Chapter 1
MARI
The bass shakes through the floor and climbs into my chest, a relentless beat that makes conversation pointless and dancing irresistible.
Neon lights spill across the packed club, washing strangers in shifting blue and pink.
I tip my glass back, finish the last sweet swallow of my cocktail, and laugh as Susie grabs my wrist and pulls me deeper onto the dance floor.
The crowd swallows us whole. Bodies press close, heat rising in a wave that clings to my skin.
I let it sink into me, let the music loosen the knot of responsibility that always sits between my shoulders.
Tonight, I’m not the girl who spent years hunched over library desks or the one who counted every dollar and stretched it as far as it would go.
Tonight, I’m celebrating.
Hours earlier, I was standing barefoot in my tiny kitchen when my phone rang with a number I didn’t recognize. I almost ignored it, ready to let it go to voicemail, but curiosity made me swipe the screen.
“Ms. Gonzales?” a woman asked, brisk and professional enough to make my pulse skyrocket.
“Yes, this is she,” I said, my throat going dry.
“This is Janet Munson at Levcon Industries. I’m pleased to extend an offer of employment for the Forensic Accountant position you interviewed for. If possible, we’d like you to start on Monday.”
For a moment, I forgot how to breathe. Then the words slammed into me all at once, and I gripped the counter to keep from laughing or screaming, or both. I’d interviewed for that position thinking there was no shot in hell I’d ever get it. And now it was mine!
The call ended in a blur of formalities. I didn’t register a single one. All I remembered was punching Susie’s contact with shaking fingers.
She answered with her usual impatience.
“You’d better be dying or telling me you got that fancy job you’ve been stressing about,” she said, her brusqueness cutting through the line.
Susie absolutely hates talking on the phone.
“I got it!” My voice cracked from the force of excitement. “Levcon just called. I start Monday.”
Her squeal nearly burst my eardrums.
“Oh, my God, Mari! This is huge! We’re going out to celebrate tonight, no arguments.”
Now here we are, standing in the middle of one of Manhattan’s hottest nightclubs, surrounded by flashing lights and music so loud it rattles my bones.
Susie twirls, her silver dress sparkling under the lights, her blonde hair flying around her face as she laughs. She’s a magnet for attention, already catching eyes from every angle, but she only grins at me, urging me to let go.
At first, I’m reluctant, but I give in, swaying with her and letting the rhythm take over. The knot between my shoulders starts to loosen in a way it hasn’t in the last year.
That’s when I see him.
He stands in the roped-off VIP section that overlooks the dance floor, a few feet from anyone else.
Unlike the crowd of guys our age, he doesn’t fidget with his phone or shout to be heard over the music.
He simply stands there, a dark silhouette against the neon haze, radiating a kind of quiet command that draws my gaze like gravity.
The lights shift, and I catch him in full view.
He has salt-and-pepper hair, cut neatly at the sides and longer on top, catching the glow in silver streaks. His jaw is sharp, his mouth set in a line that looks like it rarely curves into a smile.
He’s tall and broad-shouldered, dressed in a tailored suit that fits him so well it must have been made for him. His icy blue eyes scan the club like he’s above it all. His gaze makes my spine straighten immediately, though I can’t quite explain why.
I freeze in place, caught by the sheer force of him.
Susie follows my line of sight, then smirks. She leans close, her lips brushing my ear so I can hear her over the music.
“Wow, he’s hot,” she says, eyeing him appreciatively. “But he’s old, Mari. Like, probably old enough to be your dad.”
My eyes stay locked on him.
“So what?” I shout back over the music. “I’m done with boys. I want a man who knows what he’s doing. Someone who doesn’t think ramen counts as a meal.”
“Careful,” she says dryly. “Older doesn’t always mean better.”
Maybe she’s right. But my gaze slides back to him anyway, tracing the cut of his suit, the casual way his hand rests on the rail. He doesn’t rely on the same showy tactics that every other guy in the club uses.
He projects an authority that probably comes from years of being the most important man in the room.
The music swells. Susie spins again, and I let myself follow, but the decision has already settled in my bones. For once, I’m not going to overthink. I’m not going to weigh every risk like I always do. I worked my ass off to get where I am, and tonight is mine to claim.
I want him, and I’m determined to have him, too.
Susie grabs both my hands and yanks me back toward the center of the dance floor before I can second-guess myself. I let myself move, carefree, celebrating with the girl who has been there through every late-night breakdown and every victory in equal measure.
Susie grins and tilts her chin toward the VIP section. “Don’t look now, but your silver fox can’t take his eyes off you.”
I feel my whole body flush with excitement, forcing myself not to shy away in embarrassment like I normally would. Tonight is about being bold and confident. I’m a goddamn boss. As of Monday, I’ll be an accountant at a huge tech firm. There’s nothing I can’t do.
I laugh, shaking my head as I sway to the beat. “Then we’d better give him a show.” I make eye contact with him, swaying my hips like I mean it.
One moment I’m laughing with Susie. The next, the space behind me is filled by a presence so solid, so commanding, my body recognizes it before my mind does.
Heat rolls off him, the faint brush of a suit against my bare shoulder as he steps into my rhythm. His chest presses lightly to my back, the bass vibrating through both of us, and I close my eyes for a second just to steady myself.
I turn my head enough to catch him in the shifting lights.
Up close, he’s devastating. His jaw is sharp, his stubble catching the glow.
His blue eyes lock on mine with a hunger that sends heat coiling low in my stomach.
He smells like something dark and clean, expensive cologne mixed with a hint of smoke.
Susie’s grin widens as she backs a step, giving me that “go for it” look before she spins off into the crowd, leaving me with him.
He doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t have to. His hands find my hips, guiding me into his rhythm, slow and deliberate despite the frantic beat of the music. I let him lead, our bodies pressed close, the friction sending sparks across my skin.
Every shift of his hands, every roll of his hips, tells me he’s in complete control, and I hate how much I like it.
I tilt my head back slightly, giving him better access as he leans closer, his lips brushing the shell of my ear.
“You’re beautiful,” he says, his voice a low rumble that cuts through the music as if it were made for my ears alone.
The words slide over me like silk. I’m not usually the kind of woman who lets strange men touch me in clubs, but nothing about tonight is usual. Every instinct screams that he’s dangerous, that he isn’t the kind of man who plays games. And maybe that’s exactly why I can’t pull away.
I twist in his hold enough to face him, and the look in his eyes makes my breath catch. Heat burns there, sharp and raw. His thumb brushes against my hip bone with just enough pressure to send a shiver racing up my spine.
I lean closer, my lips a breath from his jaw, and ask, “What’s your name?”
Instead of answering, he lowers his mouth to mine.
The kiss is hard and demanding, without hesitation.
His mouth claims mine like he has already decided I belong to him, and the shock of it sends fire racing through my veins.
My hands come up, pressing against his chest, not to push him away but to anchor myself against the intensity. He tastes like vodka and cigar smoke.
The music around us blurs, the lights dim, and all I feel is the crush of his body against mine, the firm grip of his hands, the relentless kiss that steals my breath. When he finally pulls back, his eyes burn into mine.
“I want you,” he says, blunt and certain, not a request but a fact. His voice is deep enough to vibrate in my bones. “Now.”
My pulse stumbles.
Before I can find a reply, he takes my hand and pulls me off the dance floor. The crowd parts without question, some glancing at him with wariness, others with curiosity, but no one dares to step in his way. I barely manage to grab Susie’s arm as we pass her.
“Where are you going?” she shouts, laughing, though her eyes search mine to see if I’m okay.
I lean close and yell back, “I’ll see you later!”
“Make good choices!” she hollers, her mantra every time we go out, shaking her head at me.
“Always,” I mouth, though my grin feels reckless, my heart pounding in agreement with the bass.
He doesn’t slow until we slip down a darker hallway near the back of the club. Away from the main lights, the shadows wrap around us, muffling the music. The second we’re out of sight, he presses me against the wall, his mouth crashing back to mine.
I gasp against his lips when he trails kisses down my jaw to my throat, biting lightly before soothing the spot with his tongue. My fingers clutch at the lapels of his jacket, needing something to hold onto as his intensity drowns out every thought but one.
When he finally speaks again, his breath is hot against my skin. “There’s a hotel across the street. I have a room.”
The words are raw, stripped of anything but intent.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, the cautious part of me screams. This is reckless and dangerous. I don’t even know this man’s name, for God’s sake. Part of my brain tells me not to follow him to another location, but a stronger part of me screams at that part to shut up and enjoy this.
It has been so long since anyone worthy has given me any attention, and he is everything I had just told Susie I wanted.
I push against his chest, just enough to get a breath of space, my eyes searching his. “You didn’t tell me your name,” I remind him.
“You can call me whatever you like,” he says, and nothing more.
He doesn’t ask for my name in return. Instead, he takes my hand, pulling me toward the back exit that leads straight to the street.
The cool night air hits my flushed skin as we step out into the alley behind the club. My pulse races, but not from fear. For once in my life, I’m not analyzing every angle, not calculating the risks.
Maybe I’ll regret this tomorrow, but tonight, I’m free.