One Night Stand: Episode Four Read online

  One Night Stand: An Erotic Serial

  Episode Four

  Sarah Robinson

  Contents

  Author Note

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Epilogue

  Want More of Emma & Dylan?

  A Sneak Peek of Wylde Fire

  About the Author

  Also By Sarah Robinson

  Author Note

  This is the fourth and last episode in a four-part erotic serial romance. Please make sure you have read the first three episodes before starting this episode!

  Chapter One

  Emma

  How could last night have gone so wrong?

  It had started out with so much promise--my sister’s wedding, all of my family in one place, and the man I was beginning to fall for by my side. I had never really admitted that out loud before, mainly because I wasn’t even sure I had been aware of how deep my feelings for Dylan were becoming.

  But the moment Dylan drove away from me last night?

  That’s when I knew.

  I’d just let the man I wanted to be with...the man I loved and who I think might have loved me...leave. And it was all my own fault.

  Dylan had found me kissing my ex-boyfriend not even hours after we’d last been together. Only a few hours after he’d told me that he wanted to change his flight to stay here and be with me longer. He wanted to pursue something real with me. He felt something real for me.

  A few days ago, Dylan had been nothing more than a swipe on Tinder. I’d never thought he’d be more than a one night stand. I never thought he’d mean anything to me. And yet, a few days spent together, a few nights cuddled around each other, and that was all I ever wanted.

  So why had I let Blake kiss me?

  Why had I ruined something so good for someone that I truly didn’t feel anything for? Blake and I had dated for a long time and, yes, he’d been my first love. My first everything, really. But our relationship had had its flaws, and it took him leaving for me to see that. Because that’s what he did--leave me--and then the moment I was starting to find happiness again, Blake swept back into my life and attempted to disrupt that.

  Well, not really attempted. That’s exactly what he’d done.

  What Dylan hadn’t known or seen when Blake kissed me was that it was a goodbye kiss. It was his one last attempt to win me back and my refusal to be won. I had said goodbye to every year I’d been with Blake in that single act, and, truthfully, I didn’t regret it. I think it needed to happen. It closed a door on a chapter of my life that I needed to be over.

  I just wish it hadn’t hurt Dylan in the process.

  Dylan was so sure that I had chosen Blake over him--that I had betrayed what we’d had together. He didn’t understand that I had chosen him. I had let Blake go.

  And then Dylan had let me go.

  I rolled over in bed and pulled the blankets up higher around me. It was still pretty early in the morning the day after the wedding, and I knew that none of my family was up yet. We’d all be meeting up for a family brunch in the hotel lobby.

  Dylan was supposed to be there.

  Honestly, I wasn’t sure that I could face him. The way he was going to look at me...the pain I was going to see in his eyes? I was tempted to just turn back over and go to sleep.

  Sighing, I knew that wasn’t an option. I climbed out of bed and took my time going through the shower and getting dressed. Dragging my feet would be an understatement. By the time I was actually finished putting on makeup and fixing my hair, I had several missed text messages from my sister and cousin asking when I was coming to brunch.

  I took one last glance in the mirror and then headed for the door. If I was going to have to see Dylan, then I wanted to at least look like someone he might miss. Thankfully, I was staying in the hotel even though I didn’t live too far away, so all I had to do was walk downstairs.

  “Emma!” My sister waved me over when I entered the hotel lobby. The restaurant was just off to one side and I could see that most of my family and the wedding party were already slamming back mimosas.

  “Hey,” I greeted her as I sat down in an open chair across from her. “Ready for the honeymoon?”

  Elise nodded, beaming as she looked over at her new husband. “We’re already packed and leaving right after this!”

  “Aruba is going to be amazing,” I told her. “I’m actually a little jealous!”

  My sister laughed, tilting her head back slightly. “Don’t be jealous. We should take a sister’s trip in a few months or next year. Maybe Mexico?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “That actually sounds really great.”

  It had been a while since I’d been on a trip of any kind, and while there was no particular reason for it, I was beginning to realize that I needed to ask more from my life. My sister started telling me about her experience at the wedding last night and how much she loved everything about their special evening. I nodded along and chimed in when appropriate, but all the while, I was looking around the room to see if I could spot him.

  “Who are you looking for?” Jackson leaned in close to me and whispered in my ear.

  I could feel my cheeks heating as my eyes met his. “Uh...what do you mean?”

  He lifted one brow, eyeing me like he didn’t believe a word I was saying. “Let me guess--Dylan?”

  I looked away. “I don’t think he’s here.”

  “He’s not.” Jackson leaned a little closer. “And I think you know why.”

  My eyes shot to him, narrowing. “What are you saying?”

  “I saw him last night. The man was crushed.”

  Guilt swarmed through her. “He told you?”

  “He didn’t really need to,” Jackson replied. “I’ve known him long enough to know when he’s struggling. To tell you the truth, I was actually surprised.”

  I frowned. “Surprised about what?”

  “That he was even that invested in the first place in order to get that upset.”

  I didn’t reply to that. Hell, I knew from the outside looking in that none of it made sense. We’d only known each other a few days. We both had our own lives in totally separate parts of the country, and there was really no reason why anything should have happened between us.

  But it did.

  And the way it felt? The way we felt--or at least the way I felt--was indescribable. The things I was feeling, experiencing...it was deeper than I’d felt with Blake after years together.

  A lump formed in my throat as I thought about it, and about how everything had been ruined...gone.

  “I’m not an expert on relationships,” Jackson continued. “But, if I was willing to make a guess, I’d think that it’s probably not too late.”

  “What?”

  Jackson studied my face for a moment. “I’m saying, I think Dylan is spooked. I think he wasn’t expecting to feel the way he seems to feel, and that probably scared him.”

  I swallowed hard, trying to figure out what to say in response.

  “My guess is that whatever you did, whatever happened, I think it can turn around. Dylan is easily spooked, but he’s loyal. He sticks through things when times get tough. If whatever is happening between you two is real, then he isn’t going anywhere.”

  Jackson turned back to his breakfast plate and started talking to someone else on the other side of him. I just stared forward, my mind reeling at a million miles per hour.

  “Emma?” Elise waved a hand in front of my face.

  I returned my focus to her. “What?”

  “You look lost in thought,” she responded.

  I shrugged l
ightly. “I guess I kind of am. Actually...I’m sorry, Elise, but I’m going to head out.”

  She frowned. “You have somewhere to be.”

  It took me a moment, but slowly I nodded. “Yeah, I do.” I moved around the table and gave her a hug goodbye. “Have fun on your honeymoon.”

  “Thanks,” Elise said, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek.

  Quickly, I headed back up to the elevators and pushed the button for Dylan’s floor. I’d stayed in his room the night before, so I knew where he was. A few minutes later, I knocked on the door to his room and awkwardly waited for him to open it.

  And waited.

  Not entirely surprising, I guess, but he never answered the door. Frustrated, I walked back down to the lobby and went to the front desk.

  “Hi, can you tell me if the gentleman in room 612 has already checked out?” I asked the young high schooler who was more engrossed in her phone than her job.

  She glanced up at me, looking annoyed that she actually had to do anything. “Uh, hold on.” After a few moments of clicking away on the computer in front of her, she nodded her head. “Yeah, that room is empty and scheduled to be cleaned.”

  My heart sank. “Okay, thank you.”

  She didn’t say anything, but turned back to her phone.

  I walked outside to the front of the hotel and sighed. Pulling out my cell phone, I pulled up Dylan’s phone number and clicked call. I held the phone to my ear and waited as it rang...and rang.

  He never answered.

  Chapter Two

  Dylan

  I stared at my phone while it rang as I sat in the black, leather airport seat waiting for my flight. Emma’s name lit up my screen, and it took everything in me not to answer.

  What was I supposed to do?

  She and I had had an amazing weekend together, but...that was all it had been. She’d made that clear when she’d gotten back together with her ex-boyfriend moments after we’d been together. Moments after I’d been buried deep between her legs.

  I wanted to say it didn’t bother me. I wanted to say that I wasn’t really all that concerned, because after all, we’d known each other for a few days. And yet, that would be a lie. She hadn’t meant nothing to me. In fact, she’d actually meant more to me than I knew was possible.

  It was strange how strong my feelings had developed in just a few days. Frankly, I didn’t know all that much about her. I didn’t know what nickname she grew up being called or what her favorite color was or whether she had any allergies. What I did know, however, was that she cuddled perfectly into my side when we were sleeping, and that when she smiled at me, I felt like the most important person in the room. What I knew was that she was kind and gentle, and she crinkled her nose when she came and it was the cutest thing I’d ever seen in my life.

  I didn’t know a lot about her yet, but what I did know is how much I wanted to. How much I wanted to be a part of her life and learn everything about what makes her tick and how she became the woman standing in front of me today.

  Until that moment.

  Until I saw her kissing her ex-boyfriend and I realized that I was entirely alone in my feelings. I’d completely deluded myself into thinking that we’d had something, when she had really been waiting for Blake to come back all this time.

  There was an ache in my chest at the very thought.

  “Dylan?” A young woman’s voice caught my attention and I glanced up to see Emma’s cousin, Sandy, standing beside me. She had a bag slung over her shoulder and her makeup was still smeared from the night before. “You’re on this flight, too?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. Figured I’d stuck around long enough.”

  She sighed and plopped down in the seat next to me. “I get that. I’m so ready to leave this hell hole.”

  I raised one brow. “Hell hole?”

  She nodded. “This entire weekend was a mistake. Fucking men.”

  “I guess we’re kind of in the same boat,” I said to her, realizing that she was probably just as upset about Blake and Emma’s rekindling as I was. After all, Sandy had brought Blake to the wedding as her date.

  “We are?” She furrowed her brow. “You hate men, too?”

  I chuckled lightly. “I mean, we’re not the greatest species, that’s for sure. But, no. I was talking about Blake and Emma.”

  Her brow furrowed even harder than before. “I’m confused.”

  Did she not know? I paused. “Wait...what were you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about Blake.” Sandy shook her head. “I brought him here. He was my date. Then he goes and disappears from half the wedding, and when I finally found him? Guess what the hell he was doing.”

  I was pretty sure I already knew the answer to this, and I definitely didn’t want the mental image of him and Emma together. “I think I can venture a guess.”

  “Yeah, probably because you know men.” Sandy nodded as if that made sense. “I just can’t believe that asshole went to a bar and got drunk, instead of drinking free at the wedding. What the hell did that bartender have that I don’t?”

  Okay, now I was pretty sure that we were talking about different things. “Wait...you caught Blake with a bartender?”

  “That’s what I’ve been saying,” she confirmed. “He was in the back office of some bar near the venue fucking the bartender.”

  My eyes widened. “So he wasn’t with Emma?”

  Now Sandy looked like the confused one. “Emma? Why would he be with her? I thought she’d be with you?”

  “Uh...yeah. Of course. Never mind.” I swallowed hard, trying to put all the pieces together. “So, uh, how did you find out about Blake?”

  A small smile teased at the corners of Sandy’s lips. “Don’t judge, okay?”

  I put my hands up, as if to say I never would.

  “I put a tracker on his phone so I could see where he was. That’s how I found him at the bar.” She chuckled. “He looked freaking shocked when he saw me. He definitely wasn’t expecting me to pop up there.”

  “I can imagine,” I replied, even though I was completely going against my earlier promise not to judge her. If a woman put a tracker on my phone, I wouldn’t be with her either.

  I mean, I probably wouldn’t be with a random bartender on the same night, but that’s just me.

  “So, yeah.” Sandy sighed, leaning back in her chair. “That was my night.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  She just nodded, but fell silent.

  I was glad for the break in the conversation, because my mind was working overtime. After Blake and Emma got together last night, he’d hooked up with someone completely different. It wasn’t just that he’d been with Emma’s cousin that weekend, something she already knew. Frankly, I couldn’t believe that hadn’t been enough of a dealbreaker for her. But he’d also spent the night with some random woman? Or maybe he’d slept with the bartender and then came back and spent the night with Emma?

  I couldn’t think of which was worse.

  An inner turmoil began running through me. I absolutely hated that Emma had picked Blake over me. In fact, it practically killed me. But for some reason I couldn’t quite explain, I still cared about her. I didn’t want her to be hurt.

  And there was no doubt in my mind that Blake was going to hurt her.

  Pulling out my cell phone, I let my finger hover over her name. I should call her. Or text her. Anything to just let her know what she was getting in to. She deserved to know. She deserved to be with someone better than that scumbag.

  Fuck, she deserved to be with me.

  The truth hit me hard and I had to take a deep breath. I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want to give up. I didn’t want to just let Blake have the woman I...the woman I loved.

  She didn’t realize she was making a mistake, and I needed to tell her.

  I needed to tell her.

  For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why I needed to be the one to tell her, or why I felt like this was something I nee
ded to tell her in person. But the thoughts just wouldn’t go away. I stood up quickly, almost knocking over the water I’d been drinking from.

  “You okay?” Sandy asked, looking up at me from where she’d been staring at her phone.

  “I...I actually have to go,” I told her. I grabbed my bag and water, gave her a small wave, and then headed down the terminal away from the gates.

  I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t know what I was walking in to.

  All I did know was that I needed to see Emma, and I wasn’t sure if it was to help her...or help myself.

  Chapter Three

  Emma

  I pushed the door open to my home. Silence greeted me.

  Technically, I would have been surprised--and probably a little frightened--if I had heard noises coming from inside. I lived alone, after all. But what was hitting me wasn’t that--it was longing. Longing to have come home with someone by my side.

  Specifically, to have Dylan by my side.

  It was unrealistic, sure. But we’d discussed spending the next few days together, here in my home. Just curled up in each other’s arms. When I first met Dylan, that wasn’t what I had expected to happen. Hell, we were supposed to just be one night.

  But when he’d asked me if I’d like him to stay…

  I’d jumped on it. There was nothing more I wanted than to see where things could go between us. In fact, it’s all I still wanted.

  But it was no longer an option.

  Sighing, I stepped inside and turned to close the door behind me.

  “Emma.”

  A man’s shoe blocked the way from allowing me to close the door entirely. I pulled the door back open and found myself staring face to face with…