fake girlfriend.”
My heart pounds the way it does a split second before an opponent takes a shot. When I see it coming, but it hasn’t happened yet.
“Do you know if she has any interest in me doing this?” I ask, standing.
Logan scoffs and says, “It’s not about interest for her. She’s a professional. She could pretend to be into a troll if she needed to for a case.”
“That’s reassuring,” I mutter.
My brother leads the way down a hallway, around a corner and then down another hallway. He stops in front of a door, glances at me and then opens it.
With a deep breath, I follow him in.
A woman sits on one side of a conference table and a man sits on the other. Both of them get up. My gaze goes directly to the woman.
“Agent Reyna Diaz, this is my brother Jonah West,” Logan says. “Jonah, this is Rey.”
Jesus. My brother wasn’t kidding. This woman looks like Eva Mendes, curvy in all the right places, her mahogany eyes framed by long lashes and her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. Her skin is a beautiful light brown that just seems to glow. She’s the definition of a natural beauty.
And then she smiles, and it’s like looking at a model in a toothpaste commercial. “Hi Jonah, nice to meet you.”
I’m momentarily struck speechless, but I clear my throat and get myself together.
“Hi, nice to meet you, too.”
“Does this mean you’ll help with the case?”
“He’s in,” Logan answers for me, clapping me on the back.
“Hey Jonah, I’m Doug Jones and I work with Logan,” the man on the other side of the table says, offering me his hand to shake.
“Great to meet you,” I say.
“Looks like you guys are off to a great start this season,” he says.
“Yeah, we’re finally firing on all eight.”
“We really appreciate you taking part in this case.” He sits down and puts on a pair of dark reading glasses. “I’m sure your brother told you this Shields guy deserves to spend the rest of his life in a cell.”
I follow the leads of Logan and Rey and sit down at the table. “He did. But I need to be honest and tell you I hardly know Darren Shields. I’ve made small talk with him a few times at events, but that’s it.”
“That’s okay,” Rey says. “For the first month or so, we’re just going to establish that we’re dating. We’ll go out, I’ll come to your games, and we won’t make any moves toward Shields. After we’ve been established as a couple, you’ll start introducing me to teammates and taking me to events with you. That’s all I’ll need. I can establish a relationship with Shields from there.”
“Okay,” I say, uncertain. “And you’re sure you’ll be okay? If he suspects something is off—”
“He won’t. As long as you don’t breathe a word of the truth about us to anyone, he won’t suspect a thing.”
“I won’t.”
“You can’t tell your coach, your teammates, even your own family,” Rey presses. “Everyone has to believe it for this to work.”
“I’ve got it.”
She looks skeptical. “Even if you meet someone you really do want to ask out, you can’t tell them, either.”
Damn, this woman doesn’t let up.
“Listen, I get it,” I say, more firmly this time. “I won’t say a word.”
“Okay, good,” she concedes. “Because I like not getting shot.”
“Look, I’m willing to do this. But trust works both ways. I don’t know what my team’s owner will think about me helping put a VIP in prison when the time comes, but I’m willing to risk it because it’s the right thing to do.”
She holds my gaze for a few silent seconds before nodding. I’m starting to see that the dazzling smile on Rey’s exterior is a mask disguising the tough, stubborn woman on the inside.
“So you guys met this afternoon at the deli a block over,” Logan says. “Jonah stopped by here to see me and then grabbed lunch there. You were standing in line next to each other, struck up a conversation and he asked Rey to go out this weekend.”
“I’ll be in Vancouver this weekend,” I say.
“What’s your next free night?”
“Sunday.”
Logan nods. “You asked her out for Sunday night. You guys can take it from there. And Jonah, remember—no going off script unless it’s an emergency and you know you’re secure. You need to come up with a signal for each other if you need to go off script and Rey will make sure you’re in a secure