Hot Prospect. Julie Kistler
He recovered quickly. “Yeah, but…somebody must go solo on this thing.” He sent her a quick glance. “People break up all the time. But, hey, they already paid the money, so why shouldn’t one of them go ahead and take the vacation? Like you. You broke up with your boyfriend, right? A few weeks ago.”
“He was my fiancé. Ex-fiancé. And that’s why I wanted to cancel my tickets. I sure wasn’t planning to go without him.”
Pacing farther away, over near the bookcase, Zoë shook her head, hoping they could change the subject. She did not need to be thinking about her lamented love life right now. She picked up the deck of tarot cards again, absently shuffling them.
His eyes measured her. Gruffly, in a way that told her it had nothing to do with the Explorer’s Journey, he asked, “So when were you supposed to get married?”
“Well…today.”
“Oh.” He lifted his shoulders in a very small shrug. “Sorry. That’s a tough break.”
“Yeah.” Zoë kept her mouth shut. There was no way she wanted to discuss that at this moment. Just don’t be nice about it, will you, Jake? Don’t be nice to me. I don’t want to lose control and melt all over you. Turning back, she asked, “So, Jake, tell me, are you going on this tour or not?”
He started to nod, but stopped suddenly. “That’s the second time you’ve called me Jake. But I never told you my name.”
Uh-oh. She covered quickly. “You must have.”
He shook his head.
“Wasn’t it on that identification thing next to your badge?” she tried.
“My ID was half a room away from you and you were upside down at the time.”
She bit her lip. “I have good eyesight.”
“Must be X-ray vision.” His expression was very guarded. “So how did you know my name?”
Zoë shrugged, shuffling the cards with more enthusiasm. “Listen, it doesn’t matter. The important thing is…oops.” She’d dropped a card again. How very strange. Just one card. And she knew before she turned it over what it would be.
Yep. Her breath caught in her throat. Two swans, hearts, flowers, a pair of tiny kissing cupids flying in the air.
“The damn two of hearts,” she muttered. This was getting ridiculous.
“What are you talking about?” he asked.
“The card, Jake. The card I keep pulling.” She held it up to show him the picture. “The two of hearts.”
“Fortune-telling cards?” He made a derisive snort. “You don’t believe in that junk, do you?” His tone grew more mocking. “Don’t tell me. It’s magic. That’s how you knew my name. You read it off one of your cards.”
“Don’t be absurd. I told you I saw it on your ID.” She should’ve been insulted. But she decided not to be. Okay, so he was misguided and cynical. But he would learn. She had faith. She’d dealt herself the True Love card. She’d felt the connection between them. Didn’t she feel this very minute that she could see right through him, clear to his heart?
Well, yeah, but…yikes. Even for her, this was taking a leap. He was self-righteous, he was way too honest, he had no apparent sense of humor, and he was…big. Very big.
Zoë chewed on a nail as she considered exactly what she was proposing. Nuttier than a fruitcake. Not likely to impress Jake.
But she was who she was. And Zoë Kidd was not afraid to take a risk. After all, how bad could it be? She’d expected to be going on this trip, anyway. In fact, she’d been looking forward to it. Meditation. Deep thinking. Personal growth. Surely she could do those things, make a break with the past, move on, and learn to be a better person, even if Jake was along. Even if he didn’t seem likely to be cooperative.
She sent him a quick glance. Okay, so he clearly wasn’t the meditation-and-deep-thoughts type. And he was more than a little intimidating, with that glower and the sizzle of sensuality she couldn’t ignore.
“Oh, yeah. That,” she said under her breath. “If I went along, what would I do about that?”
“What did you say?”
But she didn’t answer, still speculating on this wild idea. Could she really do this?
The eyes, the shoulders, the body that looked hard and hot in all the right places…and those lips. A girl could get lost in those lips for a long, long time. Could she not do this?
If he was intimidating, he was also yummy, no two ways about it. Yummy in a once-in-a-lifetime way. Although it seemed unlikely, he might just be her True Love. That idea made her stomach flutter again, but she squashed the fear. Maybe she wasn’t considering this as a selfish path to True Love. Maybe it was because he was on some sort of mission that she could help with.
Good for her, good for him.
She could no longer ignore the fact that her intuition was pushing her in his direction. Hard.
She mashed together every ounce of courage she could muster. “How badly do you want to go on this trip?”
“I have to go,” he said flatly. “Just name your price and I’ll buy.”
“But you only want one of my tickets.” She moved closer, waving the two of hearts. “And what will I do with the other one?”
He shrugged. “If you’ll only sell them together, then I’ll buy both and toss one.”
All in a rush, she said, “I’ll let you buy Wylie’s. But I’m keeping mine. I want to use it.”
A half smile curved his adorable lips. “You want to use it, huh?” he asked dryly. “For what?”
Zoë smiled. The True Love card felt hot against her palms as she pressed it between both hands. “If you want to go, Jake, you’ll need a partner. So I’m going with you.”
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