With his lips on me, I didn’t care. I clawed at his shoulders, willing it to be different.
“More,” I breathed into his kiss.
His grin stretched against my lips. “I like that word from your mouth.” His tongue swept my lips, hot, demanding.
Then all at once, like a douse of scorching fire, the lights turned on. The bright-yellow light burned. I knew the moment it hit Gray, when he realized I wasn’t the person he’d meant to kiss. I couldn’t begin to describe the emotions that swam across his face. Anger, of course. Shock. Disgust.
They cut old scars anew. One time, I’d let myself believe I could fall in love with a prince. I still haven’t recovered from the cuts those glass slippers made when they shattered.
“Gray?” At the voice, he tore his eyes from mine. I blinked out of my foggy pain, following his line of sight.
A silhouette was illumined in the doorway, and it took only a second to recognize her. Charlotte “Lottie” du Lac. She looked kind of like me, if there was a better, billionaire heiress version of me.
My eyes were stony hazel, and hers were a warm dark chocolate. She was slightly taller, but the extra inch slimmed her waist and made her legs go on for miles. Her chestnut skin glowed from within, and I was lucky if I got a day without a blemish. Today our hair was similar…but where my curls were without direction, pulled back to get out of my face, hers were piled high, beautiful and natural.
Gray did a double take, turning from her then back to me, who was trying to huddle and disappear into the shadows.
Charlotte sighed. “I don’t know why I believed you.” She rubbed a hand across her forehead. “This is cruel, even for you.”
With that Charlotte turned and left, red-soled heels clacking down the hallway.
“Charlotte, wait—” Gray started, then paused, eyes finding mine once more. The heat, the gentle desire, was extinguished. In its place was nothing save coldness. He looked down the hall, as if torn between chasing her and smashing me beneath his shoe.
He chose me.
In one swift motion, he speared my curls, yanking me toward him by my hair. “I don’t know who the fuck sent you, but you’ll regret this. Speak a word of what you heard and die, Snitch.”
He dropped me so hard and fast I had to throw my hand out to keep from banging into the wall. I sucked in air.
“Don’t go anywhere.” He shot me a searing look, before turning his sights where Lottie had been.
“I have to!” I blurted. Grayson’s eyes narrowed like I’d just spat in his face. “I mean, Ms. Abigail needs me.”
I’d been kidnapped into a dream and forgot about reality. I was his sister’s girl. I’d spent years trying to get that position and only barely achieved it. It was coveted. I’d started out as a servant in the kitchen and worked my way up. There were only two positions higher than working directly with a Crowne, one of which my uncle held.
I’d finally gotten my own room. I’d have vacation time, a higher salary. Tonight was Abigail’s sister’s birthday party, and she needed me to get dressed. If I didn’t show up…
Displeasure iced his beautiful features. I wondered if what had happened really was a dream.
“I’m your sister’s girl,” I said weakly.
A cruel smile speared his pretty pink lips. “You’re my girl now.”
Leaving me with that, Gray left, chasing after Lottie.
Two
STORY
* * *
I stumbled back against the wall, barely keeping myself from falling. I touched my lips, trying to rid the taste of him, the feel of him. That moment wasn’t meant for me. The pounding in my chest wasn’t meant for me. What I’d just learned spun around and skipped in my head like a scratchy record.
What I’d just told him.
What he’d just told me.
The whoosh and crash of waves filled the air like loud breaths. I never would have guessed Gray Crowne was a virgin—no one would. Every day a new tabloid printe