Hotel Heat: A Forbidden Encounter

Chapter 1: Unexpected Collision

I’d been in Seattle for three days, drowning in conference calls and PowerPoint slides, when I saw him. Ethan. My roommate Lila’s boyfriend. He was leaning against the hotel bar, a whiskey in hand, looking like he’d just stepped out of a damn cologne ad. Dark hair tousled just right, a jawline that could cut glass, and those piercing green eyes that flicked up to meet mine as I walked in. My heels clicked on the marble floor, and I felt the weight of his gaze like a physical touch. I wasn’t here for this. I was here for work. But hell, my body had other ideas.

'Sophia?' His voice was low, surprised, but there was a smirk tugging at his lips as he straightened up. 'What the hell are you doing here?'

I arched a brow, sliding onto the barstool next to him, my tailored blazer brushing against his arm. 'I could ask you the same, Ethan. Shouldn’t you be back in Chicago, playing house with Lila?'

He chuckled, a sound that sent a shiver down my spine. 'Business trip. Last-minute client meeting. And you? Don’t tell me you’re here to close some big deal in that skirt.' His eyes dipped to the hem of my pencil skirt, and I crossed my legs deliberately, letting the fabric ride up just enough to make him swallow hard.

'Careful, Ethan,' I purred, signaling the bartender for a gin and tonic. 'Keep looking at me like that, and Lila might not be the only one getting a piece of you.'

He leaned in, the scent of his cologne—woodsy, intoxicating—hitting me like a wave. 'And what if I told you I’ve been thinking about you since the day I moved into your apartment? That I’ve been wondering what’s under that ice-queen exterior?'

I laughed, sharp and biting, taking a sip of my drink. 'Oh, honey, I’m not ice. I’m fire. And you’re playing with a match you can’t handle.'

His grin widened, dangerous and hungry. 'Try me.'

The air between us crackled, charged with something reckless and wrong. I knew I should walk away. Lila was my friend. But the way his fingers brushed against mine as he handed me a cocktail napkin, the way his thigh pressed against mine under the bar—fuck, it was like gasoline on a flame. My skin was buzzing, my pulse racing, and I could see the same heat mirrored in his eyes.

'You’re trouble,' I said, my voice dropping low as I leaned closer, my lips inches from his ear. 'But I’ve never been one to back down from a challenge.'

Ethan’s hand slid to my knee under the bar, his touch bold, electric. 'Good. Because I’m not stopping until I’ve got you panting my name.'

My breath hitched, but I didn’t pull away. Instead, I turned my head, our lips almost brushing. 'Then you’d better hope you can keep up, because I don’t play nice.'

We didn’t make it to a room. Not yet. But as his hand crept higher up my thigh, and my fingers curled into the collar of his shirt, I knew we were seconds away from exploding. The bar faded, the noise of clinking glasses and murmured conversations drowned out by the thrum of my own heartbeat. I was wet already, dripping with anticipation, and I could feel how hard he was just from the way he shifted against me. This was wrong. So fucking wrong. But as his lips finally crashed into mine, hungry and desperate, I didn’t care. All I wanted was more.