Nathan took me back to his place that night. He lived in the top floor penthouse of a very fancy, very expensive building in Center City West. I’d been to this area of Philadelphia only once before, to buy a Louis Vuitton wallet for Nika’s twenty-fifth birthday. I had felt like a country bumpkin walking into the Louis Vuitton store, and I felt even more out of my element standing in the elevator on the way up to Nathan’s.

Then again, I was a woman who had just eaten a whole bunch of snails. I could do whatever I wanted, I reminded myself. I was a modern woman on the go: eating garden pests, seducing astronauts, hobnobbing with Angelica Hunt, and capturing pictures of Angelica’s maybe-criminal boy toy. My life had totally gone off the rails and it felt sort-of wonderful. Sort-of terrifying, too.

I snuck a look over at Nathan as the elevator went up and up and up. It was a really tall building.

“You practically already live in space,” I asked him, “why do you feel the need to blast yourself even higher into the atmosphere?”

He chuckled and pulled me closer, wrapping his arm around my waist and kissing my hair.

“I’m pushing humanity forward,” he replied, modifying his voice into a goofy monotone as if answering a question at a press conference, “by challenging our assumptions of what’s possible and innovating dynamic solutions to the question of commercial spaceflight.”

“Save that bullshit for Phil at the post-launch interview,” I replied, rolling my eyes at his stock-answer, “he’s gonna love that answer though. The man loves a good soundbite.”

“I’d much rather have you interviewing me than boring old Phil,” Nathan said, smirking as he poked the buttons to take us up to the penthouse, “although I have a feeling that you’d be extremely thorough.”

“Oh, I am incredibly thorough,” I replied proudly, licking my lips as we entered straight into the penthouse, “I’ve got a very unique style, too.”

“I’ll bet you do,” Nathan replied, pinning my shoulders to the wall just inside and then kissing me.

Since our very first kiss, Nathan had left me breathless. This kiss was no exception. Starting out softly and growing in intensity, I leaned into him as our mouths danced against each other. His hands on my shoulders softened and moved to bury themselves in my hair, ruining the careful twist and ripping out the pins with a forceful intentionality that suggested he’d been wanting to do so all night.

We weren’t going to make to the bedroom, wherever that was. He dropped his hands lower down to the hem of my dress like he had during our first liaison in his office two days ago, not even trying to locate the zipper of the dress. I smiled into our kiss as he found the gusset of my bodysuit without hesitation and unsnapped it.

“I love these,” Nathan murmured, and we both giggled like children.

Leaning back into the wall, I was ready for anything except for my phone to start ringing.

Nathan and I exchanged a look of comingled irritation and desire.

“Who calls after ten p.m.?” Nathan asked incredulously as I fished the phone out of my little clutch purse. I groaned when I saw who was calling me. California area code.

“My boss,” I said despondently, “I have to take this. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s ok,” Nathan said, smiling excitedly at me, “we’re in no hurry. Come find me in the shower when you’re done?”

I grinned and nodded, and he took off somewhere into the depths of the apartment.

“Hello? Julieta?” I answered warily. She’d never actually called my cell that I could remember. She was much more of a video call person. Too bad for her, I didn’t have a smart phone that could support it.

“Hi there Zoey darling,” Julieta sang at me from what could have only been the inside of a very busy restaurant, “just checking in on you. How’s your evening?”

Bullshit. This wasn’t a social call. She wanted something again.

“It’s going great. How about you?” I said sweetly, eager for her to get to the point. Nathan was waiting for me in the shower. I could hear the sound of water running somewhere in the apartment and I was just standing mostly clothed here in the entryway. I kicked off my heels as I waited for Julieta to get on with it.

“That’s wonderful, wonderful. I’m doing fabulously too. Say, is there a chance you’re out with Nathan Breyer this evening? I heard from a little bird that you’d been seen at La Petite Coquette with him,” She asked nosily.

How did she find out so fast? My fingers froze on the zipper to my dress. God, the woman was practically all-knowing when it came to celebrity gossip. I couldn’t imagine how she would know unless Phil told her, which was as unlikely as it would be disturbing. Maybe someone else at the restaurant had snapped a photo? All it took was one Instagram and she’d be on it. She had a weird sixth sense for gossip.

I didn’t respond, which was as good as confirming it for Julieta.

“My, my,” Julieta said, and I could hear her slow clapping through the line, “I’m impressed.”

Impressing Julieta over something that wasn’t my writing had never been my intention. This conversation was making me feel very nervous. She was about to ask for something I wasn’t going to like. I just knew it.

“Are you still out with him?” She asked next. Her voice sounded frighteningly hopeful. I felt an opportunity to throw her off.

“No,” I answered honestly, “I’m not out with him anymore.”

We were at his apartment now, not out. That wasn’t lying. Lying to Julieta was a bad idea, I knew that instinctively. She lived off exposing other people’s lies. I wasn’t going to give her any ammunition against me if I could help it.

“Such a pity,” Julieta said sadly, “do you think you’ll go out again?”

“I’m not sure,” I said evasively.

“Well if you do,” Julieta said hopefully, “and I’m sure that you will since you’re such a lovely girl, you have a real opportunity.”

“An opportunity?” I repeated innocently. She was going to need to spell her evil out for me. She probably wanted me to take pictures of his apartment or dig up dirt on his ex-girlfriends.

“Why yes! Remember, Kim Kardashian wasn’t famous before she appeared in a certain infamous tape.”

Infamous tape? Oh hell no.

“You’re not serious,” I said, feeling vaguely nauseated. I sucked in a horrified breath.

“I’m always serious, Zoey, you know that. Just think of how popular Mr. Breyer is with our audience. His last video was absolute gold. We’re still making money off it. If you could somehow procure a, um, sequel…”

She was serious. That was the sad part. She was one hundred percent serious. Nathan’s last leaked sex video had been released without his consent. It had ruined his career, his reputation, and temporarily, his life.

“I’m very sure I don’t want to be featured in a sex tape,” I said firmly, “and I don’t think Nathan would be very happy about it either.”

I could practically see Julieta pouting through the phone. She hated it when I didn’t agree with whatever she said. But this was just one step too far. There was zero percent chance I’d be willing to ever do something like she was suggesting.

“It’s completely up to you, of course, but I wouldn’t dismiss the idea too quickly. I can guarantee that you’d profit hugely from the exposure.”

Exposure was right. I had no desire to be exposed in such a way.

“In fact,” Julieta was continuing, “I have it on very good authority that you could net at least a six-figure payout upfront. And that’s just the upfront. It’s to say nothing of the name recognition. Again, you’re a beautiful girl, Zoey. You could really make a name for yourself. There’s only so far you can get reporting the gossip in this world. Eventually you need to become the thing that people gossip about. Just think about it. Well, I have to run. Have a great night! I loved your Style piece today and look forward to reading your feature tomorrow.”

Julieta hung up without letting me get in another word. I stared at my phone in disbelief. No amount of money in the world was going to be enough to turn me into a whore, even if that amount of money would actually make a huge difference in my life. A really huge difference. I could pay off my student loans…

I was tempted by the money. Anyone would be. But the thought of my mom and dad seeing me on the news, or worse, having one of their friends at church bring it up? There was just no chance. And even if I didn’t care about my own privacy, dignity, and reputation, there was no chance I’d ever hurt Nathan.

Banishing thoughts of Julieta, but extremely worked up, I followed the sound of running water, sure that I would find a very naked Nathan at the end of my journey.