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The camera bulb flashed, and Colt was out of the hot tub in one action-hero leap, dumping me off his lap so abruptly I smacked down, my head slamming against the edge.

I swallowed chlorine water and came up sputtering and gasping.

As I start climbing out, cool night air hit my bare breasts, and I yelped.

My arms slapped over my chest as I scrambled to find my bikini top.

I’d just gotten it back on when Colt returned. He grabbed my arm and hauled me from the water. Then he held me there, as if I were a burglar caught in the act, while he found his cell phone and speed-dialed a number.

“Karla? I have a problem.” A pause. “A girl.”

A girl? Shock snapped my head up, indignation filling me. I’d been living in his house, looking after his children and teaching him to play guitar. Now he called me “a girl,” as if I were some crazed fan who snuck into the party.

I tried to wrench out of his grip, but he held me tight without seeming to even realize I was there, too intent on his conversation with Karla.

“Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, okay. We’re on our way.”

She replied as he listened.

“I’m not stupid,” he snapped. Then he hung up, turned to me and sighed. His hand loosened, as he pulled me into a hug, cell phone clapping against my back.

“It’s okay,” he murmured. “Everything’s going to be okay, Lucy.”

Oh, so you remember my name now?

His hand moved to my chin, and he lifted my face to his.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. Champagne and pretty girls just don’t mix.

” His lips quirked in a smile, and he leaned to kiss me.

I jerked back, but it was only a brush of the lips, and he didn’t notice me withdraw, just slung an arm around my shoulders and started leading me away.

“Karla will fix this,” he said. “She always does.”

We returned by circling around the front. When we saw Karla, Colt patted my back and nudged me toward her.

“You go on now,” he murmured. “Let Karla take care of you. Just do as she says, and everything will be fine. Whatever happens, I’ll look after you. Remember that.”

He brushed his lips over the top of my head and propelled me Karla’s way. Then he loped back to the party.

As Karla walked over, my legs froze. I stood there, knees trembling.

Karla gave me this job. She treated me like a valued employee, not seasonal student help. And now I’d been photographed in a hot tub with her client, the man whose children she’d entrusted to my care.

“Lucy,” she said, her expression unreadable. She nodded curtly and waved for me to follow her. When I caught up, she held out a bag.

“Clothing,” she said, “and a few things I could grab from your room.”

“M-my clothing?”

She lifted a hand as headlights appeared. A wave, and the black SUV approached.

“Lucy?” a voice called.

Jamison stood on the front porch, still wearing his swim trunks, a towel draped over his thin shoulders.

“Lucy?” he called again.

“Hey, Jamie,” I said, forcing calm into my voice. “Is it time for bed? I just need to talk to Karla for a second. I’ll be right–”

Karla cut me short. “Let me get your dad, Jamie. I need to speak to Lucy.”

“Is something wrong?” His gaze flickered to me. He knew the answer. Jamison read emotions as naturally as I read sheet music.

“Nothing that has anything to do with you,” I said. “Just a little thing Karla and I need to talk about.”

She was already on her phone saying, “I think your son would like you to tuck him in, Colt.”

Her voice was pleasant, and she managed a rare smile for Jamison, but whatever Colt said made that smile vanish as she turned away, voice lowering.

“That is not as important as your son,” she hissed. “Get inside now .”

She hung up and took a moment before turning back to us. “Your dad is coming, Jamie, and I’m just going to steal Lucy away for a chat, okay?”

Jamison nodded, but his worried eyes stayed fixed on me as he backed into the house and shut the door.

When Karla caught me staring at the closed door, she put her hand to my back in an awkward pat.

“He’ll be fine,” she said. “Isabella will look after him.”

I did not miss her wording. She might have ordered Colt to tuck in his son, but ultimately, the role of responsible parent fell to Isabella.

Isabella…

“I-I need to talk to…” I began.

I needed to confess to Isabella. To explain. To beg forgiveness. But if Karla could fix this, as Colt promised, then Isabella never needed to know about the kiss.

I imagined going back into that house, waking up and acting as if nothing had happened. Shame and guilt washed over me. I wanted to come clean. That was best for me. Best for Isabella, though?

No. Unburdening my sins was for confession, and that is what I would do. Confess to a priest. Confess to my mother. Confess to Nylah. I had to respect Isabella enough to keep this from her and make sure it never happened again. I’d learned this lesson as surely as if it’d been branded on my skin.

Karla steered me to the waiting car. We climbed in, and she gave the driver instructions. Then she flicked off the intercom and called his name, watching to be sure he couldn’t hear it. A nod of satisfaction, and as the car pulled from the curb, she turned to me.

“I have someone on this already,” she said. “It will be handled, but if there is anything you can tell me about the man who took the picture, that will help. We need to offer him more than the tabloids will.”

“I-I didn’t even know it was a man. I just saw camera flashes, and then Colt took off.”

She nodded. “All right. Then I need to ask you some uncomfortable questions.”

I tried not to squirm.

“Colt may have said he used protection, but women cannot trust men in these matters. We need to take control of our reproductive choices. Are you on the pill? Please be honest with me, Lucy. If you aren’t, I can get something.”

“N-no. I… I’m not on the pill, but we didn’t–” My face scorched. “We were kissing in the hot tub when the photographer showed up.”

“And before that? The other times?”

“There were no other times.”

I braced for her to argue. When she didn’t, I collapsed forward, hands to my face. “I-I can’t believe I… I…”

“Colt is a very attractive man. You wouldn’t be the first girl to have a crush on him. I’m not judging you.” She hesitated and then met my gaze as I peered over my fingers.

“I mean that, Lucy. If anyone’s to blame here, it’s me for thinking the man could keep his damned pants–” She inhaled sharply and looked away. “No, let’s lay the blame where it belongs. I know who did the seducing, and I don’t blame you for having a crush on him.”

“I didn’t. He’s Tiana and Jamie’s dad . He’s old enough to be my dad.

I never… I never felt that way about him, and I was careful.

I mean…” My cheeks heated again. “I knew he wasn’t going to fall for me.

I’m just the tutor. But you hear things, so I was careful.

I didn’t want him thinking I liked him and then… ”

My face dropped into my hands again as my stomach heaved. “I don’t know how this happened. That sounds bad, but I really don’t. It just… It happened and… and…”

“How much did you have to drink?” she asked, and her voice was softer than I’d ever heard it. “Again, no judgment. It was a party.”

“I had champagne.” I hesitated as I calculated. “Two glasses.”

“Anything else?”

I shook my head.

“Are you sure? I’m not judging here. I know I keep saying that, but I also know that, at your age, I tried it all.” A weak smile. “Booze, boys and bongs, as difficult as that may be to imagine.”

I lifted my head to meet her eyes. “It was two glasses of champagne. Nothing else. I swear it.”

She paused, and I thought she was going to push harder. Instead, she reached for my chin and gently lifted my face as she turned on the interior light. Then she swore, the oath so quiet I barely caught it.

“Did you pour your own drinks, Lucy?” she asked.

I shook my head.

“Who gave them to you?”

“Justice brought me the first, and Colt gave me the second.”

“Justice…” she whispered under her breath.

I realized what she was thinking. “No. He wouldn’t–”

Her cell phone rang, making me jump. She answered it, and as she listened, her face darkened.

“How?” she said. “No, there’s been a mistake. It cannot possibly be–”

A pause.

“Yes, I know how the Internet works,” she snapped, “but this is a tabloid story. What’s the point in putting it online where anyone can see it for free? Who has it?”

She listened and then sniffed. “Never heard of them. Get in touch with someone there, and offer them ten thousand. Let me know when–”

Pause.

“What do you mean they don’t want to talk? They are a tabloid, correct? They want money. Now get on it, and let me know when that photograph is gone.”

She hung up and took a deep breath.

“Someone posted it on the Internet?” I said quietly.

“Ridiculous, isn’t it?” She shook her head.

“They could have sold that to the Enquirer and made–” She stopped herself with a short laugh.

“Well, they are fools, and that is all the better for us. It’ll be down before anyone sees it.

I’ll get Colt’s lawyers involved. I’m sure there’s a law against posting things like that on the Internet. ”

She lifted her BlackBerry and typed. I thought she was texting the lawyers when she stopped and inhaled sharply.

As she composed herself, she lowered the phone to her lap.

I could see the screen, and it took a moment to understand what I was seeing.

I knew you could access the Internet with some cell phones, but I’d never actually seen it done.

That’s what this was. Her BlackBerry browser open to a photograph…

It was us in the hot tub. Colt was lifting me out of the water, his hands cupping my breasts as I arched back.

“Oh!” I said, drawing back as if burned.

Karla looked down and realized what I’d seen. She snatched the phone up, as I heaved, gasping for air. She reached past me to put down the window.

“Breathe,” she said. “It’s all right. Everything will be all right.”

“I… I wasn’t. I swear.” I swallowed. “It looked as if we were… But we weren’t. I swear it.”

She didn’t ask what I meant. No one who looked at that photo would wonder what I meant. I was straddling Colt w ith my head thrown back, as if I were doing a lot more than kissing him.

“We will take care of this,” she said. “They made a mistake, putting it on the Internet, and we will take full advantage of that. However…”

She touched my arm, and I turned to look at her.

“This is going to be very difficult to hear, and I hate to say it,” she said. “I take responsibility for you because I hired you and because I know you do not deserve this. My priority though…”

“Your priority is Colt,” I murmured.

“Colt and Isabella. I need to handle this for them. I will give you advice, and I will give you money–”

“I don’t want money.” My chin shot up. “I don’t need it.”

“I don’t mean hush money, Lucy. I mean compensation for your early termination. Covering your wages for the rest of the summer.”

Wages? Did she mean I was fired?

A hysterical giggle bubbled up in me. Did I think I’d be going back? Living in Isabella’s house? Caring for her kids? With that photograph out there for the world–

Oh, God, Isabella was going to see–

“P-please don’t let her see it.” My words tumbled out. “Don’t let Isabella see that photo.”

“I will do my best to prevent that,” Karla said slowly.

“For now, let’s worry about you. I’m going to have the driver pull over at a bank machine so I can withdraw money.

Then we’ll find you a place for the night.

Call your mother as soon as you can. Tell her what’s happened.

Once I leave, Lucy, as much as I hate to say this, you’ll be on your own, and you’ll need your mother. ”

But what about Colt? He promised to take care of me.

That laugh almost erupted again, and this time I had to cough to cover it.

You really are a little fool, aren’t you? What did you think you’d do, run away into the sunset together?

Of course not. If Colt Gordon appeared right now, racing after us in his Ferrari to proclaim his love, I’d tell the SUV driver to hit the gas.

I didn’t want Colt. I just thought when he said he’d take care of me, he meant that he’d make sure I didn’t suffer any fallout.

He’d protect me from that. He’d ensure I was okay.

Colt didn’t mean it. He’d been playing a role. We got caught, and he was in damage-control mode, and that meant getting me the hell away from his family before I caused a scene.

I’ll take care of this.

I’ll take care of you.

Now go. Please, just go.

“Lucy?”

I looked over at Karla. She held herself tight, but in her face, I saw genuine concern shimmering under that careful facade. She felt sorry for me, but she couldn’t afford to. I wasn’t her client. I wasn’t her boss. I didn’t pay for that BlackBerry in her hand or the diamond studs in her ears.

I could be indignant about it, but I wasn’t. This was her career, and I would never expect her to risk it for an eighteen-year-old who had willingly gotten into a hot tub with her client.

Karla was being kind, more than she needed to be, more than I’d have expected.

She was withdrawing money for me, proper compensation for lost wages, not an insulting payoff.

She would put cash in my pocket, set me on my feet, offer what advice she could, and then give me a gentle p ush into the world, where I’d need to fend for myself.

I didn’t deserve that consideration, and I would not forget her kindness.

“Thank you,” I said, my voice as calm and mature as I could make it. “I understand, and I appreciate any advice you can give.”

“Well, with any luck, you won’t need it because this will all be over by morning, and you’ll have the rest of the summer free, along with an excellent reference from me and from Colt.”

A note in her voice said he’d be writing it with her standing at his shoulder if necessary.

“Now, let’s talk strategy,” she said.