Unforgettable

by Alexander, S. B.

  Sandra, who was dressed in an elegant strapless gown, surveyed the crowd, her dark gaze alight with pleasure.

  I wished I was that happy or excited to be there. In part, I was because Ryker was there. I hadn’t seen the man since he had whisked me away to Erik’s house. Many times during the last week, I’d almost gotten in my car and shown up on his doorstep. But I couldn’t risk anyone seeing me or putting Ryker in the spotlight in the event that Tabitha or Beverly was around.

  Yet as I sat next to Beverly, tense and a second away from making a scene, I realized I shouldn’t have come. My father had advised me to stay home. But I wasn’t the type to back out on my commitments. I’d also wanted to confront the Sims sisters after the event. But Beverly was making it hard to do anything other than rip out her blond hair strand by strand.

  “No reaction,” she whispered, looking straight ahead.

  I smiled, realizing that she was trying to get me to make a scene. I wasn’t going to stoop to her level.

  Sandra cleared her throat. “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome.”

  “After tonight,” Beverly whispered, “Ryker James will not be yours.”

  “Pathetic,” I mumbled.

  “I hope you have your checkbooks ready,” Sandra continued. “Because we have twenty beautiful and handsome men and women who have graciously offered up dinner with one of you.”

  Shouts and whistles ensued.

  “My name is Sandra, and I’m head of the Chelsea House for Battered Women. I want to thank you for being here. The money we raise tonight will aid us in our efforts to help those women in need. So let the bidding begin.”

  Sandra waved at the ten football players.

  They lined up on the side and at the foot of the makeshift stage. Five players I didn’t know were slotted to go first, followed by Ajax, Van, Erik, Lucas, and Ryker. Each of them was dressed in a tuxedo, handsome, grinning, and ready to see which woman in the room won a date with him. Well, except for Ryker. That cocky demeanor he usually exuded wasn’t showing that night. Instead, he seemed out of sorts. I knew he had been worried about me. Or maybe he could tell that I was ready to do something drastic with Beverly next to me.

  Lucas said something to him.

  I glanced behind me to see if I could spot Vicki, but I didn’t have to look far. She was right behind me.

  She gripped my shoulder. “I’m right here.”

  I tapped her hand twice, silently saying thank you. Then I turned my attention back to Ryker, who was fixated on me again.

  I smiled, releasing some of the pent-up madness I had coursing through my veins. He looked handsome in his tux. His black hair was slicked back, he was clean-shaven, and those gray eyes sparkled only for me.

  “What’s wrong?” he mouthed.

  Everything. When I’d walked around the corner and laid eyes on him, those pesky nerves that had spun a web inside me, quieted. I’d been a mess. The news had broken about thirty minutes before I was scheduled to leave. The reporters had descended on my father’s estate, and it had been hard to get around them.

  Thankfully, my dad had had two security guards escort me to the Marriott. They’d barreled through the melee without too much trouble.

  Despite the reporters, I was worried about my father. The election was in ten days, and the news of the affair wasn’t going to help him. Not only that, my father still hadn’t told me what else Lorna might have on him, but that worry I’d seen on him during our talk the other night had diminished. Yet Beverly’s statement, “Wait ’til you hear what else we have in store,” gave me a chill.

  Sure, my father was in charge of his own actions and had to atone for his mistakes. But even though we had a strained relationship, I didn’t want to see him burn.

  Sandra slammed a gavel down on the podium. “Sold to number five.”

  A lady squealed.

  I turned to see the identity of the lucky lady who had purchased a date with the first guy in line.

  The brunette who’d won seemed thrilled.

  I righted myself in my seat and focused again on Ryker, who was still looking at me.

  “Well?” he mouthed.

  I shook my head, hoping he would get the message that I was good. Actually, my nerves were singing for another reason. Someone was going to pay for a date with Ryker. Beverly was confident it would be her sister. But whether it was Tabitha or another woman, I wanted to puke as jealousy filled a spot inside me.

  I’d forgotten why I’d even agreed to do the event. I really wished that I had stood my ground and not participated.

  Thirty minutes and seven thousand dollars later, eight of the ten men had dates with some lucky women.

  Next up was Lucas, and the room sizzled with excitement.

  I swiveled in my seat to eye Vicki, who had her number-ten paddle ready to wave in the air. Yet if I recalled, she’d told me she didn’t have the money to bid on Lucas.

  “Let’s start the bidding at three hundred,” Sandra said loudly into the mic.

  “Five hundred,” Vicki yelled.

  Maybe she’d found money or asked her parents.

  “One thousand,” a woman yelled.

  “Fifteen hundred,” a guy shouted.

  Lucas’s face paled.

  Ryker smirked.

  “Twenty-five hundred,” another woman in the back said.

  The room quieted.

  I glanced at Vicki.

  She shrugged, frowning.

  “Last chance,” Sandra said. “Okay, sold to number fifteen.”

  Lucas ambled past Ryker, said something in his ear, then made his way back to his seat in the front row.

  The room went deathly silent as Ryker strutted up to the podium, all swagger and confidence.

  I dug my nails into my palms.

  He glanced at me with the biggest grin, silently saying, “No worries. I only want you.” At least that was what I garnered from his expression.

  “Here we go,” Beverly said. “I can’t wait to see the look on your face.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Why do you think I even care who gets Ryker?”

  Her answer was a cocky shrug.

  The women in the room went berserk. Some lady nearby tittered. “He’s mine.”

  I actually laughed. The pheromones in the room were off the charts.

  I gnawed on my lip as I watched Ryker, who had his gaze on me. I got the feeling he was trying to tell me he was sorry.

  It was only one date and dinner and nothing else… I hoped.

  “The bidding starts at five hundred dollars,” Sandra said.

  The ten women who were up next, including me, adjusted in their seats to see the audience.

  I found eager eyes and panting smiles on many of the bidders.

  The paddles were raised in the air with the bidding zipping up to one thousand dollars in a matter of seconds.

  Then Tabitha hopped up from her seat four rows behind us, waving her paddle with the number one on it. “Two thousand dollars.”

  Another woman with shiny black hair waved her number eighteen. “Twenty-five hundred.”

  The bidding kept going around the room until the number was as high as four thousand dollars.

  Ryker’s eyebrows were in his hairline.

  Really? I wanted to shout at him. As cocky as he was, he had to know he could get at least that much.

  Then a macabre thought brightened my senses, and suddenly I wanted to puke, mainly from jealousy as well as the fact that I might not be able to keep a man like Ryker if those beautiful women, who were throwing out money like it was water, were keen to get their nails into the future NFL star. Maybe Beverly’s taunts were not about her sister getting her hands on Ryker. Maybe she was referring to some other beautiful, rich lady who could handle a man like Ryker.

  Tabitha raised her paddle. “Forty-five hundred.”

  The room fell silent, as did my heart. As much as I didn’t want any woman going out on a date with Ryker, I sure as hell didn’t want Tabitha to win
the bid.

  The other bidders sat down.

  Beverly laughed. “It’s for a good cause. You shouldn’t look so pale, Haven.”

  Before I could fire a retort back at Beverly, a voice I knew well said, “Ten thousand dollars.”

  A collective intake of breath could be heard as the air was sucked out of the room and my lungs.

  My gaze rounded to Vicki. She had her paddle in the air with her posture straight, exuding satisfaction and smugness.

  I knew my look had to be crazed, shocked, and confused. I stole a look at Ryker. His gray eyes were almost popping out of their sockets.

  I didn’t know whether to be mad at my friend or if I should jump over the chair and kiss her. But anger was winning out. She had a thing for Ryker like every other woman in the ballroom and on the freaking planet for that matter.

  “Bitch,” Beverly mumbled.

  I sought out Tabitha, who looked dejected as she pouted.

  The only one smiling was Vicki. The confusion clouding my brain intensified. Where had she gotten the money? She’d said she didn’t have any to even bid on Lucas.

  “The lucky lady is number ten,” Sandra said, closing the bid on Ryker.

  I didn’t get a chance to ask Vicki anything or even think before the women were shuffled up to the stage. I was first in line, and I felt like I was in a herd of cows being sent to slaughter. Okay, that was rather harsh and dramatic, but Vicki had just bought a dinner date with my guy.

  I was usually a good read of people, but I’d missed the mark on my roommate—correction, ex-roommate.

  I didn’t hear my name called when Beverly pushed me. I almost stumbled but caught myself.

  I growled at her. “Touch me again, and I will make you a bald woman.”

  Sandra said my name again. “Haven Hale.”

  As I walked up to Sandra at the podium, two men in black suits hurried up to the stage and snagged me. “Haven, you need to come with us.”

  Then I was being escorted out of the room by my father’s men with no time to say anything to Ryker or anyone else.

  35

  Ryker

  I bolted out of the stuffy room, which was filled with so many different scents that I had a headache standing on stage. But nothing made my head hurt more than to see Haven carted off like she was some sort of criminal.

  I ran as though I were carrying the football down the field, fast and furious, until I was falling flat on my face. Dishes went flying, glasses shattered, and a man started swearing.

  I scrambled to my feet, a little disoriented, to find a server picking up dishes that were strewn over the floor.

  “I’m so sorry,” I said. I should’ve helped him, but I couldn’t lose sight of Haven.

  But by the time I skidded to a stop in the lobby, I saw Haven getting into the back seat of a black Escalade with two security guards.

  A low and lethal growl erupted from my chest.

  I would guess the men were part of the senator’s security staff. I would also guess that her old man wanted Haven out of the public eye given the news that had broken. He didn’t like media attention, so I suspected he didn’t want her to be run through the wringer with questions she could or couldn’t answer. For once, I agreed with man.

  Lucas huffed as he sidled up to me. “Man, what the fuck is happening?”

  I laughed like a crazed man. “No clue. But I’m going to find out.”

  Vicki jogged up. “You guys need to see this.” She flashed her phone in our faces.

  Motherfucker!

  Lucas’s mouth hung open. “The senator is accused of bribery? Wow. When the shit hits the fan, it sure as hell hits hard.”

  Inside my head, I heard the screeching sound of brakes as the whole debacle with my father and what had happened with his company and the state water board surfaced.

  Anger, fury, and rage had me fisting my hands.

  Lucas rounded his gaze to me. “Do you think?”

  “Fuck yeah, I think.”

  Vicki glanced at us like we had five heads.

  Sorry, pretty lady. I had no time to get into specifics.

  “I’m going to the senator’s place,” I said, trying to convince myself that was the right thing to do when I knew it wasn’t, only because I was sure I would put my fist through the senator’s nose.

  “You probably should wait until you calm down,” Lucas counseled.

  “Why do I get the feeling you want to kill rather than check on Haven?” Vicki asked in a brittle tone. “Whatever it is that has you all twisted up inside, forget about that. If you have feelings for her, then do something, but don’t make a scene. That’s the last thing she needs. She’s going through hell.”

  I felt like she’d just sucker-punched me.

  “She’s right,” Lucas said. “The senator will get what’s coming if the headline is true.”

  Maybe, but it sure would feel good to beat his ass.

  If you did, then you would lose Haven even before you had the chance to tell her how you feel.

  I doubted the senator would let me near her. But I was going to try like a motherfucker, though. I’d lost too many people in my life. I wasn’t about to lose Haven.

  I fished out my keys. “I’ll check in with you later.” The statement was more for Lucas than Vicki, although she and I had to set up a day and time for dinner since she had paid ten grand for my sorry ass.

  I hoofed it to my car, sped out of the parking garage like I was transporting a bloody victim to the emergency room, and merged into traffic. Of course traffic on a Saturday in downtown Lakemont was hopping.

  Groaning, I switched on the radio as I came to a stop at a red light.

  The announcer’s deep voice filled my car. “Senator Hale is losing steam in the polls. With the election around the corner, this late-breaking news is sure to ruin his reelection to the senate. Our sources tell us that the senator has been paying off state employees in an effort to swing decisions in his favor.”

  I gripped the steering wheel so hard, my knuckles turned white. I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t do something stupid when I saw the man.

  My phone rang, shutting down the radio.

  “Ryker, have you heard?” Franklin asked.

  “Shit, yeah. I’m on my way to the senator’s house now.”

  “As your lawyer and friend, I would advise against that. He’ll get what’s coming to him.”

  “You’re sounding like Lucas now.” The light turned green, and I pressed on the gas. “Do we know for sure if the Texas Water Conservation Board is what the news is referring to when they say state employees?”

  “Not sure,” Franklin replied. “I thought you were supposed to be at the fundraiser.”

  “I did my part. Now I have something else to do.”

  “Ryker, don’t get involved.”

  “Too late, man.”

  “Your father wouldn’t want you to ruin your football career.”

  I sighed heavily. “My dad would do the same thing.”

  “Maybe. But think before you act.” Franklin’s tone indicated he was seething and also worried.

  “I’m headed there to check on Haven. Nothing more.”

  “Haven? The man doesn’t want you anywhere near his daughter.” Franklin was pleading with me.

  I merged onto the highway. “Man, I promise I won’t do anything stupid.”

  “You’re in love with her. Aren’t you?”

  I hadn’t talked to Franklin in a couple of weeks, although he had sent me a text last week to check on me. At that time, I’d let him know I was fine and busy with football. The only person who knew my true feelings for Haven was Lucas.

  “It’s time I tell her,” I said.

  He chuckled. “Nobody like you to make a grand entrance with a grand gesture.”

  I’d always pushed my way in whenever I wanted something, and I wanted Haven, Nothing, not even her old man, was going to stop me.

  “I’ll let you know how it goes. Or maybe you’ll
see me on the news.”

  “Or maybe I’ll be bailing you out of jail.”

  “Good to know you have my back. Talk soon.” I hit the end button and kicked my car into high gear.

  After thirty-five minutes going at a speed of seventy-five to eighty miles per hour down the darkened freeway, dodging slow traffic, screaming and shouting at other drivers, and thinking of what would come out of my mouth when I spoke to Haven, I was parking behind a line of news trucks and reporters who had the road practically blocked.

  The comment about me making the news might just happen. I pushed through the cameramen and reporters. Some were talking into the cameras, and others were talking on phones.

  I was relieved the darkness kept me somewhat shrouded and the media was busy doing their jobs. I hurried up to the gate, where two security men were stationed. Both wore black suits and earpieces in their ears. They looked like carbon copies of each other with buzz cuts and mean expressions.

  “I’m here to see the senator,” I said to one of them.

  “No visitors allowed,” he responded.

  “Tell the senator Ryker James is here. He’ll see me.” The senator would probably throw me to the wolves.

  My gaze slid past the security guards to the lights twinkling from the house that sat about half a mile down the long driveway. Then I scanned the rest of the property as best I could, given the lack of light. I needed to have a backup plan in case I couldn’t get past these two goons.

  The security guy narrowed his beady eyes. “I said no visitors.”

  “Look, man, if you don’t want me to start talking to the press”—I stabbed a thumb behind me—“then I suggest you make the call to the senator. I’m sure he’ll let me in.” Again, I was pulling at straws.

  “Are you threatening me?” the security guard asked.

  “No threats. Just make the fucking call.” I tried to keep my voice low, but I didn’t succeed.

  A wiry guy with a mic ran up. “Did I hear you say your name is Ryker James?”

  I rolled my eyes before addressing the guy. “Who’s asking?”