A Lot like Love (FBI/US Attorney #2)(12)

Nick folded his arms on the table. “How would you feel about bringing along an undercover agent as your date, Ms. Rhodes?”

Jordan leaned in to meet him halfway. “I think that depends on who the date is, Agent McCall.”

Next to Nick, Huxley pushed up his glasses. “Me.”

Jordan looked over, surprised. “Oh. Okay.”

“Try not to look so relieved,” Nick said dryly.

“Sorry. It’s just that Agent Huxley seems more . . .” She searched for the right word.

“Like a fancy-wine type?” Nick suggested sarcastically.

“I was about to say ‘pleasant.’ ”

“Actually, I have been doing a lot of research into wine for this assignment,” Huxley interjected. “From what I’ve read, Eckhart has quite an impressive collection.” He shot Nick a glance and cleared his throat. “Not that I’ll be drinking that evening, of course.”

From Huxley’s nervous look, Jordan guessed that Nick held some sort of position of authority over the younger agent. Another of the FBI’s questionable judgment calls. “So I bring you as my date, and then what happens?” she asked Huxley.

“I’ll break away from the party at some point and plant small recording devices in Eckhart’s office.”

They made it sound so easy. Then again, to them, maybe it was. “Tell me how my brother fits into this.”

Nick took the lead here. “The U.S. attorney has agreed to a reduction of your brother’s sentence to time served. If you cooperate with us, her office will file the motion on Monday. While waiting for the court to rule, we can arrange to have your brother transferred to home detention.”

Jordan studied both agents carefully. “What’s the catch? There has to be one, if you’re willing to give up Kyle. Several months ago, the U.S. attorney had a blast making a public spectacle of the case. His way of being tough on crime, I suppose.”

“The former U.S. attorney made a public spectacle of your brother’s case,” Nick corrected her. “The new one has a different agenda.”

“You need to be aware that with any undercover operation, there is some risk of danger,” Huxley added. “We think we can minimize the risk, but nevertheless, you should take that into consideration.”

“How long do I have to make my decision?” Jordan asked.

“I think we all know you’ve already made your decision, Ms. Rhodes,” Nick said.

How Jordan wished she could tell him that he didn’t know her half as well as he seemed to think he did. But unfortunately, in this case, he was right. “I have one condition. Kyle can’t know anything about our arrangement. He’d worry too much about me.”

“No one can know about this until it’s over,” Huxley emphasized. “To maintain the cover, everyone has to think I’m actually your date that evening.” He blushed. “Not that I’m suggesting we need to—ahem—get romantic or anything.”

Nick hadn’t taken his eyes off her. “So we have a deal?”

Despite the fact that Huxley would be her date on Saturday night, Jordan couldn’t help but think that she was about to get into bed with the devil.

A green-eyed one at that.

She nodded. “We have a deal.”

AT THE END of the meeting, Jordan and Huxley made arrangements to meet on Thursday evening, which was Martin’s night to close the shop. The plan was to go over the details for Saturday night then.

After they escorted her down to the lobby, Huxley turned to Nick. “Why don’t I take Jordan home?” He smiled at her. “It’ll give me time to learn more about my new date.” He gestured to the snow falling steadily outside the windows. “I’m not parked as close as Nick, so I’ll pull the car around front.” That decided, he slid on his gloves and hurried off.

Leaving Jordan and Nick alone.

She eyed him warily, bracing herself for another irksome remark since those seemed to be his specialty. What he said instead surprised her.

“So I guess this is it.”

“You won’t be around for the big event Saturday night?” she asked.

“Oh, I’ll be there,” he assured her. “But I’ll be parked a few blocks away from Bordeaux, in a van with our tech team, making sure the recording devices are working correctly. So if you do see me Saturday, that means something has gone very wrong with this undercover op.”

A silence fell between Jordan and Nick. She tried to ignore the weight of his gaze, but found this impossible. “What?”

“I was just thinking that your brother is lucky to have a sister who’s willing to do something like this for him.”

Jordan brushed her bangs out of her eyes, not having expected an actual compliment from him. And yes, her screwup of a twin was very lucky. But the truth of the matter was, she knew he’d do the same for her in a heartbeat. “Kyle deserves a break.” She saw the skeptical look on Nick’s face and sighed. “Go ahead, Agent McCall. Whatever it is you’d like to say about my brother, I’ve heard it all before.”

“I have two brothers myself, Ms. Rhodes. I understand family loyalty.”

She waited for the rest. “But?”

“But your brother did break the law. About ten of them, in fact. He hijacked a global communications network and created widespread panic by causing an outage that affected tens of millions of people.”