Page 87 of Modern Romance January 2025 5-8

“Nothing to do but wait for a while,” he said.

She pressed herself against the door, her shoulder blades tight against the hard surface.

“I’m not going to molest you,” he said. He rolled over onto his back and looked up at the ceiling. “I don’t have any need of that.”

“Oh, I’m aware,” she said. “But this is slightly uncomfortable for me.”

“Why?”

“I’ve been in here many times after you’ve finished entertaining yourself with your guests. Like I said, I check their phones. For nudes.”

“You cannot tell me this has actually been an issue.”

“How are you naïve? It’s laughable. There have been many instances. I always come in and make sure that those photos are deleted. And they never realize it.”

“You must be joking.”

“No.”

“I don’t think anyone else ever did that.”

“Maybe not. But there are pictures of you floating out around on the internet.”

“I don’t care about that.”

“You don’t care if your naked body ends up posted on the internet?”

“Do I strike you as someone with insecurities?”

“That doesn’t mean you want the entire world to have access to...”

“Does that mean that you see me naked?”

“This is the kind of thing that I was worried about. Lines are being crossed.”

“It’s a genuine question,” he said.

“Yes. Though, I can’t say that I... Lingered on it.”

“Then you have more restraint than some,” he said.

“Nice to know that your ego is very healthy and undented in spite of everything that you’ve done to create the situation,” she said.

“I didn’t hire someone to break into my files.”

“You also didn’t protect them very well.”

“Fair. I admit that I was complacent.”

“I imagine it’s difficult not to buy into your own press.”

He frowned. “I don’t think that I buy into my own press. I know how much of it’s a lie.”

“You know what everyone thinks about you. And I suppose it’s easy to imagine that is true universally. That you are... This beloved playboy who is so enjoyed by women that of course one of them wouldn’t actually be out to get you.”

“I don’t think that’s the case.”

“You don’t think that’s the case, but do you know any of the women that you slept with? Am I the first woman that you’ve ever conversed with in this room?” She wished that she wasn’t like this. She wished that she didn’t have to belabor the point. But she found that she did, even as the topic was making her uncomfortable. Even as she felt like she was breathless from talking to him about sex and his body in the enclosed space of this room.