CHAPTER TWELVE

Maya’s entire body was humming when she floated her way home across the lawn in the early hours of the morning. Richard had spent hours making gentle, almost reverential, love to her and that—combined with his display of jealousy earlier—had left her feeling cherished. And hopeful.

She quashed that feeling; it would lead to expectations, which would lead to disappointment and eventually heartbreak. She kept leaving her heart wide open and it would be her downfall. When this thing ended, she would be left alone with her broken heart and unable to talk to anybody because nobody would know about it. It was a difficult position to be in. But nevertheless—while her body still buzzed with the aftereffects of Richard’s expert ministrations—it was easy to fool herself into believing that what they had was real.

She snuck into the house, knowing that the entire security staff knew about…