Page 29 of Night and Day

Oh God.

He gripped my elbow and guided me into the guest chair. I dropped into it like a heavy sack.

“You’re pale as a ghost, and that’s saying something, considering you have pale skin anyway.” His brows knitted as he knelt beside my chair.

“You were at the Mountain Masquerade,” I said dully, my hands gripping the armrests tightly. I needed something to hold on to. “You made the fifty-thousand-dollar donation.”

He froze. “How could you know that?”

Then his gaze dropped to where my hands clenched on the chair…and locked on my bracelet. He stared at the citrine, garnet, peridot, and topaz, then sucked in a sharp breath.

Tiger eyes flicked back up to mine, his gaze tracing over my face. I wondered how often Ambrose Langston looked shocked speechless.

“Fairy queen,” he murmured.

I flinched, and ruthlessly ignored the hot squirming in my stomach. I’d fucked Ambrose Langston.

I’d let the billionaire owner of Langston Hotels go down on me and fuck me in the hotel ballroom.

I made a strangled sound.

He shot to his feet and raked a hand through his hair. “Well, this is…unexpected.”

Once again, the master of understatement.

Okay, I had two options. One, run out of here screaming and never come back. I pulled a face. As much as I liked that idea, it couldn’t happen. Damn mortgages and needing to eat. Two, I could pull on my big girl panties and take responsibility.

Which only reminded me that Langston had taken my thong that night.

I fought the urge to squirm and rose. My cheeks were probably on fire. I locked my shaky knees and I dragged in a breath, which meant I got a full dose of his masculine scent. I felt sensation prickle over my skin.

No, no sensation. No reaction to this man at all.

“What happened…was a mistake. As I said, I never do that kind of thing.” Now I wondered how often Langston nabbed some anonymous woman and gave her multiple orgasms. The warmth in my belly cooled to ice. “I take full responsibility, and I assure you, it will never happen again.” Because I might just swear off men and become a nun. I lifted my chin and made myself meet his gaze. “Can we please forget it ever happened?”

He was quiet for a long beat. “Can you forget that easily?”

Those words shivered through me and I swallowed. “Yes.”

No, my inner hussy yelled. I don’t want to forget. I want him to touch me again.

He gave one brisk nod. “Very well. I’m here to work, and soon, I’ll leave to head to our next acquisition.” He paused. “The other night wasn’t usual for me, either.”

Great, time to charge forward like it had never happened. “Well then, Mr. Langston?—”

He held up a hand. “I think, under the circumstances, we should drop the formalities. Can I call you Tessa? After all, we have…”

He drifted off.

Um, yeah, no polite way to end that sentence. “Tessa’s fine. I’m usually on a first-name basis with people—” I cut myself off.Oh, jeez. People who’ve been inside me? People who’ve made me come so hard I couldn’t remember my own name? My left eye twitched. “Can I call you Ambrose?”

“Hell, no.”

I jolted. “Sorry.”

“No, I mean, only my father calls me Ambrose, usually with a heavy dose of anger or disappointment. It’s Ro. My friends call me Ro.”

“Ro.” Wow, I was on a first-name basis with a billionaire. One who’d given me multiple orgasms. I really needed to get out of there and take a moment to regroup. I sighed. “I know this is awkward?—”