Nicole Narain has lived more in her 30-year-old life than most do from the womb to the tomb. Kicked out of her Chicago home at age 16 after falling out with Mom over a boyfriend, Nicole moved to Florida with said boo until she dumped dude, moved to an uncle’s crib in California to acquire her diploma, then to her own apartment in Chi-Town, all before being discovered by Playboy. Throw in a January 2002 Playmate crowning, a lot of inebriated and orgasm-peaked partying and a couple of leading-lady roles for guys like Fabolous (“Baby”) and LL (“Luv You Better”), and this milk-chocolate Playboy bunny’s story is something out of the classified Sex in the City memoirs.

Her employment with the Hefner firm began in ’98 at a Chicago party, when Playboy’s top photo editor Kevin Kuster stepped to her pearly gate of a smile with an offer she  didn’t refuse. “I didn’t think twice about it,” drops Nicole. “I’m so comfortable in my skin. Most girls tell you when they did their first [Playboy] shoot, they were petrified. Me? I was like, ‘C’mon, let’s do this!’ I’ve been like that all my life. I embrace nudity. I embrace being a free spirit. I think that’s the way to be.”

“To be a part of Playboy is amazing because you’re a part of history, you’re an icon. I think it’s pretty cool to say you’re an icon.”

It’s one thing to spread for Playboy, but it’s another to be selected as a Playmate, especially being an African-American. It’s also unheard of for a model to be paid $10,000 for a video. But that’s what Nicole’s manager, Jonathan Baram, scored after Fab personally requested her. And let’s not forget that $3,000 travel-hotel budget. Don’t be mad. Ms. Narain has grinded alone for half her life, so she deserves everything she receives—especially since having no parental guidance during her journey caused twice as many stumbles. “When I moved to L.A., I started to lose focus. I was working a lot, but when I wasn’t I was constantly on the scene, constantly going to  parties,” she says. “You have a nice time at parties, get drunk, and the next morning you wake up like, ‘Oh, God, why did I do that?’ I’ve had many of those.”

While Nicole has buried some of her skeletons, the key word is “some.” Belonging to one of the world’s elite sororities has its disadvantages. Like when her last boyfriend was stolen by a more popular and bustier Playmate—and made tabloid headlines.