Needing Forever Volume 1 Read online

  “Oh, please,” I snapped, unable to pretend I wasn’t breaking inside a second longer. “I heard your phone conversation that night. Telling your girlfriend you loved her and all that crap. Maybe before Ax adopted me, I would have accepted that kind of arrangement, because I didn’t know what it meant to have someone care. But I’ll be damned if I’m some piece of side ass to anyone. I don’t do second best anymore.”

  His hand snatched hold of my wrist, his fingers wrapping around my flesh firmly without hurting me. My skin seemed to sizzle under his touch, shooting zings all the way up my arm and straight to the center of my chest. Goose bumps popped up along the way, and I was helpless to hide my shiver.

  Brown eyes dilated, his nostrils flaring as if the air around him were suddenly full of the chemical reaction my body couldn’t help but give off. I backed up another step, only to feel the wall behind me. Bishop followed, his head dipping until his nose almost skimmed over mine. “You will never be second best, not ever. It fucking destroyed me to send you away that night, Sunshine, but I had to—”

  “Bishop?”

  His head snapped up, and he turned so fast, releasing me, that it took several seconds before I realized what was going on. One moment, he was barely an inch away, his warm breath caressing my cheek. The next, he was several feet away, speaking to the beautiful woman now walking down the corridor toward us.

  “Becca,” Bishop greeted, his tone neutral. “I’m surprised you’re still here.”

  “My flight was delayed until tomorrow because of mechanical issues with the jet.” She sounded pouty, but when I gave the woman a closer look, her face was nearly as expressionless as Bishop’s was now. There was no way to tell how old she was, but she looked flawless. From her perfectly straightened blond hair, to her manicured nails, all the way down to her two-thousand-dollar heels. There wasn’t a single wrinkle on her face, but something about her told me she was older than she appeared.

  Her brown eyes flashed to me, her dislike instant. “What’s going on here?”

  Crap. That was all I needed. Whoever this woman was, she obviously had a relationship with Bishop. If she complained to Vivian about what she just saw, I could have issues. We weren’t supposed to fraternize with residents’ families outside of work.

  Just because I didn’t need my job, didn’t mean I didn’t love it. It kept me sane when I was swamped with schoolwork. It wasn’t just a job to me. I came to A Place for Nora, and normally, I was able to let the weight of everything else disappear as I got lost in playing games with some of the sweetest, most kindhearted people in the world. These people were my second family.

  “That’s none of your business,” Bishop informed the woman in front of him. “If you want to see Paula, she’s passing out popcorn while everyone watches a movie.”

  “Why is she passing out popcorn?” Becca asked, her eyes wide with something akin to horror. “Don’t they have people to do that? She shouldn’t have to do menial labor when we’re paying to have her well taken care of.”

  “She’s not helpless,” Bishop snapped. “You treat her like she can’t even dress herself. That was one of the reasons I talked her into going into an assisted-living facility to begin with. You, when you’re actually around, treat Paula like she’s helpless.”

  “Paula has special needs, Bishop,” the woman told him like he was stupid.

  “I’m well aware of that, damn it. But she’s able to take care of herself for the most part, and she is more than capable of taking on small tasks like passing out fucking popcorn.”

  “Don’t curse at me, Phillip Bishop. I’m your mother, and you won’t use that language when speaking to me.”

  Mother? That kind of blindsided me. I was actually starting to wonder if this was the woman who’d been on the other end of that phone call the night of our kiss. Instead, she turned out to be his mom.

  While the two of them continued to argue, I slipped away. Back in the entertainment room, the movie was only about twenty minutes in, but everyone seemed entranced by the action movie currently playing across the wall.

  Paula was putting away the tray I’d shown her earlier to help pass out the popcorn when I found her.

  “All done?” I asked with a smile.

  She nodded. “It was kind of fun,” she admitted. “Can I help again next week?”

  “Of course. I would love your help. But only if you really want to.” And if I’m still here. Who knew what Mrs. Bishop would do if she didn’t like the way her son was standing so close to me earlier? I didn’t want to lose this job, but if Vivian got a complaint…

  I shook the thought away and upped the wattage on my smile for Paula. “I just saw your brother speaking to your mom in the hall.”

  Even in the dimness of the room, I saw that she deflated. “Why is she back? She told me she was going to Thailand for the next month.”

  “I’m not sure since I didn’t speak to her.” I touched Paula’s shoulder, giving her a small squeeze. “If you don’t want to return to your room but still don’t want to watch the movie, you are more than welcome to hang out with me. I’m just going to be setting up the games.”

  “Okay,” she half shouted, making some of the residents closer to us shush her.

  Grinning, I took her hand, pulling her to the other side of the room so we could set everything up.

  Chapter 4

  Bishop

  After getting Becca on her way, I turned around to find Kenzie was gone again. A huge part of me was glad she hadn’t heard the majority of what my mother spewed. Becca was a snob and a total bitch at times. But even though she treated Paula like she was three most of the time, she did love her daughter in her own way.

  Deep, deep down.

  Rolling my eyes at my own wishful thinking, I started to walk back into the entertainment room when someone else called my name.

  “Mr. Bishop,” a light yet commanding voice spoke up behind me. Turning, I found an older woman walking toward me with purpose, a professional smile on her face. “I’m so glad I caught you before I left for the weekend.” She stuck out her hand, and I shook it. “I’m Vivian Gaye, the administrator here at A Place for Nora. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  For the next hour, I let her give me the official tour, tell me how much of a joy my sister had already been, and assure me that everyone on staff would take care of Paula like one of their own. I got the same speech and promise at the last facility, but for some reason, I believed Vivian when she vowed Paula would be happy here.

  By the time it was all over and I went in search of the two women who meant everything to me, it was to find both Paula and Kenzie busy. I decided to let them enjoy the rest of the evening and head back to my hotel. The house I bought needed a few modifications, so I’d be living out of my suitcase for the next few weeks.

  During the tour of the facility earlier, I’d brought up Kenzie, and Vivian seemed to adore my Sunshine just as much as every other person who’d ever met her. She’d let slip that Kenzie got off at nine, so I had a little time before I needed to get back to pick her up.

  After a shower and a burger from room service, I checked in with the other members of Alchemy. I’d only met Dave, Jake, and Carver a few years ago, but we’d gotten close fast. They’d been looking for someone to take over the vocals after their lead singer flaked on them just weeks after they started the band. From there, we just started playing bars and clubs until someone videoed one of our shows and it got back to Axton Cage, and from there, Emmie Armstrong.

  What had only been a hobby for us turned into something more, and now I had even more money I didn’t know what to do with.

  “You close the deal yet?” Jake snarked ten seconds into our group call.

  “Fuck you,” I growled, throwing my arm over my eyes as I lay back on the pillows of the hotel bed on the penthouse floor.

  “That’s a no,” Dave chuckled.

  “Knew he would blow it a second time,” came from Carver.

  “I think it’s more like the fifth time,” Dave corrected. “I mean, he choked more than once during the tour. Didn’t have the balls to kiss her.”

  “I didn’t want to push her,” I snapped.

  “You were chicken,” Jake amended.

  “Yeah,” I agreed, losing steam because it was the truth. “She scared the ever-loving fuck out of me.”

  “Teeny tiny Kenzie shouldn’t be the one you’re terrified of,” Carver informed me. “Axton will kick your ass if you break her heart.”

  “Actually, I’d be more scared of Dallas. She’s a momma bear over all her babies, and Kenz is one of them,” Jake reminded us.

  “I would rather face Ax than Dallas,” Dave said with a laugh. “Ax is a pussycat compared to that lioness.”

  “I’m not scared of either of them,” I admitted, scrubbing a hand over my tired eyes. Sleep had been elusive since the night of that kiss. An hour here and there was about all I got lately, and it was starting to catch up with me. “What I’m shaking in my boots over is whether or not Kenzie will give me another chance. She thinks I want her as some goddamn side chick or whatever.”

  “How the fuck did she come to that conclusion?” Carver snarled through the receiver. “What did you do, dumbass?”

  “You know what I did. I sent her back to her bus the night Paula called. But Kenzie overheard it, and she thought I was talking to a girlfriend. But before I could explain that tonight, Becca showed up and Kenzie ran off.”

  “Shit,” they all said at the same time.

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, get off your ass and go fix this, Bishop,” Jake ordered. “That girl makes you happy. You deserve to be happy, man.”

  Our group conference call changed topic to the new songs we were working on for the next album our record label was already wanting to get produced. By the time we were done, it was after eight. Grabbing my keys, I was walking out the door as we all said our goodbyes.

  I got back to A Place for Nora with five minutes to spare and sat in my car waiting for her to come out.

  A few people in scrubs came out of a side door at two minutes after nine, but it was another ten before I saw Kenzie’s blond head. She had her bag tossed over her shoulder as she laughed with some chick in green scrubs.

  I shot her a quick text. Hearing the ding from where I was parked, I watched as she looked down at her phone. Her brow furrowed, and she glanced around quickly before spotting me in my rental. Her lips pressed into a firm line, and she turned her head back to the woman standing beside her waiting.

  “This is the right address?” she asked. “I’ll just put it in my GPS because I don’t know that part of town.”

  “That’s it,” her friend confirmed. “See you there.”

  With a nod, Kenzie walked past my car and got into her own. I grinned, enjoying her stubbornness, and started my own vehicle. She wanted me to chase her, so I would. Fuck, I’d give that girl every last star in the sky if that was what she wanted. She just didn’t know it yet.

  My grin turned into a frown with each mile my Sunshine drove in front of me. We were heading into a part of the city I wouldn’t have wanted her to go, even with a dozen well-armed bodyguards. My hands tightened around the steering wheel as she used her signal for a turn, and I followed her into the parking lot of a seedy-as-fuck bar.

  The place was crowded, and both our vehicles stood out like neon signs because they were easily the most expensive things in a ten-block radius. I waited for her to take the last parking spot at the back of the lot, before blocking her in with my own.

  Kenzie got out, slamming her door and glaring at me as I stepped into the night. “Why are you following me?”

  “I can think of a dozen reasons just off the top of my head, but my most pressing thought right now is that I’m fucking glad I did. What the hell are you doing in this part of town, Kenzie?”

  “Kim from work invited me out,” she tossed at me.

  “You’re not twenty-one. You have no business in a goddamn bar. And I’ve seen you get drunk on Benadryl. I doubt you’ll survive a beer, let alone a shot.” I cupped her elbows in both hands when she rolled her eyes and tried to walk around me. “Come with me, baby. Don’t go in there because you’re mad at me.”

  She shrugged off my hold. “I’m not doing this because of you,” she lied. I knew it because her eyes shifted away from mine for only a nanosecond. “This is for me. Because I’ve had a shit week, and I need to just unwind.”

  “You want to unwind?” I grinned and picked her up.

  “What? What are you doing?” she cried when I opened my passenger door and deposited her inside.

  Reaching across her, I fastened her seat belt in place and kissed the tip of her nose. “We’re going to go unwind you,” I promised with a wink. “I’ll arrange for someone to pick up your car later.”

  “No! Bishop—” I cut off her protest by shutting the door. When she reached for the door handle, I hit the locks on my key fob and kept hitting it every time she screamed in frustration, until I was behind the wheel.

  “I don’t want to go anywhere with you!” she raged as I started the car and put it in gear. “Whether I want to go to a bar or not is none of your business. Let me out of this damn car so I can go hang out with my coworker.”

  “Not happening,” I told her calmly as I got back on the road and headed for my hotel. “And just so we’re clear, Sunshine. Everything about you is my business.”

  She hmphed from her side of the car, and I couldn’t help how big my grin grew. She was jealous. Jealousy was a huge turnoff for me, but when it came to her, she was so adorably beautiful with it, it only made me want her more. “Pretty sure your girlfriend will have something to say about that, asshole.”

  “Don’t got a girlfriend, baby.” I glanced at her when I stopped for a red light and found her glaring daggers at me. “Yet.”

  Hurt flashed in those baby blues, and I wanted to pull her into my arms and explain everything then and there. But a horn blew behind me, letting me know the light was green and I’d been sitting there just staring at my Sunshine.

  Blowing out a frustrated breath, I drove the rest of the way back to the hotel in silence. From the passenger seat, she texted away, and I wondered if she was talking to the girl she’d been meeting or someone else. My own jealousy started to rot in my brain, making my hands tighten on the steering wheel until my knuckles were white.

  Finding a place to park, I turned off the phone and snatched her phone out of her hands just as she sent another text.

  “Linc?” I questioned her, lifting a brow.

  “He’s the only one I’ve told about the kiss,” she said with another glare, taking the phone back. “I needed someone to confide in and to talk about what happened with without fearing Axton would freak out and ruin your music career.”

  “You don’t need to worry about my career. Or Alchemy in general. Even if it all ended tomorrow, none of us would care. It started as a hobby for all four of us, and it will remain that way. If a day ever comes when it’s no longer fun, we have no problem walking away.”

  She folded her hands in her lap, looking straight ahead while her chin trembled. “Noted. I won’t care about you anymore from here on out.”

  “Damn it, Kenzie. That isn’t what I meant.” This woman was driving me fucking crazy, and she wasn’t even trying. “I just don’t want you to worry about Axton being against this thing with us. If he has a problem with it and it matters that much to you, I’ll walk away from the band with no regrets to be with you.”

  Her head snapped around so fast, I saw her wince. With her eyes trained on me, she touched a hand to her neck, massaging away the twinge of pain she caused herself. “What are you talking about…being with me? You have a girlfriend, Bishop. I’m not going to be your piece of ass on the side.”

  “I don’t have a fucking girlfriend!” I exploded, causing her eyes to widen. “That night, I got a call from Paula. There was no girlfriend, only my sister calling to ask if I would buy her a Kindle for her birthday next month. She doesn’t normally read anything but physical books, but she decided she wanted one and called me as soon as she thought about it. Then she started crying because she was lonely and she missed me. Paula needed me, so I left the tour and went to be with her for a few days. The tour was over anyway. Emmie canceled all the other shows after that psycho took her kid.”

  “Then why did you send me away if it was only your sister?” she demanded.

  “Because I’m protective of her, and I didn’t want to share her with you yet,” I tried to explain. “She’s all I have, Kenzie. The only family left who actually matters to me. Yes, I knew you worked with other people with Down syndrome during the school year, but we’d been dancing around our attraction all summer, baby. I was scared as hell of what you were making me feel, so yeah, I wasn’t going to share the most important person in my life with the woman who was quickly tying for that position.”

  Kenzie sat there, just blinking at me as my voice faded in the confines of the rental. The overhead light was on, so I could see the surprise on her beautiful face, but there was something else in her eyes that had my tongue suddenly tying in knots while my heart began pounding against my rib cage.

  “What are you doing here, Bishop?” she asked in a voice so soft, I had to strain to hear her.

  “I’m here for you, Sunshine,” I told her honestly.

  Chapter 5

  Kenzie

  I held my breath as I watched his lips move.

  “I’m here for you, Sunshine.”

  My heart was already racing after his confession about not telling me about Paula and his explanation about the phone call that interrupted our kiss. He was so forceful with each word that came out of his mouth that I knew it was the truth.

  But those five words—so simple, so earthshaking—were powerful enough to make my heart stop for a moment. I’m here for you, Sunshine.