When Phoebe Faulkner woke up, her mind was a complete blank. Her entire body ached, not a single part of her free from soreness. It felt as if she'd been put through a brutal three-hour workout by a trainer, so exhausted she couldn't even lift her arms.
'Where am I?'
Phoebe Faulkner stared at the ceiling above, shaking her head in discomfort. The moment she did, a close-up of a handsome face filled her vision: sharp eyebrows, long eyelashes, a high nose bridge, and thin, sexy lips...
Seeing the man's face appear so suddenly, Phoebe Faulkner's eyes flew wide, and she clapped a hand over her mouth.
'Who is this man?'
'Why is he...'
A flood of images flashed through Phoebe Faulkner's mind. Yesterday was her twentieth birthday. It was also the day she received an internship offer from the prestigious design firm, E&A. As a favor to her second uncle, she had agreed to bury the hatchet with her cousin, who had always targeted her.
Then, she'd had a drink, and after that...
She vaguely remembered arriving at a bustling venue. She faintly recalled seeing many people in masks sitting in an audience. She had felt incredibly hot. 'And then? What happened after that?'
Phoebe Faulkner gazed at the man lying beside her.
'She didn't know him.'
But now, they were lying in the same bed, and she... she didn't seem to be... wearing any clothes.
'She...'
Just as Phoebe Faulkner was lost in thought, the man beside her opened his eyes. His amber pupils held an innate, noble chill, like a waking predator capable of devouring one's very soul.
The moment Phoebe Faulkner saw Jace Lennox open his eyes, her heart nearly leaped out of her chest.
"You... you..."
Jace Lennox's cold eyes swept over the dumbfounded Phoebe Faulkner. He indifferently withdrew his gaze, then turned, got out of bed, and walked into the bathroom.
There were scratches on his back and a bite mark on his shoulder.
Clearly, they were from the night before.
Only when the sound of running water came from the bathroom did Phoebe Faulkner belatedly cover her eyes. The man hadn't been wearing a single piece of clothing when he got out of bed, and his body was covered in so many suggestive marks.
'Last night...'
'What on earth had she and this man done last night?'
AHH—AHH—AHH—
Ignoring her aching body, Phoebe Faulkner wrapped the bedsheet around herself and got out of bed to look for her clothes, all while desperately trying to remember what had happened. 'But where are my clothes?' There wasn't a single piece of her clothing on the floor—only the man's shirt and pants.
Just as Phoebe was looking for her clothes, the bathroom door opened again.
The man appeared before her again, wearing nothing but a bathrobe hanging loosely on his frame. Her eyes were drawn to his tall, handsome figure: his long, straight legs; his bronze, sinfully tempting pectoral muscles; the stray water droplets that trickled from his stark black hair down onto his chest.
Having never witnessed such a steamy sight, Phoebe Faulkner instantly turned as red as a boiled lobster from head to toe.
"You... you..."
Jace Lennox lifted his gaze to Phoebe Faulkner, who stood not far away, wrapped in a bedsheet with her bare feet on the floor.
Seeing this, he swept back the short hair from his forehead, shaking away the drops of water on his cheeks, and strode toward Phoebe Faulkner.
His approach sent Phoebe Faulkner's heart racing uncontrollably.
Phoebe Faulkner instinctively clutched the sheet wrapped around her chest and stumbled backward several steps.
Her back hit the wall behind her.
'Crap!'
'There's nowhere to run!'