It wasn’t until I yawned and fogged up the window that I realized how late it was. Padding across the mahogany wood floor on my bare feet, I entered the bathroom to get ready for bed. My stress level was nothing compared to the past few weeks, so instead of taking a shower, I filled the massive tub with hot, steaming water, and dropped in some lavender oil. I soaked my body until the water went cold.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t hide from my conversation with Sebastian in his office.

I didn’t know what I’d been thinking or doing for that matter. I had marched into his office, ready for anything. I had to make money and I was no longer going to deny what my body obviously wanted. But boy had I definitely paid a price.

When he’d so blatantly asked if I was a virgin I hadn’t expected his reaction. In fact, if he had slapped me I couldn’t have been more shocked. I felt like he had slapped me with his response. I thought he would’ve been pleased and turned on, not turned off.

I was humiliated and embarrassed, and I wanted nothing more than to never lay eyes on Sebastian Black again. But even now, as I laid in the tub, my forbidden thoughts betrayed me and the sight of him bare chested made my fingers wander over my body.

I could still wanted him, even if I pretended differently. He didn’t want me and I should have been happy about it, or in the very least relieved. But something made me want to prove that despite the fact I was a virgin, I was still every bit as capable as the next girl.

I let my legs fall open and my fingers moved over my swollen lady bits, but before I could bring myself to orgasm, I stopped and closed my legs tightly. Covering my eyes with my hand, I exhaled loudly.

Who was I kidding? I couldn’t even get myself off without worrying about embarrassing myself. How was I going to get a man like Sebastian off?

I expected a lot of things when I finally worked up the courage to take Sebastian’s offer, but what was happening to me was completely unexpected. I was a woman, but it was clear I had no clue when it came to the opposite sex.

The next day, Mr. Martin was outside waiting to take Kyle across town to school. I was wondering if I would ever be surprised at the things Sebastian knew without me ever telling him.

Kyle was more than happy to take the car and be chauffeured around in front of his friends, but I had a harder time being okay with it.

After making my way back up to the hotel suite, I laid around and waited for something—anything to happen. I hated sitting around, twiddling my thumbs.

Finally, when I thought I would explode from anticipation, someone knocked at the door. I opened it to find a young guy smiling back at me. He was boyish, with a lopsided ear-to-ear grin, and had an unfortunate case of teenage acne.

“Are you Jessica?” he asked.

I opened my mouth to say no, but then remembered when Sebastian insisted on calling me Jessica, which was the weirdest thing ever.

“Yep, that’s me.”

He held out a small pink box with a ribbon on top. “This is for you.”

“Thank you.”

He turned and left without saying goodbye.

Closing the door, I sat on the bed and pulled the lid off the box to find an expensive phone sitting inside. It was sleek, with a large touch screen. I ran my finger across it and it lit up with a picture of the Brooklyn Bridge.

As soon as I sat it on the bed, it chimed. The tiny symbol on the screen said I had a text message, but it took me a few minutes to figure out how to open it.

SB: Meet me out front at 7. Wear something nice.

I should have smashed his stupid phone and walked out of the hotel room, but I couldn’t, and I kind of hated myself for it.

Like a true woman, I spent the rest of the afternoon obsessing over what I was going to do. If I’d had any flowers the hotel room would have been full of petals.

I was in the lobby twenty minutes before Kyle was even supposed to be out of school, but I couldn’t stay in that room a second longer. I’d never been in a hotel as extravagant as this before and I was extremely curious.

I passed the five-star restaurant and walked through the different ballrooms, until I saw a sign labeled Peterson Wedding. Guests moved in and out of the beautiful double doors and after a quick peek around, I made my way toward them.

Pulling on the heavy handle, I slipped in and a wistful sigh escaped my lips. The room was breathtaking. It glittered and smelled like fresh flowers. I didn’t stay long because I was obviously not dressed for the occasion, but for just a moment, I closed my eyes and I imagined having a life that included these kinds of luxuries.

An hour later, Mr. Martin dropped Kyle off, and we went back to the suite and did his homework together.