“I do.”
Jenny reached behind her to pat him on the arm. “Thanks, Tim.”
Sejal took a sip of her beer and then put the glass back on the table. She picked up the six cards, shuffled them so the colors alternated again, and showed them to everyone. Then she handed the cards to Jenny. “Jenny, you drop them.”
Jenny’s smile lit up her face. She dropped them on the table between them, and Sejal reached over and revealed each card. “Black. Black. Black. Red. Red. Red.”
“You still moved them,” Tim insisted, and the crowd around them booed him. But Sejal just smiled. She took the cards back,and alternated the colors again. Then she reached for her necklace, manipulated it, and pulled a slender pick out of the bar pendant.
Ah. That explained how she’d gotten free from the handcuffs.
He couldn’t even be irritated, because the kid in him that had devoured Hardy Boys books thought that was pretty damn cool.
Sejal exerted a bit of pressure and poked a hole in the cards. “Does anyone have a piece of string or a paper clip?”
Jenny rummaged in her pocket and pulled out a hair tie. “Would this do?”
“Yup.” Sejal took the thin elastic and strung it through the hole, knotting it so the cards hung on the tie. She slowly showed them to the audience. “Red, black, red, black, and so on, yes? Can you agree I couldn’t reshuffle them now, Tim?”
“It would be hard,” Tim agreed.
“Here, you drop it again.”
With great reverence, Jenny took the cards, held them face down, and dropped them.
Sejal’s eyes gleamed. Her skin glowed, her eyes were bright. She looked almost as excited as her audience. “Flip over the first three.”
“Black. Black. Black.” Jenny sat back and laughed, delighted, as the rest of the crowd smiled and clapped. “How did you do that?”
“It’s science, like I said,” Sejal murmured as she turned over the remaining three cards. All red.
“Okay, that’s pretty cool.” Tim finally cracked a smile. “Nice job.”
The crowd started to disperse, but not before stuffing some cash into the empty cup on the table. Tim lingered, taking the seat Jenny had vacated. He leaned over the table and placed hishand on Sejal’s. He was a big, meaty man with a florid complexion and a mustache, probably in his early sixties. “Still not sure I’m buying it, sweetheart. Why don’t you show me a couple more of your tricks?”
Sejal’s gaze dipped down to his hand, so Krish’s did, too. There was a thick gold band on the man’s ring finger.
She looked back up and her eyes glinted. Krish rocked back on his heels, expecting a savage retort to the married man touching her, but instead her lips pursed in a seductive pout. “You seem skeptical.”
“So make me believe in magic.” He pulled out his wallet. “A hundred bucks says you can’t convince me you’re not cheating.”
“It’s not cheating,” she said gently. “It’s magic—”
“Yes, yes, magic.” Tim’s gaze dropped to her breasts. “Go for it, sweetheart.”
Now. Now she’d murder him.
But instead, her smile turned saccharine sweet. She picked up the deck, and the cards flew between her fingers. “Your wish is my command. A hundred bucks.”
Interesting. The guy she’d been running from at the bar had had a wedding ring on, too.
Likes to target married men.
His brother had been right. But why?
Sejal was like a million pieces of a puzzle, but half of the pieces were chewed apart or missing.
As much as Krish would kind of love to see this play out, he needed to get to bed. He also didn’t want to deal with any potential fallout from Tim losing his money. A bar fight would most definitely make them memorable. He walked forward.
