Before, she’d been turned on by his flirtatious banter. Now she just felt foolish. He’d been playing games with her. Making jokes and secretly laughing at her with his buddies.

Humiliation burned in her gut. Dante had been wrong. So wrong. Setting her stick on the table, she spun on her heel to leave.

He blocked her path. “Leave now and forfeit the game.” She had yet to sink the eight ball, but winning no longer mattered.

She sidled around him. “I don’t appreciate being made a fool of.”

He halted her with a hand on her elbow. “That wasn’t my intention.”

She pulled out of his grip and kept walking.

He was right behind her. “I merely wanted to see how you would act around me, not knowing who I was.”

She stopped. “Why?”

“You provide a rare experience for me.”

Because she was the only dummy in this town who wouldn’t know him on sight? Come on. Sure he was a big deal, but it wasn’t like his face was plastered all over the place. “Your friends sure did get a good laugh at my expense.”

He shook his head. “They were more amused by my behavior.”

“Because you tricked me.” In her haste, she knocked into a guy, spilling a bit of his drink. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” she called, but kept going.

Cortez kept pace. “Because I’m not often so taken by a female.”

That made her stop. Taken? Could he really find her attractive? She studied his expression for falsities, but found none. Though, clearly he was a good liar.

“Stay and have a drink with me.”

She had intended to land an interview. Well, here he was. She fretted her bottom lip. His gaze followed the movement, and something intense flashed behind his eyes. The ice in her veins flashed red-hot. How did he do that?

He grinned as though he sensed her reaction to him. Drinks with a hotter-than-sin wealthy club owner who possibly found her attractive? Or a chilly walk home at two in the morning? Cole hated when she went out alone this late at night. This town was filled with predators, not only the vampiric kind.

Still, she felt out of her league here. Super spy she was not. Face to face, she hadn’t even sighted her mark. How could she gather intel on supposed illegal activity without getting caught? She glanced at the exit. She could leave now and end this charade. Tell Dante he’d picked the wrong girl for this task.

But that seven grand? Cole was depending on her. If anything happened to him, she didn’t know what she would do.

“Perhaps a wager would encourage you to stay,” he hedged.

Why would he want her to stay? Hadn’t she endured enough embarrassment? Now she understood the strange looks his buddies had given her when she’d first shown up. They must think she was an idiot for not knowing who this man was. Not to mention....

Did he say wager?

“What kind of wager?”

“First have a drink with me.” He gestured to an empty table at the edge of the room. “Come sit and talk with me.”

She eyed him hesitantly.

“You wanted a meeting with me, didn’t you?” He spread his arms out invitingly. “Are you hungry? I’ll have our chef make something special.”

Still mentally debating, she allowed him to direct her to the table. He even pulled her chair out for her before taking the seat directly opposite her.

Feeling eyes on her, she scanned her surroundings. Peppered through the crowd, several employees gazed at her with open curiosity. On the other side of the room, a waitress was paused in the middle of filling a water glass. Not paying attention to her task, the water began to spill over. The two men sitting at the table let out a sound to alert her to her blunder. The waitress jumped and hastily sopped up the mess with napkins.

Finished with their routine, the entertainers on stage were taking their bows. Naia caught one of them elbowing the others to direct their attention toward Naia and Cortez.

His buddies from the pool room were peeking around the wide arched threshold.

What in the world was going on?

Cortez called a waitress over and requested a menu. Apparently Ever Nights boasted a full three course menu. Dante’s only offered basic tavern grub, and she would warn anyone away from the chicken wings. Blech.

As she scanned the menu, her tummy growled. The last thing she’d eaten was some pilfered chips from Dante’s kitchen. “You’re paying?” she asked Cortez.

He responded with a single nod.

Naia glanced up at the waitress. “Then I’ll have the lobster, darling.”

The waitress reclaimed the menu and hurried off without a word.

“You have expensive taste,” Cortez observed, but he didn’t sound put out.

Oh, the irony. “Not really. I’ve never had lobster, but you deserved that and more for your little trick.”

“Maybe I do.” There was an ease to his smile that managed to settle her nerves somewhat.

“Your employees are gawking.”

“They are not used to me chasing after women.”

She supposed women just naturally fell at his feet. If she was smart, she’d be doing the same. “So what would you like to know. I can give you my work history.”

“Is Naia your real name or a stage name?”

“Real. On stage, I go by Sapphire.”

“Are you a dancer as well?”

“Uh, if you mean with clothes on, then yes. Otherwise no.”

“So yours is a clean show.”

She lifted one shoulder. “I’d say my dancing is provocative, but not X-rated.”

“If you’re not a dancer why not just go by your regular name. It’s beautiful enough. And it suits you better, I think.”

“Thanks. The girls told me a stage name would give me an added level of anonymity.” They’d emphasized that stalking is a problem in their line of business.

“Girls?”

She nearly bit her tongue. “Yeah, some friends of mine who work over at, uh, one of the other clubs.”

“Oh? Which club?”

Damn. She decided to stick to the truth as much as possible during his inquiry. “Dante’s Pit.” There was nothing wrong with knowing people who worked there, she told herself.

“Couldn’t your friends have gotten you a job there?”

Double damn. She had to tread carefully here. It would be easy to ferret out a lie. He knew her stage name. Her real name. All he’d need was to do a little research to find out her previous, or rather, continued employment. “I’ve worked there,” she admitted. “Waitressing and singing.”

He assessed her for a moment. “Do you still work there?”

Triple damn! She resisted a guilty squirm that wanted to snake through her body. “Kind of. But I don’t want to.” That at least was one hundred percent true. “Unless I want to start a career in stripping, I’m not making enough to cover my bills.” Debts, she mentally amended.

“So you think you’ll make more if you work here?”

“I know you pay even your lowliest employees better than anyone around.”

Her lobster arrived then. Big, red, alien looking thing. Though they were only miles from the coast, and seafood was a staple in this area, she’d never had the opportunity to dine on lobster. Too pricey. Curiosity had her digging in.

With an elbow on the table and his chin perched on his palm, Cortez watched as she took the first bite. She chewed, and chewed. The texture was not what she expected. Almost rubbery, but not quite, and not in a bad way. The flavor was somewhat sweeter than she’d anticipated, salty and buttery and distinctly its own, but nothing marvelous. Why did people rave about this?

When she finally swallowed, she muttered, “Huh.”

“Not what you expected?” he asked, mirroring her thoughts.

“The girls at the club prattle on and on whenever a date buys them lobster. I thought it would be like crack.”

Almost as if he couldn’t help himself, he barked out a laugh. “It could be more of a status thing for them.”

“How silly.”

“Silly? How so?”

“I don’t know. I guess I never understood all that status stuff. If it’s not the best, why pretend it is just because it costs more?”

“Perceived value, I suppose.”

“See, that’s a silly notion. You could mark two identical items different prices, and people would automatically assume the higher priced item is better.”

“True. But how else should they determine value? Price is often equated to quality. In markets where people are not completely sure of how to assess quality, price is often used as a qualifier. And it’s human nature to want what others covet. It’s why since as far back as history allows, women have covered themselves in shiny rocks and metals to attract the best mate, because they believe the rocks add to their beauty and therefore their perceived value. Same goes for some men and luxury sports cars. Isn’t that why you ordered the lobster in the first place?”

“I ordered it to ding your wallet as payback.”

“Then you’ll have to do better than that.”

“And I don’t adorn myself in jewels to attract a mate.”

“Likely because you can’t afford it. I see you wear silver around your neck.”

She fingered the locket, and huffed. “This has sentimental value. I suppose you drive a luxury sports car?” She took another bite of her lobster, determined to enjoy it.

By way of answer, he said with a grin, “I’m not looking for a mate.”

The way he stared at her now told her what he might be looking for. Her heart rate ratcheted because all that intense, unbroken attention was directed her way. Perhaps Cortez flirted this strongly with all his potential employees, to see how they’d handle themselves in a real-world scenario. A waitress in this town had to be glib of tongue and quick on their feet to handle some of the miscreants that popped into town to harass the locals. She decided she would ace this interview no matter what Cortez had to throw at her.

When the waiters came by to check on them—they were very attentive to their boss—Cortez ordered another round of drinks and then a second main dish, toasted sesame ginger salmon, stating that Naia might enjoy it more. Then he continued with the questions. “Do you live around here?”

She nodded. “I live near the hills.”

“You can’t have been in town for very long.”

She cocked her head. “Why do you say that?”

“I’m sure I would have noticed you before now.”

Flirting again? “Well, you’re not as observant as you think. We-uh-I’ve been here for a few years now.” At the last second, some protective part of her decided it was best not to mention Cole in any way. If she wasn’t careful, things could go south for her in a bad way, and he was in enough trouble. But Cortez noticed her cover-up.

“We? You mean the man who’s waiting on you even now?”

“No one is waiting on me. I have all night.”

Again he scanned her dress, this time dubious, clearly not believing her.

“Why haven’t you applied here sooner?”

“I did. A couple of times. I don’t have a phone, so I had to keep checking back, but I was told there weren’t any openings. You have such stellar acts on your roster. I guess a simple singer didn’t measure up. But I’m good. I can promise you that. Your clientele will love me.”

He leaned back in his chair. “Who did you speak with?”

“Huh?”

“Which one of my employees did you speak with when you came looking for a job?”

“I, uh.” She glanced around as if their faces would pop out at her. “Not sure I remember exactly. A woman with long dark hair the first time. A guy the second. Why?”

“Just wondering who I need to punish for not sending you straight to me.”

She stiffened, then caught the teasing light in his eyes and returned a smile. “In that case, I really don’t remember. If I’m going to work here, the last thing I need is to start off by throwing my peers under the bus, handsome though that bus may be.”

Something inscrutable flashed behind his eyes. Oddly, some of his humor faded. Did he not like compliments?

The salmon arrived then, and with her first bite, she groaned. “My god, this is incredible!”

His chest puffed up a bit and that pleasing grin was back. “I’m glad you like it. It’s one of my favorites.”

She glanced up at him, incredulous. “You eat? I mean, like, people food? Not people food, I mean human food. You actually do eat people food, though don’t you....” She huffed at her stammering and fought a blush.

He chuckled. “I enjoy human food, but I couldn’t live on the stuff.”

How interesting. She’d never seen Dante so much as snack on a chip.

Around another mouthful, she muttered, “This is so good,” And she wasn’t even putting on airs. An explosion of flavor invaded her mouth with each bite. Before she knew it, she was scraping the plate for more.

“My god, doesn’t your man feed you?”

She flushed and set her utensils down. She was supposed to be impressing this man, not scarfing down food like a starved mammal. “I guess I didn’t realize how hungry I was. Give my compliments to the chef.”

“Would you like to tell him yourself?”

Meet the chef? “I’d love to. But I wouldn’t want to bother him while he’s working.”

Cortez shook his head. “He loves it. To be honest, he can get a little grumpy when he’s not flattered enough.” He snapped his fingers for the waitress and had her retrieve the chef, Victor.

She expected a pudgy middle-aged man with a gut and an apron. Well, he had on an apron, along with full chef garb, sans hat. And he was drop dead gorgeous! Tall, with wild dark hair, the shoulders of a linebacker, and a jaw so chiseled it could slice bread. She wondered if even the cleaning crew looked like cover models.

“Da.” He said to Cortez with a distinctly Russian accent.

Cortez gestured to her. “This is Naia....” He was looking for her to provide a last name.

“DeVoe,” she said without thinking. She realized too late it was a mistake to give her full name. So bad at this. Burying her irritation with herself, she shook Victor’s hand. “I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed the salmon. Honestly, it was the best thing I’ve ever eaten. Better than the lobster. Uh, though that was good, too,” she added hastily, not wanting to insult him.

“Lobster is shit,” he said. “They used to feed it to prisoners long ago. A peasant dish. You have good taste.” He smiled, and a set of fangs poked out from behind his lips.

A vampire chef? Huh.

It would be just her luck if Cortez only hired vampires.

“You want dessert?” Victor continued. “I make you something off menu.”

“Oh, I couldn’t,” she rubbed her stomach. “I’m stuffed.”

He waved away her statement. “I make you something.” Then he stalked back to the kitchen before she could utter another protest.

“I think you made his night,” Cortez told her. “He’ll be high on his own importance for weeks.”

“Your chef is a vampire.” She had inadvertently leaned forward as if she were revealing a secret.

He mirrored her. “You caught that did you?”

Their faces mere inches apart, a strange spike of adrenaline burrowed through her. She caught a whiff of his cologne, and it seemed to go straight to her head. It was a faint scent, musky and enticing. Not cloying like some men who often smelled as if they’d bathed in rat piss. No, Cortez smelled...perfect.

She just managed to stop herself from inhaling deeply and giving herself away. With effort, she sat back in her seat. Cortez did the same, seeming to go through a similar struggle.

The music and chatter from the other guests filled in around them as if the volume had been turned up, even though nothing outside of their little bubble had changed. She cleared her throat, mentally acknowledging the moment. Something was going on. Maybe it was just in her head, or maybe he was feeling it as well. This whole interview was unorthodox.

She tried to find her footing. “I’d be happy to audition for you.”

His eyes lit with a kind of humor that bordered on mischievous. Had she said something funny?

“Perhaps something can be arranged.” He stood and held out his hand. “Come.”

“Where are we going?”

“I want to give you a tour.”

Tour. That was a good sign, right? “But the dessert?”

“Someone will bring it to us.”

She slipped her hand in his and allowed him to guide her around to the back of the room toward a set of elevators. As he pressed the up button, she glanced down at their clasped hands with fascination. His hand nearly swallowed hers, making her fingers look dainty in his grip.

The doors slid open and he pulled her inside, pressing the button for the top floor. As the doors closed, she detangled herself from him, feeling the space constrict around them. She wasn’t normally claustrophobic. It was him. His presence was almost too much in the tiny compartment. As if both needed the extra distance, they moved to opposite sides of the elevator, facing each other.

The look he gave her now was almost carnal. Like he was starved and she was the only meal in sight. It was unnerving. It was exhilarating. Receiving such unwavering attention from a vampire should not send forbidden tremors through her spine. Her heart began a slow drum. Her breaths began to shallow. The effect must have been causing her chest to noticeably rise and fall because he lustfully glanced down at her breasts, then back into her eyes, smiling when he realized he’d been caught.

“You are exquisite.”

“Thank you,” she breathed. My god, he was making her feel as if she were the sexiest woman in the world.

Ding. The doors parted. She practically dove out. He followed her, albeit, more slowly.

They were in another hallway, and there were doors lining either side.

“This way.” Cortez started down the hall, not taking her hand this time. Relief and disappointment took turns kicking her in the gut. But when they got to a dim stairwell, he once more held out his hand to her. She glanced up cautiously. Where in the world was he taking her?

Maybe it was the stark switch from being surrounded by a crowd to the sensation of complete isolation with this engrossing man, or the sporadic strobe of the cold, blue-tinged halogen bulbs that lit the stairwell, but she was suddenly hesitant.

“It’s safe,” he said as if he sensed her wariness. “You are safe with me.”

Her mind split into two camps. One vying to believe him one-hundred percent, recklessly willing to follow him through hot coals just to experience more of the delicious way he was making her feel. The other wondered if, to her at least, he wasn’t the most dangerous man alive.

Battling her uncertainty, she took his hand and up they went.