But she also had a job to do. While she meandered along and said hello to people, she scanned the club, looking at faces to see if there were any she recognized. No one came up as familiar, but she memorized them all anyway so she could learn to spot regulars. It would be easier then to pick new ones out of the crowd.

A tall, good-looking guy in his early thirties came toward her from the back of the club. Dressed in jeans and a black polo shirt with the Wild Rose name emblazoned across the left pocket, he smiled and stopped in front of her.

“Are you Desi?”

“I am.”

“I’m Brandon Black, club owner. Great to have you headlining with us.”

She shook his hand. “I’m looking forward to it. It’s a nice club.”

“We get a lot of business here and our crowd loves headliners. Being in the Quarter doesn’t hurt, either. We’re filled to capacity every night, the action starts pretty late, and there’s usually a line out the door waiting to get in.”

“Sex sells, doesn’t it?”

“It does here, cher. There are more than a few strip clubs in the French Quarter. I think we’re one of the best. You’ve come to the right place.”

“Vixen said it was the premier hot spot in New Orleans.”

Brandon grinned. “She’s a rocking hot act. We love having her here. I’m happy she recommended us.”

“Well, I’m happy to be here for the next week.”

“We can go over your schedule tomorrow when you come in. Typically you’ll do two shows—one about eleven and then again at one in the morning. Work for you?”

“Perfect.”

“Let’s go into my office and go over your contract, talk payment terms, and the house-versus-dancer split.”

Shadoe followed him through the doorway into a spacious office, conscious of Spence right on her heels. He closed the door behind him.

“This is my bodyguard, Spence,” she said as she settled into the chair Brandon pulled out for her.

Brandon nodded and Spence took up position against the wall, nodding back to Brandon.

“You packing?” Brandon asked.

“Always,” Spence answered, folding his arms across his chest.

“You have a permit for it, I assume.”

“I do.”

“Don’t pull it unless you need to use it. I doubt it’ll be necessary.”

Spence’s lips curled in a menacing smile. “I’ll be the judge of what’s necessary. My job is to protect Desi. I usually don’t need a gun to do that.”

“No, I imagine you don’t.” Brandon looked to Desi. “Some of our headliners like to come in and cause a ruckus, mostly to call attention to themselves. I like to get things straight when a new act comes in. I run a clean club, no brawls. We serve alcohol and lots of it, but we expect our patrons to treat the ladies with respect. If things get out of hand, my bouncers take it outside immediately. We protect our dancers, and anyone who causes trouble is history.”

“Good. Spence won’t be a problem at all, will you, baby?”

Spence arched a brow, but said nothing in response. Shadoe knew she was pushing her limits with her teasing, but frankly she enjoyed having the upper hand at the moment.

She finished up her paperwork and conversation with Brandon, and went back out to mingle with the crowd. As soon as she stepped outside, the deejay stopped the music.

“Hey, everyone. Our newest headliner has paid us a visit tonight. She’ll be premiering tomorrow night with her new act that promises to be hot, hot, hot! Give a round of applause and go say hello to Desi!”

The spotlight hit her. Brandon moved away and even Spence backed up a step, though not far.

She was on, and it was time to perform. She put on a bright smile, cocked her hip to the side, and waved. The crowd applauded and whistled, then the spotlight dimmed.

Brandon came up behind her and pressed his hand to her back. “Why don’t you go make the rounds, drum up some advance excitement for your show tomorrow night?”

“Sure.” What she really wanted to do was grill everyone in there, including Brandon, find out who were regulars so she could get a feel for who to watch. But that wouldn’t work. A stripper wouldn’t ask the manager about those things. She was on her own, which meant she was going to have to work the men in the place. Get close to them, get to know them, and start remembering faces, which fortunately for her was easy.

The rogue agent wouldn’t be able to slip in unnoticed. As soon as she saw him, she’d know. Which meant she’d have to start spending a lot of time at the Wild Rose.

She sauntered over to one of the large tables filled with men, doing her best to exude confidence. They were already turned her way and watched her approach with gleaming expectation. One got up and gave her his seat. Another bought her a drink. She was sociable, but didn’t get physically close to them. She laughed, encouraged them to buy more drinks, but nursed her own. Maria had taught her how to play the game. Make money for the club, be sexy, talkative, show some skin. She could do that, even though flirting didn’t come naturally to her.

But somehow, knowing Spence loitered just behind her made it easier. Nothing was going to happen to her. He’d protect her.

Not that she needed protection. She could take care of herself without his help. And she’d better remember that, because at that moment one of the guys sitting next to her slid his hand in her hair and stroked the back of her neck. She turned to him and offered a teasing smile.

What she really wanted to do was turn over his chair and shove her boot in his throat.

Before she could move away and reclaim her personal space, Spence grabbed the guy’s wrist and slammed it down on the table. He leaned around Shadoe, his expression calm but his voice laced with venom.

“Look all you want. Don’t ever touch her again or I’ll lay you flat, whip out my switchblade, and with one cut feed you your balls. Got it?”

The guy, no lightweight himself, broke out in a sweat. He nodded. Spence let go of his wrist and moved back to his position behind Shadoe.

She had to fight back the smirk. Okay, so she could have taken care of that on her own, but she supposed laying down an elbow to the throat would have cost her the cover she’d created. And that wouldn’t do at all. So as much as it galled her to play the part of the pretty, brainless female, she’d endure it while she was Desi.

They stayed a couple hours and Shadoe tried to visit with all the guys. She was friendly, stopped at a few tables to chat, then she and Spence left. Throughout it all he’d hardly said anything. She supposed he wanted to portray the persona of the strong, silent bodyguard. Whatever. After that scene where he pulled the guy’s hand away, no one else touched her. He’d done his job; she’d done hers. But he sure seemed to be in a foul state of mind.

And they said women were moody? Ha.

Spence took them back to the hotel, but instead of pulling into the parking garage, he drove up in front of the hotel, but left the engine running.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“I need a ride so I’m letting you off here.”

“I’ll go with you.”

He hesitated. “I need to let off some steam, Shadoe.”

What did that mean? “I could use a ride, too. It sounds like fun.”

He looked over his shoulder and down at her skirt. “You’re hardly dressed for a ride.”

“It’s warm out. I’ll be fine.” When he didn’t move, she tapped his back. “Go.”

With a muttered curse that she heard all too clearly, he revved up the engine and peeled away from the curb. He drove out of the French Quarter, out of the city itself, through the night.

Shadoe nestled her back against the padded sissy bar and enjoyed the warm breeze blowing in her face, and the view of the broad expanse of Spence’s back, letting her mind wander.

She should be thinking about the case, or about preparing for her debut at the Wild Rose tomorrow night. Instead, she thought about how hot Spence looked sitting on his Harley, his muscled body showcased well in tight shirt and jeans. She thought about leaning forward and placing her hands on his hips, then his thighs, about how far her fingers could wander toward his cock.

She thought about a lot of things, none having to do with the case and all having to do with Spence. Her body flushed with heat, her ni**les tightened, and her pu**y quivered. Straddling a revved-up vibrator wasn’t hurting her libido any, either.

She was so focused on fantasizing about Spence that when she turned to the scenery again, she was surprised to find he had exited the main highway. They were on a small two-lane road, with bayou on either side. The nearly full moon cast a glow over the murky water, lending it a spooky quality. Myriad branches stuck up amidst the moss-covered creeks and ponds that lay silent as a blanket of liquid silver. Shadoe was afraid to breathe as they rode by, certain that the roaring sound of the bike would put a ripple in the otherwise undisturbed surface of the water. Of course, nothing shattered the eerie calm, not even the motorcycle flying down the narrow road.

She had no idea where they were, and didn’t really care, since she assumed Spence knew how to get back to the hotel. She thought about asking him where they were going, but figured since he was in such a surly mood, he’d probably give her a smartass answer, so she stayed in her own good mood and didn’t bother talking to him.

He finally pulled down a narrow single-lane road, lit only by the single headlight on the bike. Shadoe leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Spence, feeling a shade unsteady on the gravel road. When he finally pulled to a stop and turned off the engine in front of a lake, she breathed a sigh of relief and climbed off.

Shadoe took a few steps and looked around, inhaling the smells of earth and dark water and the mossy trees that hung over them like a sheltering canopy.

“This is lovely.” The bank coming up from the lake sloped, so she sat and pulled off her boots and stood again, letting her toes sink into the cool grass.

“Might be snakes.”

She arched a brow. “Then I guess you’ll just have to suck the venom out if one bites me.” She knew he wouldn’t bring her to an area where snakes crawled around.

Would he?

He smiled, his white teeth gleaming in the dark. “Suck, huh?”

He had to latch on to that one word, didn’t he?

“So what are we doing out here?”

He shrugged. “I needed a ride to clear my head.”

“What’s bugging you?”

“Nothing.”

“You just said—”

“I know what I said. Just leave it.”

She rolled her eyes. And they said women were hard to fathom. “You’ve been cranky all night. What’s your problem?”

“I like to come here to think,” he said, ignoring her question. He walked toward the edge of the lake and stared out over it.

She followed, curious to know what was on his mind. She was curious about a lot of things, actually.

“You’ve been here before?”

He nodded. “Lots of times. It was a slice of life I wished I had, but knew I never would.”

Then it dawned on her. “You’re from around here.”

“Yeah.”

She knew he had a Southern lilt to his voice, but she hadn’t been able to place it. His drawl was deep and husky—and oh so sexy—but she hadn’t detected any Cajun influence in his voice.

“How long have you been gone?”

“Since I was eighteen—so, about twelve years or so.”

“Do you miss home?”

Despite the darkness, she caught his frown. “I would never really call this place home.”

“What do you mean?”

“It was a roof over my head, but I stayed away as much as I could.”

“Why?”

She knew she was prying, but she figured if he didn’t want to talk about his past, he’d say so.

It took him a minute or so before he spoke again. When he did, he turned his head to her. “Sometimes it’s easier to stay away.”

“I don’t understand.”

His lips lifted. “No, you wouldn’t. I’ll bet your daddy loves you, treats you like a princess.”

She snorted. “I may not have grown up on the streets, Spence, but my life wasn’t all about tea parties and frilly dresses.”

“Uh-huh.” He turned and looked out over the water again.

And just like that, he’d labeled her. Rich girl, privileged, couldn’t possibly understand the pain he’d endured, the suffering of his childhood.

“You don’t know me.”

“Daughter of a military father. Your mother dumped and ran when you were young. No siblings. You went to private school. Other than a lousy mother, seems to me you had it all.”

Now it was her turn to stare across the lake, to remember the loneliness, the isolation. The expectations, the feeling that she could never measure up. How many times had she heard it? Felt it. Knew she was a failure no matter what she did.

At least Spence had been born male. He was leaps and bounds ahead of her as far as her father was concerned. She had been damned because of her sex from the day she was born.

“You don’t know me at all, Spence. But there’s nothing I can say to convince you I’m not who you think I am, so you just go ahead and keep thinking I’m the spoiled rich girl if it makes you feel better about being the misunderstood boy from the wrong side of the tracks.”

He looked over at her and frowned.

“I’ll be at the bike when you’re done taking your poor, pitiful walk down memory lane.”