The following morning, I wasn’t surprised to find that he wasn’t there. My first thought was: he got scared.

Hell, I was scared.

What we’d shared was nothing short of magical in my book. Still, I would’ve liked for him to have stayed. I reminded myself that it was a workday. I was sure he’d gone home, showered, changed. I did the same, wondering if he still wanted me to go into the office. I figured I would. I could continue making calls and setting up appointments and phone calls for him today and tomorrow. It was two more days on the paycheck. I told myself it was only that. I’d agreed to two weeks, and I wouldn’t cut it short. I turned around, keys in one hand and phone in the other as I scrolled for an Uber when I heard a car pull up, the gravel of my driveway crunching beneath its tires. Goosebumps kissed their way up my arms as I locked the door. I didn’t have to turn around to know it was him. I pushed the side button on my phone, Uber ignored, and watched as he pulled to a stop in front of me, passenger window down.

“You’re going to be late,” he called out.

“You think my boss will be upset?” I opened the door and slid into the seat, snapping on my seatbelt before facing him. His gaze was dark and needy as he leaned in, put a hand behind my neck, and pulled me closer.

“Furious,” he responded against my lips.

My heart bounced in anticipation of his kiss, which I didn’t have to wait long for. His tongue swept into my mouth and play alongside mine in a deep, slow tango that made me think about hard, slow, fucking. I clenched my thighs in response, moaned against his mouth, caught a fistful of his hair as I pulled him even closer. We were both breathing heavily when we broke the kiss, him nibbling on my lower lip, me tugging his into my mouth and extracting a rumbled sound from him that made my pulse kick.

“Your dad’s going to be mad at you,” I whispered when he placed his forehead against mine. I felt him smile against my lips. He kissed me one more time and settled back into his driving position.

“I brought an overnight. I didn’t really want to leave you this morning, but I didn’t want to wake you up either.” He handed me a coffee and a bag from the coffee shop down the street. I peeked in and pulled out the bagel.

“You stayed over?” I didn’t know why this surprised me. “I didn’t really peg you for the staying over type.”

“I stayed over the other night.”

“We didn’t have sex that night.”

“Which makes staying over weirder if you think about it.”

“I guess.”

“And we shared a hotel room in New York.”

“Exactly. Shared hotel rooms imply that we’re both staying over.” I looked out the window as I added, “Preferably having sex.”

“Preferably, huh?” I could hear the smile in his voice, but I didn’t face him since I was trying to hide my own. “I came over last night because I wanted to sleep with you.”

I turned my attention to him. “Obviously.”

“Just sleep with you,” he clarified. “The sex . . . the sex was incredible, don’t get me wrong, but I hadn’t planned on that.”

“You pounced me the minute I opened the door.”

His smile was almost bashful. Almost. “I couldn’t help myself.”

“Hm.”

By the time we pulled up to the Hawthorne building, we were both grinning. Rowan went to the office to get ready for his morning meeting with his dad while I went over to Sam’s cubicle. He took in my appearance with a smile when he saw me approach.

“How was the trip?”

“It was . . . good.”

“You seem happier today.”

“Do I?” I leaned against the partition wall, still grinning. “Why don’t you have an office?”

“Like Mighty Rowan with the office and the girl?”

I rolled my eyes. “You never wanted the girl.”

He paused for a moment too long for comfort, his eyes scanning my face that way he did when he wanted to say something but was afraid of the consequences. I held my breath. No, no, no damn it. We went over this. We’d kissed and decided there was nothing there. But then, does a simple kiss determine your feelings for a person you’ve known your entire life?

“Sam,” I started. He shook his head, tearing his gaze from mine.

“Ignore me. I’m being a brat.” He sat on the edge of his desk, and I willed my feet to walk over to him, to be there for him.

“What’s going on?”

He sighed heavily. “I haven’t been feeling well lately, and it’s making me act like a pansy.”

“You aren’t a pansy.” I smiled, opened my mouth to make a joke, but then stopped myself and took a seat next to him on his desk. “What do you feel? Have you been to the doctor?”

“Just tired. All the time. My vision is fucked up. My head hurts. I think I need glasses.”

“Glasses, Sam?” I laughed. “Dude. Go get glasses! You stare at a computer all day.”

“I’m going this week.” He shot me a weak smile. “Have you decided? Paris or New York?”

“I’ll go to New York on Monday and tour the place and then do the same for Paris on Wednesday before I decide.”

“You realize how rare that is, right?”

I nodded and swallowed the emotion threatening to bubble up. I knew it was rare. My friend Hannah was still trying to get an apprenticeship somewhere, and she was talented as hell. I knew I was talented, and I’d been sending designs to both companies since I was in high school, so it wasn’t completely outlandish that I’d applied to both when it came time, thinking I’d maybe, possibly, only get one. I was as shocked as anyone when I received phone calls from both offering me the position of my dreams.

I pushed off the desk and gave Sam a side hug. He put his arm around me and rested his head on top of mine.

“You’ll tell me when you decide, right? You won’t disappear again.”

“I won’t disappear again.”

“Good.”

Just then, we heard the elevator open and straightened as Camryn appeared. My heart pounded hard in my chest. She was dressed in one of those form-fitting shift dresses that not many people could pull off. It hung perfectly on her super slim body, those gazelle legs of hers carrying her weightlessly across the room. She glanced over to where we were and waved with a warm smile and finally approached. With Camryn, I never knew what version I was getting—the candied bubblegum girl or the vicious viper that lay beneath. I braced myself for both. She shot her megawatt smile at Samson first.

“I missed you at family dinner last night.”

Family dinner? Did the Hawthornes really hold up pretenses even when there were no longer any to hold up? It wouldn’t surprise me if they did.

“Didn’t feel like I needed to be there,” he said. “Not much of a family.”

Her brows pulled in slightly. “That isn’t fair, Sam. Just because your parents aren’t happy with each other doesn’t mean they don’t love their children.”

“My father has multiple children,” he said. “He has us and one with another woman.”

I felt the breath go out of me, and I could tell Camryn was just as shocked as I was. We shared a look, probably one of the only looks of solidarity we’d ever shared.

“Rowan hasn’t mentioned . . .”

“Yeah, why would he?” Sam said. “I’m just saying, it isn’t insane that neither one of us show up for their stupid, pretentious family dinner.” He held his temple as he said the words. I reached into my bag and fished out some ibuprofen. I rattled the little container, which he took from me.

“What are you doing here anyway?” he asked Camryn after he finished swallowing his pills.

“I have a meeting with your dad and Rowan.”

“A meeting.” Sam’s words hung between the three of us like thick fog.

“Yep.” She smiled suddenly and looked at me, tilting her head slightly. “I heard you’re still drawing dresses.”

“Here and there.” I pushed the words out quickly, hoping that would be the last of her questions. She stared at me for a long time, her clear blue eyes glittering. Her go-to look when she wanted someone to cower before her. I held my ground. Truth was, I hadn’t sketched much lately. For some odd reason, inspiration only hit me when I felt alone. Who would have ever guessed that? Inspiration for wedding dresses hitting someone when they were alone and single felt like the worst kind of irony.

“I’d love to see them,” she said finally. “The wedding dresses, I mean. I may be in the market for one.”

It wasn’t her words but the slow smile that bloomed on her face that did me in. Rowan’s words rushed into my memory. His parents wanted him to get married for the sake of the company. Someone had to be the sacrificial lamb. I tried hard to cling on to the last shred of self-control I had left. She was baiting me. I shouldn’t take the bait.

Don’t bite. Don’t bite. Don’t bite.

I summed a smile.

“Someone like you would never walk down the aisle wearing any less than Vera Wang,” I said before turning to Sam. “I promised Rowan I’d get some work done before I left. Hope you feel better.” I looked at Camryn as I sidestepped her. “Good luck with the dress.”

Heart pounding, emotions rattling, I walked away.

“We’re going in the same direction,” she said behind me. I heard her heels click on the tile as she caught up to me. “Have you managed to sell the house? I saw a sign up yesterday.”

“Not yet. Hopefully soon.” We rounded the corner and neared Rowan’s office. I pushed the door open. He was standing, hunched over some papers, and didn’t look up right away.

“Hey, have you seen my—” His brows pinched. “What are you doing here?”

Camryn sidestepped me and went around the desk. He stood at his full height, a good half foot taller than she was, and she was damn tall with those graceful, thin legs. If I didn’t hate her so much, I’d kill to dress her. I watched as she threw her arms around his neck. He grabbed her by the shoulders and put distance between them, shooting me a quick look to make sure I knew he wanted no part of it. The damage was done. I walked to my desk and sat with my back facing them as I clicked the mouse and powered my computer to life.

“Ro,” she said, sweet valley girl voice. “Today’s our meeting with Alistair, remember? Father said I needed to come right away to talk about the . . . the contract.”

The contract. I bit my lip. The fucking marriage that one of them held as nothing more than a contract and the other was happier than a pig in shit to oblige by. Maybe I’d talk to him. Maybe I’d try to talk him out of the stupidity he was about to commit to. And then what? Suggest I marry him instead? A shiver shot through me. It would still only be a contract to him and I would give up everything, for what? Because I was holding on to some schoolgirl notion that I could make him love me? No thank you.

“Let’s get this over with,” he grumbled. I continued clicking the document in the computer in front of me and picked up the phone, dialing Spain. They walked out wordlessly, and I pulled the curtain slightly to watch as they walked to Alistair’s office across the hall. Camryn was looking up at him, making a joke that clearly wasn’t amusing him at all. Then she reached and pinched his butt. He continued walking. That tiny gesture was the crutch of all of it. It wasn’t that he’d ever shown extreme interest in her, it was that he did absolutely nothing to stop her advances.