Page 117 of Bound Lies

He chuckles for a second, but then his body becomes rigid beneath me, and I cringe as I realize what I’ve just said.

“The second time?”

My cheeks burn, which is all the answer he needs.

“Wait…Riley, were you a virgin in Vegas?”

I want nothing more than for the floor to open up and swallow me whole. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so mortified in my entire life.

“Riley.”

“Why does it matter?” I pull away just enough so I can see the blatant look of horror on Kieran’s face.

“It matters because it changes everything.”

I swallow past the lump in my throat. “Why? What difference would it have made if you had known?”

I climb off his lap and adjust my skirt, trying not to wince as his seed drips down my thigh.

“It would have made all the difference because⁠—”

His phone buzzes in his pocket.

“Fuck, it’s Ronan,” he mutters after glancing at the screen.

I want to scream as Kieran gets to his feet and quickly refastens his pants. Of course, he’s choosing work over having this conversation with me.

“Kieran—”

“I have to take this,” he mutters before disappearing into his study, leaving me to stare after him because I know exactly what he was about to say.

That it would have made all the difference because he would have never slept with me in Vegas if he had known I was a virgin.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

KIERAN

"Fuck!" The word bursts out of me the second I shut my office door.

Of all the ways that conversation could have gone, I picked the worst goddamn one.

I can still see Riley’s face in my mind, the way her eyes welled up as she tried to keep herself from crumbling.

She thinks I wouldn’t have touched her if I knew she was a virgin, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

If I had known, I would have made a whole event out of it. Candles. Music. A bed. I would have given her a night she would want to remember, because losing your virginity is meant to be special.

Instead, I gave her a quick fuck on the edge of a pool deck in Vegas.

What the hell was she thinking, letting me do that? But more importantly, what the hell was I thinking? Regardless of her virginity, I should have at least taken her back to the room before getting my cock out, but I was so blinded by need that all I could think about was burying myself inside her.

I collapse into the chair behind my desk and run my fingers through my hair as I’m hit with a realization that knocks the wind out of me.

I'm not just into Riley. This isn't just a fling or some lust-driven distraction.

I'm falling in love with her.

That truth hits me like a wrecking ball, considering the fact that I’ve probably just ruined every chance I had with her.