I’m usually good at knowing when I’ve had enough but, to be honest, this was the first time I’d gotten to see Yvette and Burke together up close, and it had really thrown me. They looked so damn good together. She was tall, dark, and slender. He was huge, blond, and heavily muscled. And he looked so damn delicious in his suit.

When Ryan Mcloughlin had introduced himself and offered to buy me some drinks, I’d agreed. Don’t worry; I’m not a moron. I know who he is. He’s the team’s veteran fullback, a few years older than Burke, and he’s known more for his off-field antics than for his on-field antics. For instance, he’d dated a twenty-one year old reporter and gotten her fired, he’d publically fraternized with the captain of the cheerleading squad (and gotten her fired), and had caused a full-on strike when he’d moved on to date her best friend. So yes, I knew all that, but at that moment, I just needed to feel pretty, and Ryan was looking at me like I was good enough to eat. Though I was still pining for Burke, Ryan Mcloughlin was undeniably gorgeous. And the more drinks I had, the more I thought I might be willing to give Ryan a go.

“Times up.”

A pair of hot hands came down and encircled my waist, drawing me back against a massive chest. While I couldn’t see who was behind me, based on how annoyed Ryan looked and how hard the thighs pressed into mine were, I could guess. It was Burke. And I was drunk enough to lean back against him. His shirt was cool and silky on my hot cheek.

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” Ryan asked.

Burke ignored him and leaned down, his breath warm on my cheek. “Come on, baby. They’re playing our song.”

We had a song? To be honest, I had no idea what was playing. It sounded rhythmic and thumpy, but no way was I going to object when Burke Tyler spun me around and danced me onto the dance floor.

His hips kept time perfectly, and I reached around, my hands on his low back, just grazing the high, muscled ridge of his ass. He sucked in a breath and looked down at me. “Living on the edge there, baby?”

“I’m not afraid of you,” I said to him. I reached out and plucked the bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label tucked under his arm. I took a swig, and it burned in a fiery trail down into my stomach. Burke was a phenomenal dancer, and he smelled so incredible. I pressed my face into his shirt and inhaled. He was wearing some sort of cologne with notes of… oh, who gave a shit. I reached up and pulled his head down, and his lips met mine in a searing kiss that went on, and on, and on.

“Let’s get out of here,” Burke murmured into my mouth when we both broke away for air. “Let’s go back to my place. It’s not far.”

“What are we going to do at your place?” I asked. My head was swimming, and all of the reasons I might have thought of to not go were gone, replaced with a hundred and one reasons why going home with Burke Tyler was the best fucking idea I’d ever had in my entire life.

In response to that inane question, Burke reached down, his hand splaying over my ass cheeks, and pressed the considerable and very hard length of him against my hip. Oh fuck. I wanted that. Badly. I must have whimpered, for Burke smiled against my mouth. “I’ll take that as a yes,” he said, and before I knew it, I was being led out of the bar.

I don’t know when Burke had managed to call a limo, but there was one waiting for us, and after Burke gave the driver his address, he closed the tinted screen and was all over me again. He hauled me into his lap so that I was facing him, my dress riding up my thighs and my knees digging into the leather seats. Burke’s hand twisted in my hair, his mouth devoured mine, and his hands wrapped around, pressing me close.

My head reeled; the whole backseat seemed to spin, so I held onto Burke like a lifeline and kissed him until I was burning alive from within.

The car stopped so abruptly that I gasped and toppled off of Burke and into the door. We’d arrived at his apartment. I had to adjust my dress and take Burke’s hand as he guided me out of the car and into the building. I knew my lipstick was smudged and that my hair looked wild, but I didn’t care. I could barely see where we were going, and I leaned on Burke for support. Inside the elevator, he lifted me into his arms, pressed me against the wall, and wrapped my legs around his hips. I rode him, and he ground into me, his belt buckle creating delicious friction.

“You’re so fucking hot,” he growled into my mouth. “Sarah, you’re so fucking hot.”

“I want you,” I gasped against his mouth. He fastened it on my neck, and I moaned as sensations assaulted me. “God, Burke, fuck me! I want you so badly.” I was rubbing up against him, yearning for more friction, needing that hot hard length buried inside me. The elevator dinged, and I hung onto Burke for an awkward moment while he fumbled for the key. Then we all but fell out of the elevator.

Burke didn’t put me down but let me cling to him as he walked us toward his bedroom. The next thing I knew, we fell onto the bed, Burke’s hard body atop mine, crushing me into a down comforter. His hands were on my dress, sliding it up my thigh, and then he pulled back suddenly.

I cried out at the loss of his heat, and he all but collapsed next to me on the bed, tugging at his shoes and laces and kicking his pants down, revealing hard muscles calves, quads, hamstrings, and sexy black boxer briefs. He ripped his shirt over his head, popping just a few buttons, and then he was on me again. He rolled over, crushing me beneath him - no finesse, no gentleness, just raw, wild instinct. His mouth found mine, his hands peeling my dress up until he had it over my head, and then he flung it across the room.

“Oh, baby,” he said, groaning at the sight of me in my dark purple bra and panties. His mouth came down over the bra, sucking at the lace where it covered my nipple. Sensation streaked through me like lightening, and I arched against him, letting out a loud, wordless cry. His hand massaged my other breast, rolling the nipple into a bud. I could feel his free hand working its way down my abdomen in lazy, sensual circles. Then, without warning, he flipped me over onto my stomach. His hands ran down my back, and I found myself arching against his touch. He smoothed his hands over my ass, his fingers curling around my thong and peeling it down. The bra followed until all I was wearing were my high heels.

His lips brushed across the back of my neck, his teeth nibbling at the sensitive skin there, and while I moaned and writhed, one down reached beneath my cheeks and found the hot, wet center of my desire.

“Oh, baby,” he said, his voice sounded slightly slurred. “Fuck, you’re so wet.” One finger sank deep, in and then out. I cried out when a second finger joined in, filling me, stretching me to an almost uncomfortable fullness - and yet I wanted more. I pressed against him, taking all he would give me.

With his free hand, Burke grabbed my chin and turned my head, his mouth finding mine, his lips capturing my cries in a searing kiss.

The next move took me by surprise - he grabbed my waist and flipped me onto my back, coming down between my legs and butting against my entrance with the enormous head of his erection. I twisted my fingers into his hair, pulling his head down and sucking his tongue into my mouth.

I was burning from the inside. I wanted all of him. “Please, Burke,” I was begging, “please…”

“Please what?” he murmured hotly against my ear.

“Please, fuck me,” I gasped. I wanted him. I wanted all of him.

“Oh, Yvette…” he murmured.

I gasped, but there was no time to think, no time to back away for he was probing my entrance, stretching me impossibly. I whimpered at the uncomfortable fullness, but my body had a mind of its own, arching into him and he sank, inch by slow inch into me. “Fuck, you’re so tight,” he groaned into his pillow, his hands came up to grab mine, holding them near my head. He put his weight on them, trapping me, and then he began to move.

He was so big, so incredibly big, that he hit every single nerve cell I had. One deep stroke, then another, and then another. I was crying beneath him, arching my hips so that every single stroke brought him deeper and brought me higher.

He picked up speed, bearing down on me, seeming to sense my need. His hands left mine, and he reached down and grabbed my hips, surging against me, bringing me to meet him thrust for thrust.

I shattered. My climax came on me so fast that I screamed with the power of the release. Above me, he slammed in deep and held me still. A slow shudder came over him as he spurted hotly inside me. He ground against me tighter, sending me into another sharp orgasm.

“God. Oh my God,” he gasped into my ear. “Fuck.” He rolled over, pulling out of me, and pulled me with him, trapping me against his chest.

“Fuck, baby. You’re so hot,” he said.

I was still throbbing, still burning. And as I came back to myself, the room was spinning violently. “I’m going to be sick,” I said, and he let me go, his arm flopping heavily to the side. He murmured something, concerned, but if they were words, I couldn’t discern them. I rushed to his bathroom, just in time to puke my guts out.

When I stumbled back to bed, Burke was dead asleep.

I awoke the next morning with a vicious headache and no clear idea where I was. The wall I was staring at had an unfamiliar, abstract painting in blues and reds. Ugh. My mouth was sticky, my stomach was sour, and my head was throbbing in time with my heart. I was hungover. I sat up, trying to remember where I was and trying to figure out how I’d gotten here.

Oh God.

Beside me, Burke Tyler lay half-under, half-on-top-of the white duvet cover. The night came back to me in a graphic rush that made my cheeks burn with embarrassment. I’d only ever blacked out a few times, and unfortunately, this wasn’t one of them. I remembered the whole thing. God, we’d kissed in front of half of his team, and everybody had seen us leave together.

I looked down. The t-shirt that I was wearing was huge, and I had a vague recollection of finding it inside one of his drawers. Oh God. This was terrible. This was terrible.

I had to get dressed and, of course, the only clothing I had was the teal dress I’d come up in the night before. Walk of shame. I was going to have to do a walk of shame.

It took me a while, but I found my bra and underwear and slid back into my dress. I wanted to borrow one of Burke’s sweatshirts, but they’d have come down to my knees. In the end, I took his ruined blue silk shirt and tied it around myself, rolling up the sleeves… Oh, who was I kidding?

I found my purse and checked to make sure I had my wallet and my phone. I didn’t want to be the worst asshole in the world, so I found a piece of paper and a pen and left him a note.

Burke, I wrote, Sorry to leave before you were awake. Had a lot of work to do. I signed it S and beat a hasty retreat.

I’d never been so grateful for Yvette’s crazy family. Her mother had appeared the night before in New York (Maman lived in the South of France, usually) and demanded Yvette show up and attend a gala with her. Yvette wouldn’t be back until tomorrow, which meant I had all day to nurse my hangover and regret every single decision I’d ever made in my life.

Once back at my apartment, I’d slept until noon, and when I’d woken up, I was feeling even more miserable than when I’d gone to sleep. I knew that Burke and Yvette weren’t officially together. But that didn’t make me feel any better. He’d even called me Yvette.

I tried to distract myself by working on my blog. I had at least two hundred new pictures from Italy to edit and a few new articles to write, and since I was effectively getting a day off, I should write them. Anything to take my mind off what a terrible person I was.

Roz came in around noon but, mercifully, didn’t knock on my door. When my phone buzzed, I was afraid to look down, yet desperate to know if it was Burke. It wasn’t. It was Andrew. I took a deep breath, calmed my nerves, and picked up the phone.

“Hey, lovely,” he said.

“Hey.” I tried to sound cheery, but in obsessing over Burke, I’d forgotten about Andrew. “Are you back from Croatia?”

“Got back a week ago and had to transition into a new project at work. But the good news is that the project is here in Boston for the next six months. Care to get dinner tonight? I’ll tell you all about my trip…”

“I’m a bit busy tonight,” I lied. I wasn’t busy, but one heartache was all I could take in a day. And Andrew wasn’t an idiot. He’d be able to tell that I was upset, and he’d ask me about it, and what would I tell him...

“How about tomorrow, then? I’d really like to see you.” Andrew’s voice was a warm and familiar anchor against the raging storm of my emotions.

“Sure,” I said. “Tomorrow. Just text me.”

“I can’t wait.” And Andrew hung up the phone.

The phone rang again. I picked it up without looking, figuring that Andrew was calling me back. “Hello?”

“Hi, Sarah?” The voice was deep and rumbling. Burke. Warmth bloomed in the pit of my stomach, and my mind raced back to the night before - to one of the most mind blowing orgasm of my life.

“Hi, Burke.”

“Listen,” said Burke, sounding hesitant. “If this isn’t you, I feel like a total ass…”

“If what isn’t me?” I asked.

“Last night. I remember you were at The Sky Bar. I had a ton to drink, and the last thing I remember, really, was walking over to where you and Mclaughlin were chatting. You were there, right?”

“Yah.”

“So, this morning, it was clear that someone had stayed over last night, and someone named S left me a note. I…” he stopped. “Fuck. I haven’t blacked out in years. Did you stay over last night?”

“Yah,” I said. The word hurt coming out, my throat was so tight.

“Shit. Sarah, I’m sorry.” In his defense, he sounded really apologetic. “Did we… did we do anything…”

“No.” The lie came to me quickly. It was simple. I regretted doing it, and he didn’t remember, so why not make it like it never happened? “No. You thought Mclaughlin might take advantage, so you stepped in. We went back to your place and passed out.”

His sigh of relief cut me to the quick. “I’m sorry, Sarah, if I said anything or did anything...”

“No,” I said. I could feel the tears streaming down my face. “No, you were great last night. You were really nice. I’m sorry I had to cut out early. I grabbed your shirt, too. I’ll make sure it gets back to you.”

“Thanks,” he said.

“Okay. Well, I’ll see you around, I’m sure.” I tried to make myself sound bright, but my heart was breaking in my chest. I hung up the phone.

Well, I told myself, it could have been worse. At least I’d still have my job with Yvette. At least Burke doesn’t remember any of it and doesn’t have to regret it.