Angela Walters almost fainted when she stepped into the deluxe apartment. It was like being magically transported into a different world that she had always dreamed of. The apartment felt more like some country estate mansion than an apartment. It was two stories high with a huge staircase and more personal space than she had ever dreamed of.

Angela was actually fairly used to living in such comfort and luxury, but the difference this time is that it was all hers. She was not living under someone else’s roof. She could come and go as she pleased and she could live her life on her own terms without worrying a damn about what anyone else really thought.

At least that was the dream. Growing up the daughter of two wealthy fashion magnates, she was expected to act a certain way, dress a certain way, and give up any hopes of individuality. She had resented almost every party, every meet and greet she’d been asked to attend, and really everyday living in the house that she grew up in.

She loved her parents dearly, but she often felt that they expected her to be more of a trophy than a daughter. Her father, Robert Walters, had started the company when he was in his early twenties. It was called Elixir. It had been a dream of his to build a fashion empire that could rival all of the other top brands out there and even surpass them. He had succeeded splendidly well, but it had been a hard-fought road. Angela felt at times that she hardly knew her father and mother since she’d seen them only a few times a week due to their hectic schedules. Her mother had been one of the models that her father worked closely with during the early days of the company. They’d hit it off almost instantly and forged a romance that eventually turned into marriage. It sounded like a typical scenario, but her parents’ marriage was actually quite strong compared to most of the people in their social circle, whose marriages were almost shams. She suspected her parents’ success in marriage was largely due to the fact that they were both so ambitious and had a drive and desire to achieve.

Her mother was far more intelligent and ambitious than the average model. Angela had been told that she’d inherited her mother’s looks and her father’s business sense, but her parents had always failed to really see it. Her father had always ignored and scoffed at any indication she’d ever given him that she had an interest in modeling. There was something about the glamor and being desired that had piqued Angela’s interest since she was just a little girl. She had grown up around the industry and attended several fashion shoots from an early age. She did this at first, mostly because it was the only time she really got to spend near her father, but she quickly fell in love with the modeling side of things as well. All the women were so beautiful and everyone doted on them and loved them for it. They were constantly being showered with gifts and taken to fancy restaurants. Their lives were magical and Angela wanted to be a part of it.

But her parents had never let her pursue the passion. It was very important to them that she attend the best schools and get an impeccable education so that she could use her mind to do whatever she wanted. She used to think that they most likely expected her to help run the company with them; it was damn unlikely that they would ever retire. But as she got older, she realized that her parents did not want anyone touching the company they built, not even their own daughter.

That was fine with Angela because she really had very little interest in the business side of things, even though she’d majored in business as an undergrad. Her true passion had always been in modeling and Angela had never understood why her parents refused to take her seriously when she mentioned it. Her own mother got her start that way, but even she seemed dead set against Angela pursuing that path.

Of course, she could have tried to make it in the industry with other companies or even as a freelancer, but the competition was insane and the working conditions often less than ideal or even tolerable. That was the gamble that you took when you did not have the step up that she did. Angela knew from an early age that who you knew was often more important than how good you were. That was true in any business, especially the fashion industry. There were a million beautiful, model-quality women in the world, but a small handful were able to make a living with modeling and fewer still were able to become superstars.

So Angela bit her tongue repeatedly and set her sights on a different career path—law school. After graduating with her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a minor in Accounting near the top of her class, she was promptly accepted into Harvard Law. It was brutally tough, but she found that she excelled in legal thinking and that it came very naturally to her. She’d always had a great mind; perhaps that was why her parents had always tried to dissuade her from pursuing modeling. They wanted her to do something that would challenge her mentally.

Whatever the reason she found a second dream in law school. And a week ago she graduated from Harvard Law, summa cum laude. She was eighth in her class. It really bummed her out that she was not number one and she kept kicking herself, wondering if she’d slacked off one or two nights over the past three years and that made the difference. Oh well, she liked to have fun occasionally and it was pretty unlikely that this would make much difference to any prospective employers.

“So, what do you think?” Robert the landlord asked. He was an attractive man in his late forties who possessed a suave and charismatic quality to him that made him seem younger than the salt and pepper hair and few wrinkles on his face would suggest. It was difficult to tell beneath the expensive suit he was wearing, but she believed that he kept himself in great shape. He had the build of an aging man who still ran five miles a day and stayed active and athletic.

Too bad this one was married. Flirting with a married man was really not her style at all.

Since as far back as she could remember, Angela had always preferred older men. Some of her girlfriends thought it was odd, but she had not really dated anyone who was not at least ten years older than she was. There was just something about an older man—they were mature and distinguished, they knew what they wanted in life. And the men she liked had a passion for what they did and they were still hungry. They loved to achieve and after they achieved a goal they were setting new goals that they wanted to achieve. That was the type of man that had always lit her fire.

And they were usually not just after sex. Most of them had played the field and some had even settled down once and were now divorced. They were more focused on their careers than the notches on their bedposts.

This worked out great for Angela because she had never found a man who she had cared enough about to make love with. It would have shocked her friends to know that she was a twenty-two-year-old virgin. She was not a virgin because she did not have the opportunity, nor was she a virgin because she felt there was something morally or religiously wrong with sex outside of marriage. She wanted her first time to be special and amazing and she didn’t want to waste it on someone that she didn’t love with all of her heart and someone who didn’t love her just as much.

Sure, that was old-fashioned thinking, but it was the way Angela had always felt. She had desires like everyone else and there had been many times in her life that she considered chucking it down the drain and just getting it on, but she had the presence of mind to know that she would hate herself after. Sex was a big deal to her and losing her V-card was only going to happen once. She didn’t want to just squander it on anyone.

“It’s fabulous!” Angela exclaimed. She didn’t mean to let on that she was so enthusiastic, but she could not help herself. As Richard led her up the stairs, she looked out over the open living area and felt like she was in some sort of a museum. Everything was so huge and opulent, but with a modern flair that was stylish.

The décor was fascinating. As she entered the upstairs rooms, each and every one had been decorated in a different style. One bedroom had a renaissance type of feel, whereas another room had a rustic, Old West type of style. It felt like she was entering some sort of time machine with each step she took and the effect was dizzying and intense. She loved the place.

This apartment was the fourth that she had looked at today and she loved it more than all of the others combined. There had been things she’d liked about the others, but this was by far the keeper. It felt like home and it was beyond her wildest dreams.

Since she was a teenager she had dreamed about this day. This was the day she claimed her own place in the world and moved away from the clutches of her parents. This was what she had been working towards for so long. Of course, even though she was starting her new job as an associate at the law firm of Keel and Lutz, she would never have been able to afford this place. It was going to take years of dedicated hard work to get to that level. But when she was twelve her grandmother had given her some savings bonds. It was time to cash them in and enjoy her new home.

“So, you’re an attorney?” Robert asked.

“Yes, that’s right,” Angela said. She didn’t feel like going into the specifics of what she did with him. So for now, she would agree that she was just an attorney.

“Aren’t you a bit young?” Robert asked coyly with a smile.

Angela wasn’t sure whether to be insulted and jab him back or just smile and nod. It was possible that he was flirting with her. It was probably part of his gimmick to get people to sign on the dotted line. Or maybe he really was interested in more. Angela had a firm rule against dating involved, and especially married, men. But she didn’t mind playing along and letting him waste his time.

“I’m twenty-two,” Angela said. “So, I am younger than most.”

“Wow, you must have graduated high school early,” Robert said.

“Not quite. I was one of a few students enrolled in a Post-Secondary Enrollment Option that allowed me to earn college and high school credits at the same time. So basically, when I graduated high school I already had two years of college credits in too.”

Robert seemed a bit taken aback, but the smile quickly reappeared across his handsome face.

“Well, you must be wicked smart then. Beauty and brains—what a catch,” Robert said.

Angela smiled at him with a glare in her eyes. “Let’s keep things solely professional, Mr. Haynes.”

“Robert, please.”

“I prefer Mr. Haynes,” Angela replied as she walked out of the last room at the end of the hall. It was a perfect lounge room or possibly a library that could house her massive book collection.

Robert hurried to catch up with her as she descended the steps.

“So, what do you think about the apartment? It’s amazing, right?” Robert asked.

Angela glanced around once again and confirmed to herself that it was the right place for her.

“I’ll take it.”

* * *

“Wow, we’re going to have so much fun here!”

Angela had to laugh at the excitement of her closest and oldest friend, Naomi Kane. She had just finished the third tour of the apartment and checking out the moving men who were just finishing up. Naomi was the biggest horndog that Angela knew and she often felt that part of the reason they had remained friends for so long was because it was so entertaining to watch Naomi shamelessly flirt with every guy who was remotely good-looking. Naomi really had no type and Angela always had the impression that Naomi hooked up with a lot more guys than she ever told anyone about.

“I know, right!” Angela said as Naomi wrapped her arms around her. If there was ever anyone that she knew whose looks she might have been intimidated by, it was Naomi. The girl was almost five-feet-ten-inches tall and she was possessed with a superhuman metabolism that allowed her to effortlessly keep that waif figure that every model Angela knew starved themselves to obtain. Life was just not fair sometimes.

But Angela knew better than anyone that a lot of Naomi’s flamboyant party girl lifestyle was to cover up the fact that she carried with her a lot of pain. She never spoke about it much, but ever since her parents divorced when she was twelve and her mother moved to Paris, there was a definite emptiness inside of her. It was like a light had been extinguished and Angela could see it in her eyes sometimes.

Angela’s mother had caught Naomi’s father, Richard Kane, cheating on her mother with a model. Richard was a highly successful entertainment lawyer. He was responsible for celebrities getting slaps on the wrist for indiscretions and crimes that would have put most people behind bars for several years. The man was smooth as silk and charming as could be. Angela had always had a bit of a thing for him, despite what he did for a living.

He was actually her parents’ lawyer. He had met them through a few of his supermodel clients (whom he was probably hooking up with regularly) and had decided to offer his services and advice on legal matters for a significant discount. It was unwritten but understood that he would be attending social functions and be introduced to more and more up-and-coming models by this act of charity. The man was a smooth operator.

Naomi loved her dad a lot, but their relationship had been somewhat strained since the divorce. She blamed her father not only for ruining her parents’ marriage but also for the fact that she hardly ever saw her mother. Angela had tried to explain to Naomi that it was not her father’s fault that her mother moved to another continent or that she could never be bothered to even pick up a phone to talk to her daughter.

But that was the way it was with kids who desperately sought out a parent’s approval, but said parent was just not interested in this case. Naomi practically worshiped her mother, who had been a fairly popular model when she was younger but could never quite get her figure back after Naomi was born. Angela thought it was horrible that Mrs. Kane blamed her daughter for ruining her career, and this obviously created a lot of insecurities in Naomi.

“What’s it feel like?” Natalie Young asked, coming out of the kitchen with a banana in her hand.  Angela and Natalie had been roommates at Harvard. She was one of the funniest girls that Angela had ever met, but she was so smart it was scary. It was uncanny actually. If someone had taken Naomi’s body and Angela’s brains and put them together it would be Natalie. But Natalie had no interest in modeling and even refused to believe that she was as pretty as she was. She had dated the same guy for the past four years and it was pretty much a given that they would be married after Joseph finished medical school.

“It’s indescribable. I mean, I got a taste of life on my own at school, but this is a whole new level.”

“Wow, your folks are so sweet. I don’t think my dad would ever trust me enough to get me a place like this,” Naomi said.

“Mine don’t either. I used my bonds to pay for all this,” Angela replied.

“Oh, that’s right. I’ve thought about doing something like that, I mean I have the money saved up, but I just don’t know if I care enough to spend it all on this,” Natalie said.

“I would love to do it, but my dad keeps me on too tight of a leash,” Naomi said.

“Well, if you would take up those modeling offers that have been thrown your way since you were twelve,” Angela reminded her.

“You know I can’t do that and you know why,” Naomi said with ice in her voice. Angela liked to tease her friend about the fact that she could have followed her mom’s footsteps and become a model any time she wanted to, especially with the connections she had. But Naomi refused to do it because she hated models. Somehow, she blamed modeling on destroying her family. It was understandable that she would feel like that when she was younger, but at twenty-two she should have had a better head on her shoulders, Angela thought.

“What about you, Ange? When are you going to become a supermodel of the world?” Natalie asked.

“When my parents wake up and realize that I would love to do it,” Angela replied.

“They know that you could do it. Don’t let them fool you,” Natalie said. “They just don’t want you to be a model because they feel it would make them look bad somehow.”

“That’s just it; I don’t get that reasoning. They love the industry. They’ve worked tirelessly for years to make their business what it is. Why wouldn’t they want me to be a part of it?”

“Because models suck. They’re all overpaid Barbie dolls who use their looks to make money for no work and then steal rich guys’ hearts and wallets,” Naomi responded.

Natalie and Angela could not hold back the laughter.

“Go on, Naomi. Tell us how you really feel,” Angela snickered.

“Oh, please. You aren’t going to sit there and argue with me that I’m wrong,” Naomi replied.

“You can’t say that about all models. That’s a gross overgeneralization,” Natalie said.

“Uh oh, she’s pulling out the money words,” Naomi joked.

Natalie blushed. She often used a lot of big words without even realizing it. Angela could have sat there and listened to those two banter all day long, but she decided that she would change the subject to something else.

“So, what are you guys doing tonight? We hitting some clubs?” Angela asked.

“Don’t tell me you forgot what today is,” Naomi said.

“What?”

Natalie and Naomi looked at each other. “Her brain must be out of space after all that studying at law school,” Natalie said.

“Did you forget that tonight is the big party my dad is hosting?” Naomi reminded.

Angela practically heard the lightbulb flashing off in her head.

“Oh, I am so sorry. It’s been a hectic week with the apartment and everything,” Angela said.

“Yeah, it must have been a real drag being around all these sweaty, muscular moving men all week.”

“Well, we all have our crosses to bear, right?” Angela retorted. “My dad even reminded me of it last night at dinner.”

“Then you have no excuse,” Natalie jabbed. Angela shot her a ‘really?’ look. Natalie at times had a bit of a sadistic streak where she loved to remind people of their shortcomings. Angela would not say that Natalie was a narcissist, but occasionally she let that side of her personality slip out a bit. Angela had always just assumed it was because everyone expected her to be so perfect all the time that she often expected the same in others.

“So, you’re going right?” Naomi asked.

“Yeah, of course.”

Angela was not sure how this had momentarily slipped her mind. Her father had brought it up the night before. It was the first time her parents had actually had to spend with her since she arrived back in town the week before. They were both in good spirits, but they never failed to remind her that it was almost a privilege that they were taking time out of their busy schedules to have dinner with her. Of course, they never said that, but the tone constantly implied it.

Richard Kane was having a big party to kick off the summer season as he always did. It seemed that he had a party for every season and every month and every time he decided to have a party, really. His parties just kept getting bigger and bigger as he invited more and more celebrities and the mega-rich.

The parties were more extravagant now than they had ever been because his business had grown immensely since Angela and Naomi were kids. Richard had started off as an entertainment lawyer, who became a partner in his firm and then set out and started his own firm. Angela admired the hard work and dedication that Richard put in, but it had come at a great cost as far as she could see. He and his daughter had a strained relationship and it had cost him his marriage too.

Angela saw this new party as a way for Richard to try to patch things up with his daughter, which he did from time to time. But she figured he had a personal agenda beyond that as well, even though Naomi told her that the party was mostly to celebrate her graduating from college.

“I bet you’re excited, Naomi,” Natalie said.

“I thought I was, but now as the hour looms nearer, I’m starting to feel that it’s going to suck the big one.”

Angela almost choked on the beer she had just sat down with. She didn’t hear Naomi curse that much, but when she did it reminded her of a truck driver. The girl could get a filthy mouth running on her from time to time. And it was always entertaining. Naomi and Natalie—never a dull moment with those two around.

“Then why are you going?” Natalie asked.

“Well, my dad told me it’s basically my party. It would be a jerk move if I didn’t show up.”

“Okay, so we won’t stay long,” Natalie suggested.

“Do I dare leave my own party early?” Naomi asked with a wicked grin.

“Well, if it’s lame then we vacate the premises,” Angela added. “But if it turns out to be awesome then we stay and party it up. Besides, the party's early, right? We can hit the town after.”

“Problem solved,” Natalie said.

“Well, ladies. Then I guess I will see you there,” Naomi said.

Angela shook her head. God only knew what crazy ideas Naomi was working with. After Naomi left, Natalie relaxed a bit. She was always a little on the tense side around Naomi for some reason. Angela had thought about it in depth before and the only thing that she could come up with was that Natalie was afraid she was going to say the wrong thing or it was going to be taken the wrong way by Naomi. Natalie often said the wrong thing to people without meaning to and then when people were offended Angela had to explain to her why that was.

So because of that, Natalie was always walking on eggshells around Naomi, ever since she had been introduced to her during Christmas break freshman year of Harvard. Natalie grew up in Long Island, whereas Angela and Naomi were both from Manhattan and went to a different school than Natalie. Angela often found herself wondering what it would have been like to grow up with both of them.

They would have had some sweet times.

“She’s going to get so bombed tonight,” Natalie said with a naughty smile. She loved to mess with Naomi when she’d had too many.

“I hope to as well,” Angela said, “It’s been too long!”

They sat in silence for a few moments and Angela realized that she was starting to become very excited about the party for one reason—Richard Kane. She had always had a bit of a crush on him, but the past few times she’d seen him she had caught him giving her a very approving eye. It was borderline creepy, being that she’d known him since she was twelve and he was her best friend’s father, but the creepiness factor had begun to wane significantly.

Richard Kane was a sexy man. Even with everything that she knew about him and his constant pursuit of new women to conquer, he was so damn sexy. She could not count the times she had thought about him and doing some very naughty things with him. He was the type of man she would love to have her first time with.

She knew this was the stupidest idea in the world. He was the exact wrong type of man to let pursue her, but that was part of the appeal. In some ways, he was the epitome of the bad boy, but at the same time, he was so different from the typical bad boy. He was a bad boy who had matured and kept all of the great qualities of being bad with the good qualities of a nice guy. The two blended together was just the ideal of sexy.

But she doubted that anything would ever come from it, except maybe some harmful flirtation. Besides, if Naomi ever knew that she had sexy thoughts about Richard then she would probably want to claw some eyes out. Naomi hated any woman who ever tried to get designs on her father, but coming from her best friend she would probably find to be the utmost in betrayal. Was a long friendship like theirs worth something like that?

Angela thought not, which is why she had always pretended that the gushy looks Richard had thrown her way the past few years were not noticed. She had done her best to ignore them, but she found him appearing in her thoughts randomly.

So tonight was going to be different. It had been a while since they had seen each other and she wondered if Richard was going to notice her at all or if he would have his hands full with some big-breasted model.

It was going to be an interesting evening.