Page 18 of Scarlet Secrets

“Better than okay. That was… intense. Intimate. I never thought…”

“About that bill…”

She rubs her cheek against me. “You can settle it in the morning.”

And I hold her until she drifts off. I hold her until I have to get up, pack, shower, and go.

Walking out that door on my one-night stand that’s breathed something into me is the hardest thing I’ve had to do.

Chapter Five

ERIN

I sit up suddenly.

Where am I? I blink, looking around, the sound of my buzzing phone and a nag in my subconscious snapping me from dream to real world in seconds flat.

“Oh, Toto,” I say to my phone, “this isn’t Kansas. At all.”

It’s not my room either.

And I’m naked.

In an opulent open-air room with light streaming through the floor-to-ceiling window, from here I can see I’m on the second floor and across the vast floor is a sweeping staircase. To the right is a huge closet that’s empty.

Something snaps.

Just like that, everything falls into place.

I’m in the hotel suite of the man I had insane sex with for half the night. I can’t even get dreamy, as the light tells me it’s later than it should be. And—Fuck. I’ve got that presentation.

My phone buzzes again, and it’s from work.

Meeting moved to the end of day. Flight back at midnight. Enjoy the morning. I think they’ll green-light it. See you at 4.

A slow smile takes over as warmth floods me.

I don’t have to be anywhere and I’m in the lap of luxury. After a night out of an X-rated fairy tale. The night… this morning in the early hours, was incredible. A dream. I did things I’ve never done, never thought I would. And he made me come so much my clit flutters with sparks of delight just thinking about it.

The most gorgeous and hottest man I’ve ever met looked at me and found me alluring. He wanted me. More than that, he treated me like I was a treasure. It’s not like I’ve gone around sleeping with many people. There was one other before Toby, and I fooled around with my boyfriend in high school, but that was just kid stuff. We touched, never even did the whole mouth to fun bits part.

But this man. This man. He… lit my entire world up. He was amazing.

And if I’m honest, it’s not just the fact he made me come so much and fucked me so hard. It’s how he kissed and touched me everywhere, made little jokes, and he not only learned what I like, he showed me what I like. I don’t think I ever knew myself as a sexual being before.

With Toby, he never paid attention; he never took time to get me off first. He tried once, and after that, I learned to pretend. He went down on me maybe three times. And… ugh. What had I been thinking? Three years with Mr. Mediocre when there was a world of better men out there.

I smile and reach out to touch his pillow, and my heart stills. It’s cold. As are the sheets.

Then I look around.

The closet’s empty and even from here, I can see theremnants of his using the bathroom up here, the sexy one with the giant bathtub. The rain shower’s glass is spotted with water but not steamy. I get up and pull on the robe that’s draped on the end of the bed, turning the edges up to breathe in the scent, hoping it’s him, but it just smells fresh and unworn.

There’s no sign of him other than the shower. All his things are gone from the vanity. Turning, I go downstairs. There’s no case, no briefcase. No sign of him.

My heart hits my feet. It really was a one-night stand.

He’s gone.

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