Page 67 of Nails

Adam’s jaw tightened.“Figures.”

He looked away, clearly trying to keep his cool.“Well, after seeing what just happened, you obviously know what you’re doing and can handle things yourself.You’ll take over Elias’ table for the rest of the night.I’ll get a couple of the other girls to pick up Anya’s other tables.”

Riley nodded, trying not to smile.Fuck with me, Anya, and you get burned, she thought to herself.

Just as they started walking back towards Elias’ table, door number seven opened and Anya emerged looking thoroughly fucked.Her makeup was slightly smudged.Her hair was wild, and she was adjusting the little clothes she had on.

As soon as she spotted Riley and Adam, she looked furious and stomped over to where they were standing.

“What’s going on?”she asked Adam as she gave Riley a dirty look.

Adam didn’t even try to sugarcoat it.“Riley’s taking over Elias’ table.”

“What?”Anya shrieked.“That’s my table!”

“Not anymore,” Adam said and then grabbed her arm.“Come with me.We need to talk.”

Anya shot Riley a sour look that could curdle milk.“You bitch!”

Riley didn’t flinch.She just stood there.

Adam, however, seemed to have lost his patience with her.“Enough, Anya!Let’s go.Now!”

Anya huffed and stomped off, muttering under her breath as she disappeared through the staff door that Adam was holding open.Just before Adam followed her, he glanced back at Riley and gave her a small appreciative smile.

Riley turned back to the table of VIPs, her heels clicking against the polished floor, while a soft smile played on her lips.

As she walked through the club, she kept an eye out for Nails.One of the other hostesses mentioned that the two new bouncers were working the front entrance.She did see him once when he walked through the club to get some water for the guys out front.She wondered if he had been able to get any information.

She looked up at the clock on the wall—only a few more hours to go.

She walked back over to Elias’ table.At least they seemed friendly and weren’t touchy-feely.

Riley was topping off Elias’s drink when that familiar prickle crept along the back of her neck.The one that told her someone was watching her.Her gaze drifted over the crowd until she found him.

Nails.

He was leaning against the bar closest to the front entrance, arms loose at his sides, that steady gaze of his fixed right on her.For a brief moment, the sound of the music and chatter around her seemed to fade.He looked unfairly good dressed in all black.He could ruin a woman’s focus without saying a word.

He gave her that sexy smirk of his, and her mouth curved into a slow smile, and she sent him a playful wink before turning her attention back to Elias.

She tried to ignore the heat flowing through her veins, but seeing Nails sparked a fire inside of her that was slowly growing.Keeping Nails at arm’s length was becoming harder with every glance.

The steady thump of the bass pulsed through the floor beneath Nails’ boots as he stood near the bar closest to the entrance of the club.

All night, he had been working the front entrance, checking IDs.He hadn’t said a word and had been professional.But inside, he was annoyed and frustrated.He wanted to be inside the club where he could scan the floor, the faces, the exits, and more than anything, keep an eye on Riley.The newest hostess that every guy in the place was already talking about.The one that he couldn’t touch.

He had stepped inside to grab a few waters for himself and the others when he had spotted her.

She was standing at a table in the VIP section, laughing with five men who were sitting there.

That short black skirt hugged her hips like it was made for her, and the twisted white halter top left her toned stomach and shoulders bare.Her stilettos made her legs look like they went on forever.

She was glowing and commanding the room like she owned it.And he hated every second of it.He had to keep reminding himself that she was undercover and just doing her job.

He was about to turn away when he noticed a change in her body language.It was as if she froze for just a second.Then she turned her head, and their eyes locked.

He felt the jolt all the way down to his bones, a rush of recognition and something far more dangerous sparking between them.He offered her a faint smile, a gesture to remind her that he was there watching and backing her up, even in a room full of strangers who had no idea the game they were playing.