I had to admit that I was a little nervous. New York was big and busy, full of interesting and exciting people, but LA was different. I knew I was hot. I'd had men and women telling me that since I hit puberty, but this was the place where all of the beautiful people gathered. But, when I saw the expression on Taylor's face when I met him outside the hotel, my confidence was bolstered. Jamie had definitely picked the right dress.

Now I just had to focus on not looking like the wide-eyed newcomer, completely mesmerized by the glam and glitter. When we pulled up in front of a pair of massive iron gates, it was more difficult than I'd expected not to gawk. I'd grown up with money, but there was a huge difference between the elegant old money of Chicago high society and Hollywood money. I mean, my family had a couple maids and groundskeepers, and we had a driver because my mom hated driving herself, but the way high society showed their wealth was in art and with charity. This was definitely flashier. First of all, there was a valet waiting.

Taylor grinned. “It's typical for parties in the Hills to have valet service, especially the ones on these windy, narrow roads.”

I nodded. That actually made sense. It didn't make it less impressive, but at least I knew it wasn't just some sort of pretentious thing. Taylor and I walked up to the large, muscular man who stood in front of the gates. Bar or mansion, there was no mistaking a bouncer. Taylor gave the man his name and introduced me as his plus one. I bristled, but didn't contradict him. Now that I was here, I wanted to go inside.

The bouncer nodded and the lock on the gates clicked. He pushed them open and we started up the driveway. It wasn't a long one, but it had a curve that kept the house from sight until we went around it. As soon as I saw it, I corrected my mental labeling of the place as a house. This was a mansion.

In New York, the rich lived in expensive lofts and had homes in the Hamptons. In Chicago, it was very similar. My family owned a house in the city and three vacation homes that included a cottage in Maine, a beach house in North Carolina and a villa in Italy. Our main house was one of the bigger ones in our affluent neighborhood, but it couldn't truly be called a mansion. In fact, it was half the size of this one. All columns and arches, some impressive architecture that I had no name for, and landscaping that had to cost more than my entire firm made in a year. As Taylor and I stepped inside the mansion, we were treated to a breathtaking view of the city lights through a panoramic glass wall, and waiters carrying finger food weaving between all of the beautiful people.

I was so busy staring at everything that I didn't see the waitress heading my way until her arm hit mine. I side-stepped, narrowly avoiding getting something that looked like caviar all over my dress. The tray crashed to the ground, spraying food across the floor.

“I am so sorry!” The waitress was a cute little blonde who looked a little younger than me. Her face was red and her eyes were wide, one of those 'deer-in-headlights' expressions on her face. “Damnit! So stupid!”

“It's okay,” I tried saying.

“No, no it's not.” She was shaking her head and I could see tears forming in her dark eyes. She looked up at me. “Please don't tell my boss. I'm so sorry. Please don't tell him. He'll fire me.”

“Hey, it's okay.” I put my hand on her shoulder, hoping the contact would break through. “No harm done.”

A look of relief washed over her face and I started to smile.

“Elise!”

Her face fell and I turned towards the voice. A man was striding towards us, his face red with anger. He got in the girl's face, his eyes narrowed.

“Go get your things, you're done!” He didn't even bother trying to keep his voice down.

“It was my fault.” The words popped out of my mouth and I went with it. “I wasn't watching where I was going and I bumped into her.” I gave the man what I hoped was a sheepish-looking smile. “Sorry.”

The man looked at me for a moment, as if trying to decide if he wanted to believe me, then he shook his head and turned back to Elise. He scowled at her, but his voice was back at a normal level when he spoke again. “Clean up the mess and get back to work. There are plenty more trays to be handed out.”

Elise waited until the man was out of earshot, then said, “Thank you for covering for me.”

I shrugged. “Anytime.” I shot a glance at the man's back as he disappeared back through the door he'd come through. “What an asshole.”

Elise gave me a brief smile. “Good luck.”

Before I could ask what she meant, she hurried away, presumably to find something to clean up with. Did she think the guy was going to come back and call me a liar?

I didn't have time to think about it anymore, though, because the music had changed and Taylor grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the dance floor. If there was one place I felt comfortable around a bunch of gorgeous strangers, it was on the dance floor. Some of the women here might've been prettier than me, but I knew I could dance, and not just well, but good enough to have all of the straight men and more than a few women thinking about what it would be like to get me in bed.

For an hour, I forgot about everything else but the club music pounding around me. I danced with Taylor, but let myself move around as well, turning around to move with one stranger, then another. Never touching, always just out of reach. The air was electric and I'd never felt so alive.

“I need some air,” Taylor practically shouted in my ear.

I nodded and let him lead me outside. For people who lived in rural areas, the one-acre backyard might not have seemed that big, but for someone who'd lived in Chicago and then New York, it was huge, and absolutely gorgeous.

Taylor started down the stairs and I fell in step next to him. We walked along a stone path that curved through the grass, heading for the fence at the far end.

“What do you think?” he asked.

“It's beautiful,” I answered, craning my neck to see the stars. It was too bright to see them all, but I could still see them better than I could back home.

“You're beautiful.”

I looked over at him, opening my mouth to tell him that he couldn't say things like that.

“I can't explain it,” he said before I could speak. “I'm drawn to you.”

He reached out and grabbed my hand, his fingers warm as they curled around mine. I knew I should pull away, but I was frozen to the spot. Then he was leaning towards me and, for a brief moment, I was tempted. He was so hot and his lips looked so soft. I wanted to know if he was as good a kisser as I thought he would be. What harm would there be in one kiss?

I sighed and took a step back, taking my hand from his. “You promised,” I said. I had to look away so he couldn't see how close I'd been to letting him kiss me.

“Come on, Krissy,” he coaxed. “Why are you doing this? I know you want it, too.”

Apparently I hadn't looked away fast enough. I turned back towards him. “Maybe I do,” I admitted. “But I can't. You're Mirage's client and there's a strict policy about not dating clients. You know that.”

I didn't add that if I didn't get the job, I just might call him up and take him for a ride or two. At least then I'd get something good out of this trip. I looked over towards the pool just as a couple guests stripped off their tops and jumped in.

“I should get back,” I said. “I have a final interview tomorrow and I don't want to screw anything up.”

Taylor sighed and I could hear the disappointment. “Come on, I'll take you back.”

The ride back to my hotel was quiet and a little awkward, but at least Taylor didn't try anything. If I got the job, I'd be able to get past the flirtations and the almost-kiss, but if he tried again, we might have a problem if I had to work with him in the future.

He pulled up in front of the hotel and put the car in park so he could turn to face me. I really hoped he wasn't going to make a pass after having come all this way without one. I wasn't sure how many rejections he could take before he'd get mad.

“I hope you get the job,” he said sincerely.

“Thank you,” I replied, startled. That had been nice of him. I got out of the car.

As I moved to shut the door, he spoke again, “I'd like it if you stuck around.”

He waited until I reached the hotel doors before he drove away. Maybe he was more than a gentleman than I'd given him credit for. I smiled as I rode the elevator up to my room. After my encounter with Mr. Ricci, I hadn't been sure those existed anymore.