Page 53 of Serving the Couturier

“Hello?”

“Spencer, thank heavens you answered.”

The near-panic in Stan’s voice chased away any sleepiness that lingered. “What’s wrong?”

“I thought I told you to keep it on the low?!”

I closed my eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s why you woke me this early?”

“This isn’t funny, Spencer.” Stan’s disapproval dripped from every word. “What happened at Show & Tell last night?”

I couldn’t resist tormenting him as I tried to ease away from London. “Indulging in some sexual fantasies, what else?”

“That’s not funny, Spencer.”

“It is a little funny,” I said.

London spoke up from next to me. “Is everything all right?”

“Let me guess,” Stan said, “that would be London McCrae in your bed.”

“Shite,” I muttered.

London’s eyes flew open. “Who is it?”

“It’s Stan,” I said to her, before turning my attention back to the man on the phone. “How did you know I was with London?”

London’s eyes went wide. “Shit.”

“Because the same paparazzi who saw you going into Show & Tell also saw who you were with.”

“Oh, bloody fuck.”

London grabbed my arm, the sheets slipping from her breasts. Under other circumstances, I would’ve been distracted.

“What?” she asked.

“Reporters saw the two of us going into Show & Tell last night,” I told her.

“Oh.”

“How bad is it?” I asked Stan, rubbing my forehead.

“The pictures are online, and the press is having a field day with the type of club it is,” he said. “Both of your names are out there, too. It was just rotten luck that someone who normally covers the theater was doing a story about Gavin Manning’s new club.”

“I thought you said Manning’s clubs were the most exclusive private clubs in town,” I said.

“They are,” Stan agreed. “But they’re still sex clubs.”

I tried another angle of protest. “They’re perfectly legal clubs, and we’re consenting adults.”

“But they’re still sex clubs,” he repeated. “Our views on sex here in the US are still quite puritanical compared to Europe.”

“Fuck.” I reached over to turn on the lamp. I won’t be getting any more sleep this morning.

“Right now, it seems only the tabloids are running with it, but if it’s a slow news day, it could hit major outlets before lunch,” Stan continued. “That’s why I called. You can still get ahead of it, give the press something else to talk about.”

“How do you think the Foundation will respond?” As much as I didn’t want a scandal dogging London and me, my primary concern was for my show and the people working on it. “There’s no morality clause in our contract, but I’m sure they have skilled lawyers. How much ground do we have to stand on if they try to drop us?”

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