By the time I returned to the villa, the sun had dipped below the cliffs, draping the world in that quiet blue-gray light that always made secrets feel safer. The ocean murmured against the rocks below, and faint music drifted through the open windows.
I didn’t knock. I walked in like I belonged to him because I did.
He stood in the kitchen, shirtless and barefoot, a glass of bourbon in hand, staring out the window as if he’d been waiting. When he turned, he didn’t speak. Just poured a second glass and held it out, his dark eyes burning into mine.
Our fingers brushed as I took it. Sparks.
I drank. So did he.
Then I stepped closer, my voice low. “I need to forget. Just for tonight.”
A single nod, his jaw tightening. That was all it took.
The glass slipped from my hand, clinking softl
