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Chapter
Fourteen
I wake with a start and am immediately greeted with the heaviness of Bentley's body draped across mine. Glancing at the clock on the bedside table, I see that it is just after four in the morning. As much as I want to stay, I know that I can't. I have already broken so many of my own rules tonight and honestly, I am a bit terrified by how quickly everything goes out the window where this man is concerned.
Carefully pushing his leg back, he rolls slightly on a heavy exhale but doesn't wake. I slip out of the bed as quietly as I can, doing my best not to shift the bed too much as I do. The last thing I want is for Bentley to wake up right now. I need to get out of here while I still can.
Fumbling blindly in the dark, I manage to find the door without incident and open it as carefully as possible before slipping out into the dimly lit hallway. It isn't until I locate my dress on the living room floor that I realize I left my panties somewhere in the bedroom. Not wanting to risk going back in there, I chalk it up as a loss and quickly slip my dress over my head before making my way to the front door to retrieve my heels and purse.
Not wanting to just disappear without a word, I make my way into the kitchen and search through a few drawers before finally locating a pad of paper with the hotel logo printed on it and a pen. I scribble down a quick message and leave it on the counter where I know he will see it.
Bentley,
Thank you so much for an amazing night.
It is something I won't soon forget.
XOXO
Logan
I re-read it one more time before finally making my way to the front door. While it seems a little juvenile, I'm not really sure what else to say. I wait until I am in the hallway before slipping on my heels and then quickly make my way to the end of the hall to the elevator.
Panic rises in my chest when I realize I do not have the elevator key but then I immediately relax when I see that I don't need it to go down. Hitting the button, the door slides open with no delay and the ground floor button lights up as it is the only option. Once the doors close and the car starts its decent downwards, I push my back into the cool glass wall, memories of last night flooding my vision.
I can't ever remember experiencing anything even remotely close to what Bentley showed me last night. I expected him to be more dominant, more demanding. A man who only wanted one thing. And while his dominance did show through in the way he commanded my body, it didn't feel like a one night arrangement with him. It felt like something else entirely.
We talked and joked and in a weird way, I feel like I connected to him on a level that I have not connected with another man before. Even though I know that nothing can or will ever develop beyond this experience, it doesn't make the sadness over that fact any less real.
The hotel is completely empty with the exception of a few employees that I pass on my way through the lobby. I feel like I can't breathe easy until I finally step out into the cool night breeze. I take a deep inhale and let it out, feeling like it's the first real breath I have taken since arriving here hours ago.
It takes me a moment to remember my ride over and the fact that I have no means to get home. Grateful thatAllureis just a few blocks away, I set off in that direction. While sleeping in my dressing room is not ideal, there is a couch in there and I've done it before. It seems the best option out of any. I don't want to take a cab at this hour of the night and calling anyone is completely out of the question. How strange it is to sneak out on Bentley only to escape to the very place he owns.
It only takes me about fifteen minutes to arrive at the club. Using my employee key, I enter through the back and slip into my dressing room undetected. Sliding the lock into place, I drop my purse on the vanity and slip out of my heels before collapsing onto the small brown couch along the back wall.
Staring up at the ceiling, I do my best to try to shake the weird cloud that seems to be hovering over me. For whatever reason, something just feels off. I can't explain it or even begin to understand it for that matter but something just feels different and I am one hundred percent certain it has everything to do with Bentley Reed.
****
“So you just left? Just like that?” Andrea seems in complete disbelief after spending the last twenty minutes listening to me recap last night's events over the phone.
“What was I supposed to do?” I ask, slipping on a pair of black fitted capris and a gray tank top, thankful that I keep extra clothes in my dressing room but wishing desperately I had a shower to detox under rather than having to settle for a sink splash and perfume bath.
“I don't know, stay. Pretty sure that's what most normal people would do.” She laughs on the other end of the line.
“Since when have you known me to be normal?” I retort, laughing at myself.
“Good point. Only you could spend an incredible night with a gorgeous, rich and powerful man like Bentley Reed only to turn around and sneak out in the dead of the night with no intention of ever seeing him again.”
The moment the words leave her mouth, a hard knot forms in the pit of my stomach over the thought. I know the terms. Hell, I made the terms. But I can't help but panic slightly at the thought of never seeing him again. What the hell is wrong with me? Normally I would be the happiest person ever. I just spent an incredible night with an amazing man and got to walk away with no strings attached. So why do I feel like I just lost my best friend?
“Earth to Anna. Come in Anna.” Andrea laughs when she clearly realizes I have zoned out on her. Shaking my head, I try to regain some semblance of my normal self.
“Sorry.” I laugh. “I think I am still half asleep.” I lie. Lord knows she would have a field day if she knew the truth about my distraction. “So how is Vermont? Tell me everything.” I say, slipping on my flip flops before stepping out of my dressing room and quickly making my way into the back parking lot, thankful that no one seems to have noticed my arrival or departure for that matter.
“Oh it's wonderful.” She says sarcastically.
“Uh oh.” I laugh. “What happened?” I ask, turning left and cutting the back way down Nelson street towards Patty's studio.
