks.

Fuck, no.
“Yeah, man. Fuckin’ fine.”

He eyes our group. “No more of that shit.” But he takes off, muttering in a Caribbean accent, “Fuckin’ VIP fuckers.”

Ryder slaps me on the back. “Guess you’re the groom now.”

I need to find her. “No. Got something to do.”

Brock’s in my face again. “The best thing you can do is play your part. Don’t call attention to her, and don’t call attention to us. You got me?”

My eyes search the crowd. Nothing. Nowhere. “Where is she?”

Brock hits me in the sternum. “Hey, asshole. Got me or not?”

I can’t find her, and all their eyes are on me. An avalanche of worries hits me. What does she know? How could she hide this from me? “I got you.”

“Good, because first, we have an in we didn’t know about, and second, what you didn’t notice was something was wrong with that girl.”

Yeah—she got caught. “God,” I roar, angry at her, furious with myself. How did this even happen?

“Pull your shit together,” Ryder says. “Shit, get yourself a lap dance. Two birds, one stone.”

Brock’s eyes bounce from Ryder to me, and I watch him mull the idea over before nodding. “Smart move.”

“No.” I shake my head.

“If you don’t, someone else will.” Javier laughs, and I lunge for him. He throws his hands up as Brock and Ryder catch me again. “Kidding. Shit, new guy. Calm yourself. Christ.”

I pull back from Brock and Ryder, rolling my shoulders.
A lap dance.
Fuck that. Her ass is mine in a private room. “Got a better idea.”

Behind me there are a few
shit
s and an
ah, hell
. But I’m out of VIP and heading to find her when our waitress steps in my way. “Where’s the girl?”

“Ginger?”

“Don’t care what you call her.”

She blinks but doesn’t move. “Okay…”

“Find her.”

“Sure, handsome. Come with me.” Making a stupid move, she puts her hand on my arm, and I snap it back. Surprise and maybe concern colors her face. “Just wait in there.”

I follow her gaze, and I seethe. My teeth gnash, and my mind tumbles. Has Emma been in there? Doing what? God. Fuck me. What the hell do I know about her? I can’t handle this, and even though I stomp toward the room, I’m still reeling. The private room is dark and warm. The light is dim, and there’s an armless chair, almost like a bench, and blood thumps in my neck as I drive myself insane wondering and questioning who has been in here with her.

The door opens and the love of my life, dressed the same as she was on stage, walks in, face toward the floor. Her shoulders slump, and my heart falls. It’s really her.

Anger consumed me until I could reach out and hold her, and now—I’m broken. Devastated to the point I can’t breathe.

“I’m sorry.” It’s a whisper from her sweet voice, and it’s my undoing.

I roar deep from the depths of my soul. It’s a primal growl that must shake the damn building. I rip my fists into my hair and drop to the seat.

“Emma. What the fuck? What the fuck? Goddamn it…” I turn my head up, and she’s watching me, eyes sad and tears sliding down her cheeks. I crash through the lump in my throat, and once more, but this time in a hoarse whisper, say, “What the fuck?”

Her delicate hand wipes away the tears, and she carefully takes a step forward. “I was going to tell you.”

“Why?”

She bites her lip. “Please yell at me later. Leave me later—”

“Ems—”

“I’m in trouble.”

My skin prickles. “What?”

She looks above my head, around the room. “I tried to leave.”

“You’re forced here?”

“No.”

“No? Christ. Fuck, Emma, why?”

“I saw—” She cuts herself off and steps closer. “Why are you here?”

“Work.”

She pinches her eyes closed. “Don’t leave me. No matter how mad you are, please, please don’t leave me here alone.”

“What the fuck is going on?”

Again, her eyes dart above me. She’s guarding herself, watching her words.

Knock, knock, knock.

Emma pivots to the door, trembling enough that I can see it despite her clothes. “Shit.”

I push through the anger, the guilt, and all of the questions about her past and concentrate on the scared girl in front of me. “What’s going on?”

“Just act normal.”

CHAPTER THREE

Emma

“Act normal?” Grayson’s raw voice rakes over me, and I watch him transform into a super-scary alpha dude as the door handle turns.

We have exactly half a second to pull this off. “Normal,” I answer.

I run my hands over my cheeks to wipe away rogue tears, and then I thread my fingers into my hair while moving my hips. Whoever comes through that door will see me dancing, not acting terrified of Bruno or emotional over the man in front of me. Truth is, I’ve never been more vulnerable in lace and heels than at this moment. The walls of the tiny room close in on me, and I’m doubly concerned about the hidden camera. Someone’s always watching. My body moves, but my gaze is frozen on Grayson. His twisted expression makes me feel as though he doesn’t even know me—because he doesn’t. Not anymore.

I want to cry. I want to run past security and forget whatever I saw downstairs. But instead, I hold my head high, faking it to keep myself safe. I can do this—I’ve danced for Gray every Wednesday for years. I step closer to him as the door opens wide.

One of Bruno’s men clears his throat, as though I don’t already know he’s here. “Everything okay in here, Ginger?”

I take a deep breath and hope for a miracle: that I don’t look terrified of the Emerald’s thugs or shell-shocked over Grayson. I tilt my head and give my most sultry, sinful smile, dropping my voice playfully low. “Think so. We’re just getting acquainted. Aren’t we, baby?”

“This can’t be happening,” he whispers against my ear.

With as much sexiness as I can manage, I place my hand on Gray’s chest and turn to look at him, batting my eyes and hoping to God he plays his part. Otherwise, they’ll call the session quits and pull me backstage. At least, security will
try
to remove me; I have no idea how Grayson would handle that. The amount of testosterone in this tiny space is overwhelming from these two massive men.

But security backs down. “Flag if you need something, Ginger.”

“We’re good. Aren’t we, honey?” I bat my fake eyelashes and will Grayson to agree. We can make it through this.

Grayson growls some kind of agreement, and Muscle Man nods to me. I smile as if this is just any other Wednesday at work.

“Alright.” He closes the door, and Gray and I are alone. Except for that camera.

I know what I should be doing, but the look on his face says not to. “They’re watching,” I say.

He growls. “What do you mean, you’re in trouble?”

“I mean if I don’t give the lap dance of the century right now, I’m in big effin’ trouble. Gray. Please.”

“I hate this.”

I lean closer. “You’re at work, too. So, we should work.”

God—despite everything that is going on, I still notice he smells fresh, like soap, and I roll my lip into my mouth. It’d be completely absurd in this situation to feel
any
arousal. But with Gray protecting me, and all this intensity, I’m not
un
affected. Oh boy… I close my eyes, and the low base of the music that surrounds us rolls over me. “You said you wanted me to dance, and here I am.”

“Not like this, and you know it.”

I move my hands to his temples, fluttering my fingers to the edge of his blond hair, then slide my palms to his cheeks. The strain in his jaw radiates as I continue touching him, moving down to cup his neck and letting my thumbs smooth over his throat. His pulse pounds under my skin. “Camera, Grayson. Play your part.”

He’s so tense. “Emma—”

The show must go on, whether he’s game or not. Swaying my hips with the slow beat, I take his hands from his lap and drag them to my side then to the sash on the robe. I’m nervous, and this is unexpectedly… arousing. He doesn’t want to be here, and neither do I. But there’s a rush of emotion screaming for us both to release. I can’t explain why, but this is more than a set of practiced moves. This is my dream. This has been me dancing for him forever, and now it’s really happening. My mouth waters, and my heart rate increases. “Right now, I’m Ginger.” My robe hangs open, and I smooth my fingers over my stomach and up to my breasts. His eyes lock onto me, and I see it—the war within him. Grayson likes this as much as he hates it. I push his knees and move between his thighs then press him back against the chair. “Relax.”

“I can’t—”

My mouth is next to his ear, my fingers toying with his hair. “Let me dance for you. Not because I’m scared to leave this room.” My tongue catches his ear lobe. “Not because your new job means you have to roll with it.”

“No.”

“This is my fantasy, Gray. How I survived while you were gone.”

His body goes rigid under me. “I didn’t—”

“You didn’t know. I know, baby. Stop saying that.” I back away from him and drop my robe. His eyes burn over me, and I know he’ll give me the answer I want, because no matter how angry or frustrated he is, this is Gray and I. I refuse to let him continue beating himself up over
our
mistakes. I bear responsibility too, because I could’ve told him about my life. I could’ve found him—and done more than hope and dream about him. “Gray, don’t you know? No matter where in the world you were, what you did, or how long it’s been, I’ve existed for you to come home to again.”

I straddle his lap and kiss him—deep and hard. I refuse to let him tell me different. I won’t pull away from this kiss. I’m dying for his tongue, for him to take my mouth with just as much need as I have. Excitement has made me dangerously oblivious to what’s happening outside this room. My fingers curl into his shirt, and I roll my hips, begging and daring him to want me right now.

“Fuck me,” he says against my kiss. Then he owns my mouth and grips my sides. “Can’t stay away from you.”

I’m consumed by his kiss, drunk on the powerful, almost painful hold he has on me. Raw hunger unleashes from his body, and if I thought I was in charge—
I was wrong.

I shiver, excitement rolling across my body from my shoulders down to my ankles. My eyes shut as he bites my lip and flexes his hips, holding me down, making me groan in insane need as I rub against his erection.