Daniel smiled. “I would have made you my wife months ago, but you deserve a big wedding and to walk down the aisle in a beautiful white gown.”

“Every little girl dreams of that.”

“And I’ll always do everything in my power to fulfill all your dreams.”

Reluctantly, he freed himself from her embrace and got out of bed. Naked, he walked toward the bathroom before glancing over his shoulder and finding her running a long look over his backside. She’d never looked more seductive than now—her hair unruly, a rose blush on her cheeks, and the sheets down to her waist, exposing her naked breasts. Tonight, he would bury his head in those generous breasts again and pleasure her with tender strokes and kisses while feeling her nipples harden in his mouth.

That thought alone brought on another hard-on, and he turned away from her to step into the shower.

2

With a spring in his step and in an extremely good mood, Daniel sauntered down the staircase, entering the large foyer of his parents’ two-story mansion. He’d loved this place as a kid, because it provided so many opportunities to play hide-and-seek.

He smiled to himself and was about to turn to the left to walk to the kitchen, when something caught his eye on the sideboard near the entrance door. The newspaper lay on it. He grabbed it, wondering why his mother hadn’t brought it to the kitchen with her when she’d picked it up from outside where the paperboy normally tossed it onto the driveway. It appeared his mother had just as much going on with the wedding as he and Sabrina did and had probably been distracted by something.

The smell of freshly brewed coffee wafted to him, and he followed it into the kitchen, expecting to see his parents there. But the kitchen was empty. However, his mother had already brewed a large pot of fresh coffee, and the breakfast table was set, though there was no sign or sound from her or his father.

Daniel snatched his favorite mug from the table and poured himself a cup before sitting down, pushing his plate to the side and unfolding the newspaper.

His parents had always gotten the New York Times delivered to the house for as long as he could remember, though his mother also read a local newspaper, the East Hampton Star, to keep up with the local news. But his father, a businessman like himself, preferred the Times.

Daniel flipped through the paper, skipping the “World News” section, then briefly skimmed the business news for anything of interest. He passed over an article discussing a recent business deal his friend and mentor Zach Ivers had struck. Daniel already knew all the details about it, and knew the article couldn’t tell him anything he didn’t already know.

Knowing he should really go over the lengthy to-do list for the wedding, he folded the various sections which he’d browsed, when his gaze fell onto a photo. He pulled out the section—the weddings and announcements pages—and took a closer look. Why were they running his and Sabrina’s picture again when the engagement announcement had been published weeks ago?

When his eyes zeroed in on the headline just above the picture, his heart stuttered to a halt.

Business Tycoon Daniel Sinclair to Marry High-class Call Girl, it read.

His blood turned to ice, while his breath deserted his lungs and his hands gripped the edge of the paper, nearly tearing it.

A little birdie tells me that successful entrepreneur and millionaire Daniel Sinclair, whose equally wealthy family lives in Montauk, NY, has decided to marry outside his class. According to a reliable source, his fiancée, Sabrina Palmer, worked as a high-class escort in San Francisco, where she met Mr. Sinclair, who was a client of the escort service which employed Ms. Palmer. Neither Mr. Sinclair nor Ms. Palmer could be reached for comment.

“Fuck!” Daniel hissed.

Marry outside his class? Sabrina wasn’t a call girl! She was as decent a woman as his own mother!

Who the fuck had written these lies? He glanced at the byline: By Claire Heart – News from the Heart.

Bullshit! More like news from the gutter! Lies from the gutter!

Fury charged through him. How could this reporter know about how he and Sabrina had met and then twist it into something distasteful? Yes, Sabrina had pretended to be an escort that night, but it hadn’t all been like it looked from the outside. It was complicated. And it was certainly not true that Sabrina was a call girl! Despite the circumstances that had brought them together. Were those events going to haunt them forever?

If Sabrina found out about this article, she would be devastated. Wasn’t it enough that she’d been embarrassed when he, Daniel, had found out about her initial deception? Now the entire world would find out about what she’d done. And they would judge her. It would destroy her. Not to speak of the wedding which was only days away: knowing Sabrina, she would cancel it, not wanting to endure the judgmental stares of the community where everybody knew him and his parents, where everybody knew her now, too.