Brooke turned to her. “Thanks again for inviting me. We’re long overdue for a catch up. Plus, this place is incredible. I could never afford to come here myself.”

“It’s no problem,” Ruby replied. “I wanted to see you.”

“How can you even afford somewhere as fancy as this?” Brooke asked. “No offense, but the last I heard, you were waitressing in Vegas. That was years ago. You kind of dropped off the radar there.”

Ruby felt a pang of guilt. “I know. I’m sorry about that.” She and Brooke had been close as kids. With four brothers, Ruby had appreciated having another girl around growing up. But Ruby had lost touch with her cousin in recent years. She’d lost touch with everyone, from her family to her friends. Her last client, who she refused to think of as an ex, had isolated her from them, slowly, without her noticing until it was too late.

But that was all behind her now. It was time Ruby started rebuilding her life.

“For what it’s worth, I’ve really missed you,” she said.

“It’s okay,” Brooke said. “I get it. Life happens. And I’ve missed you too.” She smiled. “So, what’s the deal? You’re obviously doing well for yourself these days.”

“I’m not waitressing anymore. I got married, actually.” Ruby hadn’t had a chance to tell Brooke about Yvonne yet. They’d been too busy getting pampered.

“Seriously? When?”

“It’s kind of a recent thing.”

“Wow,” Brooke said. “Congrats. Who’s the lucky gal or guy?”

“Her name’s Yvonne. We met while I was… waitressing.”

“Ooh, don’t tell me. She’s totally loaded?” Brooke wasn’t exactly tactful.

Ruby shrugged. “Something like that.”

“Wow. So you bagged yourself a rich wife. I want to hear all about it. Start from the beginning.”

Ruby took a deep breath and began telling Brooke the fake story of how she and Yvonne had met. This time, she found herself embellishing the details, spinning a tale far more romantic than the reality. It came easily to her. Lately, Ruby had found herself fantasizing about her relationship with Yvonne, wondering what it would be like if everything between them was real. What if Yvonne had picked Ruby up at work one night, swept her off her feet, fallen madly in love with her? What if the two of them had truly gotten married and moved in together, living the perfect, happy life that they pretended to share?

Of course, Yvonne’s idea of a perfect marriage probably involved handcuffs and collars, but Ruby was starting to feel like that was her idea of a perfect relationship too. What was more romantic than surrendering oneself to someone as deeply as Ruby was to Yvonne? What was more intimate than trusting someone so completely?

“Wow,” Brooke said, once Ruby was finished. “That’s like something from a movie. Your family must be so happy. I’m surprised your mom hasn’t mentioned it.”

Ruby murmured a vague excuse. She hadn’t actually told her mother about her marriage yet. Ruby hadn’t spoken to her, or her father and brothers, since she’d left Vegas. She rarely spoke about relationships with her family, mostly because of her job. Even when she’d been with her former client, she hadn’t told them about him. She’d hidden him from them, so they wouldn’t know the truth about how he treated her.