An early and a late start.

Leanne woke slowly, her mind drifting up from an intensely vivid dream before she was fully aware of where she was. For a few seconds she lay still with her eyes closed, the events of the previous evening blurred together with whatever carnal creation her sleeping mind had invented. There had been Vinny in the dream, or at least someone who looked very much like him, and the memory left her with a warm, wet feeling between her legs. As she became more awake, another feeling found its way into Leanne’s body. An aching feeling of guilt that she couldn't quite shake. The ache became harder to ignore. It was almost physical. Like she’d had hard, vigorous sex the night before.

She opened her eyes. Vinny was lying beside her. The reality came rushing back.

Leanne stared at him for several seconds. He was completely asleep, breathing deeply, apparently oblivious to the early morning light beginning to creep around the curtains.

It wasn’t a dream at all. She’d really cheated on her husband and fucked Vinny last night after a few too many glasses of wine.

She smiled despite herself. That was the problem.

She had expected regret to hit her like a hammer once the excitement of recalling the night’s details had passed. Instead, she found herself thinking about Vinny again, remembering how easily she had been drawn to him and wondering how dangerous it would be to let herself do it again.

Then the guilt arrived more fully.

Brian. Her husband. Their own vows to remain faithful to one another only. She’d broken that. Leanne had truly never expected to find love again after her divorce from Kyall. Perhaps she didn’t deserve happiness at all. She was a cheater after all. A home wrecker.

Leanne's smile disappeared.

She reached for the edge of the blanket and pulled it around herself as she sat up. Her phone was still back in her room, along with probably a mountain of missed calls she knew would be waiting for her. She could already imagine Brian demanding to know where she'd been. What could she possibly say?

She looked at Vinny again. For one irrational moment she considered waking him. Saying to hell with the consequences and climbing on top of his magnificent cock and riding him again. Her womanhood was very much in agreement with that idea. Her slit started to run freely.

Instead, she reached out and gently touched his shoulder. “Vinny.”

Nothing.

She tried again, slightly louder. “Vinny, wake up.”

He barely stirred before rolling onto his side and pulling the pillow closer.

Leanne smiled. “Typical.”

She stood quietly and gathered her strewn clothes back to herself. She made herself look as presentable as possible without using a light switch or a mirror. Before leaving, she looked back at him one last time. Part of her wanted to stay. Another part knew that staying would only make everything more complicated.

She slipped quietly out of the room.

By the time she reached her own room, the first thing she saw was her phone. The screen was filled with missed calls and messages. Most were from Brian. Leanne closed her eyes briefly.

“Oh, God.” She knew she was going to have some explaining to do.

Leanne wiped a tear away from her eye as she steeled herself to call Brian back and admit to having an affair. Or was it more technically a one-night stand?

Tifffany woke up in her bed before Leanne could make the call. She saw her stepdaughter was awake and quickly tried to turn her head away and tried to wipe away the tear that had just fallen down her cheek. She dearly loved Tiffany and would sincerely miss the girl in the ensuing divorce that would inevitably come.

“What is it, mom?” Leanne heard the girl ask.

God bless her. She’d been so quick to call her mom and not treat her like a wicked stepmother.

“I’m so sorry, dear. I just have to call your father and tell him something horrible I did last night.

Tiffany sat up more fully and looked at Leanne earnestly. “Before you do, ask him if he cancelled Becky’s room booking on the company card and rebooked a suite together on his personal account. Ask him too if the four-thousand-dollar Tiffany & Co charge was for Becky or you.”

Leanne’s eyes went wide. Becky was Brian’s young, attractive secretary, Rebecca Lawson. They went even more so when Tiffany just lay back down and appeared to go straight back to sleep.

Vinny slept long through the morning. When he finally opened his eyes, the room was already bright and Leanne was gone. He reached across the bed without thinking, found nothing, and slowly remembered where he was.

“Leanne?”

No answer. He sat up and rubbed his face. His phone was lying on the bedside table. When he picked it up, the screen immediately filled with notifications. All from Daniel. Several missed calls. A handful of increasingly urgent texts.

Vinny frowned as he opened the first one.

Then another.

Then another.

Vinny stared at the screen. “Oh, shit.”

He scrolled farther. Daniel had apparently been trying to reach him for hours, asking him to help with the groom's preparations.

Vinny looked at the time. 10:30am. He had slept through that one too. There were still some more messages he had yet to check.

He swung his legs out of bed and stood. He could make that one, and if he hurried, he could get a little bit of alone time with Alexa before the priest arrived. Vinny texted Daniel back.

He followed that text up with a quick one to Alexa.

Vinny would have liked to take a quick shower before he went out. He was sure he smelt all sorts of incriminating. Instead, all he had time to do was splash a little water on his face, cover himself in cologne and put on a fresh pair of jeans and a T-shirt.

Vinny was already in the elevator on the way to the ground floor when he got a message back from Daniel.

Yes, Daniel. That was the plan…

The elevator doors opened onto the hotel lobby, and Vinny stepped out, running a hand through his hair as he crossed toward the entrance. The place was already buzzing with wedding activity. A couple of hotel staff were wheeling boxes toward the ballroom, someone was carrying a huge arrangement of flowers through the lobby, and two of Daniel’s other groomsmen were standing near the front desk arguing over something that appeared to involve seating cards.

Vinny kept his head down. The last thing he needed was somebody asking where the hell he'd been all morning.

Outside, the morning was bright and already warm. He pulled out his phone and checked the time again. He had plenty of time to get to the station, but not enough to hang around. Daniel was clearly getting increasingly stressed, and Vinny knew better than to push his luck.

As he climbed into a waiting taxi, his phone buzzed again.

Vinny smiled despite himself.