Champagne Brunch: The Stiletto Sisters Series by Ainsley Claire (easy readers .txt) 📗

“Do you two want to go alone?” Jeremy suddenly seems unsure of himself.

I tousle his hair like a big brother might. “No, we want to go with you.”

He nods and goes back to cleaning his plate.

When we’ve finished, I sign for the meal and we head back toward the lobby. “Okay, let’s meet here in half an hour I tell him.

“Sure.” He nods, but I watch him walk away, and I know something’s off.

When I return to my room, it smells of roses and vanilla. Mia has definitely changed clothes and is busy staring at her computer. She’s so focused she doesn’t even seem to hear me enter. She’s piled her hair on her head with a pencil holding it in place and tendrils falling, and she’s put on a soft, green sundress that shows quite a bit of leg.

“Hello?” I call.

Her hand shoots to her heart. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.”

“I noticed. What has you so focused? I mean, I could have brought the entire team in and you wouldn’t have looked up.”

She smiles. “I’ve been like that my whole life. Sometimes I just tune everything out and focus. It’s not always a good thing. In college I sat through a second lecture with a whole new professor and didn’t realize it.”

“That takes some serious concentration. What are you working on?”

“My old company is having a development problem that I’ve been asked to look at.”

“What did you do before Flirt?”

She turns back to her computer. “I still work for a data-mining company I started.”

“What does a data-mining company do?”

“We help our client companies turn raw information into something they can use. The software I designed looks for patterns in large batches of data. Businesses can learn more about their customers to develop more effective marketing strategies, increase sales, and decrease costs—whatever their goals are.”

“I’m not sure what that means, but I’m sure that’s a great use for your love of math.”

She smiles and nods. “You know me well.”

“What else do you love besides baseball and math?”

“Girl stuff—shopping, clothes, shoes, purses.”

I nod. “Interesting… I get the impression you know Nate better than you know Lilly.”

“I knew Nate before his first wife was killed. In fact, I was with him playing poker in Las Vegas when she disappeared.”

I’ve heard about that game and the group that plays regularly. It has some serious players, and it makes sense that she and Nate are tight if she was there when he lost his wife. It also makes her a pretty heavy hitter. Hmmm… “Wow, that must have been rough. I can’t even imagine.”

“It was pretty intense. It still is. The person behind it was finally arrested almost a year ago, and they’re preparing the case against her, which has all of us involved. We liked it better when we just played cards.”

I nod. “I’m sure. And what kind of poker do you play?”

“Mostly Texas Hold’em,” she says. “But I can play whatever. Do you play?”

“I’ll play on occasion. Usually I’m watching the sportsbook, seeing the odds-on games. Cards are not particularly my forté. My ability is being able to look at a player and determine how they’re going to play depending on how they walk or hold themselves. Of course, they can get a bad or a good call, and it all changes in a minute.”

She turns and rests her arm on the back of the chair. Damn, she’s beautiful.

“I bet that makes you a good sports agent. Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

“I do. I have a younger sister. She’s thirteen months younger, so we’re what they call Irish twins. She’s married to a guy who was my high school best friend and is currently one of my clients—Marco Hammond. He surfs in the World Surf League. He’s probably going to retire this year, and I’m trying to convince Alana to move to my place in Santa Cruz. She has four boys under seven years old, and I think she’s tired of living out of a suitcase.”

“Who can blame her? Where are they now?”

“Just finishing up down in Australia. He didn’t score well enough to make the next two big contests, and I think they may be stuck down there. They might have enough sponsor money to get them to Hawaii, where they can stay with some friends. I’m not sure. I don’t ask anymore. What about you? Any brothers or sisters?”

“I have a sister who’s eighteen months older than I am. She lives in Shanghai.”

“Wow. Do you speak any Mandarin?”

“No, though people often think I do. I’m Chinese the way you’re…Dutch, maybe?”

I nod.

“My family came over to work on the rail lines in the early eighteenth century. I speak some French and Italian, but nothing more than that.”

I’m formulating my next question when my cell pings.

Jeremy: The team security has taken me out through the kitchen. If you can meet me in back with a car, that’s what they’d prefer.

“The team security has Jeremy meeting us behind the hotel. Are you ready for the zoo?”

“Yes, I’m all ready.” Mia closes her computer down, tucks it into the room safe, and we walk out.

Me: We’re getting the car now.

We grab the rental car I picked up earlier and drive around to the back. I can see Jeremy talking to Nate.

“That was a really outstanding job,” Nate tells him as I open the door. “I’m happy you’re part of the team.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Nate turns to me. “Hey! I hear you’re headed to the zoo.”

“Is it okay if Jeremy comes with?” I ask. It didn’t occur to me that it could be a problem as long as he’s back at the field at the appropriate time.

“That’s up to his manager.