ool metal wall, her chest heaving, and frantically jabbed the button for the ground floor. The opulent b

g as she tried to wipe away the smeared mascara from un

ice crackled through a small speak

hall I contact Ms. Sloane Kensington's office to

hand froz

Ster

Kensi

se

she'd started yelling. His question about a fiancé. He hadn't been a generic predator hunting fo

t lived in a penthouse like this. Julian Sterling. The ruthless boy-genius CEO of Sterling Automotive Group. The

t with a stranger. S

ke a museum. Without a second thought, she bolted. She ran past a doorman

ven stones. The morning air was frigid, a brutal shock to her system that did nothing to cool the fire of panic i

nd pale, blotchy skin, she made a vow. No one would ever know. This

w, watching the small, frantic figure of a woman with disheveled hair

etallic lying on the gray rug. He bent down and picked it up. It was the pull tab from the zipper of

phone and dialed a

y, irritated voice answered. "This had

voice flat. "I need you

meone? Did the ice king finally melt? Was it Sloane? I told you s

ght. "The woman I was with last night wasn't

"She... what? A woman ran away from your bed? Di

ecise, like a detective dictating a report. "Dark hair, about fiv

en in SoHo on a Saturday ni

ide table, then back to the rumpled sheets. He remembered

ence credit card receipts for single female patrons ordering tequila shots between ten and eleven." He p

's getting interesting. A woman on the rebound.

goodbye. His assistant knock

family is... displeas

in on the ground floor of our next clean energy subsidiary," Julia

osing not to ask about the woman

s reflection in the mirror. Across his chest, almost hidden by the dark ha

tory smile to

ion, to the ghost of the woman who had le