Why would someone use my brother’s—oh.Mentally, he slapped himself. “Ah, no. I always preferred my middle name, even if it was more difficult.”
“It’s not that difficult, people just get lazy.” Sejal made a disgusted sound. “I had to go by Sam in high school.”
“Hopefully our six kids will have an easier time of things.”
She gave another startled laugh, and he found himself stretching toward it like a flower toward the sun.
“Hey. You’re kind of funny, Krish.”
Before he could answer, she shrugged her coat off. He struggled, hard, to keep his eyes on her face. That damn dress clung to her so enticingly. “I’m sorry about this morning,” she said.
Oh no. He did not want to discuss this morning. Especially not in public, especially where an older lady who knew his mom might hear. “I told you, no need to be sorry. It’s not the first time I’ve gone to bed without, uh—”
She lifted an eyebrow slowly and held up her hand, cutting off his faucet of words. “I was talking about your mom.”
Under the cover of the table, he wiped his palm on his jeans and told himself it was condensation from his Coke. “Oh. Right.”
“She seemed annoyed I asked about her job.”
Shewasannoyed.“Why did you do that?”
Sejal lifted her gaze to the ceiling. “Because I’m a rascal.”
This time he laughed, and she smiled in return. “Why did you think I did it? The best defense is a good offense. She was asking me too many questions, and at some point I would have slipped and messed up the lie. The lie you asked me to play along with, I should add.”
Fair enough. “It wasn’t very good playing along. I very much doubt she believes you’re really in ‘sales.’” He put the word in air quotes.
“Well, I very much doubt she’s a florist. Was I right? Is she also in the FBI?”
“No,” he answered truthfully.
She narrowed her gaze at him. “I’m not asking the right question, am I?”
No, she wasn’t. “It’s not important. Or pertinent to our dealings with each other.”
“Mmm, I’ll be the judge of that. Seems fairly important, knowing what my warden’s parents are up to.”
He glanced around them again, but even the guy at the bar had left, and there was no sign of Suzy. No one could hear their conversation.
Sejal extended her hand in front of her. In her palm lay a fresh pack of cards, still sealed, which she must have bought at the general store. Did she pick up new decks like other people picked up cigarettes? “How about we play for some information?”
He snorted. “I don’t trust you.” Her eyes flickered, and he wondered if he’d hurt her again. “That is, you’re too good at sleight of hand.”
“I wouldn’t cheat.” She slid the cards to him. “But to be on the safe side, you pick the game and handle the cards.”
Judging by the edge in her voice on the wordcheat, he had pricked her. Damn it.Clumsy. Bull in achinashop.
He shouldn’t care if he hurt her feelings, but he did. So he slit the plastic around the cards. “Do you know a game called Chance?”
“No.”
“It’s a simple matching game, one my mom taught us when we were kids.” He shuffled the deck, dealt them each four cards, then placed four cards in the middle face up. “Match the cards in your hand to what’s spread here to make tricks. You can also add cards, so a three and a four can take a seven. Discard a card if nothing matches, but then it’s fair game for me. The person with the most tricks when all the cards are gone wins.”
“Easy rules. We need some stakes.”
“What do you have in mind?” Because he knew what he had in mind, but playing Strip Chance here would definitely scandalize Suzy.
“For each hand I beat you at, you answer a question. In depth, in detail.” Though she wasn’t doing magic, she still held the hand he’d dealt her with deliberately placed fingers, each card perfectly spaced apart.
