The Arrangement: The Seduction (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Carly Phillips Page A

want to yell at them. Don’t you have sex? Just because my jerk ex-boyfriend decided to post us doing it on the Internet doesn’t make me a porn star. A laughing stock? Yeah, I have to live with that one.
    I rush home from class, grateful my roommate isn’t there.
    After the scene with my parents, I decided to give my mother what she wanted and get gone. I asked to live on campus, and they agreed. I’m sure they’re grateful to have me out of the house. They jumped on allowing me to leave fast enough.
    I actually wanted to go to culinary school, but the parents refused to go for that. They wanted me to get a business degree so I could do something useful with my life. I still want to please them, though I never will, but at least I’ll be able to use a business degree if I ever open my own restaurant — another lofty goal of mine. So I am going to graduate in May and get my degree. They’re happy to pay for room and board now and pretend the sex tape never happened and I don’t exist.
    Something good came from the nightmare though. It forced me to take a good look at my pampered life and do something about it. The day I moved out, I found a job. I’m determined to make money and learn to stand on my own and prepare for my future. I work at a restaurant that has a bar and grill on one side and finer dining on the other. It’s attached to a hotel in Soho.
    Although I spend a good chunk of time waitressing in the bar side, I also get experience filling in in the kitchen and learning from the chef.
    I’m in my dorm room and I change for work. Tonight is bar work. Black short skirt, tight black top with a low-neck vee, the words The Tavern glittering across my breasts. I’m grateful for comfortable black sneakers I’m allowed to wear while on my feet all night.
    I glance down and remember I need to change my bra. I switch out the regular everyday one for the pop-up special that gives me just the right amount of boobage. As much as I hate it, I rely on the cleavage for better tips. The more I show, the better the girls look, and the more money I make. It’s a hard line to walk, flirting and acting friendly with customers without sending out the wrong message. I might be sex-tape girl, but I don’t want guys to think I’m easy just because I just trusted my ex.
    Just as I finish tying my shoes, the door opens, and Lacey, my roommate, walks in with her best friend, Jules. “Going to work?” Lacey asks.
    I nod.
    “I’m using the room tonight. Find somewhere else to sleep,” Lacey says.
    She’s not pleasant. Since, before this semester, I lived at home, I pretty much got stuck with a roommate nobody else wanted when I moved into a dorm so late in the year.
    I roll my eyes, not willing to just give her what she wants too easily. “Can’t you stay in your boyfriend’s room?”
    Lacey shakes her head, her long hair whipping around her face. Drama queen.
    “Nope. I have a nine a.m. exercise class, and I need to be here to get ready. Deal with it.” She runs a hand through her keratin-straightened hair.
    Like me, Lacey comes from money and can buy whatever she wants. Unlike me, her parents adore her and think the world revolves around her oh-so-special self. So when she wants our room, she expects me to give it up.
    “Whatever,” I say, knowing I’ll lose this fight. She will lock me out no matter what I say, so I grab a bag and shove clothes in for overnight and tomorrow. I’ll just stay with my friend Robin. We met freshman year, and she’s the best friend I have here. Not even the sex tape drove her away.
    A little while later, I walk into the darkened bar. My boss, Tank, runs the bar side while his brother, Trevor, handles the actual restaurant. They couldn’t be more different, and I think that’s why this type of setup works. Tank is a teddy bear with a tough name. He’s a middle-aged ex-Marine with a big heart and bigger mouth.
    He waves at me as I put my things away. “Hey, Chloe-girl!”
    “Hi,