his words I physically desire you lap against my skin like a hungry tongue.
I am still not exactly clear what he’s after, what the stakes are, but I’m game to wander down the rabbit hole and see what awaits in wonderland.
“Very well, I’ll stay.” The words drift through the air, bright with delicious possibilities.
His gaze heats me despite the room’s cool temperature, up and down, then down and up as if he’s covering me in soft, warm kisses. “Good.”
“Now what?” I kick off my heels and tuck my feet against me. It’s being a little familiar but, hey, might as well break the ice sooner rather than later.
“Up the stairs, the third door to your left, is a bedroom designated for your specific use. Everything should be to your liking. In the closet is a choice of swimsuits. Meet me at the hot tub on the patio in ten minutes.”
I glance down at my business wear. “Swimsuits?”
He stands and walks toward the broken glass, collecting shards. I stare for a moment, realizing he’s dismissed me before I turn and walk away. My heart races even as my brain flatlines. All the doors on the second level are closed except for the third on the left. Does he employ elves that obey his every command? How could he have had any idea that I’d come tonight? Nothing makes sense.
The room is big, almost as big as my two-bedroom apartment. The walls are painted a sea-glass blue and the king-sized bed is laden with oversized ivory pillows, the thick comforter soft and inviting. Exhaustion should be overwhelming seeing as it’s after midnight, but apparently one can survive on ramen fumes, ice cream, and adrenaline, or maybe it’s sexual tension propelling me forward.
I open the closet and gasp. So many clothes, all with tags. Cute outfits. The exact sort of thing I would buy. I check a size and recheck it again. Eight. A rush of emotion hits me. My size too.
How could he…?
But would he…?
Wait. Hold the phone.
Okay, this is officially weirder than the weirdest of the weirds. I turn back to the bed and change of plan. I need to lie down for a second. There’s that cell I can call if I’m too unnerved, and this situation is definitely borderline. I cover my face with my hands, peeking at the ceiling through my fingers. He’s more than watched me on that little camera of his. He’s studied every inch of my body, memorized my shape to perfection.
Z doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who yields to impulses very often. What to me appears like a random evening is more likely than not the by-product of a carefully scripted adventure. Who knows how long he’s plotted this?
And is that flattering? I sit and stare at the window, my own face reflected back in the glass like a see-through ghost. Why me?
I ask this question a lot. Why did I survive the car accident that killed my best friend? Why did my parents steal my identity? Now add to the list—when a billionaire decided he needed to touch another human body, why did he choose mine?
Maybe I should be more outraged or at least freaked out.
Instead, my eyes shoot to the closet and the three hanging swimsuits, each smaller than the next, and then to the closed bedroom door. This is the sort of night for stepping out of comfort zones and heading down the rabbit hole. If I go and meet him by the hot tub, who knows what will happen? But should that be my decision, one thing is as clear as the crystal glass I shattered across his living room.
Nothing will ever be the same again.
Chapter Five
Beth
I tiptoe onto the patio’s cold flagstones, shivering as fog skims my calves. Z sprawls on a chaise lounge, his features softly lit by the sunken hot tub’s blue light. A dry twig snaps under my bare foot and he turns. That craggily enigmatic face wouldn’t be out of place on a legendary black-and-white film star. He’s got the looks and brood down to a T.
His broad chest rises and falls and he emits a strange pull, one that forces me to meet his probing gaze even as the fresh night air escapes my lungs and my oxygen-starved mind screams, You keep those secret places shut for good reason. Slam the dead bolt and run, don’t walk, in the opposite direction! But my body is propelled forward, cajoled by a heart that