ONE WILD NIGHT

in that soft space between sleep and waking, surrounded by quiet luxury that didn't belong to me. The bed was

ushed in like

l

balc

is whole life to find. The intensity of his eyes when I told him about Mom, how they had filled with under

half-smile that made the world fall away. But the other side of the bed was empty, the

written on thick hotel stationery in elegan

a

arly for famil

most honest conver

t was ext

le

if I'd been a service. And "family obligations"? T

. Every muscle ached with the sweet soreness of discovery. My thighs were tender

city below, morning traffic crawling like ants. An empty champagne bottle sat on the table beside two crystal glas

ast night, it had almost felt like it could

caught sight of myself in the mirror and froze. My hair was wild, my makeup smudged, dark marks blooming across my collarbone. But be

layed everything: his trembling hands unzipping my dress, the reverence in his touch, the way he'd he

e nightstand told

s and noise. By the time I stepped into my do

ing up from her desk. "You actually did

urned. "H

ied for the first time in her life. Also..." She pointed at

rough me at the memory of how he'd found that spot, how I'd a

d?" Zoe's t

he'd touched me like I mattered, how he'd kissed me until I forgot my

spered. "It w

look like you'r

just..." My throat closed. "...just an experien

d, rubbing my back. "Maya,

heirs fall for broke schol

it. Billionaire heir? Maya... w

Alex. Tall, dark hair, perfect sui

ed. "Describ

w, like he was carved out of stone. Dark eyes that see

umbling for her laptop. Her fi

voice trembling. "

I pulled m

nt white. "

y chest t

me. "Maya, I think you sl

his arm looped around a blonde woman who looked like she'd stepped straight out of a glossy ma

ander Stone III and fiancée Victoria Bla

scraped from my thro

you slept with a Stone. And not just

man on his arm. Victoria Blackwell was everything I wasn't-soph

t night hadn't been a fairy tale. It h

ands, one thought whispered through the

omeone like Victoria Blackwell