Page 53 of Elusive Promise

He grinned. "Perfect. We can hold hands."

"Only if you want me to break your fingers," she warned him.

"I believe you could do that."

"You'd be right," she said with a sly smile, as she sipped her coffee.

"Then I'll keep my hands in my pockets. At least for this trip."

"On the way, we need to pick up a book of poetry. I'll forge a note from Jasmine to lend truth to my story."

"There's actually a bookstore down the street."

"Great. I need something that would heal a broken heart."

"If there's a book that can do that, that author must be rich."

"Have you ever had a broken heart?" she asked curiously, wondering if this mystery man had ever let anyone get that close to him.

He nodded. "Hailey Johnson—fifth grade. She had white-blonde hair and freckles all over her face. I was fascinated by them—by her. I used to walk to recess with her, and then she dumped me for Brad Warren."

"What did Brad have that you didn't?"

"An apartment building with a pool. It was really hot that week."

"I'm beginning to see a pattern of females dumping you for males with more to offer."

"I guess charm isn't always enough."

"I don't think charm is enough, but being a good person is worth a lot. And, this might seem strange for me to say, but I think you're a good person, Jared."

"Why do you think that?" he asked curiously.

"You have a protective streak. You can't walk away from someone in trouble, even when helping them might make your life more difficult. Like you couldn't walk away from me at the party, even though you could have gotten in a lot of trouble for being upstairs. If security had discovered you, then you might be sitting in an interrogation room right now. But you did what was right."

He shrugged, looking a bit uncomfortable with her comment. "It was a gut instinct. I didn't really think about it."

"You should just take the compliment."

"Fine. I'm a good person."

"And…"

He smiled as he sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. "And what? You're a good person, too?"

"I'd rather you didn't make it a question."

"Sorry. I think you're a good person as well, Parisa."

"Because…"

"Because you're trying to help me get to Ben, when all you really want to do is get to Jasmine. It's also possible that getting me to Ben might hurt the Langdons—the man who saved your life. But that's not stopping you. You're a big picture kind of woman. You go for the greater good. I like that."

She was touched by his words. "I'm helping you because the puzzle you're trying to solve is an important one."

"And because you like me."

"I don't think I said that."

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