by Ella Brooke
“You know, Savannah, we’ve had our differences over the years, but I’ve always valued you as a professional performer. We may not see eye to eye, but you know when and how to bring it to a show. It’s why I’ve told my producer friends in New York about you.”
I bit my tongue. My instinct was to blurt out that I knew Alan was lying. It was the reason I’d agreed to the job in the first place, a step above my off-off the strip show tune medley review. A headliner job even if I had to wear the corset, but all of it was because I’d thought his so-called connections would eventually come to see me, would offer me more. I knew better now. While I had no doubt that Alan had connections, I also knew he was selfish and greedy. He’d had his hooks into me for almost two years.
He wanted to hoard “The Green Fairy” to himself.
And I was trapped as long as he did. After all, what Mary made at the pawn shop wouldn’t pay rent and bills. I couldn’t leave. Alan knew that, knew he could basically lord over me whatever he wanted.
“Thank you, Alan.”
“But tonight, there was a thirty-two count. The whole time you just sit on Taylor’s lap with your mouth hanging open like you’ve had a lobotomy. What the hell were you thinking?” Alan held up his hand with a flourish. “Never mind, a completely stupid question. I know the answer already. You aren’t thinking.”
“I was. Sorry, I think I was extra tired from yesterday’s rehearsal.”
Truth was, I’d been up till two a.m. on a call with Ryker. He was often busy, and so was I, but we could steal moments late at night to flirt and sometimes more over the phone. We’d had a long, flirtatious conversation until I’d passed out on my cell. That plus the memories of being with him on stage were clearly throwing me off.
A lot.
“I don’t believe that.” Alan leaned against my dressing room door and looked down at his nails. As if they were anything but immaculate. But that was Alan for you: every gesture practiced, everything contrived to create the perfect impression. “But I have heard from the owner of the Parisian that you really are seeing one Ryker Eden.”
I froze, a sick feeling roiling in my stomach. The thought that he’d used his connections in Vegas to spy on me didn’t surprise me, but the fact he already knew that Ryker and I were…well, whatever we were made me nauseated.
“What?”
“Oh Savannah, don’t be naïve. I know everything that goes on in my town.”
“And a week ago, you were practically pimping me out as an extra service of The Bacchanal.”
“True,” he said, taking off his top hat and letting it roll down his arm. He popped it back on to the top of his head and glared at me. Always some bit of flare with him. Why the act? It was just us now. Maybe Alan couldn’t turn it off. If that was what thirty years of show biz did to someone, maybe I couldn’t stay in this line of work forever. “However, if you’re going to be distracted by your little affair with Ryker, then that’s not good for the bottom line. I need a Green Fairy who hits her marks and entertains my customers, not one who spends all her time daydreaming about her beau.”
“It won’t happen again.” I needed this job. Damn it, I really did. My hand shook so badly that I dropped my eye pencil. “Ryker’s not a distraction, promise.”
Alan strode across the room with the lithe and intense grace of the dancer he was. Yanking my hair back in a clump, he pulled until I screamed a little and squirmed under his grip. Leaning down, he whispered in my ear. “You get your act together and reread your contract. You do what I need, or I will fire you. As it is, you’re suspended for the next week while the understudy gets her turn. Don’t act like you’re bigger than me or The Bacchanal. You’re not.”
A week’s pay, I tabulated that up and winced. It would make this month tight. The last week, Mary and I would have to pad things out with peanut butter and Ramen, but we’d survive. If it had been two weeks, we’d have been fucked.
Alan stood up and released me, but his voice was still cold as ice. “If you don’t get your head out of your ass, Savannah, you’ll find yourself out of this theater company. Take the week, and break up with Ryker, or you won’t have a job to come back to.”
***
Tears were streaming down my face as I slipped through the back alley of the theater in my street clothes. After that confrontation, Alan had made it crystal clear that I wasn’t invited to the VIP party either. He’d make his excuses, but I was persona non grata at the theater until Monday a week from now. Slipping on my yoga pants and t-shirt was normally the best part of my night, the time to relax and unwind after my time in high heels and a corset. But now it hurt my heart, felt like the punishment it was. My job was hard, grated on me, but I needed it. Without it, I was back to struggling and living in a loft style apartment and sharing a double bed with my sister.
How could I have been so damn selfish?
I had to take care of Mary too.
“Hey,” Ryker said as he stepped out from behind a telephone pole. “Are you okay?”
I startled but tried to calm myself. Forcing my eyes to the tarmac beneath me, I refused to meet his eyes. His voice was already like a rich, honeyed fudge. If I looked into those sapphire eyes of his, I’d lose my resolve, wouldn’t do what I had to do.
“We can’t…you can’t be here.”
“Why not? I don’t mean to flaunt this side of my life, siren, but I can be anywhere I want. It’s a privilege of being one of the biggest high rollers in Vegas.”
I pulled away from him, adjusted my jacket, and shoved my hands into my pocket. The sooner I got to my car, the better. “I don’t have time to talk about it.”
Strong hands gripped my shoulders as Ryker pulled me toward him and spun me to meet his gaze. My lips trembled as I looked at him. “I can’t…please.”
“What happened?” His voice was like steel now, and I let his arms envelope me in a tight hug. It couldn’t last, but I needed to have some extra security tonight.
“I…Alan got mad at me. I messed up my dance number for the first time, haven’t been focusing enough at work because of, well, us.” Sniffles interrupted me, and I hiccoughed before I could continue. God, there was the tightest lump in my throat. “He gave me an ultimatum. Either I quit seeing you, or he’ll fire me. I need this job. To show he was serious, he gave me a one-week suspension. My understudy is on from now on.”
A blue fire blazed to life in Ryker’s eyes as his nostrils flared. “He what?”
“I have to stop this. I don’t want to, but we just can’t.”
He reached up and stroked my cheek, his fingers trailing a bit over the mole above my lip. “No, you’re going to spend this week with me, and I’m going to make you forget what a fucking twit your boss is.”
“And if he sees us together…”
“I’ll handle him, but you don’t have to worry about this week and being seen around Vegas.”
Taking in a deep breath, I let my head lean against his massive chest, even as that soothing smell of cinnamon filled my nostrils. It was tinged with that tease of sandalwood again. And cigar smoke? Maybe he’d been somewhere earlier with Davis. It seemed like his brother’s style from all I’d heard about him and what little I’d seen that night at the show.
“You don’t understand. He has spies everywhere. Half the town has their job because of his connections. There’s no place even a big whale can sneak off to where he won’t get ratted out. You might have billions, but I need this job. I can’t help support my sister if I don’t hold onto it!”
He kissed my lips, and I definitely tasted the strong hint of tobacco on his breath. When Ryker pulled back, his warm, sincere voice calmed me. “Tomorrow, you’ll meet me at my private air field where everyone works for me. I’ll fly you to Paris. I’ve wanted to show you the real Eiffel Tower and so much more since our first date.”
My heart fluttered. He couldn’t be serious. “Paris? Together?”
He grinned and stroked my arm, teasing his way down to tickl
e my ribs. “Yes, siren. Now, get ready for the flight, and I’ll handle Alan Edgerton. Trust me, that bastard won’t know what hit him.”
Chapter Seven
Ryker
“You know I have midterms coming up,” Melanie said as I dropped Ian off with her.
I felt guilty for leaving him with his aunt for a week after everything Mrs. Jefferson had said at the parent-teacher conference last week. He’d started with his skills group, and he was already excited with being enrolled in his action scouts. The trip to the Grand Canyon and me chaperoning was all he’d talked about this weekend. Still, if I didn’t trust Melanie with my life, I wouldn’t leave Ian. He’d be in even better hands than mine, and after that, I’d take him to a movie marathon of all the Marvel movies that he’d been begging to see.
Buy him all the junk food at the movie theater his stomach could handle.
It was hard to help. I’d seen the vibrant, funny, and strong force of nature that was Savannah Riley crumple in my arms, and it shocked me. She needed something to help her forget the prick of a boss she had. I had plans to get him onboard with us dating. Right now, I was focused on giving her a week off that would make “suspension” feel less like punishment and more like a blessing to have the vacation of a lifetime. After that, I would be super dad, be the tuned in parent Ian deserved.
Smiling, I handed Melanie Ian’s Iron Man suitcase. “I know, and I’ll do anything you ask—”
“Bahamas, spring break, unlimited budget on your black card. Do you hear me?”
“Deal.”
She smiled back to her living room where Ian was already curled up on the floor watching Ninja Turtles. “So, big brother, who is she?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I simply have some emergency negotiations in Paris.”
“Sure, like I never pay attention. I know you guys are expanding out into Canada now, and Davis isn’t going with you. This is something big, fast, and that you want Davis nowhere near.” She shrugged. “He’s kind of an idiot, so I get it, but it’s totally a girl. So, who is she? Do I know her from the CW Network, or maybe she’s a Victoria’s Secret underwear model? Maybe even some minor royal from Montenegro?”
I crossed my arms over my chest and faked a pout. “Am I that predictable?”
“You are blinking like a neon sign on the strip.”
“Okay.” I shoved my hands in my jeans pockets. “It is someone.”
“And it’s not Bella, right? Davis was on the phone the other day blathering about her being back, and that skank’s a huge no.”
“God, never would. Davis has the worst taste in, well, everything.”
She beamed back at me and kissed my cheek. “Good, I’m glad. Seriously, who’s the mystery lady?”
“She’s a performer at one of the top reviews on the strip, and her name is Savannah. I’m taking her to Paris this week.”
“Which you could also let me go to this summer in exchange for watching the kiddo.”
Grinning, I shook my head. “I get it. This is a lot to put on you. Bahamas and Paris, check.”
“Cool.” She winked at me. “Now, tell me more about this Savannah.”
“She’s got the voice of an angel, is funny and super talented, and that’s all you’ll get out of me.” I pulled out my phone and looked at the time. “I have to get going or I’ll be late meeting her for the flight. I…take good care of him. He’s been teased at school, and I’m still in the process of figuring out how to make those snot-nosed bastards pay for it.”
“I should say that vengeance is wrong and they’re just kids,” she added.
“But?”
She winked a wide, blue eye at me. “Anyone that hurts my nephew deserves the wrath of God that’s about to come crashing down on them, so as far as I’m concerned, you crush them.”
“That’s my sis.”
***
I didn’t understand the spell that Savannah cast over me. After Penelope, I’d tried to lose myself in far too many women to count. I wasn’t proud of it, but it was a part of my life I’d thrown myself into. I’d dated models, like Bella who had been the biggest mistake of my life. I’d fucked so many women, to be blunt, but with Savannah, this connection was more. She could have me hard and wanting just boarding a plane. She wasn’t wearing anything sexier than a pair of dark jeans and a white and blue striped t-shirt. Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun, and wisps of her hair fell in her eyes.
Coughing, I was trying to get myself under control, keep myself from drooling all over her. I was Ryker Eden, and I needed to keep my aloof reputation out there. Except now. When Savannah’s very presence, the soft, strawberry scent of her hair, left me weak at the knees.
“Hey, you’re awfully quiet,” Savannah said as she handed me her carry-on.
Faking tripping with it, I groaned a little playfully. “Did you bring everything in your apartment?”
“I’ve never been to Europe before. Lucky for you, once my sister insisted we go to Tijuana for spring break. I have a passport. It’s just woefully underused except for that one debauched trip.”
“I love the idea of you being debauched, though.” Setting the bag in one of the leather captain’s chairs to my right, I leaned down and kissed her. “We have to buckle up and sit still for take-off, but once my private pilot says it’s safe, we can go to any part of the jet we’d like.”
“Fly like a G6,” she joked.
“It’s a G5 actually. G6’s aren’t real.”
“It’s a song,” she said. Then she crinkled her nose up deliciously as she sat down and buckled herself in. “Not a good one, but that’s really the only time I ever thought about a private jet. I definitely never thought I’d be in one ever.”
“Well, I’m full of surprises.”
The captain came on over the intercom as I buckled in too and explained the itinerary. The plane started taxiing down the runway, and Savannah jumped in her seat. Her grip tightened on the armrests, and she started breathing in shallow, ragged gasps. Concerned, I placed a hand over hers. It was cold and clammy under mine.
“Are you okay?”
“Never flown before,” she said even as we picked up speed. “We drove to Mexico, and this kind of freaks me out. I mean, in a few minutes there won’t be ground underneath us.”
Actually, as we spoke, the front end of the plane had already picked up off the runway. She shuddered and dug her hands so tightly into the armrests that I thought I heard the leather tear. “I…oh man!”
Her face went pale as all the blood seemed to drain from her face.
I leaned as close as I could to her without taking off my own belt. “Shh, siren, this is normal. In a bit we’ll level out and you’ll forget we’re even there. Kirk is one of the best pilots in the world, ex-Air Force, and knows his shit. I’ve flown thousands of hours with him, and it’s always been smooth and safe.”
She took in another gasp of air and shivered under my touch. “It’s just so high and, oh man, I just looked out the window, and everyone looks like ants now. This sucks.”
Reaching out, I yanked the window cover down and smiled at her. “I have one idea to distract you, even if you are as safe as you could possibly be.”
She gulped and nodded. “I do feel safe with you, Ryker. But I’m also in a metal cylinder thousands of feet in the air, and it’s going to be thousands of more feet in the air as soon as your pilot gets it there. Jesus Christ himself couldn’t make me feel completely safe here.”
Laughing genuinely, I grinned at her. “Well, I can do a few things that your lord and savior can’t.” Leaning low, I kissed her lips, letting the softness of them touch against me, caress me. The scent of strawberries teased me again, and my dick twitched.
I was always eager, and honestly, there were things I could more than just imagine doing on the jet. Things I was hungry to do now. But right now? I just wanted to make her feel better, needed to keep my siren relaxed as we leveled out at thirty thousand feet.
“Not exactly, they don’t do it in jets.”
“No, but I thought I’d go for a cheesy line after the night you had.” My fingers trailed over her cheek, and I couldn’t help playing with her beauty mark. It was always there, hypnotizing me a little. “Besides, darling, we’re in the air now. You’re already at cruising altitude.”
The pilot came on over the system to confirm what I’d said and gave us the blessing I was waiting for to move about the cabin.
Grinning, I unbuckled my belt and did the same with hers. At first, she blanched at me and reached for her seatbelt again, her eyes wide with panic. Setting her belt down, I shook my head and pointed toward the back of the plane where my private sleeping quarters were kept.
“We can still sit here if you like, but I have so many other things we can do to distract your mind on the flight. It’s nine hours to Paris, and I think I can tire you out and get you to sleep like a baby through most of the way.”
Savannah’s eyes went wide, and it was adorable how she could be so sultry one second but be perfectly naïve the next. “What?”
I grinned again. “Like the limo, this is a very private area. My pilot can’t hear anything, and discretion is paramount on this plane. Tell me, siren, haven’t you wanted to join the mile-high club before? It’s worth its reputation.” I lowered my voice as I spoke, hoping the low rumble of my voice would convince her.
She blinked those wide, coffee-colored eyes back at me and then gulped. “I never…can we?”
I offered her my hand, my dick hardening as she took it and stood up with me. “Not to sound like a prick, but it’s the first rule of being a billionaire—you can do anything you want.”
