Our eyes lock and God, the look on his face makes my heart stop: the naked desire there, worshipping. Adoring. He’s all I ever wanted, and in this moment, we belong to each other. Right here, only now.

Mine.

I pause, wanting to hold onto this, needing the fragile moment to last — be something real, something solid I can treasure forever, but Daniel rocks up against me, hard, hitting me so deep I can’t take it anymore. I come, shattering into stardust with a scream as pleasure slams through me, over and over again. I hear an animal roar echo as Daniel thrusts inside me, and then he’s shuddering, clinging to me, coming undone in my arms.

I fall against him, into the velvet darkness, and I know, I’ve just made the biggest mistake of my life.

He’s all I’ll ever want. Only him.

And he’ll never be mine.

***

I wake up in a haze, feeling like I just run a marathon. Every muscle aches, and for a moment I wonder what the hell happened to me. Then I roll over, yawning, and there she is: curled up asleep in my old college T-shirt, her hair splayed out across the pillow, her chest rising and falling with steady breaths, looking so beautiful it takes my breath away.

Lacey.

Everything that happened last night slams back into my brain. The bar, the shots, the skinny dipping …

The sex.

My god, the sex.

I sit up, careful not to disturb her. My mind is reeling, remembering what we did, just how f**king good she felt. The slide of her body beneath me, the taste of her skin, the wild sound she made, begging me for more. The look in her eyes when I surged inside her, and she couldn’t hold herself back from the edge anymore …

I’ve never felt anything like it.

I catch my breath, turned on all over again just from the memories of what was, without a doubt, the single greatest night of my life. I can’t understand it, the whole thing couldn’t be more out of character if I tried, but maybe that’s the point. Something about her set me free; shut off all my logic and planning, and stripped me down to the most basic essence.

I wanted her, I needed her, and God, I took her.

Lacey lets out a soft, breathy noise beside me, pulling me back to reality. I watch her for a moment, feeling an unexpected tightness in my chest. Like this, she looks innocent and free, a world away from the wicked temptress who set my world on fire last night. But that’s Lacey, I’m beginning to realize: she’s not just the wild party girl, spontaneous and up for a good time. She’s smart, and brave, and fiercely loyal too. Hell, she would have walked to Beachwood through the blizzard if she could just to be there for Juliet.

Remembering Lacey’s panic over missing the wedding, I slide carefully out of bed. I check her phone on the nightstand to see if the car rental place has called, but the screen is black. No battery life. Damn, I remember, she loaned me her charger last night, and forgot to plug her own phone in. That means she could miss out her only chance to get to Beachwood in time. If there are any cars, they won’t be able to reach us.

I shoot another look at her, still sleeping. It would be so easy to slide on back in bed with her, and ride out Christmas right here in this hotel room, alone and naked together. But Lacey needs to get to Beachwood, and I realize with a flash, that I’ll do anything to make that happen. To make her happy.

I grab my clothes and pull them on, closing the door behind me with a silent click.

Outside, the 6am world is dark and silent, but I trudge through the snow back to the airport terminal, and find the same guy from yesterday just opening up.

“You again,” he sighs, but that frown quickly disappears when I present him with a steaming cup of coffee I picked up in the hotel lobby. “For me?” he blinks, like he can’t believe it.

“Sure,” I think about giving him some bullshit line, but then I figure the truth can’t hurt, so I shrug. “I figure a friendly bribe might help get us that car.”

There’s a pause, and I wonder if my plan has backfired. Then the guy laughs. “You’re right,” he crosses behind the counter and grabs a set of keys. “We had a return, waiting for me in the lot when I arrived. I have a whole list of people to call, but it’s yours right now if you want it.”

“Oh, we want it!” I say quickly. “You’re a lifesaver.”

“And you’re a smart man,” the guy slurps his coffee with a contented sigh. “Those fools will be stuck here until noon. Here, fill out the paperwork, and you’re good to go!”

I sign my name and pay the rental fee, then take his directions and navigate to a gas station nearby. I figure Lacey will want to get straight on the road, so I fill the tank and grab a handful of road snacks, and head back to the hotel. I’m feeling damn good, imagining how happy she’ll be to make it to the wedding on time, when I arrive back at the hotel room and carefully open the door, not sure if she’s still sleeping.

The bed is empty.

“Lacey?” I pause, looking around. There’s a beat, then she strolls out of the bathroom, already dressed in her jeans and T-shirt from the flight. She looks fresh-faced and gorgeous, and I feel a warmth roll through me, just at the sight of her. “Oh hey, there you are. Good news: I got us a car!”

I move towards her to kiss her good morning, but Lacey turns her lips away and slides past me. “Good, I can’t wait to get out of here.”

Wait, what?

Lacey sits on the edge of the bed and pulls her boots on, avoiding my eyes. I stare at her, confused. “Uh, is everything OK?”