ti

ti

fantasy splutters and stalls like it ran out of video

to go get the r

ce. Rash? Yes. Regretta

do anyth

oddamn

rusted assistant. Arrange a meetin

omes immediate

t time in months, I'm genuinely interested. Not in some model or heiress my father wants

re time. "I'm coming, Rowan St.

O

nd cup of Monday morning co

line alone m

UEST FROM V

. "No, no, no," I whisper hoarsely,

passport, dye my hair, pick up an Aussie accent? I could probably o

eferable to facing down

red, canned, sacked. Maybe drawn and quartered, too, if the rumors a

ng sex with someone he probably s

red the veil. I witnessed somethi

half-naked,

f he is truly as "connected" as the rumor

I tried to flee and

would the pun

's only because I spent all of last night imagining

tayed in th

I steppe

cked the door and turned to him an

he last five years: with me, alone in my crummy apartment, sweaty and shiveri

I'm still drooling just thinking about it. I practically blacked

me to reap w

my fa

st like all the messes in my life

Yes,

email with tr

St.

in his office tomorrow at 9:00 AM

of this message. Punctu

ga

e Mo

sistant to V

to somewhere so

ddenly, it's not sexy or darkly f

if I get

l happen

trying to keep my voice steady. "I'm feelin

p from his monitor. "Whatever. Just ge

nd practically run

ent, phone pressed to my ear. "Pick up, pick up

, Natalie

g, even though I'm alone in m

spering? And why aren

o my couch. "H

ummone

re anyone else in our com

"Wait, like...

incent! I have to meet wi

atalie breathe

bly shy. "The detail

ll me what happened-because something definitely happened; I can hear it in your voice and I've got a sixth sense for hot, juicy goss, which this

face into a pillow. "I may have walked in

ind of

With his secreta

I think we've been disconnected. I hold the phone away

Nat

he most uproarious, full-blown cackling I've ever heard.

protest. "He saw m

up the Empire State Building now. "He farted mid

wink

ter stops