Author: Jaci Burton

Spence pushed off the bar and stalked toward the throng, pushing his way through, receiving curse words in return.

Shadoe’s back was to the wall and she was starting to look nervous and wide-eyed, until she caught sight of him. Then her shoulders relaxed and her smile returned.

Spence slid his arm around her waist and felt the tension holding her rigid as steel. Obviously she hadn’t been as in control as he’d thought.

Fuck. He should have been at her side as soon as she’d come through the door. Anger shot through him and he leveled a glare at the men pressing in on her.

“Back off. The lady can’t breathe.”

“Who the fuck are you?” one guy asked, his brows knit in a deep frown. He challenged Spence by taking a step forward.

Spence knew that level calm was the key, even though he felt anything but. “Desi’s bodyguard.” He reiterated his point just enough by reaching around his back. Any sane man would have to know he had a gun tucked into the waistband of his pants. “Now give her some room and we’ll set up a space back here where you all can talk to her. But if you start pushing on her, I’m not gonna like it. Clear?”

The crowd moved back enough for Spence to do just that. He looked down at Shadoe. “You okay?”

She gave a quick nod. “I’m fine.” She laid her palm against his chest. “Thank you.”

The look of utter innocence in her eyes tore him apart. He cleared his throat and stared daggers at her male fan club. “Be nice,” he warned, then pulled out a chair for Shadoe and moved behind her. She took a seat and the guys hovered, keeping a watchful eye on Spence the entire time.

Who knew she’d be so popular? The entire night she’d surprised the hell out of him. Watching her with these guys, she did even more, captivating them with her ability to converse, never leading them on, but keeping them talking, mostly about themselves instead of her, constantly stroking their egos. No wonder they liked her so much. He stood back and let her set the pace. He figured his place was just to stand there with his arms crossed and look imposing. No one even touched Shadoe or said anything inappropriate to her, so he must have done a decent job of it.

When the crowd began to thin out, Spence decided to take charge. “Time to go, Desi,” he said.

She looked up. “Oh, okay. Sorry guys, I have to leave.”

They made way for her, and Spence escorted her to the back room where all the women changed for their performances.

“How did you know it was time to go?” she asked while she pulled her street clothes from her locker.

“Group was starting to thin out. You always want to leave when you still have a crowd around you, rather than waiting until you’re standing around with no one left.”

“Oh. Good point.”

She placed one booted foot on a chair and began to unlace it.

“I’ll wait outside the door for you.”

She nodded and he left the room, running into Maria as she was coming in.

“Your girl did good,” Maria said. “Very good.”

“Yeah, she did.”

“She’s going to do a fine job as a stripper. You have nothing to worry about.”

“I wasn’t worried.”

Maria smiled. “You two look good together.”

Spence choked out a laugh. “I’m just her bodyguard.”

Maria arched a brow. “Sure you are, honey.” She patted his cheek and slid by him and through the doorway into the changing room.

What the hell was that about?

He needed another beer.

But in a few minutes, Shadoe was out the door with her bag in hand. “You didn’t need to wait for me. I can catch a cab.”

He took her bag. “You can ride with me.”

“Okay.”

They walked out the front door and Spence was conscious of many sets of eyes following them. He was glad he had his gun. Who knew guys would be jealous of him leaving with Shadoe?

His Harley was parked right outside the front door. He secured Shadoe’s bag, then climbed on. She followed, getting on behind him.

“You ever ride before?” he asked.

“Yes, a few times, but not in a while.”

Good enough. He started up the bike and took off out of the parking lot. When he hit the main road, Shadoe leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him.

Her breasts pillowed against his back, her arms locked tight around his middle. Her body was warm.

He concentrated on the wind in his face, the roar of the bike beneath him, and the road in front of him, not the soft woman nestled close behind him.

It was a long damn ride home. Shadoe shifted every now and then, rubbing her breasts against him as she did, her thighs nestled against his. And every time he pulled to a stop, he could smell her. Her hair, the scent of her soap, a very faint vanilla scent.

She was quiet. It would have been easier on him if she chattered on nonstop. Quiet allowed him to think, to visualize, to remember what she looked like on stage in chaps, her sweet ass cheeks outlined against the black leather.

His dick pounded in agony. He was never happier to see the gates of the Wild Riders’ compound and get the warm, sweet-smelling woman off the back of his bike. If he wasn’t already sure it would arouse suspicion, he would have hopped off the bike and run into the house. Instead, he took his time, parked the bike in the garage, and calmly went inside, though he was seething with pent-up anxiety.

He needed to get laid. That would solve a lot of his problems. What he needed was a tension release. It had been too long since he’d been with a woman, that’s all. Spending a few hours riding between the thighs of some hot, willing woman would take care of what ailed him. It had nothing to do with the woman silently riding up in the elevator with him.

Though it was late, almost all the others were in the oversized living room when the elevator doors whooshed open.

“How did it go?” Jessie asked.

“Shouldn’t you and Diaz be humping each other at your apartment?” Spence shot back.

Jessie snorted. “Plenty of time for that. I wanted to find out how Shadoe’s night at the club went.”

Shadoe set her bag down and walked into the room. “Pretty good, I think. I made money. Maria said I did a great job.” She half-turned to Spence.

Did she expect him to weigh in on her performance? She had to be kidding. He shrugged. “She looked good naked and she can shake her tits just fine.”

Jessie rolled her eyes. “Spoken like a true man.”

Shadoe’s lips curled. “Well, thanks. I think.”

“Trust me, that’s a compliment,” AJ said.

Pax nodded. “Practically a declaration of love coming from Spence.”

“Fuck you,” Spence said, deciding to ignore them all. He headed into the kitchen to grab a beer.

“Did I do something to upset you?”

He closed the refrigerator door and turned to face Shadoe. “No. Why?”

“You’ve been quiet all night.”

“I did my job as bodyguard. I didn’t know small talk was a requirement.”

She folded her arms in front of her. “No, it isn’t. But I would like some feedback.”

He leaned against the counter and took a long swallow from the bottle, letting the cool liquid slide down his dry throat. “I don’t critique strippers.”

“But you do frequent strip clubs. You have some experience watching women dance.”

“Yes.”

“So you’re in a pretty good position to tell me whether I blend in or not.”

“You did okay.”

“That’s not helpful.”

“Maria gave you a critique, didn’t she?”

“Yes.”

“That should be good enough.” He moved past her and out of the room.

She followed. “We’re supposed to be partners on this case. We’re going to have to talk to each other.”

He took another drink, then plopped down on a chair in the living room. “When there’s something related to the case to talk about, we’ll talk. Until then, I don’t see any reason for us to have a conversation.”

She stood next to his chair. “It would be nice for you to weigh in about the dancing.”

“Not exactly my field of expertise, darlin’.”

“But you are going to be my bodyguard.”

He tilted his head up. “Bodyguard. Exactly. I won’t be up on the stage stripping with you. Get your feedback from someone else. My job is to act as a guard, not your freakin’ dance instructor.”

She sighed. “Are you always this much of an asshole?”

“Yes,” said Jessie.

“Yes,” said AJ.

“Yes,” Pax added.

“Oh, hell yeah,” said Diaz.

“Almost always,” said Rick.

Spence ignored them, turned his attention to the television, and downed the rest of his beer.

“I’m going to take a shower and go to bed. Good night, everyone.”

They all said their good-nights. Spence didn’t, but he felt all eyes on him and not on the movie.

Dammit, what did they expect? For him to become Shadoe’s best friend? He finally turned to them.

“What?”

“You’re a dick,” Diaz said.

“Yeah, and you’re fucking Prince Charming,” Spence said.

“Would it kill you to be nice to her, Spence?” Jessie asked. “It’s so unlike you. You typically love women.”

“Yeah, man,” AJ said. “What’s up with you, anyway? You need to get laid or something?”

That was exactly what was up with him. And he intended to rectify that problem as soon as possible.

FIVE

SHADOE WAS HAPPY TO SPEND THE NEXT DAY OUT OF WILD Riders’ headquarters and away from Spence, who apparently didn’t want to spend any time around her, either. When she came downstairs to breakfast everyone was present again, except Spence. Grange said he’d left early that morning to take his bike in for some maintenance.

She figured that was just an excuse to avoid her, which was fine with her. She wasn’t looking for a repeat performance of last night, so she was relieved to find him already gone.

She’d made arrangements with Maria to work on her routine again, so they spent the day at the studio perfecting some of Shadoe’s moves.

Maria told Shadoe she’d done a good job the previous night. Better than even Maria had expected for a first-timer. Shadoe thanked her years of dance training and the performing she’d had to do at recitals. Though none of those had been done naked. She’d simply blocked the nudity part out of her mind and just danced. At least she hadn’t been completely naked. Playing to the crowd had been easy. Parading around mostly naked in front of eager men waving money was pretty much like playing to a captive audience. Unless you were a total dimwit and ignored the guys or moved like a stick, you could do the job. All you had to do was pretend to like it, to like them, to really get into what you were doing. And since she enjoyed dancing and acting, it had gone well.

Though she’d been petrified. Maria had forced her to take two shots of tequila prior to going on stage, told her it would help the jitters. Though Shadoe had initially objected, the liquor had helped calm her nerves. Stripping wasn’t, after all, her actual profession. It was only an undercover assignment. Once finished, she could move on in her career and never have to do it again.

She danced all day long, breaking only for lunch. Maria really put her through her paces, but she appreciated the attention. There was nothing better than learning from a pro, and she knew this would be their last session together. Maria had a gig out of town the next day, and she and Spence were leaving for New Orleans the following day.

It was early evening by the time she got back to Wild Riders’ headquarters. Every muscle in her body was stiff. She intended to eat dinner, relax, then maybe go for a run later in the evening after the sun went down to help her unwind before bed. But right now she was starving, and thankfully the guys had grilled steak for dinner. She resisted muscling them all out of the way to dive into the food, but dancing all day long worked up an appetite. She slid into her chair and tried not to tear at the steak like she hadn’t eaten in days.