Page 59 of Spies Like Us

I can’t stall anymore. I remove my underwear—there’s no way I can leave them on under the costume—and pull up the purple thong thing. Then, I sit down and unlace my combat boots, putting them and my socks with my uniform. I stand and stare at myself in the mirror on the inside of the cabinet door. I’m practically naked, but the bruises have mostly faded from my body. I do look a little pale and worn, the dark hair I have for this mission making my eyes pop. The circles under them, though, just make me look tired. After this mission, I’m going to take a long vacation, maybe on a tropical beach someplace where I can get some sun and relax. I pull out the ponytail holder and shake out my hair, and it falls sexily around my body. It’s not much, but it helps me feel less exposed. I can’t put it off anymore, I have to go out there. Matthew will get annoyed the longer Cindy’s “friend” has to wait.

I pull the door open and step out behind the bar. Both Anders and Miller turn to look at me, and Miller’s mouth drops open in surprise as he catches sight of what I’m wearing—or really, what I’m not wearing. Anders nods his approval but keeps serving the person in front of him. Miller’s eyes run the length of my body, and I see the approval in his gaze before he curls his lip up, and I brace myself for whatever he’s about to say.

Chapter 27

“What the fuck, Mac?” He grabs my arm, a flash of possessiveness in his tone. It kind of gives me a thrill but also annoys the fuck out of me. Hell, I’m as bipolar as him.

“Dude, get your hands off me. Matthew made me. Stop being an idiot, people are looking,” I hiss, and he seems to get his shit together and drops his hand, looking around. Sure enough, people on the other side of the bar are watching our performance. He loses the sneer and grins affably before slapping me on the ass. “Have fun,” he calls, and the crowd at the bar cheers. I glare at him with a promise of payback in my eyes, and he winks. Asshole.

As I climb the ladder to swap spots with Cindy, I see him pull out his phone and send a text message. I’m guessing I’ll probably get an audience of at least Ryland and Lathan very shortly. Who knows if they will tell Max and Dayton too, or if Max is with Stella again?

I wave to get Cindy’s attention. She comes over to the edge of the cage and leans in so I can talk to her. “Matthew says a friend is waiting for you at the bar,” I tell her, and she nods. Her eyes are foggy with drugs, and she smiles.

“Cool, have fun,” she tells me as we trade places. The cage doesn’t move, since it’s bolted firmly down. I was worried it was going to swing, which would make dancing tricky, but that’s not the case.

I get into place and look out over the sea of writhing bodies. I’m almost certain we are packed beyond capacity, because there’s barely an inch of room to move on the dance floor. I take a deep breath and tune in to the music. I’ve spent time at dance clubs in Europe during missions, so it’s not that hard to start moving in time to the beat. I don’t recognize the song, but then I don’t listen to this style of music very often.

I let my body move to the rhythm, closing my eyes as the music washes over me. I take Meri’s advice and don’t move around too much. My damn breasts are swaying in time to the music as I run my hands over my body. When I feel eyes on me, I open mine, and sure enough, there are a bunch of guys watching my boobs like they are a hypnotist’s pocket watch. Internally, I roll my eyes but slide my hands down over my breasts before turning around and slut dropping. I stick my ass out and shake it in time to the music. I think I almost gave them a heart attack as they whoop and holler their approval. I stand back up and grab hold of the cage bars, swinging my hips back and forth as I scan the rest of the crowd. I catch sight of Cindy tugging a man toward the opposite side of the club. She opens a door, and the two of them disappear behind it. Now I know what I have to check out once the club closes. Maybe one of the guys can cause a distraction so I can take a peek.

Unlike before when I was running drinks, time seems to drag while I’m on display in the cage. I’m not wearing a watch, so I have no clue what the time is, and the crowd on the dance floor isn’t thinning. At one stage, I do notice Lathan and Ryland take up a spot at the end of the bar. Both of them stare at me with lust in their eyes before talking with each other. Neither of them stare at me too obviously, but I have no doubt they are here because Miller messaged them. Who would have thought that wearing not much more than nipple pasties and a thong would bring out his possessive side? Hell, he saw my tits with less on them last week.

The night has to be close to being over when Max and Dayton finally make an appearance. They join Lathan and Ry at the end of the bar, and for the first time in a long time, Max doesn’t have Stella glued to his side in public. I wonder where she is. How did he extract himself from her tight hold? My jealous mind runs all sorts of scenarios through my head. Maybe they were together earlier, and it’s only because it’s so late that she isn’t with him. It is a school day tomorrow, after all, and they both have to work.

Fuck, I need to stop obsessing about it. I don’t look at him, even though I can feel him trying to catch my eye. I ignore all of them as the music suddenly lowers in level and the DJ yells out, “Last call,” to everyone. I sigh with relief, knowing I can get down and get dressed very soon, but it’s still probably a good half an hour before the music stops and security starts to push the still sizeable crowd downstairs.

I heave a sigh of relief and climb down the ladder. Anders passes me a bottle of water when I reach the floor before handing one to the other girl who climbs down the other ladder. She’s a small thing with bleach blonde pixie cut hair. She gives him a kiss on the cheek and slaps his ass enthusiastically, and I see red. I want to pick up the paring knife and stab it into her throat.

A body blocks my view of them laughing and flirting. Sure, I know Anders is like that. I’ve seen him work the bar, and it never bothered me before. I have no idea what has just come over me. “Hey, settle, tiger. He’s just being friendly with the staff.” Miller reaches out and puts a finger under my chin, lifting it so I will look at him and not at Anders and the other dancer—Ginger, I think.

“Fuck, what’s wrong with me?” I ask him, my voice slightly breathless from both dancing and my anger.

He chuckles. “Jealousy is a curse, and it really doesn’t belong in our career,” he teases.

I scoff at him. “Hello, pot. Meet kettle.” I point from him to me, and he shrugs.

“I’m not denying it. Believe me, it’s a constant work in progress.” His gaze moves to something behind me, and I find him looking at his boyfriend, who is eyeing both of us like we’re a snack he wants to devour. Whatever this is between the three of us is going to come to its forgone conclusion soon, and I have a feeling it’s going to be explosive.

“Come on, we need to clean up,” he says before slapping my ass. I yelp in surprise, but he just chuckles and moves quickly out of my reach.

“You will keep, Miller. Just when you think you’re safe, I’ll pounce,” I threaten him as security approaches the bar to clear out the last of the stragglers. The rest of Team Basilisk leaves without acknowledging us.

“Sure thing, Mac,” he says, humoring me as he wipes the bar just as Matthew arrives from downstairs.

“How did it go?” he asks, approaching me with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, it was fine. I’m tired, but it was fun,” I tell him, and he nods, looking pleased.

“Can you help Anders and Miller clean up here? Then he will run the two of you home.”

“Sure thing, I’ll just get changed,” I tell him as I turn around to do just that, but he grabs hold of me, his hand tight on my arm.

“I didn’t tell you to get changed. Do it in that. I’m sure Anders and Miller will like the view,” he demands, and I look down at the floor.

“Can I put my boots on? The floor is sticky,” I ask timidly, even though I want to throat punch him for touching me.

“Sure, why not? Need to keep you in prime condition.” He releases my arm and turns his attention to Miller and Anders, who have been watching the conversation. “No touching. I saw the Turner boys’ interest in her tonight. She’s going to make me bank tomorrow night,” he warns the two men.

“Yeah, Max is really keen on getting to know her,” Anders replies suggestively.

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