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and made no excuses for it. Who she dated was no one’s business but her own. She hurt no one, never threw her weight around with them, and she was always gracious at the end, which wasn’t always the case with them. But Timmie was a lady till the end.
    She picked up the phone and dialed his number in L.A., as Jade left the room without comment. She had seen a number of men like Zack come and go over the years of working for Timmie. She hated them. Timmie deserved so much better, but Jade also understood better than most the disadvantages Timmie was operating under. She’d had her own problems finding the right man, and knew the compromises one made, in her case a married man, which she would never do again, after ten wasted years and a broken heart to show for it. She had begun to think that maybe Timmie was better off with men like Zack, who looked like boys and pretended to be men. At least Timmie had no illusions about them. She never fell in love with them, and wasn’t broken-hearted when it ended. The damage was limited. She never lost her dreams, in fact with men like Zack, there were no dreams at all. Just a pretty face, a handsome body, an easygoing guy in most cases, and another six months she didn’t have to spend alone. It worked, as long as you never wanted more, and remembered what it was. The only real mistake would have been thinking it could be more. But Timmie never did. She knew the game and the breed too well. She kept her heart well protected, and didn’t expect a lot from them.
    Zack answered on the second ring, and was obviously asleep when Timmie called.
    “Hi Zack,” she said easily. “We just got to Paris, and I said I’d call. Go back to sleep. I’ll call you later.” She was about to hang up when he spoke. He had a deep sexy rumble of a voice, especially when he was in bed or asleep. She loved his looks and his voice.
    “No, don’t … I’m awake … so how’s Paris? It sucks without me, right?” He was teasing, but not entirely, and even half asleep, there was an edge to his voice. She could easily hear that he was still angry about the trip he’d missed. She had no intention of discussing that with him again, or explaining for the hundredth time that for her this was work.
    “Absolutely. It totally sucks.” She laughed, thinking he was at least consistent. He had become obsessive about her inviting him on this trip. Their battles had raged on for weeks before she left, while she tried in vain to reason with him, and convince him that she needed to work on this trip, and go alone. “Why don’t you go back to sleep? I’m going to work in an hour.”
    “Yeah, yeah, I know. You keep saying that. You can’t be working all the time.” It had been a recurring theme during their calls throughout the trip. He had been doggedly persistent, probably thinking she’d relent and invite him to come over halfway through, but she hadn’t.
    “Believe it or not, I am. These road shows for the ready to wear collections are a bitch.” She was being honest with him, although he hadn’t believed her all along. It sounded like a lot of fun to him. Models, parties, press, a round of activity in sexy European cities. What more could a boy want? It would have suited Zack to a tee if she’d let him come. She didn’t want to have to worry about him while she worked.
    “You could have hired me to model at least,” he chided her gently, and she smiled. She knew that was what he wanted, or at the very least a free ride. There was no mystery to what he wanted from her in this instance—it was all up-front.
    “They hire all the models in Europe, Zack. You know that.” But he also knew she could have forced them to hire him, and she had chosen not to, which rankled him. It was in her power to get him jobs, or even create them for him. Timmie was adamant that she didn’t want the men she dated on these trips. She never mixed business with pleasure. He would have been out of place here, unless