Sounded to me like she’d been with selfish men who’d made the rest of us look bad, but I kept my mouth shut.

Christ, I’d gone from not really liking her, to thinking she might just be the sexiest woman I’d ever met, and I didn’t know how it had happened.

Her sex appeal snuck up on you. It wasn’t a straight visual thing like the gorgeous actresses and models I worked with. There was a simmering intensity to her that probably intimidated the piss out of people, but there was no mistaking how comfortable she was in her own skin. And that she might just remove yours before letting you touch hers.

She was watching me expectantly, waiting for me to react to what she’d revealed. It felt like she was testing me, so instead of teasing further, I pointed to her. “Your turn.”

“Is this your first contract relationship? Or were the other ones I was reading about this morning PR stunts as well?”

“It's my first,” I answered honestly. “I haven’t dated in a long time. Things get…complicated with fame and fortune.”

She murmured, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”

I smiled. I might’ve panicked at her use of the word wife if I didn’t recognize the quote from Pride and Prejudice. A friend had just sent me the script for a reimagining of the story set in space, but I wouldn’t be able to do it because it conflicted with Crown of Swords, which kind of sucked because it was a damn good script. “Exactly. It’s impossible to tell Lizzie from Caroline when they’re all ready to cater to my every preference. For a while at least.”

She blinked at me in surprise.

I hadn’t really answered her question yet, so I felt like I owed her more of an explanation. “I think my last girlfriend was mostly with me for the fame. It sounds like a cliche, but it was partly my fault for not making sure our expectations were the same. At least I know how you’ll breakup with me rather than the joy of finding her banging her costar in her trailer. And then everyone has an opinion about deeply personal parts of your life. They feel entitled to every detail of the story like it’s just another piece of entertainment instead of my real life humiliation.”

There was something in her eyes now that I couldn’t read, but it looked a lot like scorn and it bothered me. I wasn’t looking for pity. I knew what sacrifices I made for fame and what I got out of the bargain.

I also thought I knew how to tilt this game back on her.

I gave her a wicked grin, and it only deepened when she responded to it. “So, Lady Elena…what does do it for you? You’re into something twisted like cutting dicks off, aren’t you?”