She was going to jail. The Astor family would legally bury her forever.
“We have to go back.”
He looked across at her. “Oh hell, you’re freaked out.” He took his phone from his pocket and dictated a text to Alex.
The bug is a sweet ride.
She wasn’t sure how that made anything better. A few seconds later his phone beeped. Alex had responded with, Asshole.
“That’s it?” she said.
“There were cameras in the garage. He knows we have his car. He knows why. I’ll return it when I get mine picked up.”
Fin had skipped out on a restaurant check once because the service was lousy but felt so bad about it she’d gone back the next day and paid up. Maybe this was the rich person’s version of a skipped check.
“But if you’re unhappy, we’ll go back.”
Maybe she wasn’t that unhappy. Alex Astor was a premium jerk, an abusive, misogynistic dickhead who lived a charmed life and never had to suffer consequences.
Cal wasn’t taking the same route they’d come. He’d turned off.
“Where are we going?”
Turns out, he knew a luxury hotel, and they were going to bed.
And staying there all day, with only a long soak in the bath and room service to interrupt what was the most deliriously sensual experience of her life.
Untethered Cal was in turn, voracious and demanding or heartbreakingly gentle. By the time the day was out, there was no way Fin could cling to the notion they were simply good chemistry. And no way he thought that, either.
“Do I get an upgrade?” she joked while they were sprawled side by side, both of them sated and yet reluctant to shower and dress to go home.
He nuzzled her shoulder. “There is nothing about you that needs an upgrade. Never was.”
She rolled on her side to face him. She couldn’t get enough of looking at him when he was at ease and happy. He looked younger, strain she hadn’t realized he carried dissolved from around his eyes and mouth. “Not that kind of upgrade.”
“What kind of upgrade do you want?” He quirked a brow. “Keep Alex’s car.”
“You’re returning the car.”
“Killjoy.”
“Everlasting is almost over. I’m not your One Night Wife anymore.” He put his hand to the back of her head, cradled it with fingers spread wide. He made her feel desired, treasured. Made her want to be his every night wife. The thought was a star exploding.
“What do you want to be?” His voice was crushed and husky. Did he know what she was thinking?
“You were right. This changes everything.” She was a fool to think it wouldn’t.
He took her hand in his. “Does that flip you out?”
“No. I like us. Does it flip you out?”
“I like us, too. More than I imagined possible.”
“What do we do about that?”
“We do more us,” he said. “Will that work for you as an upgrade?”
It would work like opening night, like signing on with a new agent, like getting a callback and winning a meaty part. Better because she didn’t want any of those things now. She wanted to use her new skills and connections to keep raising money, keep registering charity partners, and sending out loans to improve the lives of a million women and their families. All those things Cal had made possible, she wanted more. All those things he could still make possible, if they were in love.