Tabitha’s eyes widened and turned to stare at Arin during his explanation. When he gave a little shrug, she glared at him. The look was ice cold enough to have various parts of my body retreating, and I grew up in a colder climate. Of course, I tended to wear fur when I was out in it or at least some extra layers of wool clothing.
“That’s quite okay. We kept ourselves busy while we waited. It was very... illuminating.” Director Cooper rubbed her hands together before picking up a file. “Now, I’m sure you’re all wondering why I’ve gathered you here. We just received word as to what the coded information you retrieved contained.”
“Um, Director Cooper,” I began.
“Yes?”
“Um, should we be talking about this?” I motioned toward Tabitha, which had her glare withering those of my man parts that hadn’t already retreated. Boy, this kitty has some claws. If we hadn’t been sitting in the director’s office, I might have commented on the fact that she wasn’t running away from us and appeared to be finally standing up to us, but since we weren’t, I kept my mouth tightly shut, even if I wanted to say something that would have her mouth popping open.
“Yes, we should. Miss Blue is well respected and had a hand in deciphering the information.”
My eyebrows rose at that admission. I knew she was smart, but I hadn’t realized that we were letting newish cadets look at highly classified pieces of intel.
“I’ve signed my TURDS, if that’s what you are worried about.” Tabitha kept her gaze on the director’s desk, but I knew she spoke to me. From the way the force of her statement contrasted with the softness of her voice, I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing.
“Correct. Now, back to the topic at hand.” Director Cooper pulled my attention back. “It turns out that you found one of the sites that the Mastermind is using to launder their money. They’re using a private human strip club, which means they are now involving humans. We need to shut down this branch and find out more information.”
Kasim pushed himself off the wall and stepped deeper into the room, bringing him closer to Tabitha. She shivered and shifted in her seat to maintain a distance, which had Kasim stopping in his tracks. Did Kasim just back off from intimidating someone? Arin and I shared a look. What in all that was sweet?
“We can do that. We can start tonight.”
Director Cooper nodded. “Of course you can. It’s your case after all. And you will be starting before this evening.” I craned my neck as she stood up from behind her desk, moving around to the front, where she rested her hip against it. “Miss Blue will be joining your team for this mission.”
“Now, wait—”
She held up her hand, stopping me mid sentence. “You need a way into the club other than as patrons. You need to be able to move freely within the club, and the only way you can do that is if you have a vested interest... such as owning one of the girls.” She motioned toward Tabitha. “That’s where Miss Blue comes in. She’ll be the new talented stripper, plus she’ll also be able to help with the technical aspects of gathering the computer data.”
“A stripper, but I can’t...”
It was the first time I’d ever seen anything crack Tabitha’s demeanour. Sure, I’d seen her back away and flashes of hurt or anger directed toward me or the rest of my team, but I’d never heard the waver in her voice before or seen the sheer lack of confidence within her. It proved my point. She wasn’t an agent and possibly wasn’t even cadet material. Any of her classmates would have been jumping for joy at getting to work with us.
“You can.” Director Cooper crossed her arms over her chest.
“But…” Tabitha withered under Director Cooper’s glare.
I understood her reaction. Whenever Director Cooper looked at me like that I wanted to slink away with my tail between my legs and I didn’t even possess a tail.
The heat left Director Cooper’s eyes, softening her gaze. “Tabitha, you are uniquely gifted for this mission. Between all your years of dance”—holy sweet buns, I’d completely missed the idea of her being the stripper—“and your late mother’s name, it will be easy for you to get a prime position, and it will also explain why you have an agent, a dresser, and a bodyguard. Plus, you also have the tech skills that are needed.”
Tabitha bit her lip and turned a little green but nodded. At this moment I really wished that I could read minds. I wanted to know what was flittering around in that pretty little—actually big—brain of hers.
“Good.” Director Cooper uncrossed her arms, clapped her hands together, and then picked up the file from her desk, handing it to me. “Then I shall let the four of you talk this all over and start planning the op. Have fun.”
She shooed us out of the office, but it took a minute for my mind to catch up with my body. How the hell had this happened?
Three pairs of eyes looked at me. Two dark and a pair of green ones that cut. “Um, normally we’d meet at our place to go over the mission brief, but despite Director Cooper’s assurances, I think we should see you dance. I’ll book a room at the gym. Let’s meet there in thirty.” I made it a statement but raised my eyebrows at her, asking if she had any objections. She swallowed but nodded before turning and walking away. I couldn’t help staring at her ass.
“Shit. We’re going to have to watch her strip.”
Fuck. I hadn’t thought of that. I grabbed my crotch and made an adjustment, giving myself some breathing room as the idea of seeing her loosen those buttons, removing that tight blouse and those pants, revealing her expanse of creamy
