No Ordinary Bloke Read Online Free PDF Page B

her head and said, “I’m sorry. Please don’t be offended, but I feel like so much of what you say has sexual innuendo.”
    “Good God. I hope so,” I said completely deadpan. Then I winked. “I’d be hugely disappointed if you didn’t notice.”
    “Disappointed in me or you?”
    “Both.”
    She wagged her finger at me. “You are a cockney scoundrel.”
    “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
    “I’m sure you will.” She nodded. “Your turn. I want to hear your life story.”
    “Nah…” I ran my hand through my hair. “That’s not interesting at all.”
    “Are you kidding? I’ve never met anyone like you.”
    “Sure you have. You just never talked to them for very long. Blokes like me—we’re your carpenters, your bartenders, your mechanics.”
    “I don’t believe that at all. That may be where you come from, but that’s not you.” She looked around the cabin and then gestured to our meals. “Look where you are. And if you’re working with Trey on deals, you’ve got to be some kind of Vice President of something important over at Barclays.”
    I shrugged. “Maybe that’s where I’m at now, but that’s not me.”
    “Oh, get over yourself.” She laughed. “Tell me your damn story. You made me tell you mine.”
    “All right….” I rattled off some facts. “I was born in northeastern London. I think I already told you about my parents. I’m an only child, but my cousins Adam and Sylvia are like my brother and sister. I got in trouble a lot at school, but I always did well in maths. My mother really worked with me on it. I went to the London School of Economics. Eventually, I was recruited by a firm in the City, and that’s my story.”
    “What sort of trouble at school?”
    “Usually fighting.” I held up my hands helplessly. “Occasionally gambling.”
    “Gambling? How do you gamble at school?”
    “Dice, of course. Later it was poker. I’d run a poker game every lunch hour at school.”
    “Ah, okay. Do you still like to gamble?”
    “Hell, yes. What about you?”
    “I haven’t done it that often.” She furrowed her brow. “You mentioned fighting. Back at the terminal when you were holding your niece, did you get in a fight with that guy? I thought I might have overheard something.”
    “Nah…” I felt like I’d been caught by my mum.
    “Oh, okay. I just wondered,” she said, not appearing convinced. “So when you were young why did you fight so much?”
    “Oh you know, the usual. Sports, girls, gambling, tur—”
    “I didn’t ask what you fought about. I asked why did you fight.”
    “Dunno.” Her eyes were focused on me like a laser. I got the feeling that I had to give her something, or she’d think I was the shallowest bastard on earth. I was intrigued enough by her not to want that, but I wasn’t going to tell her everything. I glossed over the trauma of my life. “My parents split when I was twelve. After that, I could be a little shit.”
    “Who did you live with?”
    “Me mum, of course.” I tapped the table, hoping the interrogation would end soon.
    “Are you still close with your dad?”
    What a question. There were a thousand ways to answer it that wouldn’t generate any more interest or any red flags. Those were my usual responses, and they were all lies. I locked eyes with Allison, deciding what to say. Gosh, she was pretty—and too sweet to lie to—especially if that arse, Trey, was jerking her around. I’d also impolitely asked about her dad simply because of my own curiosity. I owed this lovely girl a little more, so I told her the truth, but I ended the conversation.
    “No. We’re not close in the slightest.” I raised my glass as a sign I was ending the conversation. “So there’s my life story. I’m taking some clients to a casino in a few days. Want to go? There will be a group of us.”
    “I don’t know,” she said slowly.
    I wasn’t sure if she was hesitating because she was still absorbing what I’d disclosed or