“And you wonder why I suggest you tell the truth. This woman is clearly different from everyone.”

“Sydney. Her name is Sydney, and I’m going to meet her tomorrow.”

“Shit, man, I don’t know how you’re going to date a woman who doesn’t know who you are.” Richard sat back, passing him a cup. “When’s your next scene?”

“Two weeks. I wanted a break.” He usually did a scene a day, but lately he’d been spreading them out.

“What are you going to do when you do a scene? Supposing you’re in a relationship, wouldn’t that be cheating?”

“No.”

“No?”

“How can it be cheating? It’s my job.”

Richard laughed. “If you really think a woman would be happy with you screwing other women, you’re mistaken, like really mistaken.”

“Look, fucking other women is my job. It’s not something I’m trying to do. It’s something I have to do.” He sounded like an asshole. “Shit, I’m about to make my life incredibly complicated.”

“A couple of weeks? That’s the gang bang one, right?”

“Yes.”

“I’m in that one.”

“It doesn’t make me feel any better.”

“Look, I can help you out as much as I can, but you really need to think about your future. Sydney is new, and different. Make sure she’s what you want before you make a mistake.” Richard slapped him on the back. “I’m taking the spare room.”

Jason didn’t say anything. Once he was alone, he grabbed his laptop, and signed into his account. There were several emails for contracts with over a dozen movies. He clicked on the link from the final take from today. It was thirty minutes of him screwing Tiffany. He didn’t get aroused by what he did. Everything was as explicit as he remembered.

Payment had already gone into his account from that.

Once he’d gone through his emails, responding to calls and adverts, he clicked onto his website, seeing it was thriving like usual. He placed up little snippets of his movies, along with answering questions. This had been his world for ten years. It was all he knew. Remembering the name of the artisan shop, he typed in the name into his search engine.

It came up instantly, and outside of the shop he saw a picture of three women and three men. Sydney was on the picture, titled as the cake baker and hamper queen. She looked so happy.

Changing to his own web page, he stared at the women. All of them were pretty much the same in shape and size. Clicking back onto the page with Sydney, he sat and looked at her. She was a beautiful woman, even with her hair pulled into a ponytail and wearing an apron.

Could he walk away?

Shit, the very thought had his gut twisting. He didn’t want to leave her alone.

“What the fuck have you gotten yourself into?” he asked himself.

He couldn’t walk away, and yet he couldn’t tell her the truth. She’d walk away without giving him a chance, and he wanted a chance with her, even if it was a small one.

****

Sydney saw the note left by her sister on the coffee table thanking her for the place to crash. She wouldn’t hear back from Dawn for a couple of days or by the end of the week where she’d probably get a text making sure she was still alive.

“What are sisters for?” She muttered the words to herself before pouring herself a cup of coffee. She had two hours to get to work. She was already dressed so that only left breakfast.

Placing two slices of bread in the toaster, she took a quick sip of her coffee, before spreading some butter onto her toast.

Her thoughts returned to the night before with Jason. He was different, attentive, and kind of sweet.

One night shouldn’t have her thinking about more. Shaking her head, she poured her coffee into a traveler’s mug, grabbed her purse, locked up her house, and headed out. While she was sipping her drink, the cell phone rang. Shuffling in her bag, she found the outdated phone and accepted the call.

“This is a surprise,” Sydney said.

“What? I can’t talk to my sister?” Dawn asked.

“No, I was thinking about the fact you’re calling me so soon. What’s up? You usually leave it a couple of days or a week.” She kept walking, passing several boys wearing street clothes. It was a Saturday, which meant school was out.

“What? I can’t talk to my sister without there being an ulterior motive?”

“I am talking to Dawn, right?”

“Fine. I just wanted to know how your night went. You left the club pretty early, and I’m a curious little bee. You are my younger sister.”

Sydney laughed. “You want to know if I got up to anything.”

“You’re twenty-five, Syd. You can say fuck or screw, or bang?”

“What about you? Did you and what’s his name get it on?”

“Nah. He danced with me a few times, then dropped me off home. He’s a porn star you know.”

“I know. The guy I was with is his PA or something. I don’t know. Don’t care.”

“Oh, that’s right, you don’t watch porn. You should. Richard, or Rich I think he goes by in the porn industry, is superhot. Not as hot as a guy known as Bone Harder mind you,” Dawn said, rambling on.

“Bone Harder?” Sydney couldn’t help but snort. “What a silly name.”

“It’s a stage name. Most of the stars have them. Consider them a pseudonym only for porn. You should see some of his movies, Syd. I tell you, the man knows how to fuck and have a woman screaming his name. I’ve come to many of his scenes.”

“I hope you’re in the privacy of your own home talking like this,” Sydney asked, grossed out by how open her sister could be.

“Nope. I’m sitting in the office, staring at my boss. He keeps giving me funny looks, but then, he is a hottie. Shame I don’t fuck colleagues.”

“No, you fuck everything else.”

“Touché.”

“Not touché at all. I’m stating the fact my sister is a slut.”

“Damn, if I didn’t know you loved me, I’d be insulted.”

“I tell you with all the love in my heart, Dawn.” Sydney took another sip of her coffee.

“Why don’t you watch a few clips online? You may find what you’re looking for.”

“No thanks. I don’t need to go looking at porn. I saw some years ago. Fake moans and groans really don’t do it for me.” Sydney saw she was only twenty minutes from the shop and decided against hailing a cab.

“Anyway, back to your dream man. Are you seeing him again?” Dawn asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Do you want to see him again?”

“Yes. I really like him. I know it’s crazy and we only met each other for a couple of hours, but he was nice. He made me laugh.”

“Did anything else happen?”

“He kissed me. It wasn’t just a peck on the lips either. It was a proper full kiss.” Sydney paused as her lips seemed to tingle. “Dawn, it was amazing. I’ve never been kissed like that before in my life.”

“Then date him, Syd. Nothing and no one is holding you back. You really need to see that.”

“We’re not in a relationship or anything. I’ve not promised him a thing.”

“So? Just live a little. There doesn’t have to be anything more. That’s the point, Syd. Just have a taste of something a little different. I did.”

“No, you broke up with your childhood sweetheart, and have spent the last few years fucking everything in sight.”

“I saw him screwing my best friend at the time, and he knocked her up.”

“I didn’t say it was wrong. Maybe you need to start learning to trust people a little more. Put yourself out there for more than a quick tumble.”

“Fuck.”

“What?”

“A quick fuck. A tumble makes it sound like I’m screwing with a farmer.”

Rolling her eyes, Sydney chuckled. “You’re unbelievable, you know that right?”

“Of course. You love me anyway. I’m your dear old sister.”

“Whatever. I’ve got to go.” Sydney crossed the road, rushing over so she didn’t get run down by a car.

“Enjoy and I’ll chat soon. I won’t be around the rest of the weekend. I’m going out dancing with David.”

“The bouncer from last night?”