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"So tell me exactly how all of this happened?" Ellie sat a cup of tea in front of Spinner who wrinkled his nose at it. Ellie had been trying to turn him into a tea drinker since he'd moved in and it still wasn't working. But he sipped politely anyway.

He sighed. It appeared that Ellie was intent on this plan of hers. And nothing could dissuade Ellie Nash from doing something she had set her mind to. He wasn't deluded enough to think otherwise. "Well," he began, "one day this kid walked into the station and asked to speak to our Chief of Detectives. He told him about the club, that he was working there and was 16-"

"16?!" Ellie demanded. "Oops, sorry. Go on."

"Well apparently, the hooking part is new. Or the suggestion from Antonelli is new. Some rich older lady that was married to this big time lawyer from Montreal came up to him and offered him a huge amount of money for a night with one of the newer dancers at the time. Antonelli agreed and she kept coming back. When she finally got to this kid, he said no and Antonelli had his goons beat him up." Spinner explained. "That was when he quit and he came to us for protection."

"Wow," she whispered. "That poor kid." So this was more complicated than she had originally thought. There was more going on here than guys looking for easy money and a quick way to hot girls. She had never imagined mob enforcers.

"So now do you get why I want you to drop this?" he asked. The look on his face was no longer as grim as it had been when he'd first gotten home but there was definitely still the determination to keep her as far away from the situation as he could. "It's dangerous, Ellie."

She sighed. "Spinner-this could make my career. I'm talking far beyond editor here. No other reporter in the city has an in on this like I do. Please," She took hold of one of his hands and squeezed it, "let me help you."

His lips quirked. She was wearing him down, she could tell. "Come on, Spin. I'll owe you one."

"Well … when you put it like that." He grinned at her briefly. "If I tell you something you have to listen to me, okay?"

"Such as?"

"Such as; if somebody starts to get suspicious of you or me and I tell you to leave as fast as you can. I don't want any arguments. Cause if I get you shot Marco will kill me."

She laughed. "Nice, Spin."

"Those are my terms," he stated flatly and crossed his arms over his chest.

Ellie made a face at him, causing him to smirk. She brushed her hair out of her face and pulled a pad of paper out of her bag. If they were going to do this-they were gonna do it right.

"So," she said brightly, "details please."

"What kind of details?" This was a potentially dangerous situation. Ellie had her snooping notebook out. He had looked in it once when she was in the shower. There were all kinds of juicy gossip about her various stories in there. And now he was going in it.

She uncapped her pen and grinned at him. She was enjoying this far too much for his liking. "For starters you can tell me how you ended up with this assignment out of all the cops in the station. Surely there's someone there more experienced in undercover operations."

"I'm the only one young enough to pass for underage and happens to be single," he told her. "Believe me; I was not thrilled about getting stuck with it."

"Uh-huh." Ellie muttered under her breath.

"You think I like dancing around in my underwear in front of a bunch of rowdy women?" he asked.

Ellie snorted. "How did you ask that question with a straight face?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Spinner glowered at her, offended.

Putting her pen down on the paper in front of her, Ellie pursed her lips in order to stop the smirk threatening to break through and onto her face. "Spin, I've known you for a long time. And you may have grown up since you joined the police force, but you're still you."

"Meaning?" His eyebrows rose in a dare. This ought to be good.

She smirked. "Meaning; that the Spinner I know would never pass up the opportunity to have a gaggle of women ogle him. Now matter how mature he's gotten."

He thought on that for a minute. True, the first few times had been unbelievably nerve racking to say the least. But once the nerves began to dissipate, it had been kind of fun-when he could forget that there was a mob boss watching him to make sure everything remained like it should. Meaning shady and illegal.

Before he had a chance to answer, Ellie picked her pen back up and fixed what he and Marco had dubbed her 'serious journalist face' on him. "Well then, what about the name? 'Officer Jim' is a pretty bland choice. Isn't that kind of like calling attention to yourself-Officer?"

He grinned at her and got up to get Marco's secret stash of Ben & Jerry's out of the back of the freezer. Retrieving two spoons, he sat back down at the table and handed her one. He pushed the mug of tea away, ignoring her glare, and pried open the lid.

"What can I say?" he mumbled over his mouth full of Chunky Monkey, "It just kinda came to me."

She grimaced at his table manners which no amount of her or Marco's prodding could change and took her own bite. "But Jim? That's not really original-hang on!" She sat up straighter and eyed him suspiciously. "That wouldn't happen to be short for Jimmy, would it?"

Eyes on his spoon, he replied, "I couldn't run the risk of hem doing a background check on me only to discover that the only Gavin Mason in Toronto is a cop."

"So you gave them Jimmy's name?" She burst into a fit of giggles, covering her mouth only to then snort at the absurdity of the situation. "What if they find out that Jimmy Brooks was shot and paralyzed at the age of 17? How would you explain your smooth moves then?"

He raised his hand, his index finger extended into the air and reached into his back pocket. Spinner pulled his wallet out and handed it to her. Low and behold, there was a driver's license bearing his photo and the name James Brooks on it.

"The beauty of the plan," he said as he put his wallet back into his pocket, "is that Jimmy's birthday isn't for a few more months. Add in the super rich parents with who have flown him all over the world looking for a cure to his paralysis, he's pretty much the perfect cover. I know his birthday, address, everything."

"And you just look so much like him too," she quipped.

"We have the best hacker in the city. Let's just hope Jimmy doesn't need anything that requires his photo to be looked up any time soon." Spinner shrugged, tugging the tub of ice cream towards himself.

She pulled it back. "Shouldn't you be watching you figure?"

A slow, lazy grin spread over his face. "That's what I have my adoring public for." Off her skeptical expression he add, "Oh yeah, I saw you look. Before I realized it was you. I thought you were just another dazed girl at first."

Ellie flushed hotly. "I didn't know it was you either."

Chuckling, he devoured a particularly large bite. "But you still looked."

Ellie pointedly ignored his pleased grin and scribbled in her notebook. "Explain to me the moves. Last time I saw you dance … well, lets just say it wasn't pretty."

He grimaced. "The Chief's wife is a dance teacher and just happens to take strip-aerobics."

"Oh." She bit her lip to keep the laughter contained under his scrutiny. It was almost like he was daring her to. "Well, if we're going to do this, we need to decide exactly how to get the quality dirt."

Ellie's stomach flipped when Spinner's face took on a somewhat guilty, shifty expression. "I uh, I think I have an idea," he said.

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Ellie set her eyeliner down on her vanity and inspected her makeup. Not bad. A little heavier than she usually wore but she was going for a look here. She needed to look like the type of well-heeled society girl out for a cheap thrill in a way too expensive dress.

Deciding her sultry eye makeup was sufficient; she piled her wavy hair on top of her head and secured it with two lacquered chopsticks. Her strappy stilettos fastened, she stood and took in her appearance in the full length mirror on the back of her bedroom door.

"Holy cow," she whispered. She did not look like the Ellie Nash she was used to seeing when she looked in the mirror. There was certainly no college coed staring back at her-not in the dress she was wearing. It was so short, so sparkly, so revealing. Definitely not her usual style. But Spinner had told her to wear something 'hot' and this was without a doubt the hottest thing she owned.

"Hey, El, have you seen my-" Marco walked in the door and stopped dead in his tracks. "Whoa. Where are you going?"

Ellie felt the heat creeping up her neck. Marco's gaping expression was making her nervous and she fought the urge to tug her baggiest sweatshirt over her head. "It's just a dress, Marco. That you and Ash convinced me to buy."

He shook his head, and seemed to find his voice. "This is the first time you've worn it. Who is he?"

"He?"

"You don't wear a dress like that," he gestured wildly at the short purple number, "without a very good, very cute reason."

Still pink, Ellie began gathering up her stuff into an evening bag. She would have to carry it when she needed to bring along a lot of stuff. "I'm going on assignment tonight. There is no guy."

Marco chuckled. "Right. That explains your sexy shoes and the makeup." He walked back out the door, picking up a book on her shelf on the way out-which she assumed was what he'd been looking for-and called back over his shoulder, "There are condoms in the bathroom cabinet if you need them."

"Honestly." she muttered and threw a pillow at his retreating back. Giving her outfit a final once over, she headed out for the club.

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Ellie walked in, ignoring the looks her sparkly dress was drawing. Perhaps it was a bit much, but the sequined halter strap that ran all down the front to the very short hem was gorgeous, if over the top. So the gawkers could just get over it.

She was no more than three steps inside the door when a waiter came up to her, clipboard in hand. "Your name, miss?"

"What?" She looked around and saw that several of the seats scattered throughout the club had white cards on them with names written on them in embossed calligraphy. Would Spinner have put her name on the list? No, not Spinner-Jimmy. He was Jimmy here. "Um," she looked at the wall to avoid gaping like an idiot at the man who, unlike the last one in tuxedo pants, was wearing what could only be called hot pants. Without thought she blurted, "Ashley Kerwin."

He nodded, eyes skimming the page he was holding. "Right this way."

She was led to a seat right at the edge of the runway beside the small staircase leading up to the stage. Sure enough, the place card read 'Ashley Kerwin' in bold script.

"Can I get you anything, Miss Kerwin?" The guy leaned over uncomfortably close to her face. "Jim said to take extra good care of you. He was right, you are gorgeous."

Ellie blushed. Leave it to Spinner to embarrass her via another person. "No, thank you. I'm fine."

He left with a shrug and wink, leaving her to watch several dancers while she waited for Spinner to come out. Over the course of the hour she sat there fighting bouts of mortification and boredom, but noted that each dancer that came out paid particular attention to one of the women sitting near her-all of whom had reserved seats she saw when they would lean forward. Being that they looked very wealthy and were all at least 40, she assumed these were the 'paying' customers.

She was twirling a strand of hair around her finger to distract herself from the pirate putting on a near x-rated show with the aging debutante on the other side of the stage from her. He finally retreated, pulling his eye patch from her grip, and went behind the velvet curtain. Ellie sighed in relief.

"All right, ladies, let's hear it for Captain Brad," the host boomed into his microphone. Ellie snorted. Captain Brad? Was he serious with that?

"And now," the guy continued, "the moment you've all been waiting for." Ellie saw several of the women sit up straighter, futzing with their hair and clothes. "Please, give it up for the one, the only, Officer Jim."

A roar of applause and screaming erupted, making Ellie jolt in her seat. Had he gotten this type of reaction last night and she just hadn't noticed?

A booming drum line and horns rumbled through the club, the lights going out save for one lone blue spotlight that Spinner stepped out into. More screaming ensued.

So what divides
From the bitter sweetness love provides?
I will redefine my place within this union
For what is a lie?
And the better me can't show its side
I will try to find my way to higher ground

He began his routine; similar to the one the night before only the song had a Latin flavor to it which, given Spin's total lack of Latin-ness, was a little offsetting. But apparently only to her. He stopped at the end of the metal walk, directly in front of her, and began removing his shirt methodically with his back to her. After flicking his hat and sunglasses off into the audience, he turned to her, smirking.

Oh, There's a million stories
And a million ways to get there from here

He stopped moving momentarily, and eyed her like a predator that had just spotted his latest meal. He extended a hand to her, taking one step down onto the stairs. Ellie gulped. Was she allowed to go up there? Wouldn't that attract the kind of attention they were supposed to be avoiding? The heated look in Spinner's eyes wasn't something Ellie was used to his directing at her, but she supposed it came with playing a part. And her part was just as important to this whole thing working so she took his hand without hesitation and allowed him to pull her up onto the stage.

Her first thought was that she shouldn't have worn such a short dress. But her second; that Spinner was being more than a little convincing, quickly washed it away. His hands had slid to her hips, directing her movements in the same direction of his before letting one slide up her neck, sending goose bumps spreading over her skin.

Baby, I'm gonna put your skin on mine
Be inside you all my life
But if you let your heart open up your mind
There's a whole new world on the other side
I'm gonna be your satellite
And I'll hang over your world at night
And I can hear you sleep beneath the candlelight
I can see your dreams like they were mine

Without warning, Spinner took hold of the chopsticks in her hair, tugging them out and flinging them into the audience. Her hair tumbled down around her as one of his hands skated back to her hip to show her how to move, and the other planted itself firmly on her back, dipping her deeply before turning her around so that her back was pressed up against his front and lowered his face next to hers.

Spinner's breath was hot against her skin, his hands firm on her body as they danced in sync atop the metal of the catwalk. Vaguely, she registered the hoots and whistles coming from the audience as they danced together, more provocatively than Ellie had ever danced with anybody in her entire life.

Oh, There's a million reasons
And a million ways to get to your heart

She felt Spinner's stomach expanding and contracting against the small of her back and his chest muscles flexing with the movements of his arms roving over her fame. He spun her out and back into him, pressing her solidly against his chest. Ellie's breath caught in her throat-Spinner looked just as affected as she was by the so called 'dancing' they were engaged in. He dipped her slowly one more time, twisting so that he brought her back up in front of the staircase. He pulled back and brought her hand up to his lips, kissing it while his eyes fairly smoldered up at her. It wasn't until his hand released hers once she was back in her seat that she realized he'd pressed something into her palm.

Baby, I'm gonna make you step outside
The corners of your world and find
That if you let your heart open up your mind
There's a whole new world on the other side
I'm gonna be your satellite
Now hand over your world at night
And I can feel you breath beneath the candlelight
I can see your dreams like they were mine

She unfolded it discreetly, reading the hastily scribbled words carefully. 'Side hallway. Ten minutes.' Spinner continued his routine, throwing a look back at her over his shoulder when he was finished. With a wink, he departed. Her gaze ticked down to her watch and once ten minutes had passed she stood and made her way to the hallway Spinner had led her to the night before, unaware that he was being closely watched from the private room high above the main floor.

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Lyrics from 'Satellite' by Jorge Moreno and Carlos Santana