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Carpe diem.

I didn’t notice the signs until it was too late.

Like a mirage, the hurt in his eyes disappears. Rex twists his lips into a cruel smirk and curls his arms around the women’s waists again.See what I have, Olivia? People fawning over me. I’m not alone like you.

I narrow my eyes, then cock my brow. I’m delusional. This is Rex Anderson, the man who takes nothing seriously. Stop conflating Mia with him.

Before I can stop myself, I flick him the middle finger.

Not today, bastard.

He grins, the devious smile sending my pulse racing again.

Then, out of nowhere, searing flashes blind the stage in white. Chaos. Yelling. Reporters hurling questions at the devil.

“Rex! Don’t you think your partying is getting out of hand?” someone shouts.

“Does your family know you’re stripping on stage?”

“Are you high? On drugs? Aren’t you worried about your upcoming cruise?”

I shrink back from the commotion, desperate to leave this hellhole. But when I take one last look at the perplexing man, I find him ignoring the press, his attention firmly on me.

Before I can analyze why butterflies are beating their wings in my stomach, I turn around and flee.

And I feel his stare the entire way out.

Chapter Five

“Hey! Before you goin there, I want to ask you for a favor.” Lana hurries over, stopping me before I enter the double doors to the Ladies’ Lounge inside The Orchid for brunch with the girls.

I stifle a yawn. My miles-long to-do list waves behind my eyes, mocking me. I fell asleep in front of my laptop last night.

“Come again?”

“Actually, scratch that. Two favors.” She bats her eyelashes. “I need two favors, and it has to be you.”

“I must be dreaming because what can I possibly do fortheLana Anderson?” I bite back a grin.

Before Grace and Taylor found out their dad was Linus Anderson, Lana was the youngest Anderson sibling and the only girl. And like all the other Andersons, sans one particular brother, she’s easygoing.

She’s now one of my best friends.

“Ah, shut up.” She rolls her eyes. “You might have seen the headlines, but Rex got himself in a mess at Mystique. Striptease and dry humping on stage. Folks are literally jumping ship, including a few doctors scheduled to work on the cruise.”

Rex.My pulse stutters.

The night a week ago won’t leave me. The images appear at night as I lay on my bed—the searing intensity in his eyes, the palpable tension between us.

How my body heated and throbbed when he tongued the cherry like it was my clit.

Then, the gut feeling the man was hiding something. That the playboy persona was an act.

I’d twist and turn, telling myself I had no business thinking about the asshole, but it was hopeless. Desperate, I’d convince myself fantasies weren’t reality as my fingers slid down my stomach until they reached the tender spot between my legs, only to find it wet. It’d take a few seconds before I got myself off, but I’d still be unsated. Needy. Craving something.

The guilt would flood in, my inner voice telling me I should be disappointed in myself. How it was improper to fantasize about someone so obviously wrong for me.

“Why are you all red in the face?” Lana asks, drawing my attention back to her.