“Look, I’m new to the city, it’s been a rough few months, and I just really wanted the chance at this job. I have over ten years of dance experience. Unless the gig involves parading around topless, I know I would be good at this. Nothing against it, of course, but it’s not for me. The topless thing, I mean. Dancing is for me. Clothed dancing. What I’m trying to say is that I don’t want to show my boobs.”

Heat flooded my cheeks, and I cut myself off before I rambled on about my boobs for another five minutes. Hopefully this guy didn’t think I was trying to flirt. He might look good, but I’d rather sleep on Serena’s couch for the rest of my life than even think about touching him with a ten-foot pole.

“Over ten years?” He regarded me again, and a strange sizzling heat trailed down my spine. I swallowed hard beneath his gaze, my heartbeat flickering like butterfly wings. It almost felt as though he was peeling back the layers of my skin and staring into my soul.

But that was ridiculous.

“I got serious about dance when I was twelve. I’m twenty-three now…although, I haven’t done much dancing recently.”

“College?”

I nodded. “I graduated two years ago.”

“What have you been doing since then?”

I swallowed hard. There it was, the question I wanted to avoid. If he knew about my past, he’d never let me step foot through that door. “Nothing important.”

A beat passed in brutal silence. His eyes bored into the very depths of me. At least, that was what it felt like.

“I see. What’s your name?”

I frowned. What was with the fifty questions? I didn’t want to tell him my full name. He would look me up—they all did. And nothing good ever came of that. But if he decided to hire me, he’d have to know my name for the paperwork. Ugh.

“Mia McNally.”

“Hmm.” His sharp blue eyes flashed as he took a step toward me. I stiffened, and my breath caught in my throat. He was taller than I’d realized. At least six foot and brimming with pure muscle. I swore I could smell a hint of bonfire rippling off his skin. The tension in my body rocketed up a notch. “I’ll give you five minutes for an audition, but only because I can’t quite figure you out.”

I swallowed hard and laughed awkwardly. That made two of us. Who the hell was this guy? Why was he such an asshole? And did I really want to work for him?

He turned and stepped into the shadows of his club. Without another glance in my direction, he held the door open and waited. “Aren’t you coming?”

I pulled the night air into my lungs and stepped into Infernal.

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