His Contract Luna

6. Ivy

The dance floor slowly starts to fill up, Chloe and I becoming surrounded by dozens of other dancing people. We push several grabby hands away from us and deny several guys trying to dance with us. Chloe tells a few that it is my bachelorette party, but without a ring on my finger, none of them buy it. A couple of them were so persistent I had to stand tall and tell them that "no" is a complete sentence and they needed to get lost. I have been called a cunt, a b***h, a tease, and a prude, but I don't care. I'm not here to dance with them. I'm here to dance with my best friend and, even without the ring, I agreed to a contract marriage. I'm as good as married and I'm going to be faithful to my husband even now.

"Let's go get another drink," Chloe says, gesturing to her empty glass. I down the remaining liquid in my cup and follow her to the bar, both of us ordering the same drinks. I spot an incredibly attractive man in the balcony staring right at Chloe and I so I smile and wave, the man smiling and waving in response before moving from the rail to come downstairs.

"There is a sexy man coming down to talk to you," I say as I turn back toward the bar to find my drink. "And I mean.... He's almost on Emerson's level type of sexy."

"How do you know he's coming to talk to me and not you?" she asks, rolling her eyes as she sips on her Fiery Flamingo drink.

"Because I am off the market so I'm not available for talking, but you are," I say, nudging her just before I hear a throat clear behind us. We turn around and the man's eyes are immediately glued to Chloe. He's no Emerson, but he's a fine ass man man in his own right. His short brown hair is tapered so it is longer on the top and short on the sides. Deep brown eyes and short facial hair, Beautiful smile and covered with tattoos.

"Hello ladies," he says, his eyes never leaving my friend. "What are you two up to tonight?"

"Celebrating my friend's pending marriage," Chloe responds, the man looking over at me and nodding.

"Congratulations! How about you two come on up to my reserved VIP room and celebrate somewhere less crowded," he says with a wink, Chloe giggling like a school girl in response. "I'll pay for all the food and drinks for the night."

"What do you think?" I ask Chloe, turning my body to face her.

"You're a stranger, sir. How do we know we'd be safe with you?" she says, completely ignoring me standing next to her.

"My name is Declan Rivers," he says extending his hand to shake hers. "What's your name?"

"Chloe Foster," she replies, reaching out and shaking his hand. She jumps and gasps as she grabs his hand. "Shocked to meet you."

"Electrifying, isn't it?" Declan says. "What do you say? Come upstairs with me?"

"Absolutely," Chloe says as Declan continues holding her hand and guides her to the stairs. She reaches back and snatches me, yanking me along with them until we reach the VIP suite. She releases me, but he doesn't release her as they walk ahead of me. Suddenly I run right into her and fall backwards on the floor. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!"

"What the hell did you stop like that for?" I ask, rubbing my head as she takes my hand to help me up.

"Because Emer....," she starts to say before the most beautiful man I have ever laid eyes on is beside me, scooping me off the floor. Emerson Ward in the flesh is touching me and our skin touching is sending a tingling feeling straight to my core.

"Are you okay? That was a nasty fall," he says, lifting me up to my feet effortlessly.

"Oh. Um. Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you for helping me up," I reply. "I'm just so clumsy. I was admiring the scenery and ran right into Chloe." Declan has managed to sweep Chloe away somewhere else while Emerson grabbed me.

"Not a problem. Let's go over here and sit down," he says, placing his hand on my lower back. I gasp at the contact, my back slightly arching as I swear I hear him growl. Not a weird or scary growl, but one that sounded almost full of lust. He pulls his hand away and gestures to the couches. “Sorry about that.”

"You're fine," I say nervously, sitting down on one of the couches while he goes to the other. “Thank you again for helping me up.”

“It’s nothing. Truly,” he replies, but the intensity of his stare causes me to turn away as I feel a blush creep up my cheeks. “My name is Emerson Ward. Who might you be?”

“Cynthia, but my friends call me Sin,” I reply, giving him my mother’s name and nickname instead of my own. My heart races, but I keep my facial expression neutral. He tilts his head as if he knows I'm lying, but instead of questioning further he just grabs his drink and leans back on the couch.

"What are you girls out doing tonight?" he asks calmly, looking over at Declan and Chloe.

"Celebrating my engagement. My ring is at the jeweler being resized, but I'll be getting married soon," I say with a smile, pretending to be heels over head in love. Emerson freeze, his body stiffening and he flexes his hand as if he's angry.

"Congratulations. I'll be getting married soon as well," he replies, cracking his neck as he sits up to put his drink on the table. "Who is the lucky guy?"

"Why so nosy, Mr. Ward?" I ask, a hint of sass in my tone as I sit back and cross my legs. A smirk plays on his lips and he shakes his head, a quiet laugh escaping as he looks at the floor.

"You're right. It isn't my business," he replies and I'm a little shocked by the deflated ache in my chest by his choice to not pursue the conversation further. "I'm a little stressed out. A lot of s**t happening in my life that I didn't plan for."

"I know that feeling. I'm sorry you're feeling that way," I tell him honestly. My life has taken a turn I never expected it to take myself so I understand. "You want to talk about it?"

"My father just refuses to hand over my rightful position within the company because I left the very toxic and abusive woman he arranged for me to marry. I watched my parents trade punches and betrayals my entire life," he says, a distant look in his eyes. "That's just not what I want for myself."

"That's awful, Emerson. I'm so sorry."

"I'm used to it. Are you close to your family? Is your fiancé?" His question hits me in the chest hard. The only family I have is dying and my fiancé has a lifetime of trauma.

"My parents died when I was 19 years old and then I became the guardian of my little brother, but he's really sick and in the hospital," I start, tears filling my eyes as I take a shaky breath to control my emotions. "And I recently found out that my fiancé is not close with his family. I guess that'll make the holidays easier for me." A half-hearted laugh bubbles out of me and Emerson looks at me with so much sympathy it is overwhelming. He goes to say something to me when his phone starts to ring and when he looks at the screen his eyes widen.

"Hello? Give me just a moment..." he says into the phone. "I'll be right back. I really have to take this."

"You're fine. I was just going to go to the bathroom anyway," I say, giving a small wave as I grab my clutch and walk out of the VIP room to the bathroom. I do my business and wash my hands, grabbing a paper towel and patting my neck with cool water to calm myself down. I look in the mirror and touch up my makeup before heading out of the bathroom. I'm too busy looking at my phone as I walk out that I don't see Emerson and run right into him. His arms wrap around me, pressing me tight against him so I don't fall. "Oh my gosh, Emerson. I'm so sorry."

"You really need to watch where you're walking, Ivy," he says bitterly and my heart stops beating. "That is your name, right? Ivy Hayes.... Needing money for your brother's transplant surgery?"

I stare at him, completely frozen in shock and panic. I lied and he caught me in that lie. He would've found out anyways, but I didn't plan on this happening tonight. I didn't plan on meeting him, seeing him, lying to him, or talking to him. What the hell am I supposed to do now?

"Yeah, that's me," I say sheepishly, pushing myself away from him gently to stand on my own two feet. "I guess we need to talk."