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Chapter One

“Have you found a job?”

I cringed, holding ret I’d been on the phone withthe question I’d been dreading

“Working on it,” I told her, staring at the open webpages in front of me, remnants of my hopeless search

I had just graduated froinable—a Bachelor of Fine Arts in sketching and drawing—and was facing the reality of my decision I had to move out of my apartment in student residence by the end of the week, and I hadn’t found a new place to live, let alone a job to pay for it

“New York is expensive,” Mom continued “I hope you have a plan”

My fingers closed tightly aroundwasn’t lost on me; the plan had always been forback to the with thegs in one basket

Then she began the guilt trip “Your father and I are very worried about you, darling You’re all alone in such a big city and have no way to support yourself I really wish you’d reconsider—”

I cut her off before she could continue, saying that ency She… burnt soo!”

I hit END and let my head fall into my hands All my life I’d done whatever hter they wanted me to be They’d raised me to be well-mannered, modest, ambitious and concerned about financial security But it wasn’t e my own path and pursue my love of the arts, I’d felt free for the first time in my life, like I could be whomever I wanted and do whatever made me happy

Now it looked liketo blow up in my face

Sighing ain Retail, restaurant industry, retail, teleive up for the night when I saw the ad It was at the top of the page in one of those paid advertising spots, written in bold: Modeling Opportunity I definitely wasn’t model material, but out of curiosity, I clicked the link

“Modeling Opportunity: Model must be female, in her twenties, blonde, 5’0”-5’5”, 100-120 lbs Lower end of height and weight scale preferred Picture required with application”

My mouth dropped open It was like the ad was made for me

I stared atbarely over five feet, I’d never consideredposition asked for a tiny feuess But even at the proper height and weight, could I be a hdarker, I was one of those rare natural blondes at the age of twenty-two Maybe I had a chance

I pulled s up onto the chair, wrapped ain The weirdest thing was that it had a numbered email address rather than a company name, so I couldn’t even research the company What’sBut did that matter? Worst case scenario: soot a job

As I opened h, Sam entered

“What are you up to?”

I slammed the lid of my laptop closed

“Whoa! What are you doing that you don’t want me to see?”

Sa a bottle of red wine in one hand and two glasses in another “I thought we’d celebrate graduation!” she s

Now Sam was someone who could be a model She had dark, alht But Sa a ht for law school in Septeether, back before I realized my personality wasn’t really Lawyeroff on technicalities

We clinked glasses and took a sip of wine

“Do you have any leads?” Sam asked

I shrugged, looking away “Not really I just started looking”

“Were you chatting with a guy just now? Or looking at porn?” she teased

I laughed and threw a pillow at her

We spent the next few hours chatting about our plans for the su in with her boyfriend of a year, Luke He was a Laho had just finished his articling and would now bea decent salary They’d met at some law faculty information session Sam couldn’t wait to move in with him and enter law school and “start her real life” She had everything planned out and it was all falling into place

“It’s just so exciting, don’t you think, A it on our o, like real adults!” Sa out of my room to call Luke

When my door closed, the plastered s back to my computer, I found the best full body picture of myself available, wrote a cover letter and sent my application

The next , I rolled over and checked the time on my phone 9 am Next I checked my email and almost fell out of bed There was already a response

Dear Miss Clair,

Thank you for your application I believe you ht be a perfect fit, but would of course like to meet you in person for an interview The position requires a very specific personality Would you be available this afternoon at 6 pm? If so, please let me know and we can meet at my office

Regards,

Dallon King

6 pm today? Whoa, he moved fast

I rolled out of bed, still groggy, and stumbled into the bathroom to brushthat he hadn’t provided the na company, only the address An obscure email address and no company name?

Still, I wrote hi I would be happy to meet him It took me most

of the day to decide what to wear, but I settled on a knee-length black dress with a ruched bodice and a pair of pumps

When I arrived at the building at 6 p had provided in his instructions, surprised when the elevator doors opened to reveal a glass ith the na Capital I hesitated, sure I’d ain There was nohad provided h the glass wall and entered the office

“Do you have an appointment?”

“I’” It sounded more like a question than a statement

“Youis just finishing up with a ”

Soon I was perched on a leather chair, sippingaround nervously The reception area was sparse, azine and pretend to look nonchalant when the receptionist called h a hallway and knocked once on the door at the very end of the hall The na, CEO

“Come in,” a deep voice said

The receptionist sly and opened the door My first ier than onecity views on both sides Like the lobby, the room was sparse, decorated with only a ooden desk, bar with crystal decanters, white leather couch, and glass coffee table On its surface sat a rectangular glass vase holding three flowers of red, orange and yellow, providing the only color in the room Also like the lobby, the atmosphere felt cold

Theand buttoning his suit jacket He was all monotones: black suit, white shirt, silver tie I felt my eyes widen, unable to look away He was so… pretty And so well over six feet tall with dark hair, a chiseled jaw line and piercing blue eyes I tried not to look shocked at his appearance, though from the smirk on his face as he approached me, he had already taken note

“Mr King, this is Miss Amy Clair” The receptionist introduced us and then pro us alone in his office

I s

“Hi, Miss Clair,” he s his hand My pulse leapt as he squeezed

“I’ Such a pleasure toeyes locked on mine “I’m so relieved that you look like your picture”

I blushed as he releasedan aard thank you Who was this man? I estimated hi CEO at that

“Please, sit” Mr Kingbeside me, he sat on top of the desk and studieda button on his telephone “You o home now, Madeline”

“Good evening, Mr King,” came the response