“Now, tell me absolutely everything. I’m shocked that you even went, and I want to hear how you held up with the rest of the crowd,” Maddy said as she walked in through the door.

I smiled and shook my head, also unsure of how I had managed to do so well with the situation I had put myself in. I wouldn’t have said that I’d handled things perfectly, but I had certainly held my own in the club.

“You’re not mad at me, are you?” I asked as the two of us walked into the kitchen.

Maddy laughed.

“I have to admit, I thought it was a little strange when you hopped into my ride—but when you didn’t answer my call, I figured you knew what you were doing.”

She shook her head with a mischievous grin and I smiled, too. I still felt the excitement in my chest, and I was eager to relate to her what had happened. Maddy took a seat at the counter and I handed her a glass of iced tea before grabbing my own glass and settling in to begin.

“Well, as you know, we arrived at that mansion up on the hill, and I used your name to get in. I had no idea what was going on, but thought that I was going to just do as everyone told me to—I didn’t know what you were supposed to be doing there, so I thought that they would tell me.”

I paused and Maddy smirked. I could tell she still found this entire situation amusing, and I wasn’t sure whether I ought to take comfort or offense from it.

“They announced that all the ‘lots’ had arrived, and since I didn’t know what that meant, I just went along with it. I was dragged into the back room and they gave me this dress, then I was put out on display for everyone to bid on.”

I held out the dress I had been given, looking at Maddy with a questioning face.

Maddy took the dress and held it up against herself.

“I bet this will fit me. I wouldn’t worry about it, if I were you—but I’ll trade you one of my…less skimpy…dresses, if you want to replace the one you lost.”

She smiled and I gave her a grateful look. I hadn’t been overly attached to the cocktail dress I had lost that night, but at the same time, I didn’t have many dresses to go out in, and I would feel its absence.

“You were up first?” she asked, looking up at me.

I nodded, then continued.

“It seemed to go really fast at first; then, the bidding dwindled. Right at the end, this man suddenly bids way higher than anyone else—a hundred grand, Maddy! A few people tried to bid against him, but he wouldn’t allow it. He won the round, and then I was led off the stage and spent the evening with him.”

I hesitated to continue, but Maddy was leaning forward on the counter with an extremely interested look on her face.

“And?” she prompted.

“Well, I guess we hit it off. He took me over to the bar, then after we’d had a few drinks and talked for a while, we decided to head out onto the dance floor. I’ve never danced like that in my life, Maddy! I swear it felt like we were the only two people on the planet.”

I paused, reliving the memories of grinding with Kyle on the dance floor and just how amazing it had felt. I would have given anything to be back there—and part of me wished we’d had another dance or two before we’d headed to the bar.

Maddy didn’t seem as interested in the dancing, however, as she was in what happened next.

“So, did you just dance all night? Come on, this has to get really interesting at some point!” she exclaimed.

“Okay, okay. So after we danced for a while, we went over to the bar and had a couple more drinks. I hope you don’t mind that I maintained that I was you with him. I mean, I told him my real name, but I also kind of showed him a few of your photos and told him I was a model.”

I looked at Maddy once more, trying to see if she was going to be upset with me by what I had done. Once again, to my surprise, she didn’t seem at all phased that I had stolen her identity for a night. In fact, she grinned.

“To be fair, we do look exactly alike, and he likely wouldn’t have been impressed to hear that you were a nurse. I don’t mean to be offensive by that, Em—these aren’t the kinds of people to place a value on education. They want to know what you are doing with your…physical…gifts in life, and how much money you have for doing it,” she said as she sat back in her chair.

“All right, well, after we talked for a while longer, he asked if I wanted to mingle with the others in the party. I thought he meant we were going to go talk to them, but instead, he took me upstairs. They were having, like, an orgy in one of the rooms!”

Maddy didn’t seem the least bit surprised to hear that. She nodded and looked up.

“Did you do anything? I mean, I want to know what kind of reputation I have, now that I wasn’t me for a night,” she said with a teasing smile.

I shook my head, surprised that she would be so casual and willing to joke about it.

“I did not! We went inside the room and I thought he was going to want me to join in, but I think he could tell that I didn’t really want to get involved. I mean, I really do try to let people do their own thing, but I really don’t think I, personally, could do…that.”

I tried not to sound judgmental, but I could see by the look on my sister’s face that she wasn’t as amused as she had been before.

“I hope you didn’t say anything like that out loud! Those people might not be my friends, but as you see by that wad of cash in your purse, they do tend to pay the bills, in one way or another.”

Maddy looked genuinely upset, and I was quick to smooth things over.

“No, no, of course not! I knew…kind of…what I was doing. I just told my date that it wasn’t my cup of tea, and he invited me to another part of the house. We hooked up in one of the dark rooms, then left shortly after.”

Maddy looked relieved for a moment, then her eyebrows furrowed.

“You went home with him? Even though you’d only just met?”

She finished her drink and set it down, and I looked over at her in surprise.

“I was paid to be his companion for the evening. I didn’t want to be rude,” I explained, making an effort to keep my voice level. I wanted to tell her that it was so much more than that. I wanted to tell her that I had connected with this man more than I had ever connected with anyone, even though we had only spent a few hours together.

Maddy gave me a concerned look.

“Okay, so what happened when you were at his place?” she asked, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrows.

I didn’t want her to think that I was desperate, nor that I had made a rash decision, but I also wanted to stand up for the decision that I had made.

“We had a glass of champagne and talked for a while, then we went to his bedroom. Look, Maddy, I know this sounds crazy, but you have to believe me when I say we had a real connection. I don’t know how to explain it, but it was so different than anything that I’ve ever experienced before.”

I looked at Maddy, expecting her to say something about how happy she was for me, but instead, she asked a question.

“Who was he?”

Confused for a moment, I then realized I hadn’t yet told her the name of the guy I’d gone home with.

“Kyle Cunningham,” I declared, rather proudly.

Maddy gasped and looked at me in shock, and I felt my heart sink; I knew Kyle’s name had sounded familiar, but I hadn’t yet taken the time to look him up.

“You realize he is one of the biggest playboys out there, don’t you?” Maddy asked, raising her eyebrows.

All at once, the truth hit me, and I knew she was right. He was the man that I had seen in the tabloids so many times. The billionaire that always had some new floozy on his arm, and the drama that ensued when that fling fell apart.

I felt as though I had been punched in the stomach, but there was no way I was going to let my sister know. I hadn’t known that this was the same man as the one in the tabloids, but I was proud of myself for breaking out of the good-girl stereotype I had been placed in for so many years.

No. I was going to stand by who he was, and act like I had planned it that way the entire time.

“Of course! I was rather proud that someone so famous would choose me—and pay so much to have me, actually,” I said as I rose from the counter, taking the empty glasses with me.

I could feel Maddy’s eyes on me the entire time, and I squared my shoulders, doing my best to look confident and unaffected by the news.

“I just don’t want to see you get hurt is all,” Maddy said, her voice almost a whisper.

I felt my heart torn in two different directions. I believed she meant that, but at the same time, I wanted to tell her that the connection I had felt with this man was real. Not wanting her to worry about or pity me, I told her a half-truth to put both our minds at ease.

“I knew who he was from the beginning, so I decided to have my way with the night, and now, I am going to see what happens next!” I tried to sound triumphant, praying all the while that Maddy wouldn’t see right through me.

Maddy smiled and relaxed a bit, allowing me to relax as well. I knew she meant well, but I desperately wanted her to see the fact that I was able to be fun and unpredictable. I felt like I had to prove that I was able to break away from the safety net I had always placed myself in, and have adventures like she did.

But, I knew my sister was right—Kyle Cunningham was a known playboy, never seen with the same woman twice. I could tell myself otherwise, but that didn’t change a thing.

One night might very well have been the only time I would ever spend with him, and I would just have to be okay with that.

I didn’t really have a choice.