the kitchen is closed, and a glance at my phone reveals it’s time for my exam. I slowly make my way to the medical clinic, where for the next two hours, my virginity is verified through an uncomfortable series of pokes and palpitations. By the time I get out of the stirrups I’m red in the face and feeling distinctly undignified.
Have you ever made this much money off a regular gynecological exam before? That thought makes me smirk.
The moment I push through the door back out into the main hall, I’m greeted by the sound of kids’ party bazookas and a single spray of silly string, which apparently came from a can Loveless is holding.
Juniper catches my arm, and Marie V. grins. “It’s time for your sex class!”
“Sex class?” I put a hand on my stomach, which feels flip-floppy at the prospect. “Does that mean I—”
“You watch,” Loveless says, winking at me. “Now, follow us.”
So I do. I follow them around to the right side of the manor house, into a spacious suite that’s outfitted with more cameras than the rest of Love Incorporated.
A hot guy with silky blond-brown hair and pale blue eyes is waiting. When he sees Juniper, he grabs her hand, and I watch with a notch between my brows while the two of them step into another room, and a few of the girls I don’t know well move in to give me hugs.
“We’re leaving,” Bella says. “Don’t want to be a looky loo.”
“Have a great day,” a girl named Luri tells me.
“Juniper’s the best,” assures a slightly younger girl.
When the room clears out, it’s only Loveless, Marie V., and me. On the other side of a long window, Juniper and the guy—who I quickly find is named Aspen—are making out. We sit down on a plush couch, and I ask if the window is one-sided.
“Oh, yes. They can’t see us,” Marie V. tells me.
But I can definitely see Juniper. She’s unzipping Aspen’s pants, and I’m feeling a little awkward.
“Clients pay to watch this?” I ask them as Aspen pulls off her blouse.
“Some,” Loveless says.
“Wow, that’s weird.”
“But not for you,” Marie V. says. “It’s good. They’re going to show you the ropes. Feel free to walk up to the window. That’s why they’re doing it. So you can see what it’s going to be like.”
“Wow.” I do end up at the window, only because Loveless prods me to. I’m still reeling an hour later as we eat a picnic lunch on the lawn behind the main manor house. When Juniper finally shows up, drinking a smoothie and wearing a long, pink robe, she grins. “Well, what did you think?”
“You were amazing.”
She bats her lashes, and I realize they look longer—and her face looks more made up. “That’s what I’m told.”
“Well it’s true.” I gesture to her robe. “Are you working right now?”
“I am. I just came out between clients. I don’t have one for another forty-five minutes, and it’s you.”
I nearly choke on my diet soda, and she laughs. “I’m going to be your model. It’s the web cam preview, remember? I’ll model the moves they’ll want you to make, and then you’ll make them. It won’t be so bad.”
“You can do it,” Loveless assures me.
“Thank you. I’m nervous.” Very. I’ve been here for days, but I still don’t feel ready to pose for a camera. How could I?
We shoot the shit a while longer, and then Juniper and I go film my web cam preview. It’s easier than I think it will be; all the film people are nice. I’m wearing panties and a bra, but my face is shadowed, so on the screen.
Afterward, Juniper and I practice some moves, which is funny and not at all sexual. I do dinner in the dining room, where I’m regaled with stories of everyone’s day. Loveless is working all night, and so is Juniper. I have the night off, so I head back to my room, where I get a call from Suri and I get a chance to say a few things to Cross.
He murmurs something I think might be an answer to one of my questions, and that’s enough for me.
When Suri gets the phone back in her hand, she says she’s leaving rehab, so she’ll call me back from her car. When she does, I get the Adam story.
“For a really long time, it hasn’t seemed logical to break things off because we have a lot of history and we care about each other,”