Page 49 of Elusive Promise

She stared back at him, knowing that this shadowy, mystery man probably knew as much about keeping secrets as she did. "You'd be surprised how few ask."

"I'm asking."

"Only because you have an agenda."

"Not completely true."

"But partially true."

A slow smile spread across his face. "You've actually made me open up more than I normally do."

"Right back at you, Jared. Is that your real name?"

"Yes. Is Parisa your real name?"

"You know it is. You've done research on me."

"And you've done research on me. Or you've had your friend do it for you."

"There's very little about you on the internet. You clearly are not someone who is posting cat pictures on social media."

"Not a cat fan. Dogs all the way."

"What? How can you say that? Kittens are so cute."

"And completely indifferent. They can love any warm body whereas a dog is loyal, devoted, family."

She thought about that. "You're more like a cat than a dog, so it's interesting that you wouldn't pick that animal for a pet."

"Maybe because I want more in a pet."

"Well, I like cats, and I like dogs, for different reasons. But really, any animal is precious. I never got to have a pet when I was growing up, because we moved all the time. What about you?"

"We always had dogs, mostly Labs, a couple of golden retrievers. They were way too big for our city apartment, but my dad grew up in the country, and he loved having dogs in the house. My mom wasn't nearly as excited about it, but she loved my dad, so…"

As his expression softened, she said, "It sounds like they had a great relationship."

"To me, it looked awesome. They fought, but never with meanness. It was always just small irritations, and usually my dad would end up making my mom laugh, and suddenly they were kissing. She used to say he was a charmer."

"I think you take after him."

He smiled. "Maybe a little."

"Okay, we got off track. Deal the cards."

The next hand gave her blackjack, which made her very happy. "Okay, I'm going to go with your questions—last girlfriend and why you broke up."

"Her name was Carrie. And we broke up because she used me."

"How did she do that?" she asked curiously.

"You already got your two answers."

"But we're still on the topic of Carrie. So, it counts. Go on."

"A friend of mine is a movie producer. Carrie was a model, who wanted to be an actress, and she thought I could get her there."

"I did not expect that to be what she wanted. Who's your friend? Has he produced anything I might have seen?"

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