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you hadn't noticed! I don't think I or you or Mistress Amelia or any of the other clients there would have appreciated the paparazzi camped at the door.”
     
    “It was your two thousand dollars! You sent him there to—what? Try me out?”
     
    “I sent him to find someone for me. He knows what I like, what I'm into. Yes, he tried you out.”
     
    I thought of our daring, exquisite night of pleasure, now reduced to Kyle's tawdry work assignment. “That's just…repugnant.”
     
    “Repugnant. Another nice word. Kyle's good at what he does. I asked him to find someone intelligent this time. I know you're not stupid, Nell. I know your mind isn't closed. I know you understand the lifestyle, and I know you've lived it. Put yourself in my shoes. How do you get what you need when you're in the spotlight twenty-four-seven? When cameras and gossip rags and Web sites are recording your every move?”
     
    I couldn't wrap my mind around it. It was just so depraved. I knew rich, superstar actors lived hedonistic lifestyles, but this was just plain sick. “Your last girlfriend—she was this too? A personal assistant?”
     
    “Yes, she was. She signed those same papers you just read. We worked great together for a while.” He said it like it was perfectly reasonable. He was crazy. He pulled up to my apartment. I wanted to get out, to slam the door in his face and go upstairs and shower until I could feel clean again.
     
    But I didn't. I sat still, still as he did, and for some reason I asked him, “What happened? Why did she quit?”
     
    He sat a moment in silence, biting his lip. “They all leave eventually. You will too.”
     
    I snorted. “No, I won't. Because I'm not going with you in the first place. I'm sorry that you're in this situation. I really am. But I'm not… I can't—”
     
    “All right,” he said. “Before you make any final decisions, I want you to think about this. You're out of work. Your real work. Waitressing can't be paying the bills. You're good at what you do. I'm good at it too. And I think you and I would get along. I know I went about this the wrong way. I see that I've made you angry. It was never my intention to humiliate you or hurt you. Trap you, maybe. But only to make you consider things. So don't run away so quickly. Take a few days to consider—”
     
    “The only thing I'm considering now is whether I'm going to take out a restraining order on you and your creepy bitch-boy Kyle. Good night.” I got out, slammed the door, and went into my apartment without looking back. I don't know how long he stayed there, parked out in front. I was afraid to look. I was afraid to admit I cared.
     
    I was afraid, because under the blazing anger burned a small ember of desire.

Chapter Four
    Scared
     
     
     
    If I were a nice person, a gentleman, I would have left her alone. I would have let her out at her apartment and never thought of her again. Her reaction to my proposal left no room for misinterpretation. She wasn't interested. Not in the least.
     
    So perhaps I'd miscalculated. I might have perceived signals that weren't really there, although as an actor I was pretty good at reading people. But I wasn't perfect, no more perfect than anyone else.
     
    No, if I were perfect, I would just let her go. I would just move on. I had a few days left, plenty of time to find an acceptable candidate. Unfortunately I was more selfish than perfect. I wanted her.
     
    I stared at the menu, even though I already knew what I wanted. Nell would arrive for work any minute now. I was sitting in her section, and I'd purposely come at a slow time. Of course, she'd be far from overjoyed to find me here. Oh well. I'd deal with her displeasure when it came.
     
    I picked at the sugar packets on the table and rearranged the salt and pepper shakers. Guillermo brought me a drink and thanked me for the fiftieth time for my patronage. I asked if he wouldn't mind sending Nell my way when she arrived.
     
    “Oh