Emma woke to sunlight streaming through floor-to-ceiling windows and the unfamiliar weight of Alexander's arm draped across her waist.
For a moment, she just lay there, processing. Last night had happened. Actually happened. They'd crossed every line they'd drawn, burned every bridge back to their careful arrangement, and transformed their contract marriage into... what, exactly?
Something real. He'd said that. No more contract. Just us.
Emma turned her head to look at him. Alexander was still asleep, his face relaxed in a way she rarely saw when he was awake. His dark hair was messy from her fingers running through it last night. There was a faint stubble along his jaw. And his arm tightened around her waist when she shifted, like even in sleep he was afraid she might disappear.
Her heart did that dangerous flip it had been doing with increasing frequency.
She was in love with him. Completely, irrevocably in love with Alexander Sterling.
