Page 27 of Hidden Chance

“I can’t help but feel like we got off on the wrongfoot. I have a tendency to be overconfident. Usually it works, but you didn’t appear very impressed. I want you to know that I’m not as obnoxious as I seem.”

He was pleased to see her features soften. He was making some headway.

“Don’t worry about it. You’re fine. If you stick around long enough, you’ll probably learn I have strong feelings about Burma that have gotten me in hot water. None of us is perfect.”

He had been prepared to bring up the subject himself, but she beat him to it.

“No, but I’m feeling a little embarrassed.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m a data entry clerk. An overqualified one.”

“You said you needed the work. There’s no shame in that.”

“You’re right. And I know I shouldn’t be too hard on myself. I’ve gotten back from several years overseas, and I’m trying to find my feet. I needed something low stress.” If her involvement in Burma was emotional, he needed her to know he would happily support anything dubious she was involved in. If she wanted to get back at them bad enough, she should be open to whatever she could get. “But I’m finding I miss the excitement.”

“Excitement, huh? So you weren’t hanging out in a London flat somewhere?”

“No, I was in the Middle East.”

“Oh. That is definitely a far cry from Pittsburgh. Were you over there because of the military?”

“No. Business. With all the turmoil, a lot of opportunitiesarose to make a lot of money.” He couldn’t read the look on her face, but it had changed.

“I see. And all that money that was to be made, you obviously didn’t make any of it.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Because you’re temping for a job you’re overqualified for.”

“You see right through me. I got double-crossed. I should have known better. I could see my associate wasn’t as invested as I was. After all the work I did to make the deal…anyway. It’s hard to find good partners, you know what I mean?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Kind of.”

“When I agree to do something, I’m all in. You can’t always find that in people. If you’re passionate about something, you want to see it through to the end.”

“I can agree with you there.”

“So, Burma, huh? I bet there’s some interesting opportunities over there. I don’t suppose you know of any?”

“You mean besides building schools for poor kids?”

He huffed a laugh. “Yeah. You give so much to people, and things don’t always turn out the way you expect. I mean, I’m sure there are those who are grateful for what TreadCraft does, but there must be a lot more who take advantage of their generosity. That’s not right.”

“It’s true that some know how to work the system.”

“Makes you want to do something, though, doesn’t it? I guess that’s why I don’t have any problem takingadvantage of a situation. If they deserve it, they deserve it.”

Her mouth screwed up as she fought for composure. Not the reaction he was expecting. “I’m not sure why you think I’d be a sympathetic ear to your using others’ misfortune for your gain, but I think you’ve misread the situation.”

He didn’t think so. She just needed to know that he wasn’t playing games. “Look, maybe I’m wrong, but you strike me as a shrewd woman. You specifically mentioned the company’s involvement over there and said you weren’t happy about the help they were doling out. I thought maybe there was an offer on the table.”

“There wasn’t.”

“Okay. Maybe you were feeling me out, but you don’t like others moving in on your turf.”

“Maybe you’re right.”

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