***

Sabrina staggered toward the elevator, her legs still shaking from the intense encounter. She’d tried to compose herself in his bathroom—to no avail. She was a mess, and the signs of sex were clearly written all over her body: her ruffled hair, her flushed face, the love bites he’d left on her skin, the pleasant humming between her legs, the scent of Daniel on her skin.

She was certain that anybody she’d run into on her way home would instantly know that she’d just had the most mind-blowing sex of her life. She was relieved to see that the elevator was empty but dreaded the moment she had to cross the lobby, where the hotel staff could surely guess that she’d been in a guest’s room to have sex.

Pearls of sweat built on her forehead. Sabrina opened her purse to pull out her handkerchief to pat herself dry and instantly noticed an unfamiliar item in it. She pulled out the envelope she knew hadn’t been there earlier.

Curiously she opened it. In it were several hundred dollar bills and a handwritten note.

Thank you for the most wonderful night. Daniel.

Sabrina knew she couldn’t accept the money. She couldn’t accept money for something that had made her feel like a real woman again. No man had ever given her so much pleasure in her life, and she wasn’t going to let him sully this feeling by taking his money. Yes, he’d paid the agency, but she would tell Holly to keep that. She didn’t want a penny of it.

What she’d given Daniel tonight, she’d given freely, and what she had received in turn from him, was more than she’d expected to ever receive from any man, let alone from one, who thought she was an escort.

His tenderness, his passion, his selflessness in pleasing her were things she’d never seen in any of the men she’d dated. Why a man who believed her to be an escort would treat her with such care, she couldn’t even begin to comprehend.

In the foyer, she wrote a note to Daniel, slipped it into a new envelope she picked up from the front desk and placed the money in it before she sealed it. She was careful so the front desk staff didn’t see what she’d put in the envelope.

“Could you please give this to Mr. Sinclair in 2307 in the morning?”

“Certainly, madam,” the employee answered and took the envelope from her. He looked her up and down, and she wondered what he was thinking. Was she a sugar mama, who was paying off her gigolo? Not even close.

Sabrina quickly left the lobby and stepped into a waiting cab.

Holly was waiting for her when she came home. As soon as Sabrina unlocked the front door, she heard her friend call out to her from the living room.

“Sabrina, is everything ok?”

She walked toward the living room and stopped at the door. Holly was propped up on the couch, a dry biscuit in one hand and a cup of tea on the coffee table.

“Are you feeling better?”

Holly waved her off. “Much better. Now, tell me, what happened? I didn’t expect you to be out so long.”

Sabrina smiled coyly. “He was very nice.”

“What? Very nice? You think you can dish me off with very nice? I want the whole story.”

Holly patted the space next to her on the couch, signaling to Sabrina to sit down.

“I’m really tired. I should go to bed.” Her resistance was met with a stern look by Holly.

“Oh, no, you won’t. Not until you’ve given me the dirt.”

Sabrina felt her cheeks turn hot. Her friend could be a pest when she wanted to know something.

“You had sex with him,” Holly stated the obvious. “No, wait! You had fabulous sex with him!”

Sabrina couldn’t suppress her smile.

“Oh my God! Sit down, and tell me everything.”

She only told Holly what was absolutely necessary and didn’t go into any of the intimate details of her night with Daniel. She wanted those things to be her own, because she knew that this was all she would get, one fabulous night with an amazing man. She didn’t want to share this experience, not even with her best friend.

She was certain Holly realized that she was holding things back from her, but after a half hour she didn’t press her any longer.

***

Daniel woke from the best sleep he’d had in years. The sun shone into his bedroom since he’d neglected to close the drapes the night before. Instead of jumping out of bed instantly the moment he woke as he normally did, he folded his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling. Then he gazed around the room.

His clothes were strewn all over the floor. Holly’s scent was still all around him, on his skin, on his lips, in the sheets. The memories of the night would see him through the next few weeks until he finalized the deal and then refocused his life. He’d done a lot of thinking since she’d left.