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were heaping job offers at my feet.
    It stood to reason that I shouldn’t have made a plan to meet him. But I’d felt tongue-tied and blurted the first thing that came to mind to get past him and into the dressing room. I figured I’d bought myself fifteen minutes without having to make excuses or explain myself.
    “Nice job on the pole, New Girl.” Another dancer smiled at me as I swept my tubes of mascara and body glitter into the bag.
    Six feet tall, at least, the woman was an ethnic blend à la JLo and flat-out gorgeous. The fact that she was mostly naked and applying pink body paint around her left breast only added to her stunning appearance. She looked like she was wearing a body suit of tattoos.
    “Oh. Um.” Tough to make eye contact with a half-naked woman, but I tried. “Thank you. I’m Court—that is, I’m Natalie.”
    As much as I needed to get going, I didn’t want to alienate Natalie’s future colleagues.
    The pink-painted beauty laughed. “You’re not the only one hiding an identity, Natalie . We do love our stage names in this business. I’m Kim, but everyone here knows me as Kendra.”
    “Nice to meet you.” Bag packed, I took an extra minute to admire the butterfly she’d somehow painted upside down on her chest. “Your artwork is amazing.”
    “Yeah?” She straightened and eyed herself critically in a mirror banked by fluorescent lights. “Everything looks sort of green in these mirrors.”
    “It’s really good.” I dug in my bag for a shapeless beach dress to cover my costume.
    “Did you see Eric Reims in the crowd?” she asked, dipping her thin artist’s brush into a palette with black paint.
    “Who?” Tugging the collar closed, I felt more like my old self again.
    “The actor in the front row. He’s been in some teen movies, but last summer he did a low-budget romantic comedy.” She shaded the background of a flower with light strokes. “You couldn’t miss him. He was the hottest guy next to the stage.”
    Personally, I begged to differ, but I had a vague impression of a youngish, polished blond man seated next to Trey. And yeah, he’d be fine if you went in for the baby-faced types. I’d only had eyes for Trey.
    “I think I know who you mean.” Shuffling back a step, I wanted to call Natalie and tell her the good news. The club owner had already told me my spot was secure for the fall lineup.
    That meant Natalie had a job. It felt good to think I’d erased a small part of my debt to my dance instructor. I could never have experienced a night like this—a thrill on so many levels—without her.
    “He sat next to Trey Fraser, the hot-headed son of Thomas Fraser, the big producer.” Kendra picked up a small tin of rhinestones and carefully applied them to the butterfly’s antennae. “I think I read that the son is Eric Reims’s agent now.”
    At the mention of Trey’s name, I got all worked up again. I’d never been the boy-crazy kind, not even when I was a preteen and everyone else salivated over the most popular guys in school. Maybe it was knowing I couldn’t compete, or that I’d only embarrass myself. But even through college and my years in the workforce so far, I just hadn’t dated much. A couple of fumbling relationships with guy-friends. Nothing like the breathless, Tilt-A-Whirl feelings that Trey inspired.
    The thought of walking away from the chance to be with him tonight hurt anew. How often did opportunities like that come around?
    Before I could answer Kendra, the guy who seemed to be the head bouncer stuck his head in the dressing room, knocking belatedly on the open door.
    “Ms. Night?”
    Nerves tensed, I straightened. The longer I hung around there, the more worried I became that I’d mess something up for Natalie. I felt like Cinderella at midnight and the chimes were already ringing.
    “Yes?” I responded, my mask still in place.
    “Mr. Fraser is waiting for you by the back door. May I escort you out?”
    Panic exploded in my chest