“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,DisConnectedwas 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.
