at her blankly. “But you were a business major in college. What about all the meetings you have with clients, the way you’re always jetting off to exotic, foreign lands for last-minute mergers? And how do you pay for all this ?” She swept out an arm, indicating the plush luxury of her twin sister’s palatial home.
“I’ll tell you but you have to promise not to be shocked.”
Chloe sighed. “As if anything about you could shock me anymore.” It was true—of the two of them, Zoe was always the adventurous one. The one always getting into trouble.
How they’d ended up with such totally different personalities when their faces and bodies were identical was beyond Chloe, but she was more than willing to let her sister have her wild life of travel and excitement. Chloe herself was perfectly content with her own life even if it wasn’t as glamorous as Zoe’s.
She had a neat, little, one-bedroom house in a nice neighborhood and a rewarding career as a first grade teacher. So what if Zoe always seemed to have the sexiest clothes, the hottest dates, and the most exotic adventures? That was fine for her twin but Chloe preferred security and stability to thrills and chills—or so she told herself.
“So what do you do?” she asked, seeing the indecision on her twin sister’s face. “C’mon, Zoe, you can tell me. You know I won’t tell Mom and Dad.”
“Pinky swear?” Zoe held out her hand, the elegantly manicured pinky finger extended.
“Pinky swear.” It was a ritual of their childhood. No matter how different they were, they were still sisters and Chloe loved her twin with all her heart, even if Zoe was exasperating at times. She held out her own pinky, the nail painted an innocent pink. It contrasted oddly with the fire-engine red of Zoe’s when they locked pinkies.
Zoe looked into her eyes. “Chloe, I’m a dominatrix.”
* * * * *
“You’re a what ?” Chloe jumped off the bed, staring at her sister as though she’d never seen her before.
“I’m a dominatrix,” Zoe repeated patiently. “I go by the name Mistress Sensua. And before you get all upset and excited—”
“Too late,” Chloe interrupted her.
“Before you get too upset,” Zoe uttered. “I just want to make it clear that a dominatrix is not some kind of high-priced call girl.”
“What is it then?” Chloe demanded. She was pacing the room in long strides, still unable to quite wrap her mind around what her sister was telling her. She had thought that nothing Zoe could tell her would shock her—how wrong she had been! She whirled to face the bed where her twin was still lounging comfortably as though she hadn’t just dropped a bomb of nuclear proportions. “I mean, you are having sex with men for money, right? So what else can you call it?”
Zoe looked insulted. “I never have sex with my clients,” she defended herself. “I dominate them. That’s what they want. That’s how I can afford to pay for all this.” Her sweeping gesture took in her entire lifestyle. The expensive home, the trips to exotic lands, the designer clothes.
Suddenly, something occurred to Chloe. The way they had gotten into this conversation in the first place was because… She looked at her twin, her eyes wide.
“You’re a dominatrix and you want me to switch with you to meet one of your clients?”
“Well, it’s hard to dominate anyone with a twisted ankle.” Zoe sounded grumpy. “I mean, how can I walk all over this guy with an ice pack on my leg? My stupid ankle is so swollen—it probably won’t even fit into my thigh-high boots, which was what I was planning on wearing.”
“Thigh-high boots? Walk all over him?” Chloe felt faint. Could her twin sister really be serious?
“Chloe, this is a really important client for me—I need you on this.”
“Huh-uh. No way.” Chloe shook her head. “You’re crazy, Zoe. There’s no way I’m doing this.”
“It’ll be easy.” Zoe smiled the same sweet smile that had
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