Page 39 of Ravaged By Lust
“Like I said,” I reply, unable to resist the smirk on my face. “That was great, Chloe. You’re better than great, in fact. You are even better than I remember.”
She looks taken aback by that comment, but only for the briefest of seconds before she’s back in her fuck Bishop attitude. Those pretty green eyes of hers narrow and she stabs a threatening finger in my direction.
She looks like her brother when she’s angry.
“I’m going to ask you again, Bishop. What the hell are you doing here?”
“To see you, of course.”
She bristles at that.
Oh, how I love making her livid. She scrunches up her pretty face and glares at me after my snide response. I love how much effort she’s putting into hating my guts. It means she cares. She could’ve stormed off the moment she bumped into me just then. She could’ve simply slapped me and walked away from my face, but she’s still trying to coax the mystery out of me, and that means that somewhere, deep down, she’s still got something for me.
I never lose.
“How have you found me?” she asks, her voice rising to a fever pitch.
“Don’t act so confused, Chloe,” I reply calmly. “I’m an international rockstar worth millions. Of course I have the resources to easily find a girl in Los Angeles. I mean, you’re not exactly in witness protection or anything.”
She crosses her arms, and that’s when I realize that she’s a bit tipsy. She must’ve engulfed a whole shipment of drinks to gather the confidence to do that karaoke. But, even drunk and swaying on her feet, she still has that grit I saw from her outside Axel and Maddie’s place a few hours ago.
I’m glad I spoke to Lucas and got him and his team to track her down.
She looks amazing right now. She’s applied ruby red lipstick and her black hair hangs down carefree. She’s made herself up for a good night out, and I’ve come here to ruin it in the most dramatic fashion. It’s so much fun.
“You need to leave,” she tells me bluntly.
“Nope.”
“I said to you literally an hour ago that I don’t want to see you again, yet here you are at this random bar, here to see me. What a complete reversal. Can’t one simple instruction get through your dumb skull, Bishop, or are you just stupid?”
“Lots of mean words there that I’m going to ignore,” I say. I nod up to the microphone. “It’s crazy you haven’t gone viral before with the talent you just displayed.”
“I usually choke up in public, don’t you remember?”
“I do,” I say. “I remember that day when you did.”
“Yeah,” Chloe replies bitterly. “I would hope you wouldn’t have forgotten the day you broke my heart.”
“Ah. That’s what all this is about?”
“Just go, Bishop. Leave me alone and live your fancy rockstar life.”
I lean in close so that I can smell her. Chloe’s sweet perfume fills my nose. I wish for nothing more than to take her now in my arms and kiss her until she gives into me. “I’ve thought about it long and hard,” I say. “And I’ve come to the conclusion that I can’t live my rockstar life if you aren’t in it.”
I am putting my heart on the line, and Chloe merely scoffs. “We’re really having a repeat of what happened outside my brother’s? Now? You’re stupider than you look, Bishop. When can you get this all through your thick brain? You expect me to just forget everything that’s gone on between us, then? Forget the past seven years haven’t existed? Drop my entire life for you simply because you’re a horny bastard who wants to ruin me again?”
“If I were simply horny, then there are a million ways I can solve that right now,” I reply quietly. “I just want you. I’m not going to give up until I have you. I’ll never give up.”
“Tough, because you can’t have me,” Chloe whispers back. “I’m living my own life.”
I nod. I’m not giving in that easily. “I feel like fate has drawn us together tonight, Chloe. Out of all the million places I could’ve been tonight, I ended up with you.”
“It wasn’t fate, Bishop. It was me coming across the country to see my brother. That’s all.”
“I know you want closure with me, so why not let me give that to you?”
Chloe laughs then. She doesn’t believe me at all.
