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“That’s the point.”

Colton adjusted his hard erection.

“These next few months could be…fun,” he muttered, brushing past me to turn the emergency button off. His cologne hit my nostrils like a damn assault, and for a moment, I couldn’t decide whether it was intoxicating or infuriating. “Let loose, Eleanor.”

I faced forward, unable to suppress the scoff that slipped past my lips as the elevator resumed its ascent. I refused to flatter him with a response, which caused him to snicker. Let loose? Coming from him? Real fucking rich.

The ride to my floor dragged in oppressive silence, and the walk down the hallway felt like it lasted an eternity. When I slid my key card into the lock, the door clicked open. Spinning in the doorframe, I faced Colton.

“Thank you for walking me up safely, Mr. Stone,” I said, flashing a sultry smile just to get under his skin.

“You’re welcome, Eleanor,” he replied, his voice tight, before turning to leave.

“I’ll be at your office at eight a.m. sharp. Don’t be late.”

With a forceful slam of the door, I dragged myself inside.

Two things were certain: One, I needed a warm bath, and two, I’d be spending the night draining the batteries of my vibrator.

Chapter 8

Eleanor

I’D WOKEN UP earlier than my alarm that morning, not by choice but because my mind wouldn’t shut up. My head had been spinning since my interaction with Colton. Colt? Mr. Stone? Adding “Mister” in front of his name had somehow become laced with a sexual undertone I wasn’t sure I could entertain.

His suggestion—or what I interpreted as an invitation to continue hooking up—had been on a loop in my brain. Was it bad that I was considering it? That, for once, work wasn’t the only thing dominating my thoughts?

Maybe I did need to care less…

I mean, I was an adult. Hooking up for fun with no strings attached was perfectly normal, right? Especially when this man made me feel needy without even trying. I was molten, consumed with a burning need.

No one I’d ever experienced knew how to fuck like Colton Stone could. That much I’d gathered from a relatively quick hook-up in tight confinement.

If nothing else, maybe I deserved to let go for a bit. To finally experience a good time for once, a stark contrast to the disappointment that had defined my dating life in the city.

All these spiraling thoughts felt like too much—I couldn’t keep going down this path and still expect myself to work efficiently. Since I only had one friend, I dialed her number, putting her on speaker as I got ready. With the time difference, I knew Laney would be awake and probably just getting to her desk.

“Hello, Ice Queen,” she teased, her voice bright with mischief. A familiar thud came through the phone, followed by a creak. I could practically see her plopping into her office chair.

“I screwed up,” I groaned.

Laney sucked in a sharp breath like she was bracing for impact. “No greeting? This must be big.”

“I may have slept with the CEO of Stone Ranch…without knowing who he was.”

The silence hummed in my ear, too much to ignore.

“Laney?”

“Oh, I’m here,” she said after a beat, her voice filled with faux calm. “But I’m gonna need details. How? Where? And most importantly…why?”

I laughed in spite of myself. Only Laney could make me crack a smile in a crisis.

“The how—he told me his name was Tripp Watson.” I wiggled into my tight black dress, yanking it up over my hips. “The where—we met at a bar, and we hooked up in the back of his truck. The why—because he’s quite possibly the hottest man I’ve ever laid eyes on.”

Laney gasped dramatically. “In his truck? Nellie, I’m fanning myself over here.”

If I knew her as well as I thought, she really was. Laney loved to be extra.