Playing for Keeps Read Online Free PDF Page B

said, feeling as if she were in a fog and all her movements were in slow motion. I need a miracle. She stood.
    "Sit down."
    "I'm all right."
    He tugged her back down. "Is there a friend I can call?"
    "Why are you being nice to me?"
    "Do you want me to get you a cab?"
    She shook her head. "Please stop being nice to me. Call me names, tell me I'm pathetic or crazy."
    "Why?"
    "Then you'll be in sync with how my day has been."
    "Maybe it's time for things to change," he said. His amused brown gaze seemed to plead for friendship, which Stacy couldn't understand. Then he did something that was her complete undoing. His mouth curved into a soft smile. She could have taken anything but that genuine, warm smile. A smile that said everything would be okay, that you're not crazy. She couldn't understand why he made her feel that, no matter how bad life got, she would be fine, that she could trust him. Why did he seem so familiar? He still looked rugged and sexy and she didn't usually go for men with beards. Why couldn't she have met a man like him before her life was ruined? Before she met Marshall? Before she'd trusted her brother to look after their parents? Despair tore at her heart and tears slowly made their way down her face.
    His smile disappeared and his gaze sharpened. "Tell me what's wrong."
    "I can't," she said in a choked voice craving his kindness but also wishing he wasn't so kind.
    "Why not?"
    "I don't even know you."
    "Yes, you do," he said with a vehemence that surprised her.
    She shook her head ashamed. "I know I should, but I don't. Tell me your name maybe I'll know you then."
    "Chance Jamison," he said slowly, his gaze clinging to her as if studying her reaction.
    Stacy bit her lip and glanced up at the sky. His name rang a bell, but she still couldn't place him. She shrugged. "It's a nice name."
    A brief look of disappointment crossed his face then disappeared. "Forget it, Stacy." He leaned back in his chair. "So, now can you tell me what's wrong?"
    She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "No."
    "Okay, then can you help me?"
    She looked at him in surprise. "Help you?"
    He nodded.
    "Do what?"
    "I want to go to Madame Tussauds but I don't want to go by myself. All my friends are busy and it'd be nice to act like a tourist. I think it will help take your mind off your troubles and you'd be doing me a favor."
    "I'm sorry, but I can't," Stacy said then her phone rang and she saw it was her mother. "Excuse me," she said then answered. "Hello?" she said expecting to hear her mother in tears.
    "If your brother calls you, don't give him any money."
    "What?"
    "He's in a lot of trouble, but this time he's got to get out of it himself."
    Stacy paused. "Wait...what?"
    "I've tried to keep this from you since you were going through your divorce, but your brother has been stealing from us. After we stopped allowing him access to our estate he buried himself in debt elsewhere and he's scrambling to find a way out."
    "So he hasn't been investing your money?"
    Her mother laughed. "Not for a long time now."
    Stacy gripped the phone. That slimy little eel . "So your investments are fine?"
    "Perfectly fine. Just be warned, he'll want money from you. I love my son but I'm afraid we spoiled him a little too much."
    "Thanks," Stacy said not wanting her mother to feel worse than she did. "I'll remember. Bye." She disconnected. So her brother was in trouble and wanted to be rescued--again. This time he'd be in for a surprise. She looked up at Chance and reconsidered his offer. Her first instinct was to say no. She hadn't gone out with a man in over three years, but her brother's lie made her angry and she didn't want to be angry anymore. She wanted to have fun. Her brother had ruined her meal but she wouldn't let him ruin her day. "Okay," she said feeling suddenly reckless. "Let's go."
    And she had more fun than she'd ever imagined. Stacy explored the museum with Chance, experiencing it in a way she never had the last time she'd visited.