Hannah stepped into the bedroom and closed the door. Her body ached. Her mind had gone fuzzy and numb with exhaustion. Looking around, she frowned. Her suitcase was nowhere to be found. She looked more carefully, even opening doors to see if it had been put in the closet. She found a huge closet with suits, shirts, jeans and more, with plenty of empty space. That made her realize this was Justin’s bedroom. Why shouldn’t it be? They were married and he’d made it clear he intended this to be a marriage in all ways. She should have expected to share his room. To set up in another room, if there even was one, would be impractical.

Frustrated, she opened the bedroom door and looked out to where Justin still sat on the sofa.

“I can’t find it, are you sure it’s here?”

Justin frowned and stood. “It should be. Barry said he would have it delivered.” He came in the bedroom and looked around, even checked the closet like she had done, then shook his head. “You’re right. It’s not here. I’ll call down.” He headed for the front room, but stopped next the open door. “Go ahead and get in the shower, once I find it, I’ll leave it in here for you.”

“What if you don’t find it?”

“Then help yourself to my closet. There are plenty of t-shirts and even a few pair of pajama pants in there. What’s mine is yours,” he smiled, “literally.” He went to the phone on a small table at one end of the sofa, picked it up and hit a button. As he spoke to someone on the other end, Hannah pushed the door until it was almost closed, giving herself the illusion of privacy, then stepped out of her shoes, put them beside the door and went into the bathroom. She closed the door and locked it. She started to undress then stopped, stunned by not just the size but the glass wall that gave her a stunning view of the city below and the night sky.

Hannah stood for a moment, a little uncertain about undressing in a room with a huge glass wall, anyone could see in. Then realized she was more than three hundred feet in the air and there was no one around to see her. As her surprise started to wear off, she looked around the room and found it was nearly as large as the bedroom she’d just left. To one side of the room was a pair of sinks, and a door. She frowned wondering where it went, then realized that’s where the closet was. That had to be where the door led, and it made sense. In one corner of the glass wall was a huge glass walled shower with several nozzles. On the other end of the glass wall was a huge Jacuzzi tub big enough for a half dozen people. Hannah had been in some opulent bathrooms, but she’d never had one to call her own. That tub was tempting, but she was too tired to wait for it to fill tonight.

She peeled out of the pale pink Chanel suit she’d put on almost eighteen hours earlier knowing it would likely be her wedding dress, and opened the door to the closet for a hanger. The suit was dirty and she wouldn’t wear it again without it being cleaned first, but her mother’s repeated reminders to take care of her clothes and not to throw something that cost that much on the floor, echoed through her mind. After hanging her suit, she went to the shower that could easily fit four and turned on the water. Her mind drifted while she adjusted the temperature and stepped beneath the spray.

So far, nothing she’d anticipated about her marriage had happened. Not what she’d dreamed of as a child, not what she’d planned for a year ago, not what she’d feared this morning. She’d dreamed of marrying for love, she’d planned to marry a friend and she’d feared an old man. Justin was none of those, but he seemed like a good man. At least so far. He’d taken the time to talk to her, and had promised not to force her into sex before she was ready. Hannah only hoped he was true to his word.

Hot water washed over her face and down her body and she couldn’t help but recall the way she’d reacted to his kiss earlier. If he kissed her like that again, then she probably wouldn’t even hesitate. Nerves made her stomach knot when she thought about it, but somehow they eased when she looked at him. They were forgotten all together when he touched her. It was the weirdest thing.

Of course, she’d had sex education in school, she knew how the mechanics worked. She’d read what her mother called trashy romance novels until her mother had found them and thrown them away, declaring that they were worthless and beneath someone of her status. Hannah had spent six months engaged to James, but it was a match their parents had arranged and while she’d been friendly with him, there hadn’t been more than a few kisses between the two of them. Before the crash that had taken him, and her parents, Hannah had started to wonder if maybe he was gay and was afraid of his parent’s reactions. She didn’t know. Maybe she’d been wrong and he just hadn’t been interested in her.

Hannah shook her head and pushed thoughts about the past away as she finished showering. Dwelling in the past, wondering what might have been would do no good. She might as well look to the future. This was the life she had now, there was no use wishing for anything else. She shut off the water and pulled a towel off a rack, surprised to find it warm and amazingly soft as she dried her face and wrapped her hair. Taking a second towel, she wrapped it around her body and went out into the bedroom. Her suitcase still wasn’t there. She glanced at the door that led to the main part of the apartment and found it had been closed. She assumed Justin had done it, maybe to make her feel better.

Now she didn’t know what to do. She stepped into the closet and looked around, not sure what to wear until she remembered the package from the agency. She’d been told only that it was for her wedding night. She’d not bothered to open it, instead had stowed it in her hand bag. Remembering it, she went back to the bedroom where she’d left the bag on the bed. It only took her a moment to find the package, rip open the envelope and dump it. Out tumbled a bundle of sheer white chiffon and lace. She stared at it, uncomprehending for a moment before realizing it was a night gown.

She picked up the thin straps and held it up so she could get a better look. It was a piece designed to echo the pure white of a traditional wedding dress, maybe the reason the agency gave it to her was to remind Justin of her purity since she hadn’t had a traditional gown? She shook her head. It didn’t matter. It was the closest she got to a stunning white wedding dress and she would wear it, but she would need something more before leaving the bedroom. She pulled the gown on and combed out her hair, then looked in the closet again, found a robe and put it on before going back out to her new husband.