Chapter 20 Player Two Has Entered the Game #2
“You’re mine, Sage. Say it.”
“I’m yours.”
“You need me to fuck you like this, don’t you? Slow. Deep. Dirty.”
“Yes, yes. Luke…”
“I’ll give you what you need. I’ll fill this tight little cunt so good, you won’t remember how to stand.”
Her moans are desperate now, echoing faintly into the night.
“Touch yourself,” I order. “I want to feel you squeeze around me when you come.”
She does, and a few thrusts later she’s crying out, convulsing around me. I follow with a growl, grinding deep as I spill into her.
We stand there in silence, breathless and shaking, her back to my chest, my arms wrapped around her.
The echo of what we just did still vibrating between us.
I lean my forehead against her back, still buried inside her.
“You okay?”
She nods, hair falling forward like a curtain. “What the hell was that?”
I laugh. “Apparently, you bring out my inner caveman.”
“I approve.”
I press a kiss to her spine. “Let me clean you up.”
When I finally pull my cock out of her, I spin her back towards me, and she stumbles, gripping my arm.
“Well,” she says hoarsely, “that’s one way to say you’re sorry.”
Chuckling, I brush a kiss across her mouth. “That was just the start.”
She’s still catching her breath, her face soft and flushed and glowing.
I tuck her dress back into place, smooth her hair, kiss her once—slow and sweet.
And this time, there’s something sacred in it.
“I want you,” I say quietly. “Not just like this. Not just tonight. I don’t know what the hell we’re doing, but it’s real for me.”
She looks at me like I’ve just undone her all over again.
"Oh god," she gasps afterward, her forehead pressed to my chest. "We just—"
"Yeah."
"At Callum’s engagement party."
"Yeah."
"On a terrace."
"Very nice terrace," I offer, still trying to catch my breath.
She laughs, the sound vibrating through me. "Luke Sterling, you're a terrible influence."
"Me? You're the one not wearing underwear.”
"You're the one who apologizes with that mouth."
"You like my mouth."
"I really do." She pulls back, and even in the shadows I can see her smile. "We should probably..."
"Right. Yes." We separate reluctantly, attempting to restore our clothing to some semblance of propriety. "You go first. Freshen up. I'll follow in a few minutes."
"Very strategic." She smooths her dress, then reaches up to fix my hair. "You look thoroughly debauched, by the way."
"Whose fault is that?"
"Mine," she says proudly. "Definitely mine."
She kisses me once more—quick and sweet—then heads for the terrace door.
I watch her go, wondering how someone can make me lose all control so easily.
"Luke?"
She pauses at the door, looking back.
"Thank you. For the apology. Very... thorough."
"I aim to please."
"You succeed." Her smile turns soft. "I'll see you inside. Save me a dance?"
"All of them," I promise.
She disappears inside, and I take a moment to fully compose myself. The November air helps clear my head, and I'm almost presentable when I head back to the party.
I'm scanning the crowd for Sage when Daniella appears at my elbow like a corporate ninja.
"Have a nice chat?" she asks dryly.
"Very productive."
"Your shirt's untucked in the back."
I fix it quickly. "Better?"
"Marginally." She pulls out her tablet again. "Now can I finish what I was trying to tell you?"
"Daniella, I already know about the financial situation. We can work something out—"
"It's not just the finances." Her voice drops. "I was reviewing the SafeStay system logs for the quarterly report, and I found something. Luke, someone accessed your SecureMatch profile repeatedly from the same IP address. Fifteen times in the two weeks before you met."
The warmth from the terrace starts to fade. "So? Lots of people probably looked at my profile."
"From Alder Ridge? From the Cascade View Inn's IP address?" She turns the tablet toward me. "Look at the timestamps. Look at the pattern. She studied you, Luke. Your interests, your preferences, your schedule—"
"Stop."
But I take the tablet, staring at the evidence.
Time stamps. IP addresses.
A clear pattern of someone—Sage—studying my profile obsessively before I ever arrived at her inn.
"There's a logical explanation," I say, but my voice sounds wooden even to me.
"Luke..." Daniella's voice is gentle now. "I ran a deeper analysis. The SecureMatch algorithm was tampered with. Someone used a fairly sophisticated SQL injection to modify the matching parameters. Want to guess where those modifications originated?"
I hand back the tablet, my mind racing. The repeated matches.
Her surprise that wasn't quite surprise when I showed up.
How quickly she agreed to the SafeStay partnership.
Everything suddenly looks different through this lens.
"She targeted you," Daniella says quietly. "Saw your profile, knew about SafeStay, knew about your resources, and then manipulated the system to ensure you'd match. Repeatedly. Until you noticed."
I think about Sage on the terrace, warm and willing and saying my name like a prayer.
Was that calculated too?
"Maybe there's an explanation—"
"Luke." Daniella's voice is firm. "She hacked a dating app to trick you into coming to her failing inn. What explanation makes that okay?"
I don't have an answer.
Because fifteen minutes ago, I was inside Sage Winters on a terrace, feeling like everything in my life had finally clicked into place.
And now I'm standing in a ballroom realizing I've been played.
Again.
"Do you want me to handle this?" Daniella asks. "I can have legal—"
"No." The word shoots out like a bullet—and just as deadly. "No. I'll... I'll handle it."
"Luke—"
"Where is she?"
"Powder room, I think. But—"
I'm already walking away, my mind a chaos of data points and betrayal.
Fifteen times.
She accessed my profile fifteen times.
Studied me like I was a mark, not a person.
The warmth from the terrace feels like mockery now.
Every kiss, every touch, every breathy sound.
Was any of it real? Or was it all just part of her fucked-up plan to save her inn?
I find myself at the bar, ordering whiskey I don't want, trying to process how I let this happen again.
"You okay?" Connor appears beside me. "You look like someone just told you Santa isn't real."
"Something like that," I mutter.
"Where's Sage? You two disappeared earlier."
"She's..." I spot her emerging from the powder room, looking radiant and slightly flushed.
Our eyes meet across the room, and she smiles.
Bright. And sexy.
And utterly false.
Or is it?
I don't know anymore.
"Luke?" Connor's watching me with concern. "What's wrong?"
"I think," I say slowly, "I've made a terrible mistake."
The shields are going up now, brick by brick, mortared with data and doubt. By the time Sage reaches us, I'm fully armored.
"Hi," she says, slightly breathless. "Sorry, there was a line. Did I miss anything?"
"No," I lie, my voice already cooling. "Nothing important."
Her smile falters slightly at my tone. "Luke? Is everything okay?"
No, I think.
Nothing is okay. Because you hacked your way into my life, and I was too stupid to see it.
"Everything's fine," I say instead. "Would you like champagne?"
And just like that, the walls are up.
Reinforced and impenetrable.
Just like they should have been from the start.