She narrowed her eyes. He’d had that question locked and loaded. “You don’t play like a gentleman.”
“Never claimed to be one.”
She wasn’t going to just roll over and give him what he wanted. “Because he asked me to.”
“That’s not what I—”
“Then you’ll have to be more specific next time,” she interrupted, raising her nose in the air.
He hummed. “Well played.”
The next hand, Winnie came out on top, and she wiggled happily in her chair. “Finally.”
Mack leaned back in his chair. “What do you want to know?”
Her mind blanked. Where was her list when she needed it? She’d wanted to know a thousand things about him, and now she couldn’t think of a single thing. “Er…what’s your favorite dessert?”
“Really? That’s your question?”
She buried her face in her hands. “I folded under pressure.”
“I’ll let you have a do-over. Never say that I am not a generous man.”
“All right.” She focused, and the most pressing question became clear. “Why do you let your uncle walk all over you?”
He blew out a breath. “Jesus, I didn’t expect that.”
“I can change my question if you’d like.”
“No, I’ll answer. I only have myself to blame for giving you a second chance.”
She cradled her chin in her palm. “Then I’m all ears.”
“My uncle made a deal with my mother long ago that as long as I upheld the family legacy, I would inherit the newspaper.”
She frowned. “That’s rather manipulative.”
His laugh held no mirth. “You have no idea. But the truth is that Idowant the paper. I enjoy it, I’m good at it, and once I have it, I’ll finally be able improve it.”
“What would you change?”
“First, I’d hire more women. You’re proof that we’ve limited our growth by excluding half the populace.”
“Obviously,” she said calmly, even though her heart raced at the compliment. “What else?”
“I’d abolish the practice of paying writers by the inch, which only leads to larger, sensationalized stories. I’d hire more students from the new journalism programs popping up around the country. Journalismneedsorder, itneedsto be professionalized. If it were, my father wouldn’t have—” He broke off and shook his head.
“Wouldn’t have what?”
But he shook his finger at her. “That’s more than one question.”
She pursed her lips. “Well played.”
And though Mack smiled at her mimicry, he fell silent and shuffled the deck absently, his attention split between the cards and the fire. Winnie couldn’t blame him; their respective questions had gone deeper than either had expected. If they continued down that road, she wasn’t sure she’d like where they ended up.
“Perhaps that’s enough truths for now,” she said.
“Do you want to stop playing?”
