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Beautiful Mistake
Chapter 4 - The Morning After
His body was sculpted like a statue, each muscle clearly defined as he pulled off his shirt and stepped in close to kiss me. I couldn’t resist running my hand over every ridge of his abs.
He reached around and uxxipped my dress, letting it fall to the floor. One hand cupped the side of my head, his thumb brushing my cheek. The other hand expertly uxxid my bxa.
I sat on the bed and pulled him toward me, feeling the warmth of our bxxies connecting. His lips flew over my exposed skin, his stubble lightly tickling me.
Having abstained for three months, I was already very wxt. He could sense it and slid my pxxties down.
I felt his bxlge against my leg and couldn’t wait. I tugged his bxxers off, grabbed his hard cxxk, and—
***
The alarm on my phone blurted like a goose call, smashing through my dream. It was Sunday, but I must have forgotten to shut it off.
That dream had been vivid…too vivid. My head was throbbing. I guess I’d had a few more drinks than I thought.
What had even happened last night?
Groaning, I rolled over and dismissed the alarm, only then noticing the bed was not my own. It was too…cloud-like.
My eyes snapped open to reveal sunlight glistening over what was, without a doubt, the most beautiful apartment I’d ever been in. And I worked in a hotel—I’d seen my fair share of presidential luxury suites.
The room was open and spacious, the wardrobe made of intricately-carved dark mahogany, and there was a car-sized TV mounted on the wall.
It was immaculately clean, except for the two sets of clothes hastily discarded.
Mine.
And his.
Had I really slept with a stranger?
And after I’d specifically promised myself I wouldn’t do that.
The idea of it sent my mind reeling. A stranger had seen me naked!
He’d run his txxgue over every inch of my bxdy!
Checking my phone, I saw the girls had sent me a barrage of texts.
how’s it going with mr DREAMY, Kyla?
Is his butt as cute as we thought?
🍑
Somebodys quiet.
She’s 2 busy exploring
👅 🍆
No news is good news 😜
I put the phone down and smiled.
I’d played the game. And I’d won.
I’d had a one-night stand with a complete and total stranger. A stranger who…was no longer in the room…
I looked around but didn’t see him anywhere.
Where was he?
What if he came back?
Shit!
This was just a one-night stand. I didn’t really want to see him right now.
The sex, from what I could barely remember, had been pretty amazing. What if he decided he wanted more? That happened to Megan once.
No, I couldn’t risk it. I needed to sneak out before he returned.
I quickly donned my clothes—for some reason, my panties were in the attached marble bathroom—and slipped out into a gorgeous hallway complete with oil paintings and an overhead chandelier, headed toward a large door that looked like the exit.
“Excuse me, Miss. Do you need any help?”
Spinning, I saw an older man with green eyes and graying hair, the driver from last night. His name, I think, was…Dante?
“No, no,” I sputtered. “I’m okay. I have plans and stuff today. So, I’ll just be on my way.”
He chuckled. “We’re on the top floor of a penthouse, Miss. And that is a linen closet. If you’d like to make a quick getaway before my employer returns, might I suggest the elevator?” he said, nodding down a separate hallway.
I felt my face flush but kept my head high. “Thank you.” With an abrupt turn, I walked down the hall and pressed the call button.
“If you would like,” he said, “I can give you a ride home. Mr. Ha—”
“Thank you,” I replied, cutting him off. “But that won’t be necessary. Please let him know I had a…fun experience.”
“Fun experience.” He nodded. “I’ll pass along the message.”
The elevator arrived with a ding. I stepped in and pressed the close door button, trying to leave as quickly as possible.
I’d never experienced a walk of shame before, but now, as the clopping of my heels echoed through the pristine lobby, I felt like all eyes were on me and my Saturday-night dress.
Keeping my head high, I exited the building and hailed a cab home.
Well, ladies, guess who was victorious!
Say what?
👐
nailed it!
Way to go girl!
how was it?
we want deets!
Sure. Anyone free to come over?
We could watch a chick flick
Working
Working.
Plans with the parents
😔
im free
i’ll be right over
Sounds great. See you soon
Hey! Not fair!
We want deets too!
Well, you’ll just have to wait then
😉
I was actually relieved that Megan, Marie, and Rose couldn’t make it. They were great friends, but I really just needed some time and space to process.
Coleen was my best friend.
She’d followed me from college to the hotel, and not long ago had also gone through a traumatic breakup.
She might be coping with it drastically differently—by devouring every man she could get her hands on—but at least she might understand a bit better.
I stripped off the old dress and last night’s panties, and stepped into the shower, letting the steaming water rush over my naked body and wash away last night’s adventures.
Part of me felt so icky. I didn’t know him.
What if he had diseases?
Ew!
But I’d also enjoyed it much more than I thought I would.
It had felt natural, like we somehow already knew each other’s bxdies.
How did two people who barely knew each other connect so well?
Maybe he was just very experienced? I’d only been with Alden, so what did I really know?
But, after Alden…
Well, this was a breath of fresh air.
Feeling clean, I put on sweats and ordered a pizza just as Coleen arrived.
After flipping through various movies, we finally settled on Pretty Woman.
We were just at the part where Richard Gere asks Julia Roberts for directions when Coleen beamed. “They have such great chemistry! Wouldn’t it just be amazing if this actually happened in real life?”
“Well…” I said, thinking about the penthouse I’d woken up in. “It kinda did.” On the screen, Julia Roberts had just taken over driving the Lotus Esprit because Richard Gere didn’t know how to drive stick.
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Coleen glanced at the TV, her eyes widening. “He let you drive his car?”
“No,” I laughed. “He had a personal driver.”
I didn’t think her eyes could pop anymore, but somehow, they did. I quickly filled her in on everything, from the private bar to the ravenous sex and fleeing this morning.
“You just left?” she asked, exasperated.
“That’s the rules of the game. No names, no strings.”
“But you got his name. It’s Jensen. So, screw the rules. Was he not good in bed?”
“Actually…I think he was kinda amazing,” I admitted.
It was weird comparing Jensen to Alden, but the sex had been so much more intense. Alden always just seemed to be moving through a checklist of tasks, like he was doing routine maintenance on a car.
Jensen, on the other hand, had immediately taken charge, pxxasuring me with his mxuth, his hxnds, his fxxgers.
It didn’t feel routine, it felt like we were just flowing wherever our desires took us.
“Then, why didn’t you stay?”
I sighed. How could I explain? It didn’t matter how amazing someone was in bed.
And he was fxxking amazing, I thought, as a small shiver trickled through my pelvis.
I immediately recoiled, aghast at my inability to control my arousal.
I’d let Alden in, and he’d really hurt me.
I couldn’t give anyone else that kind of power.
“It was like…like Kevin Yates,” I said, referring to Coleen’s ex.
They’d dated for the better part of a year and, according to her, he was ferocious as a tiger in bed. He was also sweet and charming, and had a solid finance job. But ultimately, Coleen had broken off the relationship because something was just missing.
“Yeah,” she said, looking down. “I’m starting to think maybe I should have stayed with him.”
“Hey. If he wasn’t the one, he wasn’t the one. You don’t settle for any less.”
She shrugged. “Would have saved me a lot of pain. If I’d stayed with Kevin, I never would have met Landon.”
Landon was her recent trauma. Not only had he cheated on her, but he’d even hit her once. That had been the final straw, and thankfully, she’d ditched his axs.
But that turmoil had done a number on her. We used to regularly have deep heart-to-hearts; now, she preferred to keep things much more surface level.
“What Landon did is not your fault,” I said. “You’re way better off without that pxxck.”
She flashed a small smile. “And you’re better off without Alden. So, try to remember that not every guy is him. Some guys are Richard Gere.”
For all of my kind words to her, I didn’t know if I could believe them myself.
Richard Gere might be charming, but let’s not forget, he made his fortune tearing apart what others had built.
I didn’t know if I could ever take the risk of giving my heart to another Alden.
***
For the second day in a row, my goose-honk alarm dragged me to consciousness. I really needed to change that sound effect.
I checked the time, and–
Sxit! It was still set to my weekend wake-up time. I was late!
I rushed through the apartment, throwing on my pantyhose and Marc Jacobs heels while hurriedly dashing makeup on. I didn’t have time to do my hair, but I’d sort it out on the bus.
Coleen hadn’t stayed the night—otherwise, she’d probably have woken me. As I was heading out the door, my phone buzzed.
Where are you?
Something important is happening
You need to get here like now!!!
Sorry, overslept
What is it?
Just get here!
OMW
I caught the bus as it was departing. Rhea was my personal secretary. If she said something was important, I sure as hxll believed it.
As the bus pushed its way through traffic, I thought through the scenarios.
Perhaps my boss Brian Leach was having a fit because I was late. That wouldn’t surprise me—he made no secret about his disdain for me.
When I got to the hotel, Rhea, dressed in a lime green pantsuit, met me at the front door.
Whatever had happened, it was important enough for her to brief me in person before I entered.
“They’re replacing Mr. Mayfield!” she blurted out.
“What?” Mr. Mayfield was the hotel’s General Manager. He’d held the position for the past two decades. “When?”
“Effective immediately. Mr. Mayfield is out, and the new person begins.”
Sxit, this was big news. “Thanks for telling me here,” I told Rhea. “You may have saved me from walking into a conversation unprepared.”
My mind was already racing. Why hadn’t it been announced? We should have had weeks to prepare for a new boss.
I was about to say more when someone moving in the hotel lobby caught my eye. Glancing over, I noticed a large, imposing man confidently striding toward me.
My one-night stand.
Jensen.
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