IN LOVE BY MISTAKE

ChapterThree

Orion’s POV

The knock reverberates through the walls, and the voice follows. She pulls away from me slowly, uncertainty brimming in her eyes, mixed with want. I swallow and move towards the door, sliding the chain.

The door cracks an inch.

“Toast in five,” Gabriel grins, his white teeth visible in the dark. “Come on, man. It is my engagement party. What are you doing hiding in here? And Amaya has been looking for you.”

“Handle it, Gabriel,” I say in an even tone. I try to sound as bored as always, but my pulse disagrees. I am so conscious of the person standing at the other end of the door. Waiting.

Gabriel lifts his hands. “Five,” he repeats, before disappearing down the hallway. Sighing, I close the door behind me and step back into the room.

She stands in the dark, watching me.

“We shouldn’t,” I murmur, because right now, someone needs to be the adult. Someone needs to think about the consequences of their actions. I usually don’t do this. There is something about her that just makes me…

“Okay,” she whispers. Still, she doesn’t budge.

The rest of the night blurs when I cross the space between us, pulling her back into my arms like she belongs there. We don't give. We take, and the walls bear us witness to the fire growing between us.

And when I push into her, her back arches off the bed, and a satisfied sigh escapes her lips. Her hair splayed all over my pillow makes me want to burn the image in my head.

But she’s leaving in two days, and I have no idea who she is.

It is probably for the best.

***

I wake up to the sound of birds by the open windows, the untrue light of a winter morning shining through. The space beside me is empty, but her scent lingers in the air. Her red dress, tossed carelessly last night to the ground, is gone.

And my tux jacket hangs over the back of the chair, folded with care.

Pulling myself out of bed, I try not to think about anything as I go through my daily ritual. Shower, clothes, and a hunt for coffee.

My feet echo through the stairs as I make my way down. I groan silently when I make out the small crowd gathered around the table, talking at the same time. Walking past them, I head to the kitchen and grab an empty mug before moving to the coffee maker.

Gabriel saunters in behind me, leaning against the counter with a knowing look on his face.

"Toast was a success even though you never made it down," he starts with accusation dripping from his tone. "And now that we have gotten Amaya and my engagement out of the way, let's circle back to you. You vanished for the rest of the night."

“Are you sure?” I murmur, moving past him to the coffee beans. “You were busy.”

“Amaya is furious,” he continues, even though his tone betrays him. “And Samaya is…she says she never even saw you last night.”

“Good,” I say dryly. If that is how she wants to play it, then she can be my guest by all means. Maybe she regrets last night, and I guess I should be fine with that.

My best friend blinks. “Good? You told us you’d met her.”

“I did,” I nod, filling my cup with the trickling dark liquid.

Just before Gabriel puts another word in, the kitchen door opens again, and Amaya walks in, her white robe billowing behind. And right by her side is someone else. A lady in red, tall, blonde, with sharp features.

I blink so fast that I feel it in my head.

“Orion,” Amaya whines, coming to stand next to me. “Please tell me you didn’t purposely hide from Samaya all night. She was so excited to meet you and me… I invited you because of her."

“Hide?” I angle my head, confusion washing through me.

The wrong woman. The wrong red dress.

“We never met.” Samaya takes a slow step close to me. She regards me coolly. "I walked around the castle for hours, trying to find you. You were a ghost. I guess Amaya was right when she said you don't like mingling with people."

I feel the beginning of a migraine as the picture falls into place. Amaya told me the lady she wanted me to meet was in a red dress. I assumed…

“You said you weren’t interested when I asked last night,” Amaya snaps, narrowing her gaze in my direction. “Which would have meant…”

“Can we stop talking about this, please?” I mutter, grabbing my coffee and walking out of the kitchen. The events of last night play in my head, and I stifle yet another groan. Finding my way outside, I stare into the distance, my steaming mug in one hand.

The door opens behind me. “Did you sleep with someone who you thought was Samaya last night?” There is no judgment in his tone, just a friend trying to understand what just happened.

I bring my mug to my lips and take a sip.

“Right,” Gabriel murmurs, nodding. “Do you know who she is?”

I look back at him, my eyes falling on the spot where we stood last night, where everything started. “No.”

My best friend scrubs a hand over his face. "I get you out of your house for a few hours, and drama manages to find you."

“It isn’t drama if nothing comes out of it. She left before I got up.”

"Good," he sighs. "Okay. We keep this small. Finish your coffee and look human. Nothing happened last night. You can't look for her, Orion. You are not going to search the guest list or make calls. Let it die last night where it belongs."

I toy with the idea in my head. I can ask my personal assistant to find her in the twinkle of an eye, but I won't. She did this on purpose. I guess she wanted to know what it felt like sleeping with a billionaire.

Anger courses through me. God! I can’t believe I fell for it.

“Amaya and Samaya must not find out about what happened.”

The door cracks open.

“Find out about what?”