I slide out of the gold dress Ryan purchased for me and slip it carefully onto its hanger, gathering the garment bag around it and zipping it up slowly. Hanging it in the closet next to the dress I wore last night, I smooth the bags out with my hand and slide the closet door shut.

“Shit.” Under my breath, I sigh out my frustration and anger, blotting the skin beneath my eyes with two fingers. I won’t cry. I won’t cry over him. I’ve cried over things worse than this. Some rich asshole doesn’t deserve my tears.

Some rich, sexy asshole who I thought I was falling for. Some rich, sexy asshole who has the world at his fingertips, can purchase a jet on a whim over some off-hand comment I made; some rich, sexy asshole who made me feel things no one has been able to before.

Who believed in me, and took a chance on me when I wasn’t sure if I belonged.

I shake my head and laugh. I can’t believe how stupid I was.

I grab my suitcase from the corner of the room and flop it onto the bed, quickly gathering my pajamas and a couple of outfits I’d laid out as options for tomorrow. I should have just kept everything packed away. I knew I wouldn’t be here long.

As I pack, moving around the room, padding into the bathroom to grab my toiletries and stuffing them into a small pouch, I start to think of a plan for how I can move forward.

I’ll just have to go back to Jess and ask her to hook me up with another internship. It’s only a few weeks into the semester, and I’m sure I’ll be able to get something. Or maybe I can just try picking up another class, instead. It’s still add/drop period, so maybe I can get another pre-med class to replace the internship altogether.

Suddenly, medical school is looking a whole lot more attractive. I don’t know why I even thought I’d be able to get involved with all the bullshit that goes along with working for the likes of Ryan Hart.

I don’t know what I’ll tell dad. Maybe I’ll just tell him it wasn’t a good fit. That’s not a lie.

Sitting down on one of the big chairs by the window, I pull back the curtain covering the entire wall from floor to ceiling, and take in the gorgeous view of the city. It truly is an amazing place, and I hope to come here again and maybe stay a while. Next time, I’ll have to pay for my own plane ticket, but that’s okay. I can get here on my own next time.

My thoughts are interrupted by a knock at the door. My stomach drops at the thought it might be Ryan, and I ignore the knocks, turning my attention back to the window.

“Sara, I know you’re in there. Please let me in.”

“Ryan, I don’t feel like talking right now. Please.”

“I can go around and come in through the door between our rooms. Come on.”

“That one’s locked too,” I respond.

“Sara, please.” His voice is tinged with sadness. I go over to the door and unlock it, but I don’t open it. I don’t want to let him in; I just want to allow him to be able to come in if he really insists.

“Thank you,” he says, entering my room and letting the door slam behind him. “Mind telling me what the hell is going on with you?”

“Ryan, I just need time to think. Time to figure out what I’m doing with the show. With you.”

“Does this have something to do with Lexi?” he growls.

“Lexi told me that you guys used to pretend to date. Is that true?”

“God, this is about Lexi.” He tips my chin up and gazes down at me. “It’s not exactly true. It’s partially true. We were together. We worked together for years.” Ryan glides his hands down my arms until his hands are inside his. “We never really pretended to be together, but we didn’t deny it, either. The papers like this kind of thing. They want to see their icons together. I think they just built us up in the public’s imagination. They thought we looked good together. But then Lexi started having feelings for me. When I would go out with other women, I was honest with them. I told them to take a good look at the papers and see if they’d ever seen a picture of me and Lexi holding hands, or kissing, or anything to indicate that we were a real couple.”

“But they couldn’t find any, could they?” I ask.

“No,” he affirms. “They couldn’t. So everything was fine on my end. I thought everything was cool. That was until Lexi started telling her sources, her friends at the papers, that I was cheating on her. That’s when everything started getting all fucked up. That’s why I came out to LA with Kayla. That’s why we dumped our old show and started Dirty After Dark. This was all before smart phones, just prior to the 24 hour news cycle, back in the early 2000s. The media had a shorter memory back then. Back on me and Kayla’s old show, we were just local to NYC. Lexi’s dad was able to set us up with something small out in California, and after we were on our feet, we were able to break ties with the Crafts.”

“Ryan, why didn’t you tell me any of this?” I say.

“It didn’t matter. I tried to tell you as much as I needed to about Lexi, but I didn’t want to get into the details. I’m just sorry she was able to corner you like that.”

“Ryan,” I say, “I feel like you fed me to the wolves back there.”

“Sara,” he responds, “I am so sorry. I should have never let that happen. I should have been more upfront with you. Honestly, I was hoping you’d never find out that Lexi and I used to kind of, sort of pretend to date. I should have brought you into that meeting with me. I thought Lexi would be there. She almost never leaves her dad’s side. If I thought you and Lexi would be alone together…”

I avert his gaze and shrug, giving my suitcase a final zip and hauling it onto the floor.

“You kind of sent me into a buzzsaw back there.”

“I told you she was bad news. And I thought she was going to be in the meeting with me. I never would have let her corner you like that if I’d known she would be running loose at the party. I’m so sorry.”

“She’s right, though.” I put my hands down on the dresser and steady myself. “You paid me to come with you. You asked me to come as your date. It all sounds a little bit too much like a business transaction to me.”

“Sara.” He starts toward me, erasing the distance between us, and grabs my upper arms, turning me to face him. “That’s what you wanted. You wanted to keep things professional. But my feelings for you are real. They’re so fucking real.”

He brings me close to him and my body becomes engulfed by him as our mouths crash together with passion and fire. His kiss, his tongue against mine, sends a flash of heat between my legs.

“Don’t you do that to me again,” he growls, pulling my shirt off. He tosses it behind him onto the bed and pulls his jack off in turn as my fingers struggle against the buttons on his shirt. “You listen to me.” He holds my face to his and gazes deeply into my eyes, my fingers roaming over the rippling muscles in his chest. “There’s nothing I want more than you. Nothing.”

My heart skips inside my chest as he lifts me up by the ass and sits me back down on the dresser, spreading my legs apart and nudging toward me. His hands roam over my body with new intensity, and every inch of my body is on fire.

“Ryan,” I breathe, “I want to know this is real. I don’t want to get my heart broken.”

“I thought you were concerned about your future,” he says, gazing at me intently. “I thought you were afraid of not being taken seriously.”

“That’s not all of it,” I say, hot tears beginning to stream down my face. “I don’t want any more loss in my life. I don’t want to lose you. I didn’t want to get close, because I didn’t want to say goodbye. But I couldn’t help it.”

“I know,” he says, “I know. I couldn’t stay away from you, either. You’re just too smart and gorgeous. And the fact that you didn’t take my bullshit so seriously was one of the things that drew me to you. Sara, you’re the first person to walk through my door and not expect anything. You’re the first girl who really saw me.”

Ryan slowly unbuttons my jeans and I slide off the dresser, letting my feet hit the floor briefly to wiggle out before he pulls me back up to the dresser.

“Sara, I’m falling for you. I can’t let you go. I want this to be real. And I want to prove to you how much I’m falling in love with you.”

I shut my eyes tightly as his fingers move past my panties to my soaked clit, pulling a low moan from my lips. “You make me want to be better. You make me want to be strong enough to push away the doubt.”

His fingers slowly move past my folds, against my opening, and up into my pussy. He rocks his thumb against my clit as he kisses my neck, my hands exploring his chest, moving lower to his abs.

“You melt away all of my questions, baby,” he whispers. I reach down and unzip his pants, the metallic sound singing through the air, everything heightened and on fire from deep inside us. I take out his dick and palm its length, stroking him as he becomes rock-hard in my hand.

“I have a quick question for you,” I say, smiling as I break our kiss. “How do you tell your boss that you’re falling in love with him?”

“Exactly like that.” He pushes my panties aside and pulls me toward him, his fingers digging deliciously into my ass. “Just like that.”

His thick cock parts the soaking lips of my pussy, and the tip spreads me open, dragging along my inner walls as he pushes farther in, deeper, hitting me to my core.

“You feel so fucking good, baby.” He smiles and his face collapses into my shoulder, his lips landing on my collarbone, kissing and nipping at me as his cock pumps harder in and out of me, impossibly thick and making me squirm with pleasure.

“You do too, sir,” I moan.

Over and over, he pushes his cock into me, making me feel better than I’ve ever felt - bringing me to a new height of pleasure. He moves with all the experience of someone who knows exactly what he’s doing, but he makes love to me like we’re just exploring each other for the first time. It’s familiar and new; it feels right.

Ryan reaches down and circles my clit with his strong fingers, pulling a moan out of my mouth, but quickly extinguishing it with his.

“I love when you moan on me,” he whispers, dragging the stubble on his cheek against my face. The slight tingle of pain swirls with the pleasure of what he’s doing to my clit and deep inside my pussy, and it almost sends me right over the edge.

When I feel I can’t take it anymore, like I’m going to come, he pulls out of me and takes me off the dresser, spinning me around to face the mirror.

My eyes flash to his, a deliciously devilish grin on his face, as he kisses the back of my neck, making a trail of kisses to right between my shoulderblades, sending a flash of heat zipping down my spine.

“You like that,” he says, laughing.

My head tilts back and I lose myself in bliss as he drags his tongue down my back, along my spine. A chill invades my body, swirling with the intense heat inside my belly.

“You’re going to love this,” he says, grabbing my ass and squeezing it, digging his fingers into my flesh. He bends me over slightly and my chest hits the dresser, the cold, smooth wood touching my hard nipples as he pushes two fingers into my pussy from behind, pushing in and out as he tongues my clit.

“Oh!” I moan into my arms, my knees becoming weak. “That feels so nice.”

He curls his fingers up inside me, stroking me with a delectable rhythm as his wet tongue plays against my clit, moving against me, curling along my flesh.

“Fuck,” I moan, “I’m going to come.”

“Come on my tongue, sweetheart. Do it,” Ryan growls, pumping at me harder and faster, lapping up my juices like I’m the most delicious thing he’s ever tasted.

“Fuck,” I whisper, shutting my eyes tight and losing myself. His fingers pound into me from behind, sending my body grinding against the dresser, causing the friction in my nipples to feel delicious deep inside my body. Everything in my world is on fire because of him, and it feels amazing.