Nolan made it easy to follow him.

And not just because he was incredibly handsome or because of how good he looked when he was naked. That was a no brainer. He was all of that, and so much more.

No, it was easy to follow him because he was a natural leader.

I had noticed it when we first met and he confirmed my suspicions at the gala. He was a man who was respected, who people wanted to be around—someone others invited into their social circles without thought. And Nolan recognized that, taking the time to call people by their first name, making them feel like they were the only one in the room when talking with him. He carried that natural ability with him wherever he went, no matter what it was he was doing, always commanding attention along the way like the captain of a ship sailing through a narrow canal.

I couldn’t stop smiling as I washed my face beneath the steady stream of water showering down upon me. My cheeks were tired from all the smiling I had been doing. And damn if it didn’t feel great.

Nolan kept things fun, romantic. He was clever enough to never reveal the cards he held, always keeping what came next a secret. And it was that suspense swirling around him that had me constantly burning with eager desire.

I reached for the shower knob and turned the water to cold before my thoughts melted me from the inside out.

Despite being sore and exhausted from last night’s incredible sexathon, there wasn’t a bone in my body protesting when I followed him into the shower this morning. With the way he entered—his arousal in plain sight—I knew that I was entering the lion’s den.

Until this weekend, I had forgotten what it felt like to be with a man. And not just the sex. But the friendship, too. He reminded me what mattered in his own subtle way, and I also liked the idea of having someone to love on.

But I couldn’t follow him out of the shower.

Things between us were moving at the speed of light. Even with my clingy heart pounding hard inside my chest, reminding me there were only a few hours left before I had to go home, I didn’t want to fuck it up. I had to be careful. If I wasn’t, I would surely get burned up and spit out into a million different pieces before I even knew what had happened to me.

Standing on wobbly legs, I dug my fingertips deeper into my scalp.

I didn’t expect Nolan to return the favor of washing my body when I decided to soap his. I didn’t plan on doing it. It just happened without thought. And I still couldn’t believe what I had done. I had never done anything like that before. I didn’t know what possessed me to make that bold move. Perhaps as a way to say thank you for making each encounter more about me than about him. Maybe I did it because he gave more than I could ever possibly give back. Or maybe I did it because I would find any excuse to get my stomach to flutter and my heart to race as my hands moved over his solid muscled body.

I spun around and tipped my chin back, washing the soap out of my hair.

When I was finished, I unknowingly took my breasts inside my hands, pretending they were Nolan’s on me. My eyes closed and I positioned myself deeper beneath the steady stream of cool water pouring over my shoulders. Each little touch set me off. I was addicted to the passion Nolan sucked out of me. And as the ache between my legs grew more tempting by the minute, I couldn’t hold back any longer.

My lips rounded upon first contact.

I circled my tender ball of nerves as my stomach clenched.

Nolan did things to me that no man had been able to achieve before.

I pushed a finger inside me. Clamping down on my hand, I whimpered.

But before I allowed myself to get too far, I pulled my hand free determined to keep my building anticipation focused on tonight. He hadn’t been gone for more than five minutes, but I couldn’t wait to see him again.

Turning off the shower, I had high hopes that maybe he was still here.

It was foolish to think, and even stupider to chase him, but that was the kind of draw the man had on me. Grabbing a fresh towel off the rack, I quickly wrapped it around me as I ran out to the front, only to find that he had already left.

It was better that way.

He needed to go, as I needed the time alone to process the last 24 hours.

Because if he could have me wrapped around his finger so easily, then I could only assume that I wasn’t the only one to have fallen for his charm.

I moved to the kitchen and slammed down a cup of water before picking up my phone and calling Sienna. She needed to hear what had happened, had to screw my head back on straight.

Combing my fingers through my wet hair, I leaned against the counter and started laughing when my gaze landed on the dishwasher. If it wasn’t for that machine breaking, I might not have ever had the chance to meet the man I couldn’t stop fantasizing about.

After the third ring, Sienna finally answered. “So how was your date?”

“It wasn’t a date.” My lips pinched, stifling the burst of laughter I felt boiling deep in my gut.

“Uh-huh.”

I bit my lip as I smiled. “Okay, maybe it was.”

She snickered. “You know it’s okay to admit these kinds of things.”

“Maybe I didn’t want to jinx myself.”

“Did he kiss you?”

I pushed off the counter and exited the kitchen. Moving back into the bedroom, I began picking out the clothes I was going to wear on the hike I planned on taking. The bed was a complete mess and it looked like a bomb had exploded in the room. Reminders of Nolan were everywhere, including his scent that made its way into everything I owned. “I had him in my bed last night.”

“Yes!” I imagined Sienna throwing a fist in the air to celebrate. “You’re a naughty girl, Sophia.”

I plopped my big bottom on the bed and rolled my eyes.

“So how did you do it?” Her voice begged for details.

“I didn’t have to do anything.”

“C’mon. Dets, girl. I want to know the dirty dets.”

I laughed. “Nolan made every move, I just followed along.”

“Give it to me dirty,” she cried.

Over the next several minutes I told her about the party, starting with the gown. She wondered if it came with sexy lingerie, too, and we discussed how it should have. But then I also told her about how awkward it was mingling with the upper crust and how uncomfortable I felt at times.

“Now you know how I feel,” Sienna said.

“I feel sorry for you,” I retorted, always knowing that Sienna came from a high-status family who demanded her life. But I had never thought much about it until now because when we were together, we were just women in our early twenties who were beginning our careers. But now I knew how stuffy it could be and the reason why she lived her life so spontaneously.

Then I told her how Nolan had to settle a family emergency and how I was harassed the moment he was gone.

“Holy shit,” she said.

“I know, right? Hands all over me with everyone around. The dude was a creep.”

“Did you tell Nolan?”

“Didn’t have to. He saw everything.”

“What did he do?”

“What do you think? He saved his princess from the evil villain.”

I could hear Sienna’s fingers tapping away on her keyboard through the phone. “Okay don’t be mad, but I just did a quick internet search on Nolan Foster.”

I sat forward. “And?”

“And I can’t believe that I haven’t met him.”

I shook my head. “What are you saying?”

“What I’m saying is he’s a Foster. One of the Fosters.”

Everything froze and I swore I stopped breathing. Sienna was talking like I should have known who he was. And I was afraid to learn more about Nolan, scared that Sienna might reveal something about him that I didn’t want to know.

“I can’t believe you’re actually looking him up,” I sighed.

“I’m doing you a favor and now that you’re fucking him, wouldn’t you like to know if he has a criminal history?”

“You don’t need to worry.”

“Because you asked him?”

“Because I know he doesn’t.” I stood and dragged my feet over to the window with a knotted belly.

Though I couldn’t tell Sienna the exact details of what the woman last night said to me, I couldn’t stop my mind from going there, either. Maybe I was just an easy conquest for the mountain men deprived of women. Maybe Nolan had made a bet with his brother, Travis, to see who could sleep with me first. Because anybody who had any kind of presence on the internet had to be larger than life, and, with it, a history that wasn’t going to be conducive to dating.

When Sienna was silent, I knew that she was busy reading up on whatever she’d found on Nolan. “Where is Gary? Shouldn’t he be making you breakfast in bed or something?”

“OMG.” She gasped. “His brother is Cooper Foster.”

“Yeah, so?” I said in a sharp tone, completely annoyed she had ignored my question.

“He mentioned Cooper to you?”

“No,” I deadpanned. But I knew why Sienna thought maybe he had. I had said it like Cooper was as familiar to me as Nolan’s. But, really, all I could think was, Jesus, how many of them are there?

“Well, his name should be familiar to you.”

“And why is that?” I arched a brow.

“Because he’s expected to be Colorado’s next governor.”

My palm hit my forehead. Shit. “Forgive me if I don’t follow politics.”

“No doubt my father knows the Fosters, but I wonder if he has met Nolan.” Sienna was mostly talking to herself, but I knew we were both thinking how the web of connections between her family and Nolan’s most likely overlapped.

“Just stop,” I mumbled with closed eyes.

“Woman, you hit pay dirt.”

Falling back onto the bed, I stared up into the ceiling and said, “I didn’t ask for any of this.”

“But you deserve it.”

I blinked, wondering if I did deserve any of this. Nolan was great. Brilliant. Sexy. And amazing when it was just the two of us. But I didn’t belong in his world. I liked simple, and last night was anything but simple. And now that Sienna had opened up the bottle of information on who exactly Nolan was, and what family he came from, I was left with more questions than answers.

“It doesn’t matter. Once I leave here, he will be quickly forgotten.”

“When are you coming back?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Please tell me you’re going to see him again.”

My lips pressed together in a slight grimace. “I’m supposed to see him again, tonight.”

“At least pretend to sound excited.”

But how could I be when I was afraid that I might be getting myself into something much bigger than I’d originally thought? Something that I might not be able to step away from as easily as I hoped.

“You still have your computer open?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Look up Audrey Rothschild.” I paused to let her write the name down. “And get back to me on what you discover before tonight. I want to know if I’m being played or not.”