Underground

13

"No."
Cherine and Mitchie pouted at me over the dress they picked out. Staci and Lexi were causally sitting in the lounge chair, sipping on a glass of wine. Somehow Mitchie and Lexi met us at the mall and going shopping for a little bit of clothes turned into a lot of clothes. Who's paying for this?! I made sure to send an apology to the person who's credit card is being massacred.

Cherine glared at me and then said, "Put it on!"

I squeaked, snatching the dress and walking back into the dressing room. All of the outfits they bought me where good but that nagging in the back of my head about who was paying for it kept popping up. "Hey, Cherine?"
She poked her head in the dressing room and then walked in whistling and helping me zip it up. "What's wrong? It's a nice dress."

"That's not it," I bit my lip. "Who's paying for all of this? I don't have the mon—"

"Oh that? Joel handed me his credit card before he left for his meeting," she said nonchalantly and then stepped back to stare at me. "Mm if I was a guy..."
Joel did what?!? I opened my mouth to say something but she just held up her hand. Her face told me everything. I wasn't going to win this argument with her or with Joel so let it happen. I turned around and looked in the mirror. As much as I love my baggy clothes and sneakers it felt...nice to dress up. I saw Cherine smile behind me. "You like it?" She asked.

I nodded.

"Good. Take it off and meet us at the cash register," she instructed as Staci stuck her head in and threw a black dress at me.
"Put that on. It's already paid for," she said quickly before pulling Cherine out of the room. I stared after them before pulling off one dress and then looked at the one Staci tossed at me. It was a Chinese styled dress with a really long slit and a silver dragon on it. It would be leather...I quickly put the dress on and looked at my reflection in the mirror and shook my head. This dress was really tight in all the right places. Something my older sister would wear. "Staci?" I said loudly with a hint of panic in my voice. If I walk the streets with this thing on it will cause a whole lot of trouble. The door opened and when I turned around it wasn't the girl I thought it was going to be. It was Joel, dressed in an all black suit and looking at me with eyes of a predator. I shivered backing up as he walked forward.

"It's good to know my money is being put to good use," he said in a husky voice before his eyes met mine.

I bumped into the back wall and he gave a small smirk. The bastard! He knew what he was doing! His hand reached out and I flinched a bit before I realized he was pulling on my hair tie and taking my hair out of its ponytail. My hair fell around my shoulders and he ran his hands through my hair to smooth it down and then flipped it to one side. I couldn't hide the moan that escaped my lips and I knew he heard it when he stopped.

Joel dropped his hands and then got on his knees, his hands running an invisible trail on my leg and stopping at my feet. He clearly liked the little noises he got from me because he chuckled while taking off my socks. "I haven't even really touched you yet," he said reaching behind him and pulling out a pair of black sandals.

I blushed. "What makes you think I want you to touch me?!" I hissed.

Joel snorted and then looked up at me. "Say you don't."

Cocky bastard! His huge form unfolded as he stood up straight and then opened the door. Joel extended his hand to me and his playfulness was gone. "Let's go. We have been assigned a mission tonight."

•••

The "mission" was at a Cuban owned nightclub which was the reason for the dress. Our team had all of the Mason siblings, Mitchie, Devlin and myself. The club was hot and there was a lot of touching and grinding. If someone touches me I swear to God—
"Justine, you go with Joel. Our target is a sucker for curves like yours," Cherine said smacking my ass. I yelped, jumping a bit and landing right into Joel's arms. Everyone split up into twos and when we were alone, Joel grabbed my waist and pulled me towards the bar. He nodded at the bartender and pushed me against the bar and leaned down to whisper, "The man we are looking for is an informant for Valentine. He will be wearing the Spalding insignia on his jacket. It's a wolf."