Alex woke to sunlight spilling across unfamiliar ceilings and the sharp, disorienting realization that she was not in her own bed.
For a moment, she lay still, staring upward as the events of the previous day filtered back in. The press conference, headlines, the contract she had signed a few days beforehand that now bound her life to Callan Ashford’s in ways she still wasn’t entirely sure she understood.
Cal.
The name surfaced uninvited, lingering in her thoughts in a way that felt…different, too familiar, and all too close.
She pushed the thought away immediately and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She used the movement to ground herself before her mind could wander somewhere unproductive.
By the time she stepped into the main living area an hour later, she was dressed in c
