All Chapters of Stranger in my Bed: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Erica’s POVI woke up stretched across the sofa, groaning as I arched my back into a long, satisfying stretch that made every inch of my body sing. I felt good. Sore in places I hadn't been sore in years, but good - the kind of ache that made you want to stay wrapped in the memory of it a little longer before facing the day.I glanced around the room. Empty.I wasn't surprised. Some part of me had already braced for it - of course he'd be gone by morning. That was Friday.My hand found my mask, still in place, and I peeled it off with a small wince, my skin thanking me instantly for the relief after wearing it all night. I reached to set it on the side table when I noticed something else there instead.A folded piece of paper.I opened it, and my breath caught somewhere in my chest.It was a note. Not just any note - something achingly close to a love letter, written in a neat handwriting. He talked about last night like it had changed something in him.Bear,I don't quite know how to

Erica’s POVBear.Had I heard that right?I tried to force his name out - Friday - but the tape swallowed it whole, turning it into nothing but a muffled, useless sound against my own lips.He must have understood anyway, because I heard him chuckle, low and warm, the exact same sound that used to make my chest go soft on Friday nights."The one and only," he said.Every cell in my body went cold.This wasn't the fear of a stranger, or the fear of pain, or even the fear of death, though all of that was somewhere in the mix too. This was something worse - the brutal, gutting fear that comes from realizing you handed your heart to someone, freely, completely, and they were never who you thought they were at all.None of it had been real. Of course it hadn't. How had I let myself believe, even for one night, that someone could actually want me - not despite my body, but simply because of who I was inside it? I was fat. Thick. Chubby, however you wanted to soften the word, it all came bac

Erica’s POVAs he carried me toward the bathroom, I hated how good it felt to be held against him - the warmth of his chest, the steady rhythm of his walk, the way my body still remembered exactly how safe this had felt only hours ago. I fought the urge to lean into his neck, to breathe him in the way I used to on ordinary Fridays. For the first time since waking up in this nightmare, I was grateful my hands were still bound. It kept me from doing something stupid, something that would show him I hadn't fully purged whatever I'd felt for him out of my system yet. He couldn't know that. I needed him to believe, completely, that I felt nothing for him now. That I wanted none of this.I opened my mouth to fire off another round of questions, but the words died the second we crossed the threshold into the bathroom.How rich is this man, exactly?It was, without exaggeration, the most beautiful bathroom I had ever seen in my life - and granted, my personal sample size wasn't enormous, but

Erica’s POV The second Heather dropped that bombshell, I knew I needed to leave before she picked the lie apart entirely.I stood up. "I need to go get my stuff from the reception. I probably won't be back until late - I'll head straight to my Saturday session from there." I grabbed a small bag off my dresser, stuffing in some cash and a few essentials while I talked, moving fast enough that it might pass for purpose instead of escape.Heather stood too. "We are not done talking about this. You still haven't told me what kept you out all night. And why do you smell so different?""I was too tired to drive home," I said quickly. "I stayed back at the hotel after my Friday session."That part, at least, was true. I just left out the part where I hadn't stayed alone.She was giving me that look - the one that meant she didn't fully believe me but hadn't decided whether it was worth the fight yet - but I didn't have time to manage her suspicion right now. All I wanted was to find Malcolm

Erica’s POVI sat at Maverick's table, eating the meal he'd put together, while he settled into the seat beside me with his own plate. I tried not to dwell too hard on the strangeness of it - eating a real, home-cooked dinner at my neighbor's house, like this was something that just happened now. It was, genuinely, the first time in longer than I could remember that anyone outside of Heather had actually looked out for me like this. Not even in college. Back then it had just been Heather, always Heather, carrying the weight of caring about me almost single-handedly.Maverick cleared his throat. "So. You seem to always be coming home from dates. What's that about?"I laughed, the lie rolling off my tongue before I'd even fully decided to tell it. "Looking for love, obviously. Can't find it sitting at home."He grinned. "So you're a lover girl, then?""I try to be." I shrugged, a small smile tugging at my mouth. "I spend my whole career planning other people's dream weddings. I'd like t