A Lot like Love
Page 39
“Apparently, he’s willing to break the rules in your case,” Nick said. “And now we deal with it. Which brings me to my next point: since I’m being followed, I can’t go back to my place tonight. Obviously, there can’t be any connection between Nick Stanton and Nick McCall. Which means I’m stranded here.”
Jordan raised an eyebrow. “I see.”
“Just for tonight,” he told her. “By tomorrow morning my office will have worked out alternate arrangements.”
She checked her watch. “It’s after midnight already. You FBI guys move fast.”
“We have to, given our predicament. That is, unless our characters were thinking about moving in together.” He grinned. “I didn’t think we were ready for that step yet.”
“I think that’s good thinking on your part. What happens after tomorrow?”
“Well, see, that’s where things get a little interesting,” Nick said. “Now that I’m being followed, we can’t give Eckhart a reason to suspect that anything is off. Which means that until we get the evidence we need through the electronic surveillance, I have to remain undercover. So for the time being, I’ll continue to be Nick Stanton, a real estate investor who rents properties to college kids and people in their early twenties. And who also is . . . dating you.”
It took a moment for this to sink in.
“We have to pretend to be dating?” Jordan asked. “As in, for more than just tonight?”
“Yes.”
She couldn’t help but feel as though she’d been given the bait-and-switch routine. “My agreement with the FBI was a one-shot deal. Now you’re changing the game on me.”
“Xander Eckhart changed the game,” Nick emphasized. “On all of us. Trust me, if we had known about his interest in you, we never would’ve come to you with this deal.”
Jordan bit her lip, still feeling guilty about that.
“I’m not blaming you,” he said. “I’m just trying to explain why we’re in this position. After tonight, it will look odd if you and I are never seen together again. And not looking odd is the number one rule in undercover work.”
“Okay. Let’s say that I agree to this. How long would we have to pretend to be dating?” Feeling thirsty, she got up and walked over to one of the cabinets. She pulled out two glasses. “Water?”
Nick nodded yes. “I can’t give you an exact time frame, although I don’t expect it to be very long. A week? Maybe a little longer? However long it takes for us to get the evidence we need through the bugs in Eckhart’s office.”
Jordan filled both glasses with water from the refrigerator, then set one in front of him. “So walk me through this. What would I have to do as the supposed girlfriend of a real estate investor who rents properties to college kids and people in their twenties?” She took a sip of her water.
“You’d need to have lots and lots of sex with me.”
Jordan choked on the water and began coughing.
Nick blinked innocently. “No good?”
Her watering eyes undoubtedly lessened the effect of her glare.
Nick smiled. “The answer is that we need to act, from all outward appearances, as if we’re a real couple. Xander thinks that you like me enough to spend five thousand dollars to bring me to his party, and that I’m similarly smitten enough to cancel work plans to be with you on Valentine’s Day. If that was all true, what would you do next?”
“I don’t know . . . I’d probably start by calling my girlfriends and meeting them for brunch tomorrow to tell them all about you,” Jordan said.
“There you go.”
She pointed for emphasis. “No way. You need my help, and . . . well, I agreed, so I’ll help you. But it stays between us. No bringing my friends and family into this.”
Nick thought this over. “All right. To the extent we can reasonably keep your friends and family isolated from this, I’ll go along with that. It’s not like I want to lie to them, either.” He turned oddly serious. “Speaking of family, there’s something else I have to tell you. And you’re not going to like it.”
Not exactly Jordan’s favorite lead-in. “What?”
He rubbed his hand over his jaw and sighed. “You’re really not going to like it.”
“Okay, now you’re making me nervous.”
He looked her dead in the eyes. “We can’t release your brother on Monday.”
The words fell like stones between them.
Jordan said nothing for a moment. On this subject, there would be no jokes or bullshit between them. “Tell me the truth: did you ever intend to release Kyle, or did you simply make that up to get me to take you to Xander’s party?”
“Releasing your brother was always part of the plan,” Nick said. “And it still is. Just not yet. Now that Eckhart has his eye on you and me, we have to proceed cautiously. Letting your brother inexplicably walk out of prison fourteen months ahead of schedule could lead the wrong person to ask the right questions.”
“You didn’t worry about letting Kyle out early before.”
“Before, you didn’t have a man sitting in a car outside your house, watching us and running background checks on me.”
Jordan folded her arms across her chest. “Maybe so. But my brother and I are getting the raw end of this deal. Kyle is the reason I agreed to help you. I’ve done everything you asked. I’ve even agreed to continue to pretend to be your girlfriend, which goes well beyond the original plan. And now that it’s time for the FBI to uphold its end of the deal, conveniently, there’s a problem.”
Jordan raised an eyebrow. “I see.”
“Just for tonight,” he told her. “By tomorrow morning my office will have worked out alternate arrangements.”
She checked her watch. “It’s after midnight already. You FBI guys move fast.”
“We have to, given our predicament. That is, unless our characters were thinking about moving in together.” He grinned. “I didn’t think we were ready for that step yet.”
“I think that’s good thinking on your part. What happens after tomorrow?”
“Well, see, that’s where things get a little interesting,” Nick said. “Now that I’m being followed, we can’t give Eckhart a reason to suspect that anything is off. Which means that until we get the evidence we need through the electronic surveillance, I have to remain undercover. So for the time being, I’ll continue to be Nick Stanton, a real estate investor who rents properties to college kids and people in their early twenties. And who also is . . . dating you.”
It took a moment for this to sink in.
“We have to pretend to be dating?” Jordan asked. “As in, for more than just tonight?”
“Yes.”
She couldn’t help but feel as though she’d been given the bait-and-switch routine. “My agreement with the FBI was a one-shot deal. Now you’re changing the game on me.”
“Xander Eckhart changed the game,” Nick emphasized. “On all of us. Trust me, if we had known about his interest in you, we never would’ve come to you with this deal.”
Jordan bit her lip, still feeling guilty about that.
“I’m not blaming you,” he said. “I’m just trying to explain why we’re in this position. After tonight, it will look odd if you and I are never seen together again. And not looking odd is the number one rule in undercover work.”
“Okay. Let’s say that I agree to this. How long would we have to pretend to be dating?” Feeling thirsty, she got up and walked over to one of the cabinets. She pulled out two glasses. “Water?”
Nick nodded yes. “I can’t give you an exact time frame, although I don’t expect it to be very long. A week? Maybe a little longer? However long it takes for us to get the evidence we need through the bugs in Eckhart’s office.”
Jordan filled both glasses with water from the refrigerator, then set one in front of him. “So walk me through this. What would I have to do as the supposed girlfriend of a real estate investor who rents properties to college kids and people in their twenties?” She took a sip of her water.
“You’d need to have lots and lots of sex with me.”
Jordan choked on the water and began coughing.
Nick blinked innocently. “No good?”
Her watering eyes undoubtedly lessened the effect of her glare.
Nick smiled. “The answer is that we need to act, from all outward appearances, as if we’re a real couple. Xander thinks that you like me enough to spend five thousand dollars to bring me to his party, and that I’m similarly smitten enough to cancel work plans to be with you on Valentine’s Day. If that was all true, what would you do next?”
“I don’t know . . . I’d probably start by calling my girlfriends and meeting them for brunch tomorrow to tell them all about you,” Jordan said.
“There you go.”
She pointed for emphasis. “No way. You need my help, and . . . well, I agreed, so I’ll help you. But it stays between us. No bringing my friends and family into this.”
Nick thought this over. “All right. To the extent we can reasonably keep your friends and family isolated from this, I’ll go along with that. It’s not like I want to lie to them, either.” He turned oddly serious. “Speaking of family, there’s something else I have to tell you. And you’re not going to like it.”
Not exactly Jordan’s favorite lead-in. “What?”
He rubbed his hand over his jaw and sighed. “You’re really not going to like it.”
“Okay, now you’re making me nervous.”
He looked her dead in the eyes. “We can’t release your brother on Monday.”
The words fell like stones between them.
Jordan said nothing for a moment. On this subject, there would be no jokes or bullshit between them. “Tell me the truth: did you ever intend to release Kyle, or did you simply make that up to get me to take you to Xander’s party?”
“Releasing your brother was always part of the plan,” Nick said. “And it still is. Just not yet. Now that Eckhart has his eye on you and me, we have to proceed cautiously. Letting your brother inexplicably walk out of prison fourteen months ahead of schedule could lead the wrong person to ask the right questions.”
“You didn’t worry about letting Kyle out early before.”
“Before, you didn’t have a man sitting in a car outside your house, watching us and running background checks on me.”
Jordan folded her arms across her chest. “Maybe so. But my brother and I are getting the raw end of this deal. Kyle is the reason I agreed to help you. I’ve done everything you asked. I’ve even agreed to continue to pretend to be your girlfriend, which goes well beyond the original plan. And now that it’s time for the FBI to uphold its end of the deal, conveniently, there’s a problem.”
