Silver Bell gave me a quick tour of her luxurious penthouse-loft-mini-mansion combo.

My bedroom—which she didn't show me right away—was across from her office. Hers was down the hall, on the other side of the stairs. Kitchen and living room were downstairs, along with washer, dryer, pantries, and other storage spaces.

My phone buzzed as she took me to the elevator, and I ignored it; I knew it'd be Sophia, to ask me how things went.

I zoned back in to hear Silver telling me her driver, Pete, would be waiting for me downstairs.

"And I'll send Gigi with you, too," she said, tucking her black curls behind her ears. At my bewildered look, she gestured at a door opposite the elevator that I hadn't even noticed upon arriving. "Gigi is my...uh...well I hate to call her this, but she's my maid. An assistant of sorts, but with my household, not with my company."

I nodded, still digesting this whole thing. But as she spun away and her shoulder grazed my arm, bringing on flashbacks of how her soft skin had felt against mine, I came back to life. "Wait, a maid? I don't...it's not necessary for...and a driver? I don't need them to help."

Silver was poised to walk away, but she stopped, standing with her back to me, so close I couldn't stand it. I breathed her in and all our antics from the other night charged up inside.

She looked over her shoulder, eyes like ice. "It'll accelerate the process of getting you moved in here." Her fingers twitched, and they were still so near mine, I instinctively jerked away. "I have no time to waste, Eden, you understand. The more people to help you pack your stuff and get it transported here, the better." She kept her gaze on me, but turned away, at last. "I wouldn't argue if I were you."

I clamped my mouth shut and nodded again.

"Good." She resumed her trek towards the stairs. "I'll see you later to see how you're getting settled. Gigi will be down soon."

I wasn't sure where this Gigi was, but for the moment, I was left alone in front of the elevator, unsure if I should hop in and go downstairs and wait there. Or wait here.

My phone buzzed again, and this time I knew if I didn't pick up the call, I'd get a scathing string of texts from Sophia.

"Hello?" I whispered, not positive Silver could hear me; and not positive if I wanted her to.

"Eden! Why did you avoid my call?" Sophia's polished, posh New York elite accent streamed through the phone, and I immediately lowered the volume. No matter how thick that ceiling was, Silver had to have heard that.

"Because I'm busy, Soph," I said, still keeping my voice low.

"Busy doing what? I thought you were just going over there to meet the guy?"

I cleared my throat. "Girl." My cheeks flushed. "Uh, woman. My boss is a woman."

"Ooooh," chimed in a second voice, belonging to Nico.

Of course, it was a three-way call. Sophia wouldn't want to give the story incorrectly to Nico, and Nico would throw a fit if he didn't get all the juicy details at the same time as her.

"And you definitely can't tell us anything?" Sophia was pleading, and she hated pleading. But I'd sworn to myself not to break my NDA, not even with my best friends.

Sophia knew NDAs; as a model, she'd signed several herself. Including the one when we first met, and breached it to get justice for herself, since she was mistreated at the high-profile agency where she started. I was temping there, and had noticed some shady shit in her contract, and told her.

Next I knew, we were besties, and she tugged me along on all her escapades through New York City's elite nightclubs and restaurants.

I wasn't technically part of that elite. But since Sophia adored me, and Nico was a scandal-seeking journalist who also grew to like me, I was included in this world of glitz and glamor, of overpriced drinks and parties at rooftop bars. I knew the secrets and what it took to be accepted in this inclusive community.

On my own, I didn't have what it took. I was an outsider standing at the threshold, allowed to look in, sometimes permitted to partake. But never officially introduced. People knew me, but they didn't include me unless Sophia and Nico were present.

"What did you wear?" Sophia often picked out my clothes—like the night of my first meeting with Silver—and brought me leftovers from photo-shoots, though I was a few sizes up from her. She always found these clothes, but I sometimes wondered if she actually shopped for me in secret. So I wouldn't embarrass her with my not-so-fashion-forward outfits.

"Hopefully not another pantsuit," said Nico, who I imagined to be at a café, sipping on his midmorning hangover cure. When he wasn't reporting, Nico was out on the town, seducing handsome boys for gossip and sleeping with rich men for pleasure.

"Hey, stop dissing my pantsuits!" I adjusted the hem of my white jacket. "They do the trick, every time."

I wasn't convinced this one had worked magic on Silver, but I hadn't lost the job, so there was that.

"She does look good in pantsuits," said Sophia. Loud music came from her end. She was either getting ready for her day while dancing around in her giant bathroom walk-in closet combo, or she'd woken up in a twenty-four-hour bar. Who knew? "Especially the ones I brought her from that one shoot a few months ago. Is it one of those, babe?"

I thought back to all the outfits she'd provided me over the years and couldn't quite recall. But denying her would lengthen this conversation, and something told me I'd need to hang up soon. Before this Gigi person came to find me.

"Possibly, yeah. You spoil me so much, I think ninety percent of my clothes are from you, Soph."

Sophia gushed; Nico scoffed. The phone call was almost over, I could tell. I hoped it was.

"Is it the white one?"

Oh crap, she wanted all the details. If I held off on that, she'd revert to asking questions about my new employer, and those were questions I couldn't answer.

It was a suit she'd brought me, now that I remembered. She'd worn a matching one as she delivered it. The skin-tight fabric molded to her thin figure, outlining her surgery-enhanced breasts and her naturally round and defined ass. She was beautiful, I always told her as much.

"It looked hot when you tried it on," she added, before I could confirm whether she was right. "You were like a sexy, blonde librarian. Just needed the glasses. Did you wear glasses today?"

I chuckled. "I don't need glasses, Soph."

Nico sounded confused. "You wore a white suit in the subway? Are you crazy?"

"I didn't sit down," I said, not really remembering the route from my place to Silver's. "And it wasn't a busy morning, for once." I'd been scrolling through the NDA and googling Silver and hadn't paid too much attention to my surroundings.

"Okay, what can you tell us about this gig? Please." Sophia took a bite of something crunchy. "I'm eager for details. You're never so private about where you work."

"This is...more high-profile," I said, hissing as the words left my mouth. That was already too much to say. "Someone who wants their privacy intact."

"New York elite, like us, I bet," said Nico, and he then sighed. "You know, if we were big corporate CEOs and stuff. Oh," his breath caught, "my meeting is here. Gotta go, girls. Love you!"

He hung up, and I relaxed thinking Sophia would do the same—but she remained on the line.

"You're okay though, right?" She toned down her inquiring voice. "You never avoid my calls, doll."

"I only dodged it one time, Soph. My boss was talking to me, and it was rude to interrupt her to pick up a call from my greedy best friend."

She snorted. "Greedy, huh? And you're still at her house? Did she invite you to breakfast or something? I thought this was an introduction?"

"I thought so too," I said, switching to a whisper when I heard a sound coming from the living room. I'd remained near the elevator, inclined towards it and out of sight. Gigi was likely about to appear, and it'd be impolite of me to be on the phone when she did. "Listen, Soph, can I call—"

"I know you need this money, babe, so I trust you. But...be careful, okay? If Nico's right, if you are dealing with New York elite folk...I mean, you've seen them." She huffed. "They're money-obsessed jerks. And yeah, you're working for a woman, so that's great, but that doesn't change that she might not be...uh...the best person."

Sophia had had her share of abuse from employers and agencies. I knew she meant well by issuing this warning. But she had no idea how deeply involved I was with my new boss, and how cautious we'd both be around one another for that reason.

I had nothing to worry about with Silver. Neither of us wanted the news of our one-night-stand getting out, so she'd respect my boundaries, and I'd respect hers.

"Thank you," I said, with sincere appreciation in my voice. "I do have to go, though." I winced; should I have told her about me moving in temporarily with Silver?

No, don't.

It'd make her more suspicious than she already was, and she'd linger longer on the phone.

Noise came from the hallway—footsteps, but not the clack-clack of Silver's shoes.

"Fuck," I breathed, then to Sophia, I said, "thank you for checking in. Good luck on your first day later."

"Eden—"

"Love you, bye!" I hurried to hang up the call and stuff my phone into my purse.

A young woman dressed in black arrived, squinting at me as I fidgeted about and pretended to not have been on a call.

"Oh, sorry," she said, slowing her pace and raising her palms. "I didn't mean to interrupt anything."

I forced a smile on my face and shook my head. "No, no, you weren't. A...a friend was making sure I'm okay. New job, and all."

"Ah." Her shirt was crisp, unbuttoned at the top, and her brown hair tumbled down over her shoulder, hanging from her loose ponytail. She was pretty, but in an understated, I-don't-want-to-be-noticed way. "Well, you didn't need to hang up on my account."

"The conversation was over." I extended my hand, hoping for a polite handshake and for us to get moving, since Silver seemed in such a hurry. "I'm Eden."

She studied my hand, cocking her head as if she'd never seen an offer for a handshake before. She eventually took my hand; hers was cold and calloused. "Gigi." She pressed the button to call the elevator. "The maid."

I supposed it wasn't customary to shake hands with the maid, but I didn't think I was much higher on the scale, as a personal assistant. We both ran errands and did chores and basically obeyed every command given to us. We indulged every beck and call of our employer.

Our employer being the hot, rich, and incredibly seductive Silver Bell.

I'd have preferred to be back home already, resting up for my first official day tomorrow. Some yoga, watching more reruns of Gilmore Girls, reading a happy rom-com novel, grabbing coffee with Sophia. Anything but standing here awkwardly next to my new boss' maid.

But this was necessary. I had to conform to whatever Silver Bell wanted, if I wanted to keep this job. I'd been white-knuckling life since my last paycheck, and this opportunity fell into my lap.

Acting like Silver and I had never met would have to be my priority. Pretending like I'd never seen her silky skin in the nude, that I hadn't tasted her deliciousness on my finger after I'd had my way with her pussy.

My cheeks had to be purple by that point. I was desperate for my thoughts to settle and for the damn elevator to finally arrive.

"Where do you live?" Gigi sounded distant, hugging herself as she rolled on the balls of her feet, staring at the elevator expectantly.

"Uh," I sensed my cheeks heating with shame, "Two Bridges? It's not far—"

"I know Two Bridges." She removed a phone from her back pocket and began typing something. I leaned sideways a little, glimpsing the screen—she was texting someone. "Shouldn't take too long to get there and zip here. Do you have a lot to pack?"

I bit the insides of my cheeks, thinking of my meager belongings, my closet that half-belonged to Sophia. In truth, I didn't know what to bring. What did Silver expect me to have on hand while I lived with her? Simple outfits, comfortable clothes to work in. As her assistant, I'd be on the move a lot, or on the phone, or taking cabs across town to set up meetings and inspect venues for fashion shoots. Or so, I assumed.

"Not sure," I said, lowering my chin as I grew tired of watching the elevator slowly—achingly—climb to the fifth floor.

"Well, we'll figure it out." Gigi got something else out of her other back pocket—a folded piece of paper. She unfolded it to show it was a list. "Ms. Bell gave me a few guidelines to streamline the process."

Streamline the process? This woman had an actual list of what she wanted me to bring here?

Silver Bell ran a tight ship, and I'd boarded it without bringing my life-jacket.