Page 37 of A Suite Temptation

Of course, when she had explained that the producer, she’d waited years to work with was based in the UK capital, Jordan had been forced to concede the point. One of the first things he’d learned while dating a world-famous person was the need for compromises. And since their romance was still a closely guarded secret, Jordan found himself having to pivot more often than he was used to doing. More often than he liked.

He'd come to a decision. As soon as the Laguna Beach resort was up and running, full of happy, well satisfied guests he would ask Chloe to rethink their relationship. He planned to take her somewhere private where they could talk long and honestly about things. They had to come up with a plan for moving forward as a couple. Being with one another but at the same time hiding in the shadows, wasn’t how he wanted things to continue. He wanted them to eventually step hand and hand into the light.

But not yet.

With a thousand balls all hanging in the air at the one time, the last thing he was going to do was to call his parents and inform them that he was in love with a pop star. Alice might see Chloe as being a positive thing in her son’s life, but he worried that Edward would consider her an unwelcome and poorly timed distraction.

It was mid-May, and things between him and Chloe had been quietly simmering for the past two months. But for much of that time, she’d either been away in London, or on the publicity trail in the US. Her management never seemed to schedule any real time off for her.

I worry about her. About what this life does to her. These people who surround her don’t really care about Chloe, they just see dollar signs. They make me sick.

“I miss my Chloe,” he whispered to the waves. It had been four weeks since he had last held her, since they had made love. He’d never thought he would ever need the tender touch of a woman so much as he did each night as he lay alone in his bed. Chloe had stirred a hunger in him, that even regular hand jobs both morning and night couldn’t come close to sating. He craved her touch. Her kisses. And her smile.

If he didn’t have a billion-dollar resort launch on his plate, he would have got on a plane and gone to her.

He turned his gaze from the water to the bright lights of the main building of the Royal Resorts Platinum Collection, Laguna Beach. It was situated on the top of a long rise. Tradespeople were working late finalizing the laying of carpet and polishing the terrazzo in the resort’s elegant lobby. If things went according to plan, the resort would be welcoming its first guests sometime in early September.

But that timetable wasn’t the one Jordan was watching closely. It should have been, but his mind was constantly distracted by the thoughts of where Chloe was, and when he would see her again. She wasn’t due back in the States until June. Another two long, lonely weeks without her. He raked his fingers through his short, spiky hair, wishing they were her hands not his own. This waiting was killing him.

I have time. We don’t open for another three months. I could do a quick trip across the Atlantic to London. See Chloe and be back here before anyone even suspected I was gone.

A plan was quickly forming in his mind. If he got Sheila—who was currently working out of the Royal Resorts office in New York City—to run interference with his father, no one would be the wiser. All she would have to do would be to maintain the illusion that Jordan was still in California.

He hesitated for a moment. It would be well after midnight in New York. Calling Sheila at this hour would be selfish. Jordan retrieved his cell and tapped away a message to his assistant.

Can we talk in the morning? I’m thinking of going to see Chloe in London for a couple of days. Thoughts?

Hmm. Every 2nd word out of Edward’s mouth is Laguna Beach

Sheila had to be up late working on her studies.

But if he didn’t know?

Risky. But if only 2-3 days I could cover 4 U

It was unfair of him to put Sheila in such a tricky spot. She’d covered for him enough times over the years but asking her to lie to his father was a stretch.

But I want to see Chloe.

If anything happened, he would make sure to protect Sheila. He would take the blame, telling his father she hadn’t known he’d gone to London.

3 days max

You can’t take RR jet. Need to fly commercial

Damn.He hadn’t thought about that, but Sheila was right. He couldn’t risk his father discovering that he’d taken one of the company jets.Then again …

I’ll message you back in the morning. Thxs Sheila, you are a star

He might not be able to take one of the Royal Resorts jets, but he knew someone else who owned a plane. Jordan hit dial. When a half awake female voice answered, he smiled. “Me again. What would you say to having theChloe Jetsent back to California to pick up a lonely billionaire and bring him over to London for a few days?”

The excited squeal from the other end of the line gave him just the answer he was hoping for. “I would say that’s a brilliant idea. I’ll get my team to sort it out this morning. Oh my god, I miss you so much. I can’t wait to see you in the flesh. When can you leave?”

“I can be ready late tomorrow afternoon, just get Marta to liaise with Sheila and sort out the arrangements.”

Jordan was still grinning like the Cheshire cat by the time he got back to his hotel suite in Beverly Hills. He was going to England, and soon Chloe would be in his arms once more.

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