Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
I MASSAGED THE bridge of my nose, glaring at the offending fake belly sticking out of the box on my sofa.
It, like the ring still glittering on my left hand, was innocent.
Seeing as how neither Colt, nor McBride, nor Gauthier were here, the poor tummy was the recipient of my frustration.
McBride had graciously allowed me to drive home unencumbered by the thing, though our time apart from one another was numbered.
My temporarily, silicone-less midsection could feel the time ticking down like a death sentence.
With great effort, I dragged my attention from the box and back to the task at hand.
My sole pet, a goldfish named Gill-bert, had an automatic feeder and a self-cleaning tank, a necessity with the hours I often pulled for work.
And while I didn’t have any plants to take care of, I did have family members who might notice if I suddenly stopped responding to any and all forms of communication with them.
The last thing I needed was one of them to report me missing and get my face plastered all over posters.
I’d already emailed Mom and Dad, as that was their primary means of communication since setting off to travel the globe.
Their decision shouldn’t have been surprising, considering each of their children were named after explorers, but I’d still been taken aback by the fact that they wouldn’t even be in the same country as Dekker and me anymore.
If I were really pregnant, maybe they’d come home to visit. They might even stay. But alas, a fake marriage to a fake husband with a fake baby on the way wouldn’t be enough. Especially considering the fact none of them were to know the exact nature of my assignment.
Technically, I still had time to tell Dekker.
I could put it off, and I sorely wanted to, but I knew myself.
I’d need a small buffer after letting her know so I could call and ask random questions, say goodbye a bazillion times more, maybe send a few memes before I had to say goodbye for good.
Or for the duration of the assignment, anyway.
Nope. It was time to rip off the Band-Aid so I could have time to rub and lick the wound.
And with that charming mental image, I dialed her number.
The line rang a handful of times before my sister finally picked up, her voice a touch breathless. “Hey, Lex. What’s up?”
A smile automatically spread across my face at the sound of her voice. If anyone could help me forget the enormity of the assignment, even just for a night, it was Dekker. “You have no idea how good it is to talk to you.”
Dekker snorted. “That bad of a day, huh?”
“You have no idea,” I muttered. “But, uh, along those lines I got my first undercover assignment.”
I had to pull the phone away as Dekker squealed happily on the other end. “No way! Tell me all about it! Or, I guess, what you can tell me, anyway.”
I bit my lip. Dekker was in Pennsylvania still, and I trusted her with my life, but if Gauthier somehow found out about her, I’d never forgive myself.
Not that I’d live long enough to get the opportunity to, anyway.
“Well, it could take up to two months, and I’m going undercover with another agent from my squad… ”
When I trailed off, Dekker interjected. “Okay, and…?”
“And it’ll be a deep cover, so I can’t communicate with you in any way for the entire time it’s going on,” I blurted, the words tumbling out of my mouth.
Silence echoed across the line.
“I’m only calling to tell you so you don’t panic or anything when I don’t respond to any calls or texts or emails.”
The line remained silent for another moment. The only sounds I could hear were the beating of my heart and my own breathing.
Finally, Dekker spoke. “Is it going to be dangerous?”
I squeezed my eyes shut, emptying my lungs with a puff. “Hopefully not. As long as everything goes according to plan, no. And, like I said, I’ll have backup. Another agent will be with me the whole time.”
“Hmm.” She paused for a beat. “Which one?”
“What do you mean which one ? I’ve only told you about, like, two of them.” Plus, how much could I actually tell her? As it was, I was probably already pushing it.
“Holy cannoli, it’s that Colt guy, isn’t it?” Dekker laughed, oblivious to my growing discomfort. How could she have guessed that? “Please tell me it’s Colt.”
“I knew I never should’ve told you about him,” I grumbled.
As it was, I’d made a concerted effort to only allow myself to complain about him once a week to her ever since her first oh-so-helpful observation.
And even then, I never mentioned him by name again.
Gill-bert was the poor sap subjected to the entirety of my rantings now. Him and my shampoo bottle, that is.
“Oh, please. Who else would you vent to about how perfect he is?”
Nobody human, that was for sure.
I recoiled, indignation burning up my sternum. “I never said he was perfect! That was all you. In fact, he’s so far from perfect it’s stupid. He’s, like, perfect’s cousin so distantly removed that he lives on the moon.”
“Mhmm.”
I sputtered at her disbelief. How else could I accurately convey how intolerable, aggravating, and altogether high-maintenance Colt was?
“Methinks the lady doth protest too much,” she taunted, adopting a horrible British accent.
“Oh, no. No. It is physically impossible to protest too much about him, Dekker. You don’t understand what I have to go through every day.”
“You know, you’re right. I don’t.” Her voice took on a conspiratorial tone. “Looking at those soulful eyes and Eddie Redmayne-esque cheekbones must be horrible .”
I froze. “What—how do you know what he looks like?”
“Uh, social media, duh.” Colt had social media? Honestly, I’d figured he’d be too refined for something so trivial. “And, might I say, the fact you didn’t dispute my description is very telling.”
I rolled my eyes, my cheeks flushing for no good reason.
Stupid cheeks. “You and I both know there’s more to a man than his looks.
And in this case, the rest of his qualities overshadow any looks he might have.
And ,” I added, holding a finger aloft, “the feeling is mutual. I don’t just hate him, he hates me back. ”
She hummed noncommittally.
I grunted in frustration, willing the heat to ebb out of my face. Even thinking about him got me all riled up. Stupid Colt with his stupid pressed shirts and stupid apple juice. The fact anyone had this effect on me only served to irritate me more.
“Well, if you’re so sure he hates you, do you feel safe going undercover with him?”
I paused at the note of concern in her voice, my heart clenching. Being this far from her was already hard enough without the reminder of how much she looked out for me. It hadn’t always been her responsibility, but she’d stepped into it with vigor when the mantle fell on her shoulders.
Wrestling past the lump in my throat, I finally ground out, “Yeah, I do. He may be a pretentious butthead, but he’ll have my back.”
Everyone in the squad had each other’s backs. I knew it without a doubt. Just like how, if it came down to it, I’d have Colt’s, too.
Not wanting to dwell on the fact I’d almost paid him a compliment, I infused a note of cheer into my voice. “Anyway, since I won’t talk to you for up to two months, what’s up with you?”
Dekker laughed, though without mirth. “Nothing exciting, I’m afraid.
The bakery is doing really well, but I just” —she sighed heavily, and I could picture her tousling her curls— “I don’t feel…
content , I guess. Without Mom or Dad here and with you transferring to Michigan, I don’t feel like I have anything really tying me to Pittsburgh anymore. ”
“But your bakery?—”
“I know, I know. I’ve still got that, at least. But I’d much rather have you nearby. It’s not so fun trying out new recipes by myself.”
My heart sank. Yet another reminder of the loss our family had suffered. “Yeah, I suppose not.”
“So” —her voice lilted with forced cheerfulness— “you don’t happen to need anyone to come watch your apartment while you’re undercover, do you?”
I laughed lightly, though my stomach flipped at the thought of seeing her again. “I’m pretty sure that would cause some complications, seeing as how most of our teachers could barely tell us apart growing up.”
The last thing the op needed was two Lex’s walking around Detroit, especially when one of them was supposedly pregnant.
“We don’t look as much alike anymore, though. But yeah, you’re right. I can’t go anywhere near your place until you’re done with your thing, I know.”
“And you wouldn’t be able to leave your bakery for that long, anyway. We both know it’s your baby.”
Huh. Baby. What an unintentionally fitting term, considering my predicament.
“Psh, it better be, considering it’s what has been keeping me from settling down with someone and making any real babies.”
Okay, ew. I did not need that mental image.
“You know I haven’t gone on a date in months, right?” she continued. “Unless you count the one time I met someone for coffee on my day off. Turns out, guys don’t want to take a girl out who has to be home and in bed by seven-thirty every night.”
I grimaced. “Yeah, that does put a damper on any dinner dates, unless you’re aiming for the senior citizen early bird dinners.”
“Har, har,” she laughed sarcastically. “Maybe when I come visit you could set me up with one of the hot agents on your squad?”
I snorted, picturing the men in the squad.
We had no shortage of attractive options.
In all honesty, we probably had the hottest squad in the building, in my biased opinion.
Unfortunately, as my predicament proved, everyone else was married or engaged.
“Sorry, the only single one is Colt. And there’s no way I’d subject you to that. ”
“Want to keep him for yourself, huh?”
“What?” I sputtered, straightening my spine in indignation. “Of course not! In fact, if you want him, you can have him. See if I care.”