Tempt Me Forever

  Tempt Me Forever

  Brenda Ford

  Copyright © 2019 by Brenda Ford

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  This book is a piece of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people.

  If you are reading this book and book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it to the seller and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  Published: Brenda Ford 2019

  [email protected]

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Author’s Note

  Blurb

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Epilogue

  Excerpt

  Author’s Note

  Stay connected with Brenda Ford

  Also by Brenda Ford

  Author’s Note

  Tempt Me Forever is a full-length standalone novel. At the end, I’ve included an excerpt from my Amazon TOP 100 and bestselling romance novel The Perfect Boss.

  Tempt Me Forever concludes at around 90% on your device.

  Happy Reading!

  XO, Brenda Ford

  Blurb

  Being with him would wreck havoc!

  Angelo is filthy rich.

  Always suited.

  And stares at me with his piercing blue eyes all the damn time.

  He’s everything I need.

  And I want him in my bed.

  But he’s also taken.

  His girlfriend is a cheating piece of sh*t.

  Angelo deserves better.

  But I’m not the right woman for him.

  “A rock band drummer dating a billionaire!”

  That in itself sounds like a joke.

  And also like an unattainable fantasy.

  In this life,

  We’re not supposed to be together.

  But as luck would have it..

  Our two worlds collide.

  It causes an explosion… and a ton of drama.

  And now, he’s down on one knee.

  Do you think I should say yes?

  Prologue

  Angelo

  I can’t believe this. My feet pace up and down outside Mandy’s apartment as I wait for her to arrive home from work. With every passing second, the irritation circling through me grows and grows until it’s completely out of control. I feel like I’m losing my mind. I absolutely can’t believe this. It can’t be true. It just can’t.

  Ever since I got that devastating message on my phone while at work, it changed everything for me and I have been a complete mess. I don’t even know how to process it. Mandy and myself, we have been together for years now. We are in love; we’re heading towards a happy ever after. She can’t be cheating on me. She just can’t be.

  But the text message from an anonymous number says different. ‘Mandy is cheating on you. Here is some proof. Just thought you should know’. With a picture that shows two people kissing furiously like there is no tomorrow. Mandy and someone else. Mandy with a man who definitely isn’t me. What the fuck is going on?

  “Angelo?” All of a sudden, Mandy’s sugary sweet voice darts through my body. “What are you doing here? Have you come to give me a surprise or something? Aww, that’s so sweet… it seems that you can take a hint.”

  As she circles her arms around my neck to hug and kiss me, I snatch away, sickened by her. Right now, the last few years mean nothing. It’s all just vanished into nothingness. All I can see is that picture.

  “Oh, babe, what’s going on?” she groans, tossing her head back so her long blonde hair flies behind her.

  “You got my message asking you to come and meet me, didn’t you?” I spit back, unable to keep the rage inside. Or maybe it isn’t rage, this is all just hurt. “You know that I got a message about you cheating…”

  Her expression falters, but only for a second. She gathers herself back up in an instant. But that’s something she’s good at. It helps her in her pharmaceutical sales job to remain composed at all times. I just never thought that I would be the one having to look at that mask. Yet here it is, staring right back at me.

  “Oh, honey, I thought that was just a joke. You know that I would never do anything like that to you.”

  I narrow my eyes and stare directly at her, trying to work out what’s going on behind her eyes where the truth lies. “But I got a message. And a picture too. Why would someone do that to us?”

  “Babe,” she wines while rolling her eyes. “People are jealous of me and you, aren’t they? Because we’re the best relationship ever. People are always saying to me that we’re a perfect couple. So, they are jealous.”

  I shift from foot to foot as I allow those words to wash over me. I do know that people say that about us and I guess jealousy is a thing. But am I really going to get sucked in by her words?

  “Look.” I push my phone in front of her face and show her the picture. To her credit, Mandy doesn’t look guilty as she stares at it. More confused than anything else. “Who is that in the picture with you?”

  “That isn’t me.” She shakes her head hard. “You can see that isn’t me. I don’t look anything like that.”

  “But it’s you. It has to be. I don’t understand why someone would send that to me.”

  “Don’t be dumb, Angelo. Of course, that isn’t me. In fact, I hate this so much, I don’t like the way that it’s made you feel, so I’m going to delete it. Whichever jealous fuck sent it; I don’t care anymore…”

  “No, wait!” I cry out, trying to stop her before it’s too late… but it is. It’s already gone. “After I spoke to you, I wanted to call the number to see who it was. To work out what the hell is going on.”

  “Well, you don’t need to, do you? It doesn’t matter.” She glares angrily at me. “Me and you aren’t going to let it get in the way, are we? Why would we ruin what we have over someone else?”

  In a way, her words make a lot of sense, but I don’t know if I’m ready to accept that yet. Something doesn’t quite feel right. I just can’t totally believe that someone would do that just to be spiteful.

  “Please don’t be all stiff about this, Angelo,” she wines. “Just relax and let it go. I know that it’s hard for you to understand, but people are bitches.
People can be the worst. Especially when jealousy gets involved. You know that I’m doing well at work. Perhaps people want to take me down another way…”

  She’s right. Do I really want to give up all the last few years over something that might not even be true? Am I willing to not trust the woman that I have been with for all these years? She’s giving me a look of sheer love, like I’m the only person she worships, and to be honest that’s how she looks at me often.

  No, I think what I need to do is push all of my insecurities to the side and to believe the only person who has been in my life for all this time. I allow myself to match Mandy’s expression, to smile along with her, and to slip my fingers into hers. She’s right. We are stronger than other people. We should be together, no matter what.

  “I love you,” she whispers quietly while pulling me inside.

  “Yes, I love you too,” I reply while swallowing the strange bitter feeling in my throat as those words come out. I just need some time, that’s all. Time to get over the messages. Then everything will be fine. Me and Mandy we’ll be all good once more.

  Chapter One

  Rachel

  Six Months Later…

  “Alex, get the fuck off your phone!” Gary yells at the lead singer of our band. “We’re playing a gig in a moment. You can’t sit there texting all night long. Get your fucking head in the game, won’t you?”

  I give Gary a look, trying to silently calm him down while also completely understanding why he’s lashing out in such an over the top manner. Not only is Alex texting and distracted rather than focusing on the gig that’s to come, but the person he’s messaging isn’t someone he should be talking to at all. None of us agree with it. Not that we can do anything about it. Of course, he’s an adult and able to do what he wants, but we all know where it’s headed, and it can’t end well. We don’t know when it’s going to explode, but it will.

  After all, you can’t have an affair with your twin brother’s girlfriend that would lead to a happy ever after…

  Alex might not look much like Angelo. Angelo is tall and broad with light brown hair and piercing blue eyes. Because of his work at the family business with two of the other Smith brothers, he’s also always in a suit. Alex is smaller with green eyes and darker hair. Plus, he always dresses like the rock boy that he is. They are like chalk and cheese. But they are still twins so Alex really shouldn’t go anywhere near Mandy, I don’t think so it is right.

  But then I’m torn. Not that I would ever agree with cheating because that isn’t me, but because I can see from the lovelorn look on Alex’s face how much he adores Mandy. He wouldn’t be doing any of this, risking absolutely everything for her if he wasn’t in love. He really does adore her, and it’s sad. A real shame that it’s only going to end in tears. That they will both lose Mandy and each other as well.

  I have tried to discuss this with Alex, to make him see that it will be an explosion at the end, but he still can’t keep away. I guess there isn’t anything I can do about that… I mean, I tried, didn’t I? Not that I would ever admit that to anyone. I sent Angelo the message with a picture of Mandy and Alex kissing each other, to try and make him see that Mandy is cheating on him. But that was six months ago so clearly it didn’t work. I guess in a way it’s a good thing. I’m kinda glad that it didn’t work because I would hold on to guilt forever because of it. After all, Alex is supposed to be my friend. I don’t want to hurt him. Not only that, but my intentions weren’t exactly pure either.

  I wasn’t just trying to out Mandy because I’m sure a nice person. I did it because I have the same hopeless, stupid crush on Angelo as Alex has it on Mandy. I have been hopelessly in love with Angelo ever since I first saw him and that is something else that will also end in tears. He will never feel the same way about me as I feel for him. He’s with someone. He’s in love. Even though that’s all going to end badly, that doesn’t mean he’ll want me.

  “Yeah. I’m focused.” Alex’s head snaps up to grin at Gary. He really doesn’t seem to see the issue himself. “Some of my brothers are coming tonight, so I need to be on top of the game.”

  Immediately, my heart starts pounding at the speed of light, my knees turn to jelly “Which brothers?”

  “Brad will be coming, Angelo too, so I’m sure they will drag Oliver along too. I think Nelson has something on, and Wesley is away at the moment. So, three out of five. That isn’t too bad.”

  Oh God, Angelo. He’s going to be here tonight. Instantly, my eyes snap towards the mirror. I have my red curly hair tied back in a high pony tail, my eyes are dark with makeup, I have a leather jacket on… I look good. Like my usual rock chick drummer image, but I don’t feel good right now. I feel like I could look better. It’s so sad when he’s never going to look at me, but I really want him to notice me regardless. I smooth my hair down a little, trying to calm it and make it look less wild, but there’s no hope. It’s out of control.

  “Right, come on.” Gary looks madder than ever. He doesn’t know about my feelings, no one does, but the way that he’s looking at me right now suggests that he might have figured it out. “It’s time.”

  We step out on to the stage and I take my usual seat behind my beloved drum kit. For a split second, I feel amazing. I love playing music, it’s everything to me. My passion, the only thing I could do, so I’m glad that I have found a band who shares the same dreams and goals as me.

  But then my eyes catch the Smith brothers, mostly Angelo, and the good feeling ebbs away. He isn’t alone. He has a very familiar blonde wrapped around him, clinging to him possessively while she locks eyes with Alex up on the stage. She’s got two men at her finger tips. Two wonderful guys who could be happy with other people if she allowed them to be… but she greedily wants them both to herself to make them miserable.

  A sense of emotional exhaustion overcomes me. I almost don’t have the energy for the gig anymore. People might be screaming and cheering for us, wanting the best from Blood Red Masters, as we should give it to them. Alex is already going to be affected by this display in front of us, I need to be on top of things to make up for it. I need to look the fuck away from Angelo and focus on the music. Just for now anyway…

  * * *

  “That was awesome, guys!” Gary yells as we leave the stage, now in a much better place. “We kicked ass.”

  Alex fist pumps and lets a yell out, one that comes deep from the pit of his stomach. I’m surprised that he has anything left to cry out to be honest. Much to my surprise, he was better because Mandy was in the audience. It was almost like he wanted her attention all the damn time. Much as I don’t like him hopelessly wanting Mandy, if it helped us to get over the slump that we could have faced tonight, then so be it.

  “We need to head out for a drink in a moment,” Gary announces. “You said your brothers are out there anyway, didn’t you?” He nods towards Alex. “I like those guys. We can have a drink with them.”

  Gary won’t say it aloud, but what he really wants is to be out there with the fans to see which one he wants to take home tonight. That’s his favorite thing that comes with being a bass guitarist in a band. All the women throw themselves at him. Once the girls realize that they can’t have the lead singer slash guitarist, they immediately go for him. Alex is off limits because of his ill-fated love for Mandy. The male fans soon learn that I’m off limits as well. One because I’m not that sort of person, and two because I compare everyone to him. To Angelo. It’s sad. At least Alex actually has something with Mandy. Angelo barely glances at me…

  Urgh, maybe I do need a drink. The more that I think about this, the harder it is.

  As Gary heads out to the bar, I follow close behind him. I’m pretty sure that Alex is coming too. I’m sure he’ll want to secretly see the effect that his singing has had on Mandy. I’m never getting involved with that again. I bypass everyone and head straight to the bar to get myself a glass of wine.

  “Hey, you.” My heart stops beating as I hear Angelo’s voic
e behind me. He sounds a little tipsy which for some reason excites me. He’s letting loose a little which isn’t like him. “You were great up there.”

  “We were?” I spin around shyly and gasp in a breath as my eyes connect with his. God, he’s gorgeous. Absolutely divine. Sure, people might think that I’d be more suited to Alex because we’re both very similar. But we’re too similar for it to work. Plus, we work together as well, and on top of that there isn’t any chemistry between us. I feel something deep and inexplicable with Angelo. I think our differences would complement one another in the best way possible. If only he would really see me. “Thank you, that’s really nice…”

  “You looked great as well. It’s a shame that the drums hide so much of you. You should be out in front.”

  I giggle shyly, sure that he’s flirting with me which might well be a result of the drink more than anything else, but it thrills me to the core. I can’t stop everything from fluttering like crazy as a result of just a few words. Angelo has this real deep effect on me. It’s intense and almost overwhelming. This is why it’s good that I don’t see him more than what I do right now. I would literally fall apart if I had to see him every single day. I’d be a mess.