A Game of Chance Read Online Free PDF

"If you got hurt, your mommy and daddy would cry, Grampa and Gamma would cry, I would cry, Aunt Maris would cry, Mac would cry, Unca Mike would cry—"
    She looked impressed at this litany of crying and interrupted before he could name everyone in the family. "I can wide a horse, Unca Dance, so why can't I wide your moborcycle?"
    God, she was relentless. Where in the hell were Zane and Barrie? They'd had plenty of time to put the twins down for their naps. If he knew Zane, his brother was taking advantage of having a baby-sitter for Nick to get in some sexy time with his wife; Zane was always prepared to use a fluid situation to his advantage.
    It was another ten minutes before Zane strolled back into the office, his eyes slightly heavy-lidded and his hard face subtly relaxed. Chance scowled at his brother. He'd spent the ten minutes trying to talk Nick into telling him what John had taught her, but she wasn't budging from her initial negotiation. "It's about time," he groused.
    "Hey, I hurried," Zane protested mildly.
    "Yeah, right."
    "As much as possible," he added, smiling. He smoothed his big hand over his daughter's shining black hair. "Have you kept Uncle Chance entertained?"
    She nodded. "I told him de weally, weally bad word you said when you hit your dumb."
    Zane looked pained, then stern. "How did you tell him when you aren't supposed to say the word?"
    She stuck her finger in her mouth and began studying the ceiling again.
    "Nick." Zane plucked her from Chance's arms. "Did you say the word?"
    Her lower lip stuck out a little, but she nodded, owning up to her transgression.
    "Then you can't have a bedtime story tonight. You promised you wouldn't say it."
    "I'm sowwy," she said, winding her arms around his neck and laying her head on his shoulder.
    Gently he rubbed his hand up and down her back. "I know you are, sweetheart, but you have to keep your promises." He set her on her feet. "Go find Mommy."
    When she was gone, out of curiosity Chance asked, "Why didn't you tell her that she couldn't watch television, instead of taking away the bedtime story?"
    "We don't want to make television attractive by using it as a treat or a privilege. Why? Are you taking notes on being a parent?"
    Appalled, Chance said, "Not in this lifetime."
    "Yeah? Fate has a way of jumping up and biting you on the ass when you least expect it."
    "Well, my ass is currently bite-free, and I intend to keep it that way." He nodded at the file on Zane's desk. "We have some planning to do."
Chapter Two
    This whole assignment was a tribute to Murphy's Law, Sunny Miller thought in disgust as she sat in the Salt Lake City airport, waiting for her flight to be called—if it were called at all, which she was beginning to doubt. This was her fifth airport of the day, and she was still almost a thousand miles from her destination, which was Seattle. She was supposed to have been on a direct flight from Atlanta to Seattle, but that flight had been cancelled due to mechanical problems and the passengers routed on to other flights, none of which were direct.
    From Atlanta she had gone to Cincinnati, from Cincinnati to Chicago, from Chicago to Denver, and from Denver to Salt Lake City. At least she was moving west instead of backtracking, and the flight from Salt Lake City, assuming it ever started boarding, was supposed to actually land in Seattle.
    The way her day had gone, she expected it to crash instead.
    She was tired, she had been fed nothing but peanuts all day, and she was afraid to go get anything to eat in case her flight was called and the plane got loaded and in the air in record time, leaving her behind. When Murphy was in control, anything was possible. She made a mental note to find this Murphy guy and punch him in the nose.
    Her normal good humour restored by the whimsy, she resettled herself in the plastic seat and took out the paperback book she had been reading. She was tired, she was hungry, but she wasn't going to let the stress get to her.