Never in his wildest dreams had Justin envisioned them heading to his apartment. To his bed.
Well, maybe in his wildest dreams. He just hadn’t expected it to happen.
He wasn’t complaining. He’d wanted her for months.
She’d been a firecracker and she had put on an impressive show. She’d met him touch for touch, kiss for kiss, demanding more until he’d given all he had to give, and then had still found the strength to give more.
He stretched his arms over his head, surprised his muscles weren’t protesting his vigorous nocturnal activities. Instead he felt glorious—it was like the best runner’s high.
Amazing what a night of phenomenal sex with the right woman did for a man.
And Riley was the right woman.
He’d suspected that from the moment they’d met, and finally she seemed to have quit denying there was something between them.
She hadn’t said no, nor had she rolled her eyes and laughed. What she’d said had turned him inside out and shattered all doubts that they were meant to be a couple.
Anticipating the vision of Riley sleeping in his bed, her beautiful hair sprawled out on his pillow, he rolled onto his side and opened his eyes.
What?
The space where Riley should be lying was empty.
Was she already awake and hadn’t awakened him?
Listening for sounds in the bathroom, or coming from the kitchen, he didn’t hear the slightest creak.
With a rising sense of unease, he sat up and glanced to the bedroom floor where they’d stripped each other.
Riley’s clothes were missing.
Empty bed, quiet apartment, missing clothes.
Reality gut-punched him, wreaking havoc with his earlier post-phenomenal-sex euphoria.
Riley was gone.
Why hadn’t she woken him?
Getting out of bed, he grabbed a pair of shorts from a drawer, then made his way through the apartment, looking for some sign that she’d really been there and that he hadn’t dreamed the entire night.
Surely she’d left a note?
A glass slipper?
Something?
Nothing.
She’d awakened, dressed, and left.
Raking his fingers through his hair, he considered his options.
He didn’t have her phone number. Why hadn’t he gotten it last night when he’d had the chance?
Because he hadn’t expected to wake up alone. Not after the hot kisses they’d shared. The hot everything they’d shared.
Taking a pre-made bag of vegetables and fruit from his freezer, he dropped them into his blender, along with a scoop of protein powder, poured in some almond milk, put on the lid, then pressed the button.