“You have a fan club.”
“I do?”
“Yeah. Give them a smile.”
She turned her head in the direction of the guys looking at her, and lifted her lips in a shy grin. Then she broke off from him and moved through the open gates and toward the closest ship. Several guys were loitering near the gangplank. Spence stayed a few steps behind her, enough to offer protection but not to crowd her.
“Hey, guys,” she said, reaching into her bag to pull out her card. “I open tonight at the Wild Rose. I don’t know what you all do in your off time, but if you have a free few hours, come see me.”
As soon as she started handing out business cards, a crowd began to gather, especially when Spence stood there with his arms folded in front of him and didn’t interfere.
Suddenly Shadoe became very popular. Hopefully she was scanning and memorizing faces. She seemed to be doing a fine job talking them up, laughing, and asking them to come spend their money at the Wild Rose.
You’d think these guys hadn’t been around a woman in years the way they hung all over her. Shadoe handled it well, though. When they got too close, she’d lay a palm on their shoulder and tell them to back off, then motion her head toward Spence as a warning.
The guys all seemed friendly and good-natured, not out to cause any trouble. He had his gun tucked into his pocket just in case anyone wanted to take it a step too far. He didn’t think anyone was that stupid, especially since they were on the job.
After about fifteen minutes of chatting them up, she waved good-bye and came back toward him. They moved off down the street and the crowd of guys went back to work.
“We should see several of them tonight, or at least sometime this week,” she said. “And now I have a lot more faces to place with the dockyard.”
“No one struck you as familiar?”
She shook her head. “Not yet, but our guy wouldn’t be working the docks anyway.”
“Still, this is where the shipments come in. It’s not just the agent we need to be concerned about. There’s a connection to the club, too. Packaging and distribution, maybe, but no one’s been able to pinpoint who or what yet.”
“I know. That’s why the more faces I learn, the sooner we’ll be able to piece the puzzle together.”
They headed down the street, passing the rows of ships. Shadoe grabbed his arm, her nails digging in. She spun around and pulled him in the opposite direction.
“What is it?”
“There’s a guy talking to someone over there. I recognize him from the club.”
Spence looked over at all the dockworkers. There, standing outside the office, were two guys. “The ones near the supervisor’s shack?”
“I guess so. A small building right by the gate.”
“That’s it. Which guy?”
She kept her gaze averted. “Tall, thin, kind of sandy-colored hair that he wears long. He’s got on jeans and a white muscle shirt.”
“Got him.” Spence didn’t recognize him. “Who is he?”
“I don’t know. He works at the Wild Rose, though.”
“In what capacity?”
“Don’t know that either. I didn’t have time last night to figure out what everyone did. I do recall him wearing a Wild Rose T-shirt though.”
Spence nodded. “We’ll have to keep our eye on him.”
“What’s he doing?”
“Right now, nothing. Just leaning against the doorway talking to some guy holding a clipboard. The conversation looks light and friendly, so they could be just buddies.”
“Or it could be something more.”
“Let’s get out of here before he sees us. I don’t want to make him suspicious of us, because I want to keep an eye on him at the club.”
Shadoe nodded and they backed up until they found a side street, then headed to where Spence had parked the bike. He pulled his keys from his pocket and turned to her.
“Do you ever reach a maximum of things you can remember?”
She shrugged. “Not so far. I memorized every word of every textbook in college and at the academy, and that was quite a bit. I don’t think you have to worry about me being unable to store all the faces. I can still remember every face I’ve ever seen from childhood.”
“That’s an incredible gift.”
“Sometimes a burden. There are times you want to be able to forget things, and you can’t.”
He knew all about the need to forget the past. He could well imagine there were things she remembered that she didn’t want to. “Having a photographic memory would suck.”
She laughed. “Sometimes it does. Other times, like for this job, it can come in handy.”
They stopped for lunch, then went back to the hotel. Spence got in touch with Grange and gave him a report. Shadoe spent the next few hours pacing the room. When she got tired of being inside, she went onto the balcony and walked its length, then came back in and paced some more.
He picked up on her tension, as well as her glances at the clock on the nightstand every few minutes.
What was she nervous about? Her performance at the club tonight?
Probably. He sure as hell wouldn’t want to strip in front of hundreds of people. Dallas was one thing. The Wild Rose was a popular club and this was summer tourist season. The place would be packed. Plus, AJ and Pax would be there, too. In addition, she’d have to keep her eyes open in order to sight the rogue. That was a hell of a lot of shit to deal with for someone who was new to the job.
He couldn’t blame her for being on edge, wished there was something he could do to ease her tension, but he knew all about being edgy on a mission.
Sometimes an undercover role was fun to play, and other times it was nothing more than a giant pain in the ass. In Shadoe’s case, he could well imagine she didn’t consider what she had to do to be fun. Even a seasoned agent would probably go dry-mouthed at the thought of shedding her clothes for the job.
He’d dated a lot of strippers. You either had to be in it because you loved it or because you loved the money, and either way you didn’t give a shit about parading around na**d. It wasn’t the kind of job for a woman who’d spent her life sheltered in private schools. He gave Shadoe credit for even taking this assignment. Talk about stepping outside your comfort zone. She was way outside it on this job.
Maybe he’d get her drunk. That would relax her, but it might affect her performance, too, dammit. He’d just have to come up with something else, because at the rate she was pacing they were going to have to replace the carpet in the room before they checked out.
“Uh, why don’t you try a hot bath?”
She stopped, turned to him. “What?”
“You’re tense.”
“No, I’m not.”
“You’ve been walking a hole in the floor for the past four hours.”
She scanned the length of the carpet, then turned back to him. “No, I haven’t.”
Oblivious, too. “Okay. How about dinner?”
She palmed her stomach. “Oh. Ugh. That doesn’t even sound good.”
That’s what he figured. “I’ll go get you some ginger ale or something to settle your stomach.”
“Would you, really? That would be great. I need to take a shower and start getting ready.”
Now it was his turn to glance at the clock. It was nearly eight. Yeah, they should head that way. “Well, I’m hungry and I’m going to grab a burger while I’m downstairs. You go get ready. I’ll bring you something to drink.”
“Thanks.”
He went down to the restaurant and ordered food for himself and a drink and some fruit and cheese for Shadoe. Maybe she wouldn’t eat much, but she could at least pick at the food. He knew if she went without eating anything, she’d probably get sick. When he opened the door to the room, she stood there by her bed with a towel wrapped around her na**d body. The smell of her filled the room—shampoo, soap, everything that was female about her.
He laid the food down on the table and unscrewed the top on the bottle of ginger ale. She came over and looked down at the food. “All this for you?”
“No. Just the burger and fries. I brought you some fruit and cheese. Try to eat something. You won’t make a good headliner if you pass out while dancing, and we’re going to be there late tonight.”
She took a sip of the ginger ale and used her fork to spear a slice of cheese. “Yes, Mom,” she said with a smirk.
“Make fun all you want, but you’re eating, aren’t you?”
She sat at the table and not only ate the fruit and cheese, she also snatched a few of his fries. He grinned at her back while he ate his burger.
Now, at least, she might survive the night. One less thing he’d have to worry about.
Not that he was worried about her or anything. He just had to make sure she didn’t drop the ball on the assignment. That was his only concern.
He sure enjoyed watching her in that towel. She had pretty shoulders. Well toned, and her towel had started to slide down her back, revealing a smooth expanse of skin that he’d love to explore with his fingertips. Or his mouth.
As if she’d felt him studying her, Shadoe cast a look at him over her shoulder, tossing curls of damp hair behind her back.
Their gazes locked and held. Spence knew he should turn away, but there were her eyes again. Something about the way she looked at him drew him, held him. He saw warmth there, and desire, things he’d had far too little of in his life, things he’d never thought he’d missed, or wanted.
Until now.
Her mouth opened and she ran her tongue over her bottom lip. Such a sweet invitation. He leaned in, knowing he shouldn’t, grasped her chin with his thumb and forefinger, brushing his lips against hers, just to take a taste.
Her lips trembled and she sighed, then she placed her palm against his chest and pushed away. “I need to go get ready.”
Her eyes were glassy, her ni**les hard and visible against the thin towel.
She knew and he knew that if they started this, it would take a while to finish. His c**k had hardened fast and he was damned uncomfortable as he watched her walk away and close the bathroom door.
So much for keeping things professional between them. One look at her and he was hard and had forgotten all about his resolve. Yeah, he was great about his convictions, wasn’t he? Good thing she’d stopped. He wouldn’t have.
He cleaned up the food and waited for Shadoe to come out of the bathroom. She did, in jeans and a tank top, her makeup on and her hair curled.
“Nice outfit.”
She looked as if he’d just accused her of murder instead of complimented her. “This isn’t my costume.”
“Didn’t think it was, though you could strip in that and no one would care.”
She shook her head. “It gets better.”
“I imagine it does. Can’t wait to see it.”
“Yeah. I’ll bet. You ready?”
Spence should know better than to try to compliment a woman. He should have just kept his mouth shut.
She sat stiff as a column of steel behind him on the bike, her thighs rigid against his as they rode to the club. After he parked and they got off, her expression was just as stiff as the rest of her.
“You could try smiling.” He reached for her hand but she jerked it away. She was going to self-combust if he didn’t get a shot of tequila in her.
“I am smiling.”
“No, babe, you’re not. You’re stiff as a board, too.” He laid his hand on the small of her back. “Relax. You’re not on for a couple hours.”
She inhaled and blew it out, then walked inside, nodded at the guys at the front, and let Spence lead her toward the bar. Spence ordered two tequila shots and offered one to her. She shook her head. “I don’t want to drink tonight.”
“This will just take the edge off. You’re so tight right now you won’t be able to bend. A shot or two won’t affect you.”
She accepted the glass and downed it in one swallow. She turned and hitched herself up onto a barstool, then leaned back to watch the dancer, cocking her head to the side as if studying her moves.
“You’re better than she is,” he said, leaning close to whisper in her ear.
She snorted and turned to him. “She’s a pro.”
“You’re still better.” He liked being able to talk to her this way. Kept him close enough to her that he could smell her shampoo. God, he was pathetic. Or maybe just horny. If he kept her distracted, maybe she’d relax and stop thinking about whatever made her so tense.
“See anyone you recognize from today?”
“No.”
“What about the guy you saw here last night? The one who works here?”
She scanned the club. “He’s not here. Maybe he’s off tonight.”
“He might be coming in later, too. And none of the guys you talked to on the docks are here?”
She shook her head. “Not yet, but they know I’m not on until eleven. Maybe they’ll come in later. Or not at all. I hope we pack in a good crowd tonight. I’d hate to fail at this.”
“You’re not going to fail. It’s barely past nine. Strip clubs don’t start hopping until after ten. Quit worrying.”
“Easy for you to say. You’re not the headliner. If I get fired after the first night, our cover is blown.”
She really was going off the deep end. He was going to have to lighten her up or she’d depress the customers, which wouldn’t be a good kickoff night for the new headliner.
Pax and AJ walked in, caught sight of Spence, and made sure to grab a table on the other side of the club. Shadoe’s muscles tensed even further once she caught sight of them strolling past.