Pandora shook her head in amusement and checked herself one last time before walking out. All the way down the lobby, men turned their heads and ogled her.

It didn't take her long to find the club Milton had recommended to her. She entered the club and looked around, hoping she would see him. When she didn't see him, she headed to the bar and ordered again.

After a few minutes, a guy approached her and smiled. “Would you like to dance?” he said.

“Sorry, I'm not up for that.” The guy left, leaving her to her alcohol. Still, she was not drunk enough to bust out moves. “I need a shot,” she told the bartender.

“Out for a good time?” the bartender asked.

“I think so…”

The bartender cocked his head and recommended a drink. “Ask for Royce if you want a drink. I'll take care of you.”

“Thank you, Royce. Keep the drinks coming,” she said, tapping the bar.

As Royce placed down Pandora's drink, she felt someone come up behind her.

“Royce, can I have some Jack?” the guy said and Pandora found herself chuckling, she didn't know why.

“Something funny?” the husky voice said into her ear. She could smell a hint of whiskey on his breath.

“I'll have a Jack too,” she told the bartender and pushed her shot away.

“Thought you were doing shots? You're cheating if you go down to Jack.”

Pandora shrugged. “My friend here reminded me that I can change my mind.” She said, placing her hand on the man's arm.

“Oh, am I your friend now?” the guy said. “I am not sure I like that. We don't even know each other's name.”

“Dora,” Pandora said, not giving her full name.

The guy cocked her head. “Fake names, is it? Call me Nemo then, because I sure as hell am glad to be found by you.”

The joke did so well with Pandora that she threw her head back in laughter. She calmed down and looked at the guy. Her breath caught in her throat and she hissed under her breath. “Fuck me,” she blurted out as she got lost in his piercing grey eyes.

“Do I hear an offer?” he asked, his eyes dancing over her body.

“Maybe?” She couldn't see how nicely he was built because of how covered he was.

“On what?” he asked deviously as he leaned in.

“On what you look like under that leather jacket,” she answered.

He frowned and looked down. “I suppose I won't be sad to see it go.” He slid it off, revealing an arm full of ink. It was so hot that she eyed the paintings hungrily.

‘Fuck me,' she thought.

“I am planning on it,” he replied to her thoughts. Pandora had always had a thing for ink but Derrik never got anything and forbade her from the same. “What do you say? Like what you see under the jacket?”

“I just wanted to know if you are in good shape, but now I am fascinated.”

The mystery man turned to the bar and yelled, “Royce! A bottle of Jack!” Finally, his eyes found hers. “Join me?” he asked and Pandora nodded numbly.

“See you, Royce,” she said without looking at the bartender. She took the man's hand and followed him without another word.

Pandora had already looked at his left hand to make sure there was no white line or a ring on there.

As they spoke, she realized that they were from two opposite parts of the country. She felt her heart drop a little, knowing that this man was really a stranger and she would never see him again.

He seemed to sense it. “Don't be sad, Dora. We have tonight.”

Pandora chuckled before nodding.

His handsome face was utterly captivating, especially with the way his strong chest rose and fell beneath his shirt as he spoke, exuding masculine charm.

His deep gray eyes, like gemstones, sparkled with intensity.

“I know just the thing to cheer you up.” In an hour's time, Pandora was straddling his lap and kissing him. The man kissed her back right away, pushing his tongue inside her mouth.

“Dance with me,” he urged as he removed his lips from her. Without waiting for an answer, he wrapped an arm around her waist and led her to the dance floor.

As their bodies moved together, she felt his other hand move to her side and his lips moved to her neck. He kissed her jaw, making her weak in the knee.

“Please…” she said, her stomach burning with need.

“Yes, ma'am,” he complied. He pushed her out of the dance floor and pressed her up against a wall, kissing her the whole time. She felt both his hands on her and at that moment, she suddenly remembered the bottle of Jack they should have had. She soon forgot all about it when he picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his body.

She gasped when she felt him push his underwear to the side and stroke her inner thigh.

“Please take me,” she said yet again. Pandora had never felt this way before. This man could use his fingers. She had to say, they were doing God's work at this point.

“Do you want me to?” he asked, pulling away a little from her.

“Do what?”

“Do you truly want me to take you?”

She looked at him deeply and nodded. He went back to kissing her, slowly going to her neck and chest. He was surrounding her completely. She heard the sound of his zipper and her eyes popped open. She finally realized that they were still in the bar, but away from everyone.

Her eyes landed on Milton who was with his wife, looking around.

“Eyes on me, baby,” he said, entering her. Pandora gasped and clung to him.

“Oh god,” she sighed and tugged at his hair.

“Hold on tightly. This will be quick. But once we are done, we will go back to my room so that I can taste every bit of you.”

Pandora nodded dumbly. “I want to taste you, too,” she told him, spurring him up.

He swallowed her cries until it was time for him to grunt in release. “Come on, baby…” he said, rubbing her leg as he set her down. “We have time and I want you all to myself.”

He wrapped his hand around her shoulder and guided her out of the back door. “I want your real name and I want you to say my name when you come all over me,” he said firmly.

Pandora nodded, making him grin and kiss her. And then both of them stopped by for another drink.

- - - - -

Pandora's mouth was as dry as the Sahara Desert. She was sure a migraine was a better option because of how badly her head hurt. She stopped the alarm and then fell asleep once again.

Soon after, she heard her phone ringing and picked it up grumbling. “What?” she tried to respond normally, but it came out as a pained cry.

“Are you still sleeping?” Keira asked, clearly perplexed.

“I would be if you didn't wake me up so surely,” she grumbled. She wanted to hang up and go back to sleep.

“Woman! You have to check out. Do you want to pay extra or be locked in?”

Pandora bolted out of bed at the words. She looked at the clock and remembered that she also had to catch a plane. She could have missed the plane if she didn't have another important meeting to attend at the office the moment she touched down.

“Damn it!” she yelled and stumbled out of bed. She hung up the call and started to walk.

“Why am I so sore?” she groaned when her legs almost gave away. Her head was filled with a night of drinking, dancing, and a man kissing her. “Oh, shit…”

Again, she got some flashes and unlike with Derrik, they made her tingle with desire. “I had sex,” she whispered and plopped back on the bed. She rubbed her face, trying to remember the guy's face, but all she could think of were grey eyes and tattoos. She also remembered the name ‘Nemo,' but that was just a joke. She forgot to ask him his name!

“No time for this!” she reminded herself and moved to the bathroom. She scared herself at the horrible condition of her face. Her makeup was running. She had to scrub herself to get the filth of the night before out of her pores. With it, the feel of the mystery man's warmth also washed away. Almost.

She picked up a plastic ring placed right beside her phone and she shook her head. She threw it into her purse and frowned at the thought that she didn't know why she would have something like that with her.

But she didn't have time to think too much about it.

As she got into the cab, she saw Milton walking out of the hotel. His wife was talking to a man on the side. She shook her head, knowing she would miss her flight if she spoke to Milton. So, she slid into the cab and asked the driver to rush to the airport.

It was almost nine at night when she arrived home and Pandora felt like she would die from exhaustion. She let herself into the house and dumped the bags near the door. She kicked off her shoes and dropped them down to the floor beside her luggage.

She was just about to crawl to the stairs when she heard a knock on the front door. “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” she muttered to herself and went towards the staircase.

“Pandora!” She frowned when she heard Derrik yelling from outside the door. He began to pound on it, making her groan.

“Nothing important, it seems. Just a lunatic knocking at an odd hour,” she said to herself and moved to the door, knowing Derrik wouldn’t leave without seeing her face.

She only managed to pry the door open when Derrik pushed it open and barged in. Pandora stumbled, shocked by the force he had used.

“Finally came home, I see!” he yelled and crossed his arms over his chest. “You look like a slut with that hair color. What? Are you trying to look good now? You’re already divorced and nothing can help with that face of yours.” He snickered sarcastically.

“What I have been doing or how I look is no longer your business. Cut the crap and tell me what you want.”

Derrik glared at her before rolling his eyes. “Did you get the eviction notice I sent you? You need to move out immediately; I need the place.”

Pandora pressed her fingers to her forehead, hoping the headache would lessen. She didn’t have the energy to fight with him. “Not going to happen. This is my house… the court gave it to me. Go cry to someone else because I ain’t complying with your void eviction notice,” she said firmly. She opened the door, needing him to get the hell out of her house. If possible out of her life, too.

“Still as stupid as ever,” Derrik spat out so harshly that Pandora was sure he had hated her for all the years they were married. “Don’t you flaunt your money all the time? Use some of it to buy a place of your own. This is a family home where a couple who will have kids should live.”

Pandora scratched her forehead, trying not to respond to him as she wished. But mincing words was not good for her health. She had wasted enough time on this man.

“The doctor told me I could get pregnant if I tried. It seems part of the problem is also with you… and what mistress of yours? Take care…” She stopped with a grim look. “This is my house. Now leave.”

Derrik laughed incredulously. “You’re right. This shitty house and you go together. I deserve a much better place where I can raise my children. How about we sell the house and go our separate ways.” He waved between the two of them. “We will never see each other ever again.”

“Even if I sell the house, you won’t get a dime from it. This is my house. That I bought with my money. The money I spent a lot of effort making… of course, you wouldn’t know what that feels like, would you?”

Derrik snorted. “Ah, if only you had put in as much effort into our marriage as you did your work and house… Maybe we could have actually lasted.”

Pandora rolled her eyes. “If you actually loved me and not the money you are drooling after right now, we could have been happy,” she corrected quickly.

“Wow. How did you expect me to like you when even your parents abandoned you? I’m not a saint, Pandora.”

“Out,” she hissed through her gritted teeth. “Get out this second!” she yelled louder this time.

“You’ll do well handing the house over before I drag you back to court. Mackenna and I are trying for a baby and we need a house to raise our family,” Derrik responded angrily, knowing he was getting on her nerves.

‘Please leave. Why isn’t he leaving?’ she screamed internally. She was already drained from the trip, she couldn’t handle a fight right then.

“Then get a job like a normal man and pay for a house,” she sneered.

“Well, I can’t because I have to look after Mackenna. We need all the help so that the baby is safe.” He stopped talking and looked at her menacingly. “Oh, I understand now, you don’t want me to have children because your broken body can’t have any.”

She shook her head, having enough of his nonsense. She pushed him against the chest and toward the door.

“You are pathetic, you know that? You can go around telling your sob story to everyone, but at the end of the day, I will be getting this house. I promise you,” he said before storming away.

Pandora slammed the door shut and locked it. She sank to the floor and tears started to drip down her face without her permission. It was strange how a year of her life could completely change how she felt about the man she thought was her soulmate.

The love she had felt for Derrik had slowly morphed into hatred. A hatred so deep that the tears were short-lived and it gave her the energy to get off the floor, head upstairs and change for bed.

“This house is mine. I gave him ten years of my life and I won’t let him take away another moment of happiness from me.”

With that mantra in place, she closed her eyes and dreamed. Her dreams were plagued with taunts from Derrik and Mackenna. She tried to push them away, but she tumbled instead. She waited for the fall to hurt but two strong arms wrapped around her protectively.

“Hey, I’ve been looking for you,” the voice said. “Why did you leave me without saying goodbye?”

Pandora turned to look at her face, but she couldn’t see him. She recognized those piercing grey eyes of his. She looked down and saw a swirl of tattoos on his arms.

“Wh—who are you?” she whispered.

“Did you forget me? It’s me, Dora… Nemo.” Even though she couldn’t see his face, she could tell he was smiling. “Don’t worry. I’ll find you,” he promised before disappearing.

Pandora awoke feeling rested and happier than she had when she went to bed.

“Spill,” Kiera said, wriggling her brows at Pandora the moment she sat down.

“What?” she asked, looking between Keira and Sia, her friends from high school and college respectively.

“Don’t act coy. You had sex. It’s written all over your face,” Sia said smugly and Kiera nodded rapidly.

Pandora’s mouth dropped open in shock. Was it really written on her forehead? How tense had she looked before? “No, I didn’t,” she answered stubbornly.

“Yes, you did. I swear we will torture it out of you if you don’t start speaking.”

Pandora frowned at the two and motioned at the server. “I need some coffee before my lips open,” she announced. In no time, the coffee was in front of them and Pandora had taken her first sip.

“You've had your coffee now. What did he look like?”

She squeezed her eyes shut. “I don’t remember.” When she opened them, she saw the look of worry on her friends’ faces.

“Did someone hurt you?” Sia asked urgently.

“No.” She shook her head before placing her hand over Sia’s. “We were both drunk… so drunk that I don’t remember how he looked.” She stopped and remembered the bits that were still embedded in her mind. “I know he was tall, somewhat muscular, and had beautiful tattoos all over his arm.”

She bit her lip when she remembered his smoldering grey eyes. “And his eyes were grey. Other than that, I don’t remember exchanging names.” She gulped. “It was good. It was so good that I came a number of times. But that is all I remember.”

Sia and Kiera shared a smile. “Were you safe?” Kiera asked and Pandora’s eyes moved between the two of them.

“I don’t even remember what he looked like. You expect me to remember if I used protection?” She dropped her head in her hands when she realized how risky her move had been. “How was I so stupid?”

“Pandora, you are fine. But still, you should get checked out, okay?”

She was twenty-nine, had only been with two men in her life, and was going to get tested.

“We’ll get checked out right with you,” Kiera told her. “The nurse at the local clinic is so hot. I hope he is working.” She smiled with a dreamy look on her face.

“Damnit, Kiera. You’ve got a boyfriend… do you remember Ron or not?” Sia yelled and slapped Kiera’s shoulder.

“So what? That doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy looking at a handsome man. I am not cheating on Ron. And he knows I find nurses hot.” She shrugged.

Pandora snorted because if Kiera wasn’t her childhood friend and she didn’t know better, she wouldn’t know if Kiera was in her right mind or not.

Sia extended her hand to Pandora. “Come on. Let’s go to the clinic and get this over with.”

- - - - -

“Miss Leonard,” the nurse called. Pandora waved at her friends and walked into the room. She had decided that since she needed to get her routine check-up the next month, she would get it over with in one go.

“I will be doing your exam today. If you can change into this ad lay on the table, I’ll get my assistant and be back in a few minutes.”

Pandora undressed after the door closed. Moments later, the nurse was back with someone in tow. As she set out to do the exam, she explained each step to Pandora.

“Everything looks clear. We will have your results in a few days. Now, we just need to do your blood work.”

Pandora nodded and the nurse helped her sit up.

“As it has only been a few days, you will need to come back for a pregnancy test.”

She gulped and shook her head. “There is no need for that.” The nurse stopped what she was doing and turned to Pandora. “I can’t have kids.”

“I’m so sorry,” she muttered, taking the needle out of Pandora’s arm. “You will receive your results back in a few days but you do need to come back in three months time for another blood draw and test. It’s just procedure.”

“If anything unusual pops up, just come back. You can get dressed now; we’re finished for the day.”

Pandora sighed as the nurse walked away and slowly got dressed. She was surprised to find Sia and Kiera both waiting for her.

“Come on. It’s girls’ night out!” Sia said, picking up on her horrible mood.

As they munched on an extremely cheesy pizza and sipped on their wine, Kiera went back to the topic of the mysterious man. “Tell me more. How was it?”

“I don’t remember!” Pandora protested.

“You remember some stuff. I can see it in your eyes. They glaze over when you think about him,” Kiera said, reminding her just how well her friends knew her.

She licked her lips and took a moment to form the words. “His body was… firm. And I remember that he made me laugh and smile and feel good.” She shook her head and bit her lip. “I just knew he was more worried about making me feel good than getting off himself.” She shook her head a little. “I felt… wanted.” She didn’t have any other words to explain what she had experienced.

“I think we need to track this guy down.” Kiera's eyes sparkled with determination. Their eyes met and Pandora raised her brow to ask how.

“Any man that makes you smile like that… I need to see him and I want him to be beside you and keep that smile on your face.”

“It was a one-night stand with a stranger, Ki. Nothing more.” She didn’t miss the sadness in her voice as she said that.

Kiera frowned and opened her mouth to argue, but Pandora stopped her.

“All I remember is the joking nickname we shared. I don’t even know what his real name is. Of the millions of people in Vegas that day… how do you think I can find him?” She was unable to hide the pain of how true her words were.

“Dora…” Sia whispered sadly.

“It’s fine. I’ll be just fine.”

“Enough moping around!” Kiera clapped her hands and jumped up. “You don’t need a man. All you need is Sia, me, and your very 'personal' assistant.”

Kiera produced a brand-new vibrator and handed it to Pandora. “This is your birthday gift. Belated happy birthday, bitch,” she laughed.

Even though Pandora rolled her eyes, she felt grateful that the vibrator was in a sealed box. “This is what every girl needs. Besides her two best friends, that is,” she commented, agreeing completely.