Page 56 of Money Reigns

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A one-night stand.

A secret worth unwrapping in the dark, but never bringing into the light.

A temporary indulgence.

A beautiful body with no permanence attached.

I clench my jaw.

I amnotarm candy.

I amnota pretty distraction.

I amnota body worth dressing up just to be discarded.

“I’m not going to sleep with you,” I blurt.

The words fall sharp and clumsy into the space between us.

Warren’s brows rise, slow and deliberate, like I’ve just said something wildly amusing.

“I didn’t ask to sleep with you, Ms. Baker.”

Ms. Baker.

Sharp. Formal. Like a boundary drawn in ink.

Not Olivia.

My stomach twists.

That’s when it hits me.

He’s WarrenBeaumont.

The man who’s rumored to sleep with whoever hewants,wheneverhe wants.

The man who always has someone on his arm, but never twice.

The man I assumed this was about.

But this gala is a professional event.

Maybe thiswasprofessional.

An invitation, not an implication.

And I just walked in here, dripping with my own damage, and handed him a rejection he didn’t earn.

Because men like him don’tneedto ask. And women like me don’t get invited.

I wince internally.

God. I’m fucking this up.

My cheeks flush. Hard.

“I-I’m so sorry,” I start, shaking my head. “That wasn’t fair. I shouldn’t have assumed—”

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