I slept with my boss. Yeah, the night right after the annual party.

The next morning, staring at my boss's eight-pack abs, I swallowed hard. "Am I...getting fired?"

He shot me a cold glance. "Marriage. I'll take responsibility."

I was completely stunned.

Wait, that's how CEOs operate now? One night and he’s already talking marriage?

"Evelyn, you're 26. Don’t tell me you’re still a virgin?"

The teasing from the girls at the party kept looping in Evelyn Harris’s mind.

Being single since birth, she had zero experience in the romance department—hadn’t even had her first kiss.

Too embarrassed to admit it, she downed a few drinks as punishment and ditched early, using “drunk” as an excuse to head back to her room.

She’d been fumbling with her key card forever but the door wouldn’t budge.

With a frustrated pout, Evelyn bumped her head on the door—and it surprisingly swung open.

Nathan Howell's chiseled features filled her view like some kind of danger alert.

Huh? Why’s Mr. Howell in her room?

Evelyn, tipsy and dizzy, stared at the man in front of her—who looked way too perfect to be real.

She must’ve been dreaming.

"Like what you see?" Nathan narrowed his dark eyes, voice low and rough, clearly holding something back.

“Yeah…” Evelyn blinked slowly, completely mesmerized.

Even her soft little hum had a sleepy sweetness to it.

Seeing this man—usually so out of reach—right in front of her, she suddenly remembered how Monica had once stared at his photo, daydreaming in the office.

A guy like him—tall, hot—totally gave off vibes of someone who knew what he was doing.

Evelyn licked her lips, heat flaring up inside at double speed.

She couldn't afford him in real life—might as well do whatever she wanted in her dreams, right?

She threw herself forward, long legs in heels kicking the door shut behind her.

“Mr. Howell, they say sleeping with you means I must’ve saved the galaxy in my past life. Guess I’m here to test that theory.”

Their eyes locked. The air between them instantly sizzled like it was on fire.

Nathan had already downed a fair bit that night, and when she came at him so soft and sweet, he didn’t hold back.

"You want it? Hmm?" he leaned in, breath hot against her cheek, locking eyes with her from inches away.

“Mhm.” Evelyn answered with an innocent softness, her slightly tipsy gaze dreamy and drenched in mist.

Up close, his face looked even better than what she caught glances of at the office.

Evelyn let out a dreamy giggle, her eyes slowly trailing from his brows down his straight nose, finally stopping at those slightly parted lips.

She unconsciously touched her tongue to her lips, her expression switching from flirty to angelic, eyes drifting back to his.

That look in her eyes was all the green light Nathan needed.

He flipped the script, pulled Evelyn by the waist, and pressed her against the wall.

Taking her hand, he brought it to his belt, voice low and rough, loaded with restraint. "Take these off for me."Evelyn stared at the man so close in front of her, but before she could even say a word, he leaned in and kissed her.

It was her first kiss. She barely resisted before he slipped past her lips—intense, assertive, and unrelenting. His kiss dug deeper and deeper.

Her heart thudded like crazy.

The kiss was soft but just enough to overwhelm her, way too realistic for a dream.

Sparks shot down her spine as every nerve lit up. Her fingers, as if on autopilot, began undoing his buttons and slowly pulled his zipper down.

Maybe because it was a dream, there was no pain at all—just a strange comfort.

And with Nathan’s teasing words, she even started learning how to pleasure him back.

To think, the usual cold and stern Nathan Howell, actually turned out to be incredibly skilled in bed—even kind and patient. Just… he dragged it out way too long in the end and she kinda couldn’t handle it.

The next morning.

Evelyn drifted in that half-asleep state.

She vaguely heard someone knocking and entering.

Frowning slightly, she thought, Damn, this dream is still going?

Wait a sec... that sounded like Nathan’s voice.

Something felt off. She opened her eyes and sat up.

And immediately saw Nathan Howell, walking over with just a towel wrapped around his waist.

Broad shoulders, tight waist, those well-defined abs begging to be touched, and the V-line teasing under the towel…

The sight punched the air right out of her.

Images from last night came crashing back like a tidal wave, every one of them hot enough to make her brain short-circuit. Her face flipped between red and pale.

“Mr. Howell, why are you... here? Last night, did we… did we…”

The word “we” stumbled out twice, but she just couldn’t force the rest out of her mouth.

Nathan’s dark eyes narrowed slightly. Seeing her flushed, panicked face, he asked, “You want to know something?”

“I mean… last night… did we…” she stammered.

“We slept together.”

Just two words—and a mental explosion went off in Evelyn’s head.

Holding on to a shred of denial, she pressed on. “Did we… you know…”

“We did.”

Evelyn sucked in a sharp breath, eyes wide as saucers. Total disbelief.

Nathan looked right at her crushed and mortified expression. “Regret it?”

Uh… tough question.

First time with a tall, hot, disgustingly fit gentleman like him? Yeah, no lie, it was amazing.

But with her own boss? That was a new level of social suicide.

“Mr. Howell, I was really drunk yesterday. Don’t remember much anyway. We're both adults—can we just pretend it didn’t happen and move on like usual?”

Nathan just stared at her, lips curling into a smirk. “You're still in my bed and already thinking of sweeping it under the rug?”

Evelyn happened to spot the love bites on his collarbone, scrambled to clutch the blanket tighter, and said in a small voice, “Can you turn around? I want to get dressed.”

Instead of looking away, Nathan climbed onto the bed.

Evelyn froze. In the blink of an eye, that absurdly handsome face was right in front of hers.

She shrank back with the blanket clutched to her chest, but suddenly her wrist was grabbed and pinned above her head.

As they wrestled for space, the blanket slipped to her waist.

Skin to skin. The jolt was instant and electric, sending goosebumps down her arms.

“Mr. Howell, you—!”

Her heart was pounding, like it might leap out of her chest. Her cheeks burned like fire.

He was heavy. Too damn heavy.And this position? Beyond awkward. Nathan Howell’s jaw was clenched tight, obviously holding something back. To Evelyn Harris, he looked both ridiculously hot and totally in control.

“Didn’t you say you don’t remember anything? Let me jog your memory, yeah?” Nathan stared down at her, voice low.

Evelyn’s cheeks turned bright red. Her eyes flicked around, avoiding his gaze—especially not daring to look at those taut muscles. But the moment she did, the whole night came rushing back. Very vividly.

Desire’s a tricky thing. Once that dam broke, it flooded fast. Even Evelyn, who had just gotten her first taste of intimacy, fell right in.

Before she could react, Nathan was already leaning down again, all warmth and scent and tension.

He pressed a bite against her pale collarbone, making her let out a soft gasp.

“Nathan—” Evelyn tried to stop him.

But before she could finish, her wet, dazed eyes widened. The rest of her words broke off into a muffled groan.

Was he more awake now? Because Evelyn swore he got rougher. A lot rougher. She could barely handle it.

It was the last day of the company retreat. After lunch, they had to head back. Evelyn started to panic—what if someone noticed something was off?

But Nathan? Nowhere near done.

“Hurry up,” she muttered, anxious.

“Yeah,” Nathan answered, and ramped things up even more. Evelyn thought she was gonna fall apart.

“Not what I meant!” she practically cried.

She could've torn her hair out. But she grit her teeth, refusing to let out another one of those embarrassing, out-of-control sounds.

Then, right in the middle of their messy tangle, someone knocked. Laughter and voices filtered in from the hallway—executives and board members, no less.

“Nathan? Lunch is ready. We’ll leave as soon as everyone’s done.”

Like grabbing a lifeline, Evelyn clung to that sound. “Nathan, seriously, get up. We can’t be caught like this.”

Gone was the carefree vibe from last night’s drunken haze—she was panicked now.

Nathan looked annoyed as hell at being interrupted. He rolled over and grabbed the phone from the nightstand.

A ringing tone came from outside the door.

Evelyn, wrapped tight in the blanket, glanced at the clothes she had shredded last night. Then she noticed a white shopping bag on the floor—women’s clothing inside. She scooped it up and slipped into the bathroom quietly.

“I’ll be down soon,” Nathan said into the phone. The voices in the hallway started to fade.

Evelyn changed at turbo speed.

But just as she stepped out, the phone rang again.

Nathan was buckling his belt. He reached for the phone immediately.

“What is it now?”

Evelyn froze in the doorway—the phone in his hand was hers.

Panicking, she bolted forward, but stumbled due to how sore she still was. Her knees gave out and she fell straight into Nathan’s arms.

He caught her easily with one arm while holding the phone to his ear with the other. “Hello?”

Evelyn didn’t waste a second. She snatched the phone and hung up instantly.

She glanced at the screen. Call from: BAD GIRL Monica.

Her mind went totally blank.

Downstairs, Monica was standing at Evelyn’s room door with a coworker. They exchanged a look.

“Wait. That was a guy who answered Evelyn’s phone, right? And his voice... sounded a little too much like Nathan Howell’s?”