“I know a guy,” I say instead. “A guy who could probably get access to Bryce’s accounts for you to look at and verify this stuff.”
Jordan studies me for a moment. He wants to ask more, and not about Caleb. I can see it in his eyes. But like the gentleman he is—seems?—he lets it go.
“You know a guy?” he repeats.
My shoulders fall in relief that he isn’t pressing me to confide in him. He’s myhusband. I know it’s fake, but considering the situation we’re in, I still need to trust him. I just can’t. Not fully. And he’s letting me get away with not telling him things I should.
“Caleb Gallagher,” I say. “The one I mentioned could do backdated social media stuff for us.” I explain how he’s helped my family over the years. I don’t talk about what he did to help my family find me and Grayson—it’s just not a topic I want to get into on the plane—but Jordan gets the gist of it.
“You think he could hack the FBI and get me Bryce’s records?” Jordan’s voice dips low with disbelief.
“Oh, definitely. But he’s been consulting with the FBI for years. What I really think he could do is call in a favor and get you the records to look at—legally.”
“The hacking sounds exciting.” Jordan grins.
I give a shrug, as though that wouldn’t be a big deal. It definitely hasn’t been for him before. But with his connections these days, Caleb takes the legal route more often than not. “We could ask him to hack the FBI if you really want to.”
“Better keep it above board.” Jordan hangs his head as though this is incredibly disappointing, and I can’t help laughing at him. Then his expression sobers. “You don’t have to do this for me or ask Caleb to burn a favor. There are other ways we could figure it out.”
“Maybe,” I say. “Since you won’t let me pay these people, let me at least talk to Caleb and see what he can do. It’s not like it’s going to be instant anyway, so you can work on it from your end while you wait.”
“Okay. Fine,” Jordan agrees. “Make sure Caleb knows it’s okay if he can’t pull this off.”
“‘Can’t pull it off’ isn’t in Caleb Gallagher’s vocabulary at all.”
We settle into silence for a little bit while Jordan taps on his iPad and makes notes in various documents.
“By the way,” I say offhandedly after several minutes go by. “Ellie insisted that they’re going to pick us up at the airport.”
“That’s nice of her,” Jordan says slowly, setting down his iPad to squint at me. I scoff. His eyebrows go up.
“You think my parents were tough?” I say. “They’re going to seem like a stupid sports reporter asking the obvious questions in a press conference compared to Ellie.”
The blood drains from his face. “I feel compelled to remind you that you only had to attend one dinner with my family, who were generally accepting, if not somewhat surprised, of our marriage. And my mom loves you.”
“You’ll be fine,” I say, patting his arm reassuringly. “You’ve played pro hockey. I’ve seen some of those fights. You’re prepared.”
Jordan drops his head back against the headrest of the seat. “Tell Ellie I’m insisting on a private car with you because we’ve been cooped on a plane for almost three hours and I can’t keep my hands to myself any longer.”
I clap a hand over my mouth to stop a snort of laughter. “Jordan Atkinson,” I say in a faux-scolding voice. “She’ll say we should’ve taken the private jet.”
“We really should have if we could have avoided this.” He sighs in defeat.
I giggle some more and lean my head against his shoulder. I shouldn’t. I like it too much, snuggling up to him like this. It feels warm and comforting, and I want to believe in it.
So I do, just for a minute.
CHAPTER 17
JORDAN
I hold Libby’s hand as we walk through the Denver airport to the pickup area, reminding myself that I am indeed a former pro hockey player and I can handle anything Ellie Bennet Pemberton throws at me. I have to force smiles anyway. Libby and I have taken turns recording video to use for the show since we didn’t want a crew down here to meet us.
Maybe that would’ve been better than dealing with Libby’s older sister.
I look down at Libby, who leans into my side as we walk. I’ve been trying to be careful about our contact lately since I hate the idea of ever making her uncomfortable, but I won’t push back when she initiates it. Having her so close is comforting. Spending as much time with her as I do—welivetogether—means that my feelings are growing faster than if we were just dating. I need to figure out how to temper that.
I’m not sure what to expect from Ellie. Janelle was sweet and kind, but Ellie has always had a reputation for being the fierce one. Libby has mentioned that she’s protective. So is she going to call our bluff or what? Grill me about early dates with Libby to prove we’re lying? She’d have to suspect something about us first, and is there a reason to?
