Page 26 of Gamble
She joined him with a small laugh that was a rich, lovely sound he would love to hear a lot , even if it was just for one day.
After their server had taken their breakfast order and poured their first cup of coffee, Elijah asked, “So what does Reagan Murphy do for a living?”
“I’m a surgical nurse.”
He whistled. “Beautiful and smart.”
“I don’t know about that. I fell for Tristan’s lies pretty easily.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. Relationships can be hard.”
“Sounds like the voice of experience talking.”
“You could say that.”
“So, you aren’t married?” she asked.
“Honey, I wouldn’t be sitting here having breakfast with you if I were in a relationship.”
She looked skeptical. “Not all men think like that.”
“Oh, I’m very aware of that. In fact, in my line of work, I see proof of that every day.”
“Really? What do you do? Are you a private investigator?”
Elijah chuckled. “Oh hell no.” He paused, deciding just how much he felt like sharing with her and surprised when he realized he wanted to tell her anything she wanted to know.“I had a twenty-five-year career in Hollywood as a stuntman. I loved the job, but I had to retire about six years ago when all the shit I’d done to my body caught up to me. Now I run a club in L.A.”
“Wow, so you are someone famous. How many movies have you been in?” she asked, sipping her coffee.
“I may have been in over one-hundred movies, but like I tell the guys coming up in the field, if the fans can tell it’s you instead of the A-list actor you’re filling in for then you’re doing a shitty job.”
“That makes sense, but still… you must have met a lot of famous people in your old career.”
Elijah met more famous people now as the DM of Black Light than he did as a stuntman, but thanks to his NDA, he couldn’t tell her that, so he tried to steer the conversation in another direction.
“True, I’m lucky enough to have a few friends in high places, but my ex-wife still wasn’t impressed enough to stick around. Of course, I traveled a lot back then and was rarely home.”
Her smile slipped at his mention of the demise of his marriage. “Do you have any kids?” she asked.
“Oh no. We got divorced twenty years ago now. She ended up having a pack of rugrats with her new husband though. She seems happy enough.”
“You never remarried?”
She was fishing for more info, and he didn’t see any reason to hide anything.
“Naw. I wasn’t opposed to the idea, but it just never worked out, you know?”
She was quiet, taking another sip of coffee before adding. “I’ve already been married and divorced once too.”
He couldn’t keep the surprise off his face. “No way. Who the hell would divorce you?”
Reagan’s sad chuckle was disheartening. “The same kind of man that cheated on me before signing up for all-day poker tournaments. I clearly have terrible taste in men.”
“No offense taken,” he teased.
She got flustered. “You don’t count! We’re just having breakfast…”
He reached to pat her hand. “Relax. I was just teasing you. I get it. You’re just coming off a failed relationship, so of course you need space. I just hate to see you sad,” he answered. “Your smile is much too beautiful to keep hidden.”
