“Is that right?”

She nodded around her busy bristles.

“You invent an alternate reality. Figures,” Josh mumbled around his own minty mouthful.

After a full two minutes, Clara rinsed her brush. “Art belongs to the audience, not the artist. I would think you’d know that by now.”

Josh shook his head. “The more I learn about you the less I understand.”

“I’ve always wanted to be an enigma.” Clara smiled over her shoulder as she exited the bathroom.

Chapter fourteen

JOSH HAD TO decide whether he wanted to spend the rest of his life resenting people like Clara for their money and their brains and their success, or if he wanted to remove his career from cruise control. A call from Bennie a few days later dialed up the deadline on his decision. Black Hat wasn’t taking no for an answer.

The big dogs had invited him to visit their headquarters to discuss his contract demands in person. They didn’t want to wait almost another year for more Josh Darling content. He decided to gamble. What did he have to lose?

“Now that’s a lot of chrome.” Josh whistled under his breath as he entered the reception area of a nondescript office building in Burbank. He’d heard there was a lot of money in porn. Turned out, it had all ended up here.

He checked in with a receptionist who made him spell his last name twice and checked his ID before ushering him to an uncomfortable metallic chair to wait.

Despite Clara’s idealistic outcry to reform an industry she knew next to nothing about, Josh had no plans to ride in, Indiana Jones style, and call out this corporate fortress. Even if he wanted to, and maybe part of him did, he wasn’t that guy. He didn’t have the same luxury of opportunity that Clara enjoyed. If anything, their heated discussion a few nights ago about the power structure of porn had made him realize that he’d never get anywhere if he didn’t play nice with the people in charge. He had to decide between swimming with the sharks or becoming their chum.

The man he’d come to see today, H. D. Pruitt, could change Josh’s life with a snap of his fingers.

He figured he might as well get a look at the guy.

“Josh Darling?” A short, tan man in a very well-tailored suit carried himself with an air of defiance as he stepped into reception.

Josh recognized H. D. Pruitt from his headshot on the company website. Last night he’d taken a leaf out of Clara’s book, staying up late to do his homework. He’d learned that Pruitt had started building an empire a handful of years before Josh signed his contract. A venture capitalist turned entrepreneur, Pruitt had made a lot of money selling search data before he’d decided to bring his talents to the adult entertainment industry.

His company had gobbled up a bunch of mom-and-pop studios out of the gate, and nowadays you couldn’t swing a dick in porn without hitting something owned or operated by Black Hat. According to his bio, Pruitt “lived for pushing boundaries” and “going beyond what’s polite.”

In Josh’s social circles, the man had a reputation for chasing every depraved fantasy the Internet could think up. Until today, Josh had avoided Pruitt like the plague. He’d never had any interest in playing corporate games. But he couldn’t get that position paper from Toni Granger out of his head. Couldn’t stop hearing Clara’s indignant voice as she recounted the injustice of a system he lived in every day.

Josh tugged down the sleeves of his own navy sports coat. “That’s me.” He followed Pruitt into his corner office.

“You’re a tough man to get hold of.” Pruitt’s chair sat a few extra inches above the one relegated for visitors, so its petite owner could stare down at his guests.

Josh pulled out the cushy leather armchair across from the imposing dark wood desk.

“Believe me, it’s only because I’m wildly irresponsible.” Josh pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. “You wouldn’t believe how many of these things I burn through.”

Pruitt steepled his fingers and gave Josh a once-over. “You’re even taller than you look on film.”

Josh hunched down in an effort to take up less space. In his experience, short men tended to resent his height. As if Josh were trying to one-up them simply by existing. “That’s probably because in the movies I’m usually lying down.”

Pruitt didn’t smile.

Tough crowd.

“So, what’s your deal? You’re talented, clearly. Audiences seem to respond to you, but your portfolio of work is decidedly bland. Don’t get me wrong.” Pruitt held up a hand. “You and Naomi Grant kept it spicy for a while, but how many times can you really watch the same couple fuck?”

The question hung in the air, while Josh tried to decide if it was rhetorical.

“I’m hoping you finally decided to grace us with your presence because you’re ready to take your work to the next level? I’m sure I don’t have to tell you, but amateurs are all the rage now. Big-name performers don’t bring in the same numbers they used to. Variety over quality. It’s not good for business. Our shares are down over the last two quarters. The only way we can protect our margins is by going further. Getting creative. Do you consider yourself a man of great ambition?”

“No, sir. I can’t say that I do.”

“Well, you should. Porn is power. Never forget that. We may not get the respect of other industries, but we shape culture and technology in ways they can only dream about. You’ve made a name for yourself. Got a nice, young following. Fresh. That’s what I like to see. How many subscribers do you have on your videos?”

“Uh, I’m not sure.” Josh didn’t keep tabs. Clara had mentioned a number the other day. “About a million?”

Pruitt smiled. “Potential lifetime customers, even if most of them are women. Many of my colleagues don’t agree with me about investing in male talent. Not unless you’re willing to do male-male?” He raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

Josh politely shook his head. He had tried it exactly once, because you didn’t have as much sex as he did and not get a little curious, but he found he strongly preferred women.

“Pity. I’ve gotten a lot of requests for that from both fans and performers. Still. You’re what, almost thirty? You’ve got at least three, maybe even five good years in you if you take care of yourself. Lay off the red meat. Invest in some under-eye cream.”

Josh brought his hand up to feel for bags beneath his eyes. The skin felt relatively tight. Maybe he should ask to borrow some of the fancy lotions his roommate left in the bathroom.

Pruitt chuckled. “Oh, don’t worry. Only the girls can’t age. One of those harsh truths of the business. Older men want to see themselves on screen, but we don’t want to see our wives.”

The CEO turned around a photograph on his desk so that Josh could see a snapshot of a middle-aged brunette with her arms wrapped around two teenage boys. The woman in the photo looked sweet, pretty if a little tired.

“People are quick to demonize porn, but how many marriages have we saved? Porn keeps men from cheating when their wives no longer do the trick. It’s our duty to provide ever-evolving fodder for the sexual imagination. To take audiences places they’ll never go in real life.”

Josh dug his fingernails into his palms. He couldn’t believe this man could talk about his wife and the mother of his children this way, let alone to a complete stranger. When he answered he couldn’t quite keep the edge out of his tone. “I’m not so sure I’m ready to let the most extreme audiences dictate the direction of my career.”

The older man straightened his tie and sat even higher in his thronelike chair. “I’m going to level with you, Josh. Man to man. You got lucky. You rode the wave of your girlfriend’s hot ass to a modicum of notoriety, but there is no such thing as happily ever after in this industry. Without Naomi Grant, you’re gonna fade fast.”

Josh slammed his back molars together with enough force to make his jaw ache.

Pruitt picked up a glass paperweight from his desk and juggled it. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll start you slow if you want. Real gentle. I’ll even let you work with other studios as long as you give my hardcore division fifty titles a year and exclusive appearance rights.”

It was a better offer than Bennie had ever brought him, almost generous. Josh’s throat clenched. He hated himself a little for the next words out of his mouth. “How much?”

Pruitt brought his hand up to cover his mouth for a moment before lowering it. “What did you make last year?”

Through the haze of his simmering rage, Josh took last year’s income and doubled it before writing it on a piece of paper from a pad in front of him. He slid it across the desk to Pruitt.

The executive picked it up and read it, giving a little laugh. “I’ll start you at twice that amount.”

Josh tried to wrap his head around that kind of money. A paycheck like that would validate his career.

“Welcome to the big leagues.” The most powerful man in porn sat back and folded his hands across his chest. Pruitt was convinced he’d gotten his way, and maybe he would have if Josh hadn’t thought of Clara’s face at that exact moment.