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The nerves start in my toes, then skitter up my body. My teeth dig into my lip.
Reid is gone? Like…gonegone?
But—no. My boss wouldn’t leave me here. Not abandoned in a snowy inn, far from other forms of transport, with my body still aching from the way he screwed me last night. Not even Reid Merryweather would be that heartless.
The bathroom door is open, with only shadows inside. I sit up slowly, squinting around the room like Reid might jump out from behind the dresser and yell, “Surprise!”
Nothing. No signs of life.
Only my own strained breaths, getting quicker.
Jeez, did I get last night all wrong? Swinging my legs out of the bed, I wince as my bare feet hit the cool rug. Because I thought last night was this amazing thing we shared, this life-changing experience for us both, one that went on for hours with breaks for talking and laughing in between…
After the first time, Reid buried his head between my legs and made me come with his tongue, just like he promised. And I exploredhisbody too, brought him off with my mouth and hands, before we settled down for slower sex afterward, grinding and deep and desperate.
Flashes from last night flicker through my brain, heating my cheeks. And I sit there at the edge of the bed, lost and lonely, too confused to get my body moving.
My insides are sore. My boss is not a small man, and I can feel where he thrust inside me. He left his mark.
But if Reid has gone… if he’s left me here… what do I do? Does that mean I’m fired too? How will I get home?
And once I’m home, how will I ever get past this knot weighing down my stomach? This leaden weight that says I had my chance at happiness and somehow blew it?
Sheesh. It’s too early for thoughts like these. Rubbing my knuckles in my eyes, I gust out a sigh.
Then leap up with a yelp as the door flies open, Reid striding inside with snow dusting his shoulders.
“I dug out the car.” He’s freshly showered and fully dressed, complete with his long black coat. He tugs on the cuffs as he crosses to the window, then throws the curtains wide. “Anirudh lent me a shovel. Funnily enough, I like him better this morning. Wonder why.”
My boss turns to me with a smirk—which fades as he takes in my bedraggled appearance and slumped shoulders. My hair is a rat’s nest, and I’m dressed only in the pajama shirt, the hem skimming my thighs.
I fiddle with the fabric as he looks at me. Can he see the guilty thoughts I had a moment ago? My lack of faith in him?
“Are you alright?” Reid’s eyebrows pinch together, and the sight of his scowl is soothing, somehow. Familiar. “We don’t need to rush off. You can eat and shower and so on.”
I clear my throat. “Thanks. Very gracious of you, boss.”
But my teasing falls flat—for both of us.
This is alien territory. And everything changed for us last night, changed in a way that means our relationship can never be the same, but we didn’ttalkabout that. Didn’t agree on a path forward; didn’t say what this means for us. Our mouths were full, you know?
So… am I Reid Merryweather’s girlfriend now? He said he doesn’t do relationships. But if not, will we hook up again? Will we be exclusive? What ishappening? I shiver in the cool light of dawn.
“You’re freaking out,” Reid observes, folding his arms. Those snowflakes are shocking white on his shoulders, melting slowly. “Go and shower, Noelle. I’ll find us food, and then you’ll feel better for the drive home. Go on.”
Food.
That’s a good idea.
I stagger to the bathroom, my insides all jumbled up and raw.
* * *
It’s so surreal being in this car again. Driving along the same roads as yesterday, watching the same snowy fields whizz past the window, smelling the stiff leather seats and Reid’s lemon-scented skin. It’s almost identical to yesterday’s journey—minus the Mulberry Inn soap smell—and yet my whole world has turned upside down.
Gah.
This man was inside me last night.
