She Left She Thrived She’s Worth Billions novel Chapter 383

A spark of annoyance flared in Melanie. She glared at him and snapped, "Can't I just be single? Do I have to be with someone?"

Preston froze and released her.

"I'm sorry..."

The apology sounded genuine enough to her.

"If you know you're wrong, get off me. You're crushing me."

He pushed himself up, his movements noticeably rigid.

"If you don't mind... I need to... use your bathroom."

His strained voice reached her ears, and the realization of exactly why he needed a shower hit her instantly.

"Ahem!"

She cleared her throat as fresh heat scorched her cheeks.

"Go ahead. It's your apartment anyway."

"Thank you."

Once he disappeared into the bathroom, Melanie sat up, realizing her pajamas were hopelessly wrinkled from his weight.

They hadn't even done anything!

Yet the rumpled mess of her clothes made it look as though they had just finished a marathon session in bed.

Smoothing out her top in the mirror, a sudden thought struck her—Preston could have easily gone back to his own en-suite to take a cold shower!

It was literally right on the other side of the wall. Surely he wasn't so desperate that he couldn't last the extra five seconds it would take to walk to his room?

She tapped her chin in thought, just as the bathroom door clicked open and Preston stepped out.

He wore a plush bathrobe, but the tie was conspicuously loose, leaving a deep V-neck that showcased his sculpted, damp chest.

In a suit, he looked sharp and lean, but underneath, he was pure muscle.

Stripped of his strictly professional black suits, shirts, and ties, every movement he made now practically dripped with raw sexual tension.

Melanie watched him towel-dry his hair.

Every bead of water tracing down his skin seemed to radiate a heavily musky, intoxicating scent.

"Manipulative," she muttered under her breath.

He paused his toweling.

"Get some sleep. Good night."

His strikingly handsome face was mere inches from hers. The hot shower had given his luminous skin a healthy flush, softening the usual predatory sharpness of his sculpted jawline.

Staring at a man this gorgeous, she figured an elevated heart rate was simply biology at work.

"G-good night..."

Long after he had left the master bedroom, the air still seemed thick with his lingering scent.

She lay in bed, tossing and turning for hours.

In the guest room next door, Preston had changed into his sleepwear and was lying in the dark.

He couldn't sleep either.

His reasons, however, were far more complicated than hers.

The glow of his phone screen illuminated his face, casting sharp shadows across his striking features.

Just moments ago, he had received an unprecedented text from his mother:

Elara said she couldn't reach you all day. Are you tied up with business?