The bed felt empty and cold as I struggled to open my eyes. My legs and arms slowly moved across the mattress, only to discover I was alone.

Where did she go?

I listened out with a stirring of hope. Maybe she was in the bathroom or something? But after a minute of listening and catching nothing, I gave it up and sighed, sitting up in bed.

“Jessi?” I tried calling out, not expecting an answer.

Fuck.

Why wouldn’t she be there when I woke up? After last night I’d hoped things had changed between us. Maybe not?

“Maybe I’m thinking too much,” I grumbled to myself. “I need to talk to Jessi first.”

I nodded to myself as I made the decision. It would be the smart thing to do, after all.

Decision made, I crawled out of bed, slowly taking one step at a time. I threw the covers to the side and frowned, then looked down at myself.

“Shit! Was I too rough last night?”

Jessi hadn't said anything, but suddenly I felt very concerned.

I headed to the bathroom to get showered. I got out with a towel around my waist, another around my shoulder that I used to dry my hair. I went to my closet and looked at my clothes. There wasn’t much, and I thought about either having more brought from my home or buying more. Someone would be coming to clean my room and they would take the clothes I’d thrown all over the floor, so I didn’t try to pick them up. Then I looked over at the bed and hesitated.

No, it’s fine, I thought. No one would think of Jessi, so it shouldn’t be a problem.

I hoped that was true as I picked out my suit for the day, then started to get dressed. Underwear first, then the slacks and shirt. After picking out a pair of cufflinks, I pulled on the suit coat and fixed up the tie before buttoning up the coat. I took a look at myself in the mirror, then styled my hair so the bangs were pushed away from my forehead. It took a bit of gel, but my hair was usually good at behaving.

Properly dressed, I stepped out of my room. The first thing I wanted to do was to run around and look for Jessi, but I knew I couldn’t do that. There was still a lot of work to do, and besides, people would talk if I went to find her straight away. It would be best for the both of us if I had some strength of will.

“Later,” I promised myself, heading up to the office. “I’ll look for her later.”

I missed her, though.

The thought was enough to startle me, though I didn’t let it show visibly as I found an elevator. I wasn’t the only one waiting for one, but the others were likely guests hoping to go down for breakfast. When both elevators opened, I hesitated, but when I got inside the one going up, the guests went for the other one.

Why Jessi had left my bed this morning was still on my mind. And the fact I missed her, but I had to get on with my day.

Maybe I’ll go see her in the evening? I thought. I wasn’t sure where her room was. But she worked in the building so maybe I could try the staff room again? It wouldn’t take much sleuthing to find out where her room was.

Put it out of your mind for now, I thought to myself as I came up to the office. You’ve got important work to do.

The secretary had a desk outside the office, and as I came up, she rose to her feet with hands clasped in front of her as she gave me a polite smile.

“Good morning, sir.”

“Good morning,” I muttered back, distracted. Then I focused on her with a frown. “Have breakfast sent up to me, please. And call the management, see if they’ve found that paperwork I asked them to look at before.”

I was still looking at some of the accounting records for the hotel, among other things. It was the most important thing I wanted to look into. There was nothing wrong with what I’d seen so far, but I was meticulous—as Dad had taught all his children to be—so I wasn’t leaving anything out. Even though it was a bit overkill and I was starting to feel the effects of my late nights and early morning starts.

“Right away, sir,” the secretary said readily. “Anything specific you want for breakfast?”

That made me pause. Usually, I just had coffee, and that was it. But…

“Have some coffee sent up and a pastry. Whatever you think I’d like best, but nothing too sweet.”

“Yes, sir,” she said with a bobbing nod.

I walked into the office, frowning to myself. I didn’t pick a pastry because Jessi was the primary pastry chef in the hotel. I was just… tasting what the hotel had to offer. I also pushed aside the fact I wanted to see her again. That was just… because of last night, so she could explain to me exactly what went down and how she ended up in my arms.

Should I ask how she ended up in my bed, too? I pushed the thought aside.

I took off my coat and laid it on the back of my chair as usual. Then I sat down and pulled the folders I’d left on the desk last night closer to me. I did a quick perusal of them. About ten minutes later there was a knock on my door, and I looked up, closing the folder I’d just finished with.

“Come in, please,” I called.

The secretary opened the door, and someone with a uniform from the hotel kitchens pushed a tray inside. I caught myself thinking it could have been Jessi and pushed the thought out of my mind. It was probably not her job to move food around, just to make it.

The staff worker stopped the tray beside my desk and transferred it from the trolley he was pushing. There was a mug and a carafe of coffee, and under the tray were a few pastries. It wasn’t something I often ate so I didn’t recognize what was on the plate. The staff worker left it all in front of me, gave a short bow, then made his way out.

I didn’t get immediate word from my secretary about the lower management and the paperwork I needed. I wondered if they were even awake and if I’d need to change business hours, so they could be in their offices when they were needed.

That would only be convenient for me, I decided. Besides, the old man would probably get mad if I messed things up for him before he got back.

I poured the coffee and took a sip, then eyed the plate of pastries. After some thought, I picked a small, round one that had a slight hollow at the top. I bit into it, paused, then chewed. I nodded slowly to myself as I took another bite of it. The bread had just the right level of crunch without being too flaky and breaking off in my fingers, it was slightly sweet, and it had melted cheese in the middle.

I wanted the name of it. It tasted so good it seemed a waste that I hadn't been taking it every day with my coffee. When had I decided black coffee alone would be a good breakfast? I'd been missing out. I finished the first pastry then took another, and another. By the time the plate and my mug were empty, I was tempted to lick my fingers. I looked up, realized I was alone and did it anyway.

Afterward, I grumbled to myself for doing something so un-classy, whether or not someone was watching me do it, and wiped my fingers on a napkin.

The secretary chose that moment to come in, and I was relieved she hadn't come in just a few seconds earlier. She’d knocked first, but then I wouldn’t need to have a guilty expression on my face that would clue her in.

“Yes?” I said as she stepped up to the desk.

“I spoke to the manager and he said he’d be passing by the accounting and financial departments and have someone bring up the documents for you. You should have them in an hour. Was there anything else you needed?”

I frowned because what I needed was those documents a lot earlier than an hour. It would seem there was nothing I could do about it and there was no use in complaining.

“No,” I said. “Just let me know when they come in, thank you.”

I gave her a dismissive nod, but she blinked at me a couple of times in surprise. I frowned, wondering if it was because I hadn’t made a complaint about the tardiness. Did I always do that? Well, whatever. I gave her a pointed look, and her expression turned sheepish before she walked out of the room.

Alone again, I poured myself more coffee and took my time with it. I pulled the files I was looking through before breakfast came. Since it was just a quick perusal, I did it at my leisure, feeling relaxed for the first time in a long while. I had an hour to do that before getting down to serious work.

At the moment, I found my thoughts drifting back to Jessi, and I frowned slightly. It was strange, how I felt about her after last night. She wasn’t the first woman I’d had a one-night stand with, so why was I still thinking about her? She’d been in my thoughts on and off for over a decade, but last night should have got her out of my system.

There was a part of me that felt terrified. I wasn’t sure if last night was a one-night stand to Jessi, and I hoped not because I did want to see her again. I wasn’t sure I wanted to sleep with her again—okay, that was a lie, I just didn’t know if I was going to—but I would be looking for her at my earliest convenience.

Oddly, no matter how terrified I should probably feel that I wanted to see her again, I was calm. It was only sex, after all. We had been good in bed together, Jessi and me. That had been unexpected, and I was wondering what it would be like if we did it again with a bit more knowledge about each other now.

Only sex, I thought to myself. I would want more of that.

Another knock on my door brought me out of my revelry, and I looked up as the secretary walked in with two people behind her. One of them had come for the tray, while the other had come with an armful of folders that were set on the edge of the desk.

Had an hour passed already? I’d barely noticed. I finished my coffee so my mug could be taken down with everything else.

“These are all the relevant files you’ll need, sir,” the secretary said. “Will there be anything else?”

I shook my head as I pulled the pile closer. “No, all this is fine. I’ll let you know if I need anything more.”

With that, she walked out and left me alone again. I started up the computer to access the company database so I could look through the documents and match them to the information we had in the database. Tomorrow, if I still had no word from Dad, I’d start looking into his planned meetings.

I spent the day working, going through my business and Dad’s. Jessi drifted out of my mind, and I lost track of time. It was hours later when I pushed back into the seat, clenching and unclenching my fists.

My mind, of course, drifted right back to Jessi.

I wanted to see her. More than that, I wanted to talk to her. I wasn’t sure if she’d feel the same, but hopefully, I could convince her not to keep avoiding me. Things had changed for us now. My behavior toward her had been nothing more than a cover before, and there was no reason to keep it up anymore.

Maybe… Could I take her out to dinner?

With the thought in mind, the first thing I wanted to do was call my PA. I had to remind myself she wasn’t with me at the hotel, even though she was the one who usually set things up for me. So instead, I called for the secretary. She was in my room seconds later.

“I want you to look into someone for me,” I said before she could start. “Her name is Jessi, she works as the pastry chef in the kitchen. I know she lives in the hotel, but I’m not sure where. Just get me as much about her as you can find, all right?”

She nodded, hiding a look of confusion. “Of course, sir. And I also wanted to let you know, that I’ve received a few calls. I know you wanted any meetings to wait, but a major partner of the hotel is coming down to see you. He said it was something important. There was also more than one call like that. Should I send them all away?”

I pursed my lips, thinking. Should I? There was a reason I was ignoring my dad’s meetings. I didn’t know his plans, and I didn’t want to accidentally put a wrench in them. But if they were all already on their way then I might as well. Besides, I’d tried to talk to Dad and he wouldn’t see me. So if anything went wrong it wasn’t my fault I was going in with no information. He wasn’t there to give it to me.

“It’s fine,” I said. “Just get me the information.”

“Yes, sir.”

That was how I found the rest of my day spent in meetings. I knew I should be paying complete attention, but I had no idea what was going on in each of them. I barely heard a word anyway.

Instead, I thought about Jessi and last night. I thought about how she’d sighed as I touched her, all high and breathy, just at the edge of a whine. The way she would hiss, fingertips digging into my back, as I fucked her into the mattress. The way she had looked at me, cheeks flushed, and swollen lips opened wide—her light brown eyes with a wet sheen in them—as she came, writhing under me. I couldn’t help stealing a glance at that look before I’d buried my face in her shoulder for my orgasm.

Fuck.

I want her again, I admitted to myself. There was no point trying to deny it, was there? During lunch, I called for another of her pastries as a dessert with my meal, and it kept her in my mind through the rest of the day. I was half hard through most of my meetings, but thankfully, it all happened in the office, and I was hidden by the desk.

I left the office at my usual time, but I’d got quite a bit done, not including the meetings. The secretary had retrieved the information I wanted, and I couldn’t help rushing to Jessi’s quarters. It was a bit late, but considering how late she was out yesterday, it probably wouldn’t be a problem. I would have wanted to come sooner, but I couldn’t allow myself to shirk my duties for any reason, it just wasn’t professional. I’d already called down, and Jessi wasn’t in the kitchens or the staff room.

After a moment to catch my breath, I knocked on the door. I waited a minute, but no answer. I knocked again, pressing my ear closer to the door.

“Jessi?” I called, feeling a bit awkward. “It’s me, Trent. I was wondering if we could talk, maybe?”

I wasn’t getting an answer and I didn’t know why. Five minutes of waiting made me decide she was either not home, or she just didn’t want to talk to me.

She had been in love with me for years. Or at least, she had been years ago. Maybe I wanted more of her, but… maybe she’d had her fill of me?

That couldn’t be it, could it?