Chapter 3
Sydney looked herself over in the mirror one final time, she had chosen a strappy, silk black cocktail dress they hit somewhere between her knees and her upper thighs, the sheer fabric clung in all the right places and blossomed into a flirtatious, flower like frill at the bottom.
A knock at the door startled her, he was right on time, she couldn't believe it, she trotted to the door and opened it. "Right on time, I'm impressed!" She said jokingly, but Gage wasn't listening, he was too busy drinking in the sight of her in that strappy, sexy dress.
"I … uh …" Gage trailed off, seemingly forgetting how to form words.
"Well, are we going or what? I don't want to be late for the interview and we don't know how much traffic there will be." She said as she walked to the door, Gage shook the cobwebs out of his head as he followed her.
"Can I help you?" The door man said, he was a large, imposing man that made Gage silently hope he wouldn't have to take him on.
"Hi, my name is Justine Sandoval and this is my boyfriend, James Sanders. We are here to interview for the … positions you have open." She said as she flashed a dazzling smile. The door man couldn't help it, he melted in wake of her presence and Gage couldn't blame him.
"Ah, yes! Miss Sandoval, please come in! Dorian is expecting you." He said as he waved them through.
"Please, sit." Dorian said as he motioned to two seats that were placed in front of his desk.
"Your reputations precede you." He said as he slowly rounded his desk, his fingers dragging lightly over the polished wood, his eyes never leaving them as he sat down and folded his hands in front of him.
"But, I will warn you, the both of you will be closely watched until I can trust you, because if you jerk me around, I will kill you … very slowly." Dorian said, a deadly glint in his eyes.
"Don't worry, boss, you can count on us." Gage reassured him as they all shook. "I surely hope so, you two are hired, you can start tonight."
"Syd, I want you to be careful with this one. This case is dangerous … and I know you can handle yourself, I'm just saying." He said as she opened her mouth to retort.
"I could say the same thing about you, Gage. Besides, you are a bouncer, I am the entertainer, in a way, I have you as a bodyguard." She said as she flashed him a sweet smile, which Gage returned.
"Yeah … I guess you're right." he said as Sydney made sure her wire was well hidden before attaching his. She unbuttoned his shirt and attached the device, Gage knew she didn't mean to, but just the mere act of her soft hands in contact with his skin caused his blood pressure to rise.
Sydney could feel his heart pounding and his breathing quicken beneath her hands and she raised her eyes to meet his. They stayed that way, their eyes locked on one another.
"I'm sorry …" she said, blushing brightly as she made to pull her hands away, but his hands stopped her.
"Syd I …" He began when his phone ringing into the silence of the apartment. Gage cursed under his breath as he answered it.
"What!" he barked into it.
"What's up with you, I'm not … interrupting something, am I?" Barker's smooth voice said over the line, Gage grit his teeth.
"What do you want, Barker." Gage said through his gritted teeth.
"You know, Gage although my position might be temporary, as your superior officer, it wouldn't kill you to at least try to show me some respect." Barker said, Gage growled, he could almost see the smug grin on his stupid face.
"It'll be a cold day in hell before I refer to you as my superior, Barker. You wouldn't even be my superior if I hadn't done a stint in the army after the Academy. So I would appreciate it if you would just stay the hell out of my way and let me do my job" Gage ground as he hung up.
"UGH … that stupid, smug jerk!" Gage said, more to himself than Sydney.
"Still, like it or not, he is our superior officer until Walker comes back. Now come on, let's get going or we're going to be late." Sydney replied.
"Ah, Justine, please right this way." Dorian said as he motioned for her to follow him. "You can get changed in here." He said as they came to a stop in front of a dressing room door.
"What I am wearing isn't appropriate?" Sydney said as she flashed him a charming smile.
"Well, yes, but we like our entertainers to have a certain, how do you say, gene se qua." He said as he returned her smile with one of his own that didn't melt the ice in his eyes. "That isn't going to be a problem, is it?" He asked as his grin dropped a fraction.
"Nope, I will get changed right away." She said as she entered the room and closed the door behind her.
Knowing they probably had cameras in every room except the closet, so she took her outfit she was to wear into the large walk in closet and closed the door behind her.
"Clever girl." Dorian said, sitting back in his desk chair with a glass of scotch as she watched her disappear from his view.
Sydney was having a predicament of her own, she eyed the skimpy, strapless cocktail dress that she knew would leave very little to the imagination … and little cover to hide her wire. She cursed under her breath, she would have to put it around her midsection and pray that it wouldn't be seen.
"Come on, I think you have had enough." Gage said as he escorted two brawling patrons out of the club.
"But Ima jus getting' started!" one of them said drunkenly as he tossed them out the front door.
"Well, then you'll have to 'get started' somewhere else, pal." Gage said as he and a huge hulk of a man by the name of Curtis dusted their hands off and walked back inside.
They reentered the club to the sound of cheers and clapping, the sound of familiar, angelic singing filtered to Gage's ears. He swore he could have picked his jaw up off the floor when he saw her.
She was dressed in a strapless, sequined red cocktail dress that barely covered her … assets and hugged her in all the right places. She sashayed her hips in time with the song she was singing as though the music were taking possession of her.
Gage didn't like the way Dorian seemed to undress her with his eyes as she sang seductively into the microphone, he also couldn't help wondering just where she put her wire in that skimpy outfit, part of him was dying to find out.
"Stunning, Justine. Simply stunning." Dorian said, clapping as he met up with her back stage.
"Thanks." Sydney said, giving him a charming smile as he walked her back to her dressing room. "That, what you are wearing, is how I want you to dress every night." He said as they came to a stop in front of her door.
"Why, because it brings in the crowds?" She quipped.
"Yes, and … because I like it." Dorian said, looking her up and down with a hungry glint in his eyes, he suddenly pulled her close, catching her off guard.
"You know, as good as you look in that dress, I confess that all I have been thinking about is taking it off." He said as he ran his hands up and down the length of her body.
Then, suddenly, he reached up under the skimpy dress. "Care to explain this?" He asked as he held the wire in front of her.
