Page 6 of Tasty Cherry

Right. I’m at a hotel. I checked in here yesterday.

Then I went to a bar.

Then I came back with a man.

Oh, God.

I lift the sheet, staring down at my body.

Yep, I’m naked.

And sore.

Not a lot, but it’s a weird feeling, like I did some screwball Pilates and sprained a muscle I never use.

I guess, probably, that’s about the truth of it.

But, I did it.

I did it!

No more V status.

No more worries.

It’s done.

I let out a long, slow breath.

It’s really done.

I start to get up, then I realize something else.

He’s here.

I carefully turn my head.

His dark wavy hair is stark against the pillow. Muscled shoulders lead to a honed back that disappears into the dark of the covers.

His breathing is quiet and even. He’s asleep.

Sebastian.

He shifts next to me, and I hold my breath until he goes still again.

This can’t be.

There can’t be breakfast. Or conversation.

Definitely no elevator raincheck.

He needs to remain a stranger.

He knows what I am. What I was.

That was the whole point!

New town. New status. New me.

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