Chapter 9:Fantasy or Nightmare
1230 Words
Leo’s POV
The air was heavy with the scent of vanilla and expensive champagne. I was lying back on a mattress that felt like a cloud, the silk sheets cool against my bare skin. I looked around the room, blinking through a soft, hazy glow. The dark oak panels, the floor-to-ceiling glass looking out over the neon grid of Salt City, the massive gilded mirror by the door... It all looked incredibly familiar.
Right. It’s my bedroom. I’m in my penthouse.
The frosted glass door to the master bathroom slid open with a soft, whispery hiss. Steam curled out into the bedroom, and through the white mist, Evie walked out.
My breath caught in my throat, freezing entirely.
She wasn't wearing her accounting-seminar turtleneck. She wasn't wearing jeans. She was wearing a hopelessly short, entirely see-through black mesh nightgown that clung to every single curve of her body. Underneath the sheer fabric, the outline of a tiny black thong left absolutely nothing to the imagination. Her hair was damp, framing a face that looked softer, wilder, and more devastating than it had at the restaurant.
She walked toward the bed, her hips swaying with a slow, agonizing confidence. A small, wicked smile played on her lips.
"I know what you want, Leo," she murmured, her voice a low, sultry purr that vibrated straight down to my toes.
She stopped right at the edge of the mattress. Her hands reached up to the delicate silk straps at her shoulders. Slowly, deliberately, the nightgown began to slide down. It slipped past her collarbones. It slid lower. And lower. And lower.
Just as the fabric was about to dip past the swell of her breasts, a jarring, high-pitched noise shattered the silence.
“♪ Pretty little baby♪”
The world violently tilted. The vanilla scent vanished, replaced by the mundane smell of my laundry detergent. The mesh nightgown evaporated.
I bolted upright in bed, gasping for air, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped animal. The sun was streaming through the curtains, blinding me. I was sweating, tangled in my own sheets, and my phone was vibrating violently on the nightstand, blaring the upbeat, cheerful track I had specifically assigned to my mother.
I fumbled for the phone, my thumbs feeling like blocks of wood. I pressed it to my ear, my voice cracking with a mix of sleep and absolute psychic trauma. "H-hello?"
"Leopold, finally," Beatrice Vane’s crisp, clipped voice echoed through the speaker. "Do you always sleep like the dead? It’s nearly mid-morning."
"Mom," I mumbled, burying my face in my free hand, trying to scrub the image of a sheer black nightgown out of my retinas. My face was burning hot. Oh my god. I had just dreamed about her. A full, vivid, entirely inappropriate dream about the girl I was paying to save my trust fund. How am I ever going to look her in the eye again? Every time she opens her mouth to talk about spreadsheets, I’m just going to see her in a thong. I’m ruined. I’m legally dead.
"Pay attention, Leopold," my mother snapped, cutting through my internal spiral. "Your father and I have decided to head up to the mountain estate a day early. There are a few logistical things that need handling before the rest of the Sterling clan arrives on the twenty-first."
"Okay... cool. Have fun in the snow," I muttered, still staring at the blank wall of my bedroom in shock.
"It is not a vacation yet," she corrected sharply. "I need you to bring a list of items up with you when you drive up tomorrow with... what was her name? Evie?"
"Yeah. Evie." Just saying her name made my stomach do a dangerous, fluttery somersault.
"Leopold, don't try to be smart with me," she replied, her tone cool and entirely unimpressed. "Consider this a test of your new 'responsible' lifestyle. I am sending the list now. Do not forget the wine, and do not be late tomorrow. Goodbye."
The line went dead with a sharp beep.
I dropped the phone onto the mattress and just stared at the ceiling, completely frozen. The silence of the penthouse settled back in, but my brain was still a chaotic warzone.
"How did I get here?" I whispered to the empty room.
Two days ago, my biggest worry was whether my VibeCheck video would hit a million views. Now, I was locked into a high-stakes scam with a girl who was currently rewriting the physics of my attraction meter, holding a white lily I’d given her, and starring in my subconscious nightmares.
I pulled the duvet off my legs and looked down. Yep. The dream had left a very real, very lingering impact.
"Unbelievable," I muttered, sliding my legs over the edge of the bed. I rubbed my face with both hands, feeling the heat still radiating off my cheeks. "One more. I need exactly one more cold shower, or I am going to combust before I even hit the highway tomorrow."
I walked back into the bathroom, carefully avoiding looking at the frosted glass door where the imaginary Evie had just been standing. If this was how I was reacting before we even packed the car, the next fourteen days in a secluded mountain mansion weren't just going to be a test of my acting skills. They were going to be a test of my survival.
I turned the knob straight to the freezing blue setting, bracing myself as the icy deluge hit my skin. I stood there, letting the numbing cold wash over me, trying desperately to overwrite the memory of her touch. But my mind was stubborn. The cold water only seemed to heighten the memory of how warm she had felt, how soft her lips were, and the terrifying realization that I was entirely out of my depth.
By the time I stepped out, shivering and wrapped in a plush towel, my phone buzzed on the counter. It was the list from my mother—a detailed, demanding inventory of vintage Bordeaux and specific luxury creams. But right below it was a notification that made my breath hitch all over again.
Evie: Just making sure you haven't backed out, Vane. Get some sleep. Tomorrow, the real work begins.
I stared at the text, my fingers hovering over the keyboard. I wanted to write something witty, something that proved I was still the unbothered, chronically unserious Leo everyone knew. But my heart was hammering so loudly I was convinced she could hear it through the network.
Leo: Please. A Vane never backs out of a challenge. See you tomorrow, sunshine.
I tossed the phone onto the bed, staring at the open suitcase waiting for me. I had twenty-four hours to lock this attraction down, bury it deep under a layer of comedy, and prepare for the performance of a lifetime. Because if my family found out the truth, I’d lose my inheritance. But if Evie found out what she was doing to my sanity? I’d lose my mind.And I plan on taking everything to my grave my feelings and this dream of her I had.
- Writer
