Page 48 of Elusive Promise

"Did you see that suffering as the stepdaughter of a diplomat or as a translator?"

"A little of both," she said quickly, realizing how much she was giving away. "So, what are we playing?"

"Your call—poker, Crazy Eights, Go Fish, gin rummy, blackjack?"

"Let's play blackjack."

"Fine, I'll be the house."

"Great. We both know the house always wins."

"You want to be the house?"

"No. I like bigger odds," she said. "The challenge of beating the house makes it more interesting."

He smiled at her. "Ah, your competitive spirit is kicking in. Shall we play for money?"

"Since I don't have any money at the moment, let's play for something else."

"You already ruled out stripping."

"Yes, I did. Let's play for information. Loser has to answer one personal question about themselves, and it cannot be a lie."

"All right," he said, with another shuffle. "Let's do it." He dealt the cards, one to her, one to him, then another to her face down, while he placed his second card face up; it was a jack.

"Damn," she muttered. She had the terrible feeling he had an ace under there or another face card, and she had a six and a nine for a total of fifteen.

"You want a card?" Jared asked.

She should hit on fifteen. It was a logical move, but Jared seemed to be a man upon whom luck smiled. Still, if she didn't hit, he could beat her with a lot of combinations. "Hit me."

He put down an eight—twenty-three.Bust.

Then he turned over his second card—a queen, for twenty. "You lose."

"Fine, what's your question?" she asked with a disgruntled sigh.

"Who was your last boyfriend and why did you break up?"

She was happy the questions were more personal than professional. "That's two questions," she complained.

"Fine, answer the first one."

"His name was Paul. He was a good guy."

"But not good for you?"

She shook her head. "He didn't understand or appreciate the demands of my job. Mostly, because he never wanted to talk about what I did, only what he did."

"Sounds like a loser."

"He was like a lot of men I dated—more interested in themselves than in me."

"I doubt that."

"I'm talking about beyond the bedroom. I haven't met many men who wanted to know the real me."

"Do you show people the real you—even if they ask?"

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