The Billionaire’s Bargain

ChapterEight

CHAPTER EIGHT

Room 321, Royal Hotel, Los Angeles

Emily’s POV - 7am

The sunlight was the first thing I felt.

Warm, soft, and too bright for the headache pounding behind my eyes.

I blinked, slowly, taking in the unfamiliar ceiling, the sheets tangled around me, and then, him.

He was lying beside me, half-covered by the sheets, his chest rising and falling in the quiet.

For a moment, I just stared.

He looked different in sleep. Softer and more Human.

Not like the man who had pulled me close the night before, all fire and mystery.

Then it hit me.

What I’d done.

My heart started racing. The room suddenly felt too small, too heavy.

I sat up, trying to find my dress, my shoes, my phone, anything that reminded me of the world outside this room.

He shifted slightly, his hand brushing against my thigh in his sleep.

I froze.

The touch was light, innocent, but it made my chest tighten.

I shouldn’t be here.

This wasn’t me.

Quietly, I stood, dressed as fast as I could, my fingers trembling.

I took one last look at him, his messy hair, the faint smile tugging at his lips.

Something inside me whispered stay.

But I couldn’t.

So, I left.

Closing the door gently behind me, leaving nothing but the faint scent of vanilla and regret in the air.

Ethan’s POV - 10am

The first thing I felt was the emptiness beside me.

The sheets were cold where she’d been.

I sat up, still half-asleep, half-hopeful that maybe she’d just gone to the bathroom.

But the room was silent.

Too silent.

Her perfume lingered in the air, soft, sweet and impossible to forget.

I rubbed my hand over my face, trying to push away the strange ache sitting in my chest.

It was just one night and that was the rule.

No names. No attachments. No second looks.

Still…

Something about her wouldn’t leave my mind. I remembered the way she’d looked at me, like she saw something beyond the man everyone else saw.

I lay back down, staring at the ceiling.

“She’s gone,” I muttered to myself. “Just like it’s supposed to be.”

But even as I said it, a thought whispered through the silence, Some things don’t end, even when they should.

And somehow, I knew this wouldn’t be the last time I saw her.