Never Say Never (The Price of Fame Series) (17 page)

Sienna seemed like an ethereal being with her perfectly toned and tanned body complete with a mane of light golden waves. Her dress was white, just covering enough to prevent it from looking tarty, and even in the beautiful dress Sander had bought her, Chloe felt like a cheaper, less pretty version of the other woman.

As they made their way closer, Paul noticed them and interrupted Sienna from her conversation with the other men. She eyed Chloe’s attire, but it was more appreciating than the sales clerk the other day and it irritated Chloe more. Why couldn’t Sienna just be a complete bitch so she didn’t have to make pleasantries?

“Sander, mate. Glad you could come. It’s been too long,” Paul said and reached a hand toward him.

Sander’s arm stiffened against Chloe’s back, but still he returned Paul’s handshake a little briefer than should be polite. “This is Chloe. Chloe, Sienna and Paul.”

She followed Sander’s lead and shook both their hands, a little too briefly.

“Jack told us you were coming tonight, but I wasn’t sure…” Sienna said.

The way she looked at him reminded Chloe of someone telling a child they had ran over their puppy. Her irritation rose and she stood up a little straighter, ready to defend him if necessary. After all, this woman had lived off his cash for years then jumped into bed with one of his friends. How could she have the cheek to feign pity?

Sander squeezed her hip and Chloe thought he probably knew how pissed she was.

“I had no reason not to come, Sienna, and if it’s what the public needs to believe I don’t hold a grudge, then so be it.”

Paul downed the rest of the liquid in his champagne flute. “We don’t want you to hold a grudge, mate. We want you back. The band will never be the same with just Jeremy and me.”

A waiter interrupted with a tray of glasses filled with an assortment of drinks. Chloe tried not to look too eager as she picked up a glass of what looked like Scots and took a huge, burning sip. Every time she’d mentioned the band to Sander, he’d been immediately pissed off, and as he’d now picked up a glass of what looked like brandy and downed it in one swallow, Chloe reckoned he was pretty angry.

He placed the glass back on the tray and gave Paul his full attention. “I’ll never be your
mate
again, Paul, and you know the deal. The second I find someone to replace me, I’m leaving for good.”

Chloe stared wide-eyed at him, but he was too busy scowling at Paul to notice. Why hadn’t he told her he had found a way to leave the band? As far as she was aware, it was the main reason they couldn’t be together because soon he’d be away on tour.

Nausea churned her stomach. Excusing herself, she wriggled out of Sander’s hold, then made her way to the balcony and sucked in a breath of clean air. She might as well have jumped back into the past, but instead of Dane lying to her it was Sander. The betrayal she felt was ridiculous, she knew. He didn’t owe her anything, but that didn’t stop the tears welling in her eyes.

Chapter 10

“I think your date’s ill,” Sienna pointed out.

Sander resisted the urge to pull his hand through his hair. He’d been too busy with his pissing contest with Paul to notice.

“Excuse me,” he managed, though why he was bothering to be polite to the bastards was beyond him.

Making his way around the occupied tables outlining the ballroom, he headed for the patio doors. Chloe stood with both hands on the balcony rails, her head bowed, and a jolt shot straight to his heart.

“Hey, are you all right?” He closed the distance between them and slid his arms around her waist.

She stiffened. Brushing her hair back from her face, he kissed the silky skin on her neck and felt a shiver go through her. Dammit, but since he saw her in that fucking dress it had been impossible to keep his hands off her.

“You told me you were going on tour with the band,” she whispered.

“I will be,” he told her. “Unless I can find someone else. I hoped one of the guys from last year’s show might want the chance, he’s good enough.”

She turned in his arms and he saw the damn emotionless mask was back in place. Irritation coursed through his blood, and he grabbed the balcony at either side of her waist, trapping her against him. Her eyes burned a dark gold, but she didn’t make a move to touch him, even though her breathing came in short pants.

He lowered his head so his lips were an inch from hers. “What’s this about, Chloe?”

“You said you didn’t have time for a real girlfriend because of your commitment to the band, and the other night you said we’d only have a month together, but that’s not true, is it? If you replaced yourself with them you’d have plenty of time. You lied to me, just like he did.”

He pushed away from her and ran both hands through his hair. “I told you, I don’t want a relationship.”

He squeezed his eyes shut and sucked in a deep breath to calm himself down. Fuck, he’d told her this already. Yeah, he hadn’t been completely honest with her, but if he’d known she’d end up wanting so much after two weeks there was no way he would have asked her.

“Because you didn’t have the time. But you admitted you wanted me, Sander.”

“I still do, but it’s just sex.” The words burned his throat on the way out.

He expected tears, expected her to call him an ass and storm away. He wouldn’t be able to blame her. An ass wasn’t a strong enough insult. Instead she stood there like Cratus, eyes blazing and shoulders squared.

“I don’t believe that’s true.”

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

If ever anyone was stuck between a rock and a hard place, Sander reckoned they’d have had it easier than this. The only two choices he had was continue to lie to her and tell her it was about sex and nothing else until she believed him, or admit he did care but knew it would never be enough.
He
could never be enough for her.

But either way he’d risk her walking out and leaving him, and of one thing he was sure…he wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Chloe, regardless how selfish that made him.

“Can we talk about this later?”

She folded her arms over her chest and stared him down.

Shit. “Come on, we’ve barely been here five minutes, and I’ve already fallen out with the host. I’m sorry if my actions misled you, Chloe, really I am.”

A small line formed between her brows as she chewed on her lip. His heart was in his throat by the time she made her decision.

“Fine, but no more kissing or touching me. I can’t…” For a second pain crumpled her features. He took a step toward her but she raised a hand, palm out. “No. Just…no touching and we’ll be fine.”

Her words socked him straight in the gut. She had to pick the night he was struggling to keep his hands to his damn self. Raking a hand through his hair, he said, “I have to touch you. How the hell are we going to convince them we’re serious if we’re acting like we’re fucking strangers?”

Her whole body tensed and she squeezed her eyes shut. Turning to face away from him, her hands fisted around the railing. The smooth skin on her back exposed by the dress glinted almost white in the moonlight and he wished he could run a hand down it, but he figured he’d fucked with her head enough.

“No kissing,” she whispered. Her shoulders tensed and her back straightened. “I’ll keep my side of the deal. I’ll pretend to be crazy about you, but…I can’t handle kissing.”

His heart throbbed, like someone had reached into his chest and squeezed it. “Deal.”

She turned around, her gaze on the wooden floor of the balcony, arms wrapping around her waist. “I’m freezing, let’s go back in.”

Standing aside to let her pass, he thought he should feel some kind of relief at the fact she’d agreed to stay, but instead his heart beat painfully against his ribs. Placing a hand at the small of her back, he guided her through the throng of guests.

A glass clinked and he caught sight of Paul drawing everyone’s attention, ready to make a speech. Sander nodded toward the bar. She let him lead her there.

Paul’s voice reached them from across the room. “Sienna and I want to thank you all for being here tonight to celebrate with us. It’s great to see so many friends together, and I’d like to thank Sander Chase especially.”

He kept his feet moving, even though he could feel a hundred sets of eyes on him as he made his way through the crowd. Chloe’s warm body next to him barely comforted him, especially knowing he’d hurt her.

With his jaw clenched so tight he thought he might crack his teeth, he tried to hang onto his temper. He was there to convince the fans there were no hard feelings. Why the fuck did Paul have to draw attraction to the fact that he stole Sienna?

When they reached the bar, Chloe looked up at him and her eyes widened at his expression, but she didn’t comment. Instead, she perched herself on a stool at the bar while Paul continued to humiliate him.

“Mate, I know I’ve made a mess of things, but I wish you could find it in your heart to forgive us.”

The whole room had turned to watch him, and he tried to hide the fact he wanted to bulldoze his way through the crowd and knock Paul on his ass. Chloe slipped her hand into his and the anger deflated a notch. She squeezed and he squeezed right back, though the thought she was offering her comfort out of pity didn’t make him feel particularly great about himself.

Sander lifted a fresh glass of champagne from the bar and held it up in a toast, forcing the words out past his dry throat. “Water under the bridge.”

The sound of clapping was deafening, and as the crowd turned to listen to the rest of Paul’s speech, Sander knocked back the champagne. The bubbly liquid was nowhere near strong enough to mask the public humiliation, so he turned to the bartender and ordered a double Scotch.

“I’ll have the same, if you don’t mind,” Chloe said beside him.

“Make it two,” he instructed the bartender.

He searched her gaze and wasn’t surprised to see the anger he had out on the balcony, but there wasn’t pity there.

“That was really decent of you.” She scowled in the direction of the happy twosome. “They don’t deserve it.”

But deep down he knew they did. Whether or not they betrayed him wasn’t important in the grand scheme of things. He couldn’t love Sienna, give her a family or any of that shit she’d decided she wanted, and he couldn’t give it to Chloe either. If Paul hadn’t come along, Sienna would have been stuck with him for the rest of her life and would have had to give up her dreams. He couldn’t ask someone to do that for him. It wouldn’t be fair.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked.

Sander swallowed. “Nothing important.”

“So you’re back to being evasive.”

Great, she’d directed her anger at him again.

Running a hand through his hair, he let out a sigh. “Not now, Chloe. I’ll be back in a minute. Stay here.” He rose from the chair, and she nodded but didn’t meet his eyes.

The party seemed to be in full swing, and he wanted to slip to the bathroom unnoticed, splash his face with cool water, and take some time to pull himself together. He’d been right, the party was hell. And now that he’d screwed things up with Chloe, he didn’t have her to fall back on, and he couldn’t stand her pity, even if it was supposed to be supportive.

Making his way to the sink, he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror. His eyes were bloodshot, but he guessed it was more from the stress than the drink. After turning on the tap, he splashed his face. Fresh handtowels were folded neatly on the edge and he picked one up and dried off. Fuck, he still felt like shit.

Leaning against the cubical door, he shut his eyes and tried to figure out a way to fix this mess. Sure, he could scrape his way through the rest of the party, but he couldn’t guarantee he’d be able to keep his fist from connecting with Paul’s face if he pulled another stunt like that.

But the thing bugging him the most was Chloe. What did it mean that she was upset he’d lied to her? Had she hoped he’d change his mind, or had she just fallen for him like he was starting to fall for her?

Sander looked at his face in the mirror.
Lying bastard.
He’d fallen for Chloe, hard. What other explanation did he have for the euphoria he felt just from the thought of getting to see her, the way his heart stopped when she sent him a text, or the pain he’d felt when he had to walk away from her the other night? He’d never been in love, hadn’t known he could care about one person so much, but what the fuck did any of it matter when he couldn’t be with her?

The bathroom door swung open and Paul entered, grinning wide. He paused for a beat, then crossed to the sink. “Thanks for doing that out there, Sander. It meant a lot to us.”

“I’m sure you two wouldn’t have lost any sleep if I hadn’t.” He pushed off the door and made his way to the exit.

“Fuck sake, will you listen to yourself? I don’t know what else I can do. We were best friends and I fucked up but even Sienna says you didn’t give a shit about her. You were never home, and when you were you were too tired to give her the attention she deserved.”

Sander’s hands fisted. “I suppose she told you all about it. Bet that made it easier for you to swoop in and fool around with her behind my back.”

Paul rubbed his eyes with a thumb and forefinger. “We weren’t fooling around, we were falling in love. Sander, we’re having a baby, mate. We’re going to be a family.”

Something cracked inside him and the swell of emotion, jealousy, and rage made it hard to breathe. The bastard hadn’t only taken Sienna, but he’d given her the one thing Sander couldn’t give anyone. But it wasn’t thoughts of Sienna carrying Paul’s child that tipped him over the edge. The second the words registered all he could picture was Chloe’s lithe body ripe with someone else’s child, and there wouldn’t be a damn thing he could do to stop it from happening.

“Sander, are you okay?”

Paul stepped toward him, but Sander couldn’t handle his pity. Couldn’t bear to be in the same room as him. Sander’s fists ached with the need to connect with something solid, and if he didn’t get the fuck out of there it was going to be Paul’s skull on the receiving end.