The petite blonde in front of me with the baby blue eyes and tiny dress was one of Mirage's most promising stars. Or at least that's how Kelsee Hawkey had been trying to sell it to me all night. She'd also made it very clear that she was willing to do anything to get ahead.

Granted, she was a little younger than my usual conquests, barely over twenty, but she was smoking hot and willing as hell. I should've been setting her up for the kill, but instead, I was barely paying attention to what she was saying and kept stealing glances at Krissy and Jake.

I told myself it was because I was her boss and I needed to make sure she was doing her job. The only problem with that was the better she did her job, the more it annoyed me. I was pleased she was capturing his attention, giving just enough to keep Jake interested but not so much that she was throwing herself at him. She was as good as I'd hoped.

When she'd first shown up with Taylor – just the thought of him made me clench my jaw – I was pissed. I knew why she'd done it. He'd obviously told her a sob story about how I'd been avoiding his calls and she'd decided to bring him as payback for how I'd deceived her. Once I'd gotten over the initial annoyance at seeing the two of them together, I'd seen the good in it. I could respect her trying to show me up. She certainly knew how to play the game. The fact that she'd been willing to pretend to overlook Taylor's part in the whole thing just to get back at me showed so much promise. Between that and her skillful maneuvering of Jake, I could see that she was going to be a huge asset to my company.

As Krissy moved into her second hour of laughing at Jake's jokes, I tried to focus my attention on Kelsee. I ran my gaze over her, undressing her with my eyes, though there wasn't much to take off. Her nipples were visible through her thin dress, confirming my previous suspicions that she wasn't wearing a bra. I approved of her choice. Her tits were smaller than...some other women's, but they were firm and high, perky enough that she didn't need any extra support. I hadn't noticed a pantyline and wondered if she'd forgone those as well.

I entertained myself for a few minutes thinking about Kelsee and her lack of undergarments. How would she react, I wondered, if I pressed her up against a wall and slid my hand beneath her dress? Fingered her into an orgasm right here in the middle of the party? Or, better yet, led her over to a chair and had her sit on my lap, unbuckled my pants and slid right inside her? Of course, I'd never do the latter. It didn't matter if a woman said she'd been tested and gotten a clean bill of health, and was on the pill. I didn't trust them. One time was all it took to get some STD or get a woman pregnant, all because I trusted her.

“So I told Marcie that if she thought I was going to back down just because she wanted the part, too, she could forget it.”

Kelsee's voice drew me back from the unappealing route my thoughts had taken. She had a nice voice. It was sugary sweet, the kind that went with the plaid skirt and white blouse of a schoolgirl's uniform.

I turned my attention away from Kelsee, searching again for Krissy. Kelsee was hot, no doubt, but I couldn't quite focus. Maybe that was a good thing. This was a business engagement, after all. Granted, I often mixed business with pleasure. Despite my strict rules for my employees regarding dating clients, quite a few of my...conquests came from the pool of actresses who paraded through Mirage's doors. I excused my hypocrisy by telling myself that it was different. Other people, no matter how much they denied it, rarely did the whole sex-only thing. There were always emotions involved. Not with me. I never wanted to date these women. It was fucking, pure and simple. Okay, maybe pure wasn't the right word, but it was the right idea.

“Who's she?” Kelsee asked.

“Krissy Jensen,” I answered, knowing she'd followed my gaze to find out why I wasn't mesmerized with her. “She's a new employee at Mirage.”

“Oh.” Kelsee sounded relieved, then impressed. “Is that Jake Morris she's with? Like Universal Pictures Jake Morris?”

“Mm-hm.” I made a non-committal noise as I watched Krissy lead Jake to the dance floor.

They headed straight for Taylor who was dancing with some blonde. Krissy was definitely putting effort into her time with Jake. As she started to move, my chest tightened and I couldn't look away. I'd seen hundreds, thousands, of women dance. Some without clothes, some with. Some had even had professional training. But there was something about the way Krissy moved that made me wonder what she would look like in my bed, her naked body against my black silk sheets, her will totally under my control...

“You have an amazing house, Mr. Ricci.” Kelsee pressed her body closer to mine, managing to pull my attention from Krissy. Her hand brushed my thigh.

“Thank you,” I said. The heat I'd felt when I'd looked at Krissy was fanning into a flame as Kelsee's hand moved from brushing 'accidentally' against me to actually stroking my leg, her fingers moving closer and closer to my groin.

“I'd love a private tour.” Kelsee was practically purring.

I smiled at her and took her hand. If she kept up that rubbing, I wasn't going to be able to mingle with the rest of my guests. I pressed my lips to the back of her hand before releasing it. “It's DeVon, and right now I have to go talk to other guests, but if you stay, I promise I'll give you a very special private tour later.”

“I won't go anywhere,” she promised.

I nodded and then turned to make my way through the crowd. I hated the schmoozing part of my job, but the thought of Kelsee and everything I could do to her kept a smile on my face as I made small talk. I was going to take my time with her, make sure she was writhing and begging for everything.

“DeVon!”

I turned and saw Jake coming towards me. I didn't see Krissy. Where the hell had she gone? I hadn't told her how long she needed to stay and she'd been keeping Jake occupied for a while, but it bothered me that I didn't know where she was.

“You are one lucky son of a bitch,” Jake said. “How do you do it? Find someone so smoking hot with so much talent.”

I saw a brunette trying to squeeze in beside Jake, the smile on her face telling me exactly what she was going to offer him. I thought she was a fairly new client, maybe one Penny was handling, but I couldn't say for sure.

“Yes, she's very talented.” I gave the brunette a polite smile.

Jake looked over at her, then shook his head. He ignored the woman and said, “No, Krissy. She's amazing.”

I would've felt bad for the brunette being dismissed like that, but I knew she'd just set her sights on someone else. Sure enough, before I could finish agreeing with Jake, the brunette was heading towards the bar where several other studio people and casting directors were lingering.

“Do you mind if I take a shot at her?” Jake asked. “I mean, she didn't say she was dating anyone.”

My stomach churned at the thought of Jake asking Krissy out on a date. Him kissing her. Her naked body beneath him... “Knock yourself out,” I said. I didn't know what was wrong with me today. There wasn't a chance in hell that Krissy would go for Jake. He was so not her type.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Krissy heading for the back patio, Taylor following behind her. I quickly excused myself and made my way through the crowd. I told myself I just wanted to speak with her about how things were going with Jake, but I couldn't deny that I was curious about why Taylor was with her. She'd already gotten her little dig in earlier and then they'd gone their separate ways. True, they'd danced together, but she'd also danced with Jake and a blonde actress I thought was named Hannah.

I slipped outside, careful not to make any noise as I ducked into the shadows. I wasn't close enough to hear what they were saying, but I could see that they were standing close together. That surprised me. She had to be angry at him for his part in my deception, so why was she acting like she was enjoying being here with him when there wasn't anyone around to see?

His hand went around the back of her neck and I waited for her to pull back, maybe even slap him, but she didn't. Instead, she let him kiss her. And it wasn't just some little peck, meant to convey friendship. When he grabbed her ass, I turned around and went inside. I didn't want to see any more. What I wanted was to find Kelsee and make sure she was staying because I'd lost any doubts I'd had about fucking her tonight.