Amaya
When I stepped out, it took me a moment to figure out where he had wandered off to, but then he emerged from the crowd, and my heart nearly stopped as I realized he was coming toward me. I half-expected someone to step in and pull me away at the last minute, that some pretty young thing would draw his attention from me before he could get too close, but nothing did. His eyes were locked on mine, even brighter and bolder than they had been before.
Before I knew it, he was in front of me, those eyes burning deep into me as he came to a halt a foot from me. I could smell his aftershave, something strong and sharp and masculine that filled my senses and sent me floating a few feet off the ground. He was a lot to handle. He was even hotter closeup, like, male-model perfect, and I was struggling to remember how in the hell I was supposed to introduce myself.
“I’ve been watching you all night,” he remarked, and the words sent a shiver down my spine. A waiter passed by us, and he plucked a couple of glasses from the tray the waiter was holding and passed one to me. I downed it in one gulp, hoping the booze would take the edge off the nerves racing through my system.
“I know,” I finally replied, and he laughed.
“Was I being that obvious?” He cocked an eyebrow, but if he was sorry, he didn’t seem it. He sipped on the champagne as I let the empty glass hang down by my side, my fingers barely holding on to the crystal. I still couldn’t believe he was talking to me, that he had spent enough time watching me to know he wanted me. I couldn’t remember the last time someone had treated me this way, with such obvious and blatant desire. And I couldn’t remember the last time I had returned it.
“A little,” I admitted, and I lowered my gaze for a moment. Should I tell him I had seen him in the pool earlier? No, I couldn’t. I didn’t want him to know I’d been thinking about him all day, since I had first laid eyes on him.
“So, what are you doing here?” he asked, letting his eyes move down my body slowly before he raised them again to meet mine. I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. The booze was moving around my system, loosening my tongue a little and opening me up.
“I’m raising money for my library,” I replied honestly. “But I don’t think I’m half as fancy as most of the other people here.”
“Well, you look the part,” he assured me, and I found my eyes drawn down toward his mouth. He had slightly olive-toned skin, and the sculpted shape of his lips popped against it. I wanted to run my thumb over them, to feel the softness of them under the pad of my finger.
“So do you,” I replied, and then flushed a little as I realized how flirtatious what I’d just said sounded. He grinned, taking another sip on his champagne. He looked completely at ease as he asked me a few more questions, totally in control. I could see a few women who passed by us glancing in his direction, but he didn’t pull his gaze from mine the entire time as though I was the only person in the room he could see.
I could barely take in what he was saying. All I could focus on was that he was paying attention to me, that he was looking at me like I was interesting and attractive and everything he’d been looking for. A guy like this had a play, of course. There was no way he learned this level of charm just off the top of his head, but how long had it been since a gorgeous, mysterious stranger like him just came up and started flirting with me? Maybe it was the champagne, or maybe it was something else, but when he reached out to take my hand, I didn’t pull away.
“You know, there’s plenty more of this hotel.” He glanced around, a grin curling up the corners of his mouth. “If you want to see it.”
“You want to …?”
“I want to get out of here, with you.” He filled in the blanks for me, moving a little closer to me, so close, I could almost feel the heat of his breath against my skin. I guess he saw the softening in my eyes, the way my resolve quivered and then gave out from underneath me.
“Come on.” He tugged my hand, and we started through the crowd.
Despite the voice in my head telling me that this was fucking crazy, I followed him.
I had no idea what the rest of this night was going to bring, but I didn’t want it to end there. He made his way through the room, and I watched him, watched myself following him. Whatever was going to happen, it was only just beginning.
KristoFuck.That was the first thought when I opened my eyes. It was hard to peel them apart, as though somebody had sealed them with superglue while I’d been sleeping. As soon as the light from the window began filtering through my vision, I slammed them shut again. Nope. That was way too much.I lifted my head from the pillow and rubbed my temples, eyes still shut. Shit. How long had it been since I’d last had a hangover? I couldn’t remember. I stretched my mind back over the night before and tried to put the pieces together, but the last thing I remembered was leading that woman out of the party and heading back to my room. Beyond that, nothing. I knew the party had gone all right before that, but nothing was sticking out to me.That’s when I heard a snuffle and felt a shift in the weight of someone in the bed next to me, and my heart dropped. I had assumed that even hella-drunk me would have figured out I should kick out my hookup at the end of our night together. There was nothi
Kristo“I don’t remember anything about last night,” she sighed, flashing me a playful smile. Any other time, I might have taken that as an invitation to slide beneath the covers with her and see if we could spark any memories, but I didn’t have time for that. I lifted my hand in front of her, spreading my fingers, and showed her the ring.“You know anything about this?” I asked, and her eyes widened.“You didn’t tell me you were married,” she protested, and I reached down to pick up her hand and show her she had the exact same one on. Her face dropped.“What the fuck?” she asked again, but this time there was a little more panic in her voice. That was more like it.“You don’t remember anything?” I pressed her, and she shook her head once more.“Just, like, fuzzy memories,” she frowned. “I remember leaving the party with you and that was it…”She lay for a moment, looking like a movie star surrounded by the luxurious pillows and the comforter, as though she’d been dropped into a cloud
AmayaMy head was pounding as I watched him move around the room, and I tried not to think about the nightmare we’d just caught ourselves up in. I couldn’t handle this. My body was aching all over, the ring on my finger feeling as though it was cutting off circulation and about to send my finger straight tumbling to the ground. The covers of the bed felt oppressive, but there was no way I was going to take them off knowing I was naked beneath them and he could get another free show. I flushed at the thought of it. Where was the Amaya of the night before, the one who had slipped away from the party with a stranger, the one who had gotten up to god knows what all over this room, the one who had …I looked down at my finger again, and my stomach clenched. Then, I noticed he had come to a halt and had slowly turned to look at me.“What is it?” I demanded. “Did you find something?”He shook his head, and I once again strained my memory to try and come up with what had happened the night be
AmayaI thought of Jolene, who was probably at home wondering where the heck I was right now, and my stomach twisted. A few thousand dollars alone would make her life a hell of a lot easier. And I would have done anything to assure my sister’s life was a little less difficult.It had been so hard for both of us since Mom and Dad had passed away. Every time I thought of them, I still felt that twist deep in my stomach. A car accident had robbed both me and my sister of our family when she had been nothing more than a few years old. And, in the midst of the grief and working on my undergraduate degree, I’d had to move back home to step up and take care of my sister. Jolene had been born with severe physical disabilities that had required basically full-time care around the clock to keep her functioning, and when Mom and Dad had died, I’d been the only one who knew her well enough to step in and take care of my sister. I loved her, I did, and so I moved back home from the dorm rooms wher
KristoI slipped my arm around her waist and guided her up the steps of the company jet, glancing around to make sure no one was watching or following us. If some of the tabloids caught wind of what was going on, they would get to break the news to my family before I did, and that would defeat the point of this whole scheme. She smiled at me gratefully as I opened the door for her, and the two of us stepped inside the jet together.“I’ve never been in a private plane before,” she confessed as she looked around, eyes wide while she took everything in.“Well, get used to it.” I cocked an eyebrow at her. “You’re going to be seeing a lot of it these the next few months.”“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she murmured, mostly to herself. She looked down at the ring on her finger once more, the one that matched mine, and then back at me, a playful smile on her face.“You know, you’ll need to get me something a little more impressive if you really want to sell this,” she remarked. I grinned.
KristoHow long had my family been getting on me to get married? Longer than I could remember. And things had taken a major uptick as soon as I had stepped up to take over the business. They thought it would look better to our investors and everyone involved with us if I could project this image of a settled-down family man, someone who could prove he was consistent and reliable and trustworthy. It had gotten to the point now that every time I flew over to Greece to see my grandparents, my grandmother would have zeroed in on some other helpless young girl she was sure would make a perfect wife for me. The woman would be dragged along to some family gathering while pretty much every one of my relatives spent the entire evening trying to push us together, and I would have to politely explain at the end of the night that I wasn’t looking for a relationship like that. And it would play out over and over again as though they were just waiting to find the right woman and thought that as soo
AmayaAs the car pulled into the spot outside my condo, I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. What the hell was this guy going to make of my tiny little place?Jolene was staying at the home, had been for the couple of days I was out of town, so at least I wouldn’t have to explain her presence there to him, which was a relief. Still, this guy had more money than anyone I’d ever met before in my life. He was going to think I lived in a hovel compared to whatever palace he stayed in.He hadn’t even blinked when I’d named my price for going through with this. It was enough to pay off all my debt as well as comfortably cover a full year’s worth of bills and living expenses for me and Jolene. It would give me the chance to get ahead, to climb out from beneath the pile of debt that had been near-crushing me the last six months or so. The thought of my future opening up like that in front of me was dazzling in a way I couldn’t put into words, as though the sky had spread wide before me to show
Amaya“Toby!” I headed over to his cage, and he came scuttling up to the bars. It was clear he had missed me. One of my neighbors had agreed to come in and feed him, but Toby was a social little ferret, and he always liked attention where he could get it. I’d be leaving this place for a year, and there was no way in hell I could leave him behind. I was going to bring him with me, and Kristo was just going to have to deal with it.I gathered all my stuff up and scooped up Toby’s cage as well, heading back through to meet Kristo in the living room. He hadn’t moved, as though he had no idea how to interact with a place like this.“Who have you got there?” He nodded to the cage, and I giggled as Toby sat up on his hind legs and glared at Kristo. He was often possessive and liked to make it known he was the most important man in my life. Kristo leaned down to look him in the eye, and the two of them looked so funny staring each other down like that, I found myself dissolving into a mess of