Chapter 10 #2
The wild twin who wore all black and left her long, dark hair fall loosely over her shoulders. The “bad girl” sister with dark eye makeup and lips painted red like bright, crimson blood. But it wasn’t a twin. It was her. And even from all the way over here, the woman looked good enough to eat.
Holy hell.
The dress Talia had on, if you could even call that scrap of strapless material a dress, left far less to the imagination than the conservative pants and blouse combo she’d had on before. It was one of those tube dresses that showed every delectable curve.
Crouching lower in his seat, he waited until she pulled out of her drive and was on her way. Jagger shot up and started the SUV’s engine the second the coast was clear.
“Sorry, Liam.” The muttered apology came as he shoved the vehicle into gear. “Looks like that night of rest we talked about is going to have to wait.”
The SUV rolled away from the curb before turning left, in her direction. Within a minute’s time, he spotted her car. Keeping a safe distance between them to avoid being seen, Jagger followed the intriguing woman out of her quiet neighborhood and into an unexpected part of the city.
Several red lights and turns onto side streets later, Talia slowed her car way down as she approached a near-packed parking lot. He drove past as she pulled in and began looking for a spot. As he did, Jagger looked out the window to his left.
Across the street from the modest sized and slightly aged parking lot was a strip of businesses all sharing the same one-level roof. All but one were dark with no signs of life, and from what he could tell, they’d been permanently closed for some time.
The business directly across the street from the parking lot was the only one of the bunch that seemed to be active. Above its door was a rectangular neon sign that shone brightly to all that passed by.
DisConnected.
The capital letters were an obvious—and in Jagger’s opinion, quite clever—play on the city they were in. As he rounded the block and made his way back to the lot, he used his voice to activate the search engine on his phone.
According to his search, DisConnected was a hidden gem of a nightclub in what used to be a much nicer and more frequented part of D.C. It wasn’t huge, but from the amount of cars filling the spots, he could only imagine how packed it was inside.
This wasn’t his usual type of club, and unlike Talia, he wasn’t dressed for a night out dancing. Of course, his goal wasn’t to dance but rather make sure his spitfire of a handler was staying safe.
And yeah, okay, so maybe he was also more than a little curious about the straight-laced agent’s surprising alter ego. But could you blame him? The woman was dressed to kill.
It could be for a job.
The thought drove through Jagger’s mind as he walked across the quiet, two-laned street. It was possible, he supposed, that Talia was here as part of some undercover gig. It would explain the drastic change in the woman’s appearance.
“Twenty bucks.” A tall, beefy man working the door held out a palm.
A little high for a cover charge, especially at a place this far from the beaten path. But they were here to make money, so…
Jagger reached for his wallet and pulled out a twenty. The guy took it and added it to the large stack of bills fisted in his other hand. Without another word, the wall of muscle opened the heavily tinted, glass door.
Music that had been muffled half-a-beat earlier blared to life as he entered the dark space. Everything was black, from the ceiling to the floor. Bright lights in a variety of colors and sizes swirled and flashed their way down onto the crowd.
And what a crowd it was.
The place was so packed, it was literally shoulder-to-shoulder as Jagger weaved his way in farther. He was pretty sure they were well above fire code regulations for occupancy.
Almost everyone there was dressed in all-black, just like Talia. Most of the women were scantily clad, as were a few of the men. Jagger, however, was still dressed in the same jeans, blue button-up, and brown leather boots from earlier in the day.
He probably had an unpleasant expression on his face, but he didn’t care. He hadn’t come here looking to have a good time. Jagger was looking for—
It’s her.
Several gyrating bodies stood between them, but Jagger spotted Talia’s dancing form in the middle of the crowd. His steps faltered until he’d fully stopped moving. With those around him oblivious, he let himself fully appreciate the moment.
Talia’s long, toned legs and delicious curves slowly swayed to the beat of the music. Her upper body moved only slightly, and he assumed this was due to being sore from taking a round to her vested chest. Talia’s head was titled to the side just so and her eyes had fallen shut.
Jagger got the sense her coming here had more with finding a stolen moment away where she could be free than it had to do with the job. It was the same reason he had the occasional solo night on the town.
He loved his teammates, and hanging with them in and out of the field were the best parts of his days. But sometimes he needed a minute. Some time away from the team as a means to regroup.
Looking at Talia now, he instinctively knew they were more alike than either of them had ever known.
I could stay here forever.
Jagger found he rather loved watching her lose herself in the song’s sensual rhythm. He would’ve kept watching, too, for as long as he could if that other guy hadn’t just sidled his way up behind her.
The baggy-pants-wearing blond moved in close. So close, the front of his body damn near became flush with her backside. His hands moved down, coming to a rest on Talia’s swaying hips.
Jagger’s hands curled into fists at his side.
A wave of possessiveness unlike any he’d ever felt carried him forward through the crowd. The place was filled with all kinds of beautiful women. Several even eyed him unabashedly as he maneuvered his way past.
He paid them no attention and wasn’t the least bit tempted to look their way. He was too focused on the man dancing with Talia…and the hands that had just started to wander.
Not in this lifetime, buddy.
Jagger approached the guy from behind, his wheels spinning to come up with a plan. By the time he reached them, he’d had an idea. One that hopefully wouldn’t end in a testosterone-driven brawl.
His target was a few inches shorter, which made his plan that much easier to put into play. When he got to him, Jagger leaned down close to the other man’s ear. Making sure his voice was loud enough the guy could hear, he kept on eye on Talia’s back to make sure she couldn’t.
“I’ll give you a hundred bucks right now if you turn around without a word and walk the other way.”
The guy’s shoulder’s jumped half-a-second, turning but never once stopped dancing.
Jagger’s gaze slid to his partner, relieved to find Talia still facing the opposite direction.
He held up the crisp Benjamin to show the offer he’d made was legit.
Without hesitation, the man in the baggy pants snagged the bill and walked away.
For a moment, Jagger considered silently sliding up and taking the other man’s place. But the whole reason he’d gone to her house in the first place was to attempt an apology for having deceived her.
No more lies or half-truths.
That was the promise he intended to make. Since there was no time like the present, Jagger filled his lungs with a stealing breath. He released it slowly, reaching a hand to her bare shoulder and giving her a gentle tap.
“Mind if I cut in?”
He already had, but that was beside the point.
Talia turned his way, and from the look on her face, it was obvious he wasn’t the one she’d expected to see. In fact, Jagger was pretty sure he was the last person she ever thought would be there. And from the way her widened eyes just narrowed, his presence at DisConnected wasn’t exactly welcome.
“What the…” Her stare grew hard with anger. “Did you follow me here?”
Despite the loud music, he had absolutely no problem deciphering the loaded question.
“I did.” Jagger nodded. “But it’s not what you think.”
Gorgeous eyes lined black and shadowed in a smoky, sultry way lasered deep into his. “What I think is that I’m leaving.”
He watched as Talia spun around on her stilettos with the obvious intent of becoming lost in the sea of dancers. Before he thought better of it, Jagger snaked a hand out with the intent of gently taking hold of one of hers.
Apparently, fate had other plans because, at that very same moment, a woman who looked to him to be all of twenty-one lost her footing and fell fully against him.
“Sssorry…” she slurred before smiling up at him through a set of glassy, bloodshot eyes. “Oh, wow.” The young woman blinked. “You’re really cute, you know that?”
“So I’ve been told.” Jagger flashed her a friendly smile.
Placing his hands on the top of her shoulders—and keeping them visible to those around them at all times—he carefully eased her from his chest and waited to make sure she wouldn’t fall before releasing his hold and walking away.
“Excuse me,” he mumbled kindly, making his escape while he could.
Jagger scanned the faces for the one he’d come here to find. His pulse quickened when, for several long seconds, he thought she’d gotten away.
There!
Talia was at the club’s door, not looking back as she vanished into the night. Caring a little less about the slight jostles and inadvertent bumps along the way, he moved faster and with purpose until he was finally back outside.
“Talia, wait!” he called out when he caught sight of her at the parking lot’s edge.
With a quick glance in either direction, Jagger took off in a jog across the otherwise empty street. He caught up to her with relative ease almost exactly halfway between her car and where he’d parked his.
“Go home, Jagger,” the pissed off woman ordered without so much as a glance in his direction.
“Not until we’ve had a chance to talk.”