Chapter 4: Introductions Part 2

On her way to the bar, Hailey spotted the men from the VIP area who now sat at a table next to the dancefloor. As she walked by, she shot a flirtatious glance their way and played with her necklace to attract their attention, and when they all looked her way, she angled the necklace camera towards them to get a good shot of each face. She knew that her colleagues in the van would already be running facial recognition on the men and have their identities before she'd reach the bar.

At the bar, Hailey propped her elbows onto the counter and waved the bartender over to her. She ordered an ice tea with ice and handed the young man the banknote. When he returned with the change and her drink and placed it in front of her, she waited for a moment until he tended to his next customer before she glanced around her to make sure that nobody was watching, then quickly snatched two whisky glasses from behind the counter and refilled the tea into them. Then she headed back to the VIP area with her non-alcoholic whiskies on the rocks.

The two men were chatting about cars when Hailey returned to the couch and handed Jay his drink.

"I'd definitely like to check out your ride before you leave," Hansen said as Hailey sat down next to Jay.

"Yeah, sure," Jay agreed and took a sip from his drink.

Hailey pretended to be uninterested in the topic of their conversation and let her gaze pan across the room until it came to rest on one of the pole dancers. She watched the woman perform her routine, move up and down and around the pole and contort her body with great finesse.

"Electra is great, isn't she?" Hansen acknowledged after he'd followed Hailey's gaze.

"Yeah, she's got talent," she agreed, keeping her eyes on the woman.

"Do you dance?" Hansen inquired with a hopeful tone in his voice.

"I used to," Hailey confirmed with a nostalgic smile. "Not currently, though."

"Would you like to have a go?" Hansen suggested a little too eagerly.

Hailey looked at him, unimpressed, but Jay spoke up before she could. "Her performances were mesmerising. That's how we met. I came into the club she was dancing at, and I knew right away that I had to make her mine," he remembered and placed his arm around Hailey's shoulders again. "Now, she dances for me exclusively. Sorry, man."

Hailey looked up at Jay's face and ran her hand up and down his thigh. "Yes, private shows only."

The initial tentativeness between them had evaporated, and they felt comfortable and confident in their roles and portrayed relationship. As he drowned in Hailey's blue gaze, Jay couldn't help but briefly imagine her dancing for him. Hansen's voice pulled him away from the thought.

"That's too bad," Hansen conceded, clearly disappointed. "Well, if you ever change your mind, the Dragon's Den will definitely have a job for you."

Hailey acknowledged his offer with a put-on smile and reached up to her shoulder to intertwine her fingers with Jay's. Soon, Hansen wouldn't be offering jobs to anyone anymore. She couldn't wait to see him behind bars at Stateville prison.

The detectives continued chatting with Hansen a while longer, mostly letting him boast about his club and how much money he was making. He was too self-centred to ask them many questions about themselves which wasn't a smart move on his part but made the officer's job very easy. Hailey and Jay were both utterly bored by the man but feigned interest and admiration to gain his trust.

Eventually, after another round of drinks, Jay felt confident that they had won Hansen over.

"Alright, we're going to head out," he said and set down his empty glass. "So, what do you say? Are you ready to sell us your merchandise?"

Hansen's face sobered up for a moment, and he stared at the two of them seriously before letting a smile crack through. "Yeah. You two are cool."

"Glad to hear it. When do you want to do this?"

"How about tomorrow? I'll text you the details," Hansen said and got out his phone to exchange numbers with Jay.

When they were done, he and Hailey got up off the couch. "You still want to take a look at the car?" Jay asked, and Hansen nodded with excitement in his black eyes and followed them outside into the parking lot.

A wave of relief washed over Hailey as they stepped out of the building, the loud music finally stopped, and a cool breeze of fresh air brushed over her face. After a few hours in the heels, every step she took sent a sharp, shooting pain through the balls of her feet as she walked across the hard, paved ground. In an attempt to stabilise herself, she hooked her arm around Jay's, feeling the strength in his arm.

"Damn!" Hansen exclaimed, stretching out the word when they arrived at the car.

He circled the Audi, trailing his fingers along its body as Jay accompanied Hailey to the passenger side and opened the door for her. She got in and waited and listened while Jay and Hansen discussed the car's motor.

When Jay climbed into the driver's seat a few minutes later, he lowered the window and Hansen leaned down to look in.

"We'll see you tomorrow," Jay told him. "It was a fun night and good to meet you, Drake."

"Yeah, you too, Ryan. See you tomorrow. Don't forget to bring the cash," Hansen joked, then glanced past Jay at Hailey. "Will you be there too, Riley?"

Hailey smiled sweetly. "I wouldn't miss it!"

Jay pressed a button, and the engine roared.

Hansen scrunched up his face and puckered his lips with pleasure. "Oh, that sound is music to my ears."

Jay let out a fake laugh and pulled out of the parking spot. He watched Hansen in the rearview mirror as they drove off.

"That was easy," he noted with a content expression on his face.

"Yeah, I'm happy with how everything worked out," Hailey agreed and pulled her heels off her feet and let them drop to the floor.

Jay smiled at her sigh of relief as she rubbed her feet.

"It definitely was a good idea to let you go undercover to meet Hansen. He couldn't take his eyes off you," he pointed out and looked over at Hailey.

"Yeah, I feel like I need a shower after that," she huffed and wiggled her shoulders as if she was shaking off Hansen's unpleasant stares.

"He's lucky that I'm not a jealous boyfriend," Jay reckoned and smirked at her. "Someone else may have dropped him for some of the things he said."

If they hadn't been in an undercover situation and hadn't needed Hansen to like them, Jay wouldn't have let him get away with half of the comments he'd made.

Hailey smirked back at him, rolling her eyes, then leaned forward and opened the glove compartment to get out the radio. "Did you hear everything, Sarge? The op went well, and we're meeting with Hansen tomorrow to do the buy," she spoke into it.

"We heard. Well done you two. We will debrief at the station," Voight's voice sounded through the device.

"Copy that," Hailey ended the interaction and placed the radio into the cup holder as Jay pulled up on the side of the road.

Hailey looked at him questioningly.

"Your turn if you still want to," he grinned and ran the palms of his hands over the steering wheel.

Hailey's eyes lit up. "Right. I forgot about that. Yes!" she gushed and fumbled around under her seat for her boots and quickly pulled them on.

She switched places with Jay and took a moment to move the seat forward and adjust the backrest. After getting comfortable, she placed her finger on the ignition button and glanced over at Jay who was looking at her expectantly with a small smile on his face. Hailey held eye contact with him as she pressed the button, and the sparkle in her eyes when the car came to life made Jay's smile widen to a grin. He watched her shift the gear knob to the first gear, and they pulled away from the side of the road back onto the street. Hailey carefully hit the accelerator and adrenaline rushed through her body when they were pressed back into their seats and flew down the street.

Jay watched her out of the corner of his eye throughout the entire drive, taking pleasure in her excitement.

Adam and Kevin were already there when Hailey pulled the Audi into the garage.

"So he let you drive after all!" Adam joked when the motor shut off, and Hailey and Jay got out of the car.

"Good job, guys!" Kevin praised them and gave each of them a fist bump.

"Thank you. It was a fun assignment," Jay replied and smiled at Hailey as she nodded and stared back at him with a simper on her red lips.

"Uh-huh, I bet," Adam remarked quietly but loud enough for everyone to hear.

Kevin suppressed a small chuckle, but neither Hailey nor Jay gave Adam the reaction to his comment that he'd hoped for. Instead, they pretended as if they hadn't heard anything and headed to the tech room to return their gear. When they returned, the rest of the unit arrived as well.

The debriefing didn't take long, and the tasks for the following day were assigned quickly.

Shortly before the meeting was over, Hailey noticed Vanessa watching her and Jay from her spot across from them in the circle. She had a slight hint of an amused smirk on her lips. Hailey was puzzled by it until she realised that she and Jay were standing much closer to each other than they normally would. Their shoulders were almost touching. Quickly, she shifted her weight onto her other leg, creating a more professional space between them. Vanessa raised her hand and pretended to rub her nose to hide a delighted grin that spread across her face. Hailey's cheeks warmed up, and she looked around the circle of people but no one else had noticed.

When the meeting was over, they'd packed up their things, and had been excused for the night, the members of the unit went their separate ways in the parking lot.

"See you tomorrow," Jay called out to Hailey.

She nodded and smiled at him as she continued walking to the far end of the parking lot to her car.

Now that they'd been back in their usual surroundings and back to their usual selves for a while, Hailey was beginning to second guess some of the things her and Jay had done that night. At the club, she'd been in the moment, had felt brave and self-confident. Now, she felt exhausted and her confidence was dwindling while her self-doubts were growing. Would anything that happened change her partnership with Jay? The way he'd touched and looked at her had sent butterflies dancing through her stomach many times, but had Jay felt the same way or had it just been great acting on his part?

Hailey needed some time to think and get her thoughts and feelings in order.

She paid Vanessa no attention when she climbed onto the passenger seat of her car and hoped that her roommate wouldn't bring up the topic on the way to their apartment.

For a little while after they'd left the district's parking lot, Vanessa stayed quiet, but then she broke the silence that hung between them. "You two were very convincing as a couple."

"Thank you. It was an easy undercover job," Hailey said, ignoring what they both knew Vanessa was really insinuating.

The amused smirk had returned to Vanessa's face. "From the looks of it, Jay really enjoyed playing his part too," she added.

Hailey continued acting innocent. "Yeah, we both love doing undercover work."

Vanessa sighed and leaned her head back against the car seat, finally taking her eyes off her roommate. To Hailey's relief, she'd decided to drop the subject.