Delayed Play
by Kristin Lee

My life is a mix of fishnets, black lipstick, and shattered stage dreams. At thirty-one, I feel more like a failed rocker than a rising star.
And then, he shows up.

The day everything falls apart—literally, face-first in the Denver snow—a stranger with kind eyes and questionable fashion sense offers me a hand. I push him away, of course. That’s how I survive.

But when he turns up again that night, in the dingy bar where I sing, something shifts. The air between us catches fire. He has that commanding presence, that gaze that strips you bare.
A man from another world.

With a hotel key, he makes a silent offer.

One night.
That’s all he promises.

One night to remember what it feels like to be wanted… and alive.
But behind his teasing smile and confident touch, I find a man who listens—really listens. He calls himself John, but I know he’s hiding more than just his name.

It was only supposed to be one night.
But how do you walk away when sin starts to feel like salvation?