I opened my eyes, slowly blinking as I looked around the room. I had a headache from the champagne the night before, and it took me a moment to remember where I was exactly. Slowly, the events of the previous day came to mind, and I began to piece together what today would hold.

I remembered having the disagreement with my sister, and began searching for my phone. I then remembered that I had dropped my clutch out in the living room, and figured my phone must be inside. Looking around the room, I could see that Kyle was already gone, having gotten dressed while I was still asleep.

I hurried out to the living room in nothing but my underwear and, sure enough, found my phone inside my clutch. Kyle had been kind enough to pick it up off the floor and leave it sitting on the coffee table for me, and I ignored the feeling of embarrassment that threatened to swell up in me.

I was a grown woman, and I was allowed to do anything I wanted—including having a one-night stand with a person that I found incredibly attractive.

Part of me hoped that there was more to Kyle than just viewing me as a one-night stand, though I was more than willing to face the reality, should I have to.

There was one message from my sister on my phone, but she had left it the night before. Deciding it was no longer relevant, I deleted it, ordering a cab through the app on my phone. After confirming my drop-off location, I walked back to the bedroom and got dressed, then tidied the place up a bit. Kyle had pulled his side of the sheets up to the pillow already, but I took the time to redo the entire bed, smoothing it all out and making sure there were no wrinkles.

Wanting to look less like this was a walk of shame, I used some of Kyle’s soap to wash the makeup off my face and get rid of my raccoon eyes. My hair was disheveled, but it was nothing some water and the hair tie in my clutch couldn’t manage.

By the time I had finished, I looked a little less like I had just come from the most bizarre party I had ever attended. My phone chimed and I glanced down at it, relieved to see that my ride had arrived.

I could have spent the entire day in Kyle’s mansion, but I didn’t want to intrude, and I certainly didn’t want to still be there when Kyle returned if he wasn’t looking to build any real connection between us. I glanced out the window and saw the car waiting in the driveway, then hurried to the living room to get my clutch.

That’s when I saw it. A large stack of cash sitting on the kitchen counter with a note next to it—a note with my name scrawled across the front. Curious, I glanced around, trying to see if there had been some kind of mistake.

I walked over and picked it up, quickly skimming the text to keep my cab from waiting too long.

Miss Shadows,

Thank you for your company last night. You brought me a great deal of happiness, and it was a real pleasure to meet you. Please take this payment in exchange for your time, and do with it as you please.

Take care, and best of luck in life.

Kyle Cunningham

I read through the note a couple times, feeling suddenly unsettled. I was confused. He had bid on me at the club—he had fought off other bidders in order to spend the night with me—and now, here was a large pile of cash that seemed to confirm the very thing I’d put out of my mind all those hours ago—Kyle Cunningham thought I was an escort.

The sound of the horn brought my mind back to the present, and I hurriedly grabbed the money. I felt bad, knowing that in normal circumstances I would never accept money for going home with someone, but as I quickly counted the cash, I discovered there was more than three thousand dollars there, and the note said that it was mine.

That kind of money would help me immensely.

Without the time to truly think through what I was doing, I shoved the money inside my clutch and hurried outside, feeling slightly self-conscious about the dress I was still wearing. I had lost my other dress at the club the night before, and though I thought they would probably give it back to me should I contact them, I decided I would just leave it.

Besides, I was able to keep the dress I had left in—if they wanted it back, they would have to contact my sister to find out about it. They didn’t know a thing about me or where I came from, and though I would have hated to get Maddy in trouble for anything, I felt she would know how to handle it far better than I did.

I slid into the back seat of the cab, and the driver gave me a curt nod. I started to apologize for keeping him waiting, but just then, my phone began to ring. I glanced down and saw it was my sister. The resentment I had been feeling toward her from the previous night had vanished, and I briefly hoped that she wouldn’t be mad at me for taking her ride to the party.

I held the phone to my ear.

“Hello?”

“Emily! Thank goodness! Are you all right?” Maddy’s voice sounded frantic.

“I’m fine! Just fine. I took the wrong ride and ended up at your party. I didn’t know what to do at the door, so I just gave them your name and they let me in. When did you become a fancy escort, anyway?”

The cab driver raised his eyebrows at that, looking in the rear view mirror at me, but I said nothing.

“What are you talking about? I’m not an escort,” Maddy said with a laugh, and I felt my heart skip a beat.

“If you’re not an escort, then what on earth happened last night? They took me into a back room, made me change clothes, then put me on a stage where people started bidding for me! I ended up going home with a guy who just left me a pile of money on the kitchen counter. I’m on my way home in a cab now.”

I knew that the information was coming out in bits and pieces, and I hoped my sister was able to piece together some sense out of what I was saying. I was feeling confused about what had happened the night before, and how it fit into what Maddy was saying.

Maddy’s laughter came through the phone, and I waited for her to continue.

“First of all, you should know that the Gathering is nothing more than a club for rich people. There are some escorts there, sure, but mostly it’s just a group of rich men and women showing off to each other. They have those bids and dates because money is the language those people speak. You’re under no obligation to sleep with anyone, and you don’t even have to go on the stage if you don’t want to. It’s kind of the way that they all show off.”

Maddy’s voice was more amused than anything, but I still felt torn.

“How did you get into it?” I asked.

“A friend of mine was going a while back—it’s a party that happens every few months or so, and it’s a pretty big deal to be invited. I thought it was a lot of fun getting to be some arm candy for the night, and I enjoy the high-end style of partying.”

Maddy’s voice was drifting off as though she was losing interest. Simply relieved that she didn’t seem angry at me, I was getting ready to wrap up the conversation and change my focus to the day I had ahead of me, but then she spoke again, with renewed interest.

“Wait, Emily—are you saying you took money for sex?”

The question hung in the air for a long, awkward moment. I definitely didn’t regret what I had done the night before, but I suddenly felt strange that I had accepted money at the end of it—even though I had decided to sleep with Kyle of my own free will.

The money he had left had been his choice, and I had thought of it as more of a gift than anything.

But then again, Maddy had always been the adventurous one, and the fact that she thought it strange that I had taken the money made me feel that it wasn’t the right choice. I didn’t answer for a few seconds, and Maddy prompted me to respond.

“Hello? Did you drop your phone?” Her voice sounded impatient, and I stumbled over my words as I replied.

“No, no, hah. We’re getting close to my place and I was just thinking about what I was going to do with this dress, is all.”

I wasn’t going to tell her about the dress, but I wanted to get off the subject of the money.

Maddy’s amused voice hinted at curiosity, and she suggested she come over to give me a hand.

“After all, I would love to hear more about this night you had. Sounds like it would have been an interesting one that I would have liked to go to myself.” There wasn’t any bitterness in her tone, but once again, I felt like I had done something wrong.

I smiled though I wanted to sigh, and I agreed.

“All right, there is an awful lot I want to talk to you about, and I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to take your ride, I really didn’t. But, of course, one thing led to another, and I ended up being out a lot longer than I thought I was going to be.”

I laughed softly and was relieved to hear her join in.

“I’m going to get dressed and grab a bite to eat; then, I’ll be heading your way,” she said.

A feeling of relief washed over me and I nodded even though she couldn’t see me.

“Sounds good. See you soon.”