Secrets Of The Night: A Case of Kiss and Tell

“What kind of work do you do from home?” she asked.

“Whatever needs doing,” he said. “If you weren’t here I would have eaten at my desk and answered emails until eleven.”

“Workaholic!”

“Yes, I am. But it’s impossible to have a successful business and not be. Everyone talks about wanting to have balance, but it takes drive and ambition to be successful and that type of personality doesn’t want to spend weeks having downtime.”

That said a lot about Conner and she added it to the image of him she was building in her head to write her article. He might have been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but there was nothing lazy about him. He didn’t expect anything to be handed to him and she admired him for it.

“Ready to go downstairs and see the rest of the rooms?” he asked.

“No, but I am ready to see your bedroom again,” she said.

He took her hand and led her downstairs to his bedroom, where he made love to her and she stopped thinking about stories and bargains and just enjoyed being in her lover’s arms until he carried her back to her own bed in the middle of the night and she was reminded of those very facts.

Twelve (#ulink_d3ed0060-c568-57c0-93d2-6efc96635759)

Nichole woke early, showered and left Conner’s apartment without seeing him. Unfortunately, once she’d left it was too early for her to meet Gail and Willow for breakfast. But she knew if she stayed she’d feel pushed into saying or doing something with Conner that she shouldn’t.

Last night she’d been ballsy and acted like being his mistress was all part of her plan, but being carried back to her bed after she’d fallen asleep wasn’t cool, no matter how she tried to make it work in her head. She’d thought she’d been prepared for the reality of being his mistress, but she hadn’t been.

She knew that it was past time for her romantic dreams about Conner to be put to bed, but it wasn’t that easy. She felt as if she’d won some things from him the night before. He’d answered her questions. Granted, they’d been easy ones, but still.

And this morning, having gotten absolutely no sleep, she was feeling very emotional. She stopped at Starbucks for a coffee and texted both Willow and Gail to see what time they were meeting. She quickly heard back that if she and Gail were willing to go to Brooklyn, Willow could meet in thirty minutes.

Nichole texted back that worked for her and hailed a cab to get out of Manhattan. They met at a coffee shop that served what Willow called the best breakfast burrito in New York. Gail had to cancel so it was just the two of them.

“Okay, what’s up with you? You never can meet this early,” Willow said after the waiter had set down their food and coffee.

Nichole might be making her living as a reporter, but she was uncomfortable being the one on the other side of the questions. She knew what she wanted to say to her friend, but not how to say it. Finally, she just took a deep breath and blurted out, “I’ve agreed to be Conner’s mistress in exchange for interviewing him.”

Willow stopped midchew and just looked at her incredulously, which made Nichole realize she should have chosen some different words, maybe something that made it sound a little less like what it was.

Willow finished chewing the bite she had in her mouth and then reached across the table to take Nichole’s hand. “Okay, first of all why?”

“He wouldn’t agree to be interviewed otherwise.”

“So he’s a pig?” Willow asked.

“No. It’s not like that. You know … actually you might not know this, but after he kept avoiding me on the set and refused to take my calls, I crashed his family’s Fourth of July party and when he confronted me … well, we had chemistry.”

“Okay, this is making more sense now. So he wanted you and you, being a good little reporter, said no, my story comes first.”

“Yes, Willow, it was very Perils of Pauline with my swooning and putting my hand on my forehead,” Nichole said, getting a little frustrated with her friend.

“I’m sorry,” Willow said. “But this is only a problem because … I’m not sure why. How is being his mistress any different than those one-night stands you’ve had or your vacation boyfriends?”

“It’s different because I like him,” Nichole said.

“And that’s the heart of the matter. You’ve always been careful to keep men at arm’s length and it was easy for you because you picked men who weren’t looking for anything serious.”