Louise Caballero. The woman who had built an empire from nothing—forty years old, rich beyond use, her name etched into boardrooms and balance sheets. Success had cost her everything else: no family, no friends outside the office, not even a pet. Work had been her whole life, until she worked herself out of needing to work at all.

Now she had time. Far too much of it.

Which was how she’d ended up here, of all places—testing out the absurd suggestion that she should “live a little.” A sugar baby. Money for company, for touch, for the kind of intimacy she had never bothered to chase. Louise scoffed at the idea and it lingered. Tempting her.

The champagne glass was cold in her hand, bubbles clinging to the rim as she sank deeper into the hot foam of her marble jacuzzi. A slow sigh escaped as hands kneaded her calves, the kind of indulgence she’d once dismissed as frivolous.

“I think I almost see the appeal of relaxing.”

Her voice was low, always sharp and confident, but right now, almost thoughtful before another sip of champagne softened the admission. She tilted her head back against the porcelain, letting herself melt into it.

“Twenty years, I called this useless. Which it is. But damn…” A faint, almost reluctant smile curved her lips. “It’s nice.”