I roll my eyes as we walk over to his car. “I don’t have a style.”

“Oh, yes you do, Bo Peep. Trust me on this.” He’s chuckling as he folds his frame into the big old car.

I get in next to him and cringe at how heavy the door is. That circuit workout killed me. I’m going to be sore on top of my already sore spots. At this point, it feels like I’m never going to recover. Everything . . . every muscle, every bone, every cell in my body hurts.

He reverses out of the warehouse, and I think about what he said, what Toni said, and how everyone seems to act when I’m around. Even Ozzie.

“You guys keep calling me Bo Peep, and I have to tell you, it really doesn’t feel like much of a compliment.”

Dev turns the wheel by spinning it around and around on the heel of his hand. It takes about five revolutions to turn the car just ninety degrees.

“It is a compliment. Or maybe it’s more just an observation of a really good cover.”

“What do you mean?”

He purses his lips. “Hmmm, how to put this in a way you’d appreciate . . .”

“You don’t have to worry about offending me,” I say. “Toni’s already gone there.”

“No, I’m just trying to come up with a way to show you . . . I know.” He points into the air. “What do you think about when you see Ozzie?” He glances at me, waiting for my response.

My eyes bug out of my head. Is this a trick question? An opener for a conversation about how I slept with the boss? Ack!

“What do you mean?” I feign a casualness I do not feel.

“He’s standing there in his shirt and jeans, boots, haircut in that military style . . . what comes to mind when you see that?”

Okay, so I can’t say total hotness in this situation, even though it’s the truth. Dev is trying to lead me somewhere else. “Umm, commando?” My face starts burning. “I mean, military guy, not . . . no underwear guy.”

Dev laughs. “Excellent.” He glances at me and smiles before putting his eyes back on the road. “Exactly. That’s what everyone sees when they look at him. He sticks out like a sore thumb. He looks threatening, like someone you should keep an eye on. He cannot walk into a situation and be invisible. It’s just impossible.”

I look at Dev’s lanky legs. “Probably hard for you too, huh?”

“Exxxxactly. He’s a sore thumb and I’m a sore arm. No way can I go anywhere undercover. I’m only good for when bodies need to be brought places in trunks or for driving a getaway car. And every once in a while to provide a distraction.”

“And you’re saying I can go undercover?”

He laughs. “Hell, yeah, you can.”

I sigh in defeat. “Are you saying I look like a minivan mom who has nothing going on?”

He frowns. “Uhhh, no. Not exactly.”

I look out the window, trying not to be hurt by that. I know being a mom is a greater calling than being a badass, but that doesn’t mean I want to be there anytime soon.

“What I meant was that you can blend. If you want to be a minivan mom, you can be one, with the right hairstyle and clothing. But if you want to be a femme fatale, you could be that too.”

I look over to see if he’s messing with me, but he appears serious.

He continues. “Some leather pants, high heels, different hair . . . easy. Done. And yet, still, no one would see you as a threat.”

“Because I’m a woman?”

“Because you have a disarming nature about you.” He smiles and reaches over to pat my arm. “Don’t sound so sad about it. It’s a huge asset in our business.”

I shrug, slightly mollified. “I guess being an asset isn’t so horrible.”

“No, trust me . . . being an asset is everything. Ozzie’s only cover with this group was the Harley thing. Too many people get around in this town to try going out again too soon. He’s out of the game now, for a long time. And I was never in. We just had Thibault, Toni, and Lucky before. Now we have you too.”

A little fear trickles into my stomach. “For going undercover?”

He shrugs. “More for just being around and not being obvious about it.” Dev drives out toward the main road that will bring us to the area of town known for having lots of car dealerships all grouped together.

I nod. “Okay. I guess I can accept that.”

“The minivan is great because you can haul all the surveillance equipment around in it, the dogs, and of course, if we need someone to blend, nothing blends better than a chick in a mom van.”

I sigh loudly. “Aaand now we’re back to me being the doggie sitter and the soccer mom.”

He laughs but doesn’t reply.

After a few minutes pass in silence, I realize that this is the best time for me to pry information from an unsuspecting victim. He’s trapped in this car with me for at least another fifteen minutes.

“So . . . what’s the deal with Toni, anyway?” I ask.

“What do you mean?” He rests his wrist on the top of the steering wheel. The other arm is on the open windowsill.

“Is she in love with Ozzie? Why is she so against me being around?”

“Ozzie?” He snorts. “Hardly. He’s not her type.”

I frown. “That’s what she said, but . . .”

I can see him glancing over at me out of the corner of my eye.

“What?” I ask.

“You don’t get it, do you?”

“Get what?” I hate when everyone else is in on a secret and I’m not.

“Why Ozzie isn’t her type.”

Then it hits me. “Oh. Is she . . . is she a . . . ummm . . .” I can’t say it. I feel really stupid now.

“A what?” He’s obviously enjoying my discomfort.

The words barely come out. I feel like such a prude. “A lesbian?”

He laughs. Really hard and really loud.

“What?” I’m embarrassed now.

“That was hard for you, I can tell.”

“Shut up.” I stare out the side window, my face flaming. “I’ll have you know I know plenty of gay people. I have several friends who are gay.”

“Sure you do.”

“I do.” I glare at him. How does he know I have exactly one gay friend? Has he been spying on me?

“Well, that’s nice, but Toni’s not a lesbian. Not as far as I know, anyway.”

I hit him in the side. “Why’d you make me say that if she’s not a lesbian then, you idiot?”

He’s still laughing as he holds his ribs where I jabbed him. When he finishes he sighs with pleasure. “Oh, man, that was awesome.” He glances over at me. “I just like seeing you squirm.”

“You’re a weirdo.” I’m kind of smiling but trying to stop.

He waits until he’s done laughing before he tries to speak again. “She’s got a past. Ozzie’s helping her through that. Regardless, she wouldn’t go for a guy like him in a million years.”

“A past? What kind of past?”

“I’m not sure she’d want me sharing it. But you could ask her.” He sounds way too happy about that idea.

“And get my butt handed to me on a platter? No thanks.”

“Word on the street is you can handle it.” There’s an air of mystery surrounding his tone.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, a little bird told me there might have been some hog-tying going on this morning during the data-mining session.”

I feel sick to my stomach. “What? Who told you that?”

He snickers. “Not Toni, I’ll tell you that much.”

“So someone was watching us this morning? How rude.”

“Hey, you make a ruckus, and people are going to come investigate.” He shrugs.

I drop my face into my hands and leave it there. “Oh my god, Toni’s going to kill me.”

“Oh, don’t worry about Toni. Just make sure you always have a pair of headphones on you, and you’ll be fine.”

My mind goes around and around that incident as Dev continues to drive. Now what the hell am I going to do? She’ll never forgive me for trapping her under that chair if she knows the team saw it happen.

Dev pats me on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. No one’s going to say a word to her.”

“She’ll hate me forever.” I lift my face from my hands. “I’m already on the poo list with her.”