Page 20 of Secret Bet

Five minutes later,she walked into a room a floor above hers and entered a sitting area that displayed a tray of breakfast pastries and coffee. She dried her hands on the towel and then sat. Peter had waited for her without touchingany dish, and he stood until she sat. As she lowered herself, he handed her a napkin and retookhisseat.

"Does this happen to you allthetime?"

"You mean thedolphins?"

"Yes. They’re my personal pets." He poured them both coffees as the engines purred on underneaththeirfeet.

“You’rejoking.”

“Yeah.” He handed her the cup. "I don’t know if beautiful creatureslike them should be locked up, and besides, I don’t want anaquarium."

“They would require a lot of fish on a daily basis. Not the best pets. Perhaps you should get a dog?” Her fingers ached to touch him. She lowered her gaze. "And does swimming count as somethingunexpected?"

“No time for the care of any dogs and my maid would not like the extra work, I’m sure.” He added cream tohis coffee. His chin bobbed as if he gave her words deep thought. "As for swimming, I'll give thatayes."

A slow smile built on her face. "I wasn't always so hard, you know. Most people would find my kind of fun ratherboring."

"If boring is the worst they say about you, then it's notthatbad."

"What do people sayaboutyou?"

“Much worse.” How his eyes widened madeher stomach do a flip. Then he said, "Drink yourcoffee.”

“What dotheysay?”

“I don’t care what others say or think, but I've been a selfish jerk for years that never neededanyone."

"You tell yourself you're a jerk but don't see how nice you truly are." She squeezed her hair again and licked her lips. He was hard on himself. "And your siblings clearlyloveyou."

He shook his head. "I don'tdeserveit."

She placed the coffee on the table and rubbed hisknee. "Why?"

He ran his hand through his hair. "They left. I protected them from our father, but I did whatever he wanted. I was Mitch Morgan's heir and entitled toeverything.”

“Did you act like yourfather?”

“I hope not, but he trained me. They didn't have to take the same lessons,over and over again. They didn't watch our mom walk out the door. And when they were big enough, they ran away. Do you know what it's like to be so spoiled and know you are being spoiled because you're the heir? It's like a poison that runs through theveins."

“Don’t torture yourself.” Her own father needed her to ensure that his retirement went well, but he had saved for years. He enjoyedhimself now, and the weight on her shoulders wasn't like Peter's. Her legs parted as she leaned closer to him. “You did what you could to help those you loved and didn’t pushthemaway.”

“You don’t know what you’re talkingabout.”

“You spoke more about caring about your family than you did about beingselfish.”

“You really areoptimistic.”

"Let me ask you another question.So when you were talking about me doing the unexpected, you were discussingyourselftoo?"

"No. I can do whatever I want, wheneverIwant."

"Or do you now act out to spite yourfather?"

His eyes widened again. "Smart andinquisitive."

The colors in his eyes that swam and fueled her fantasy of this moment didn't matter. She slumped in her chair and picked up her coffeeto break the spell she was in. "Besides all your money and power, you'rescared."

"Me?" He raised his eyebrows. "What doyoumean?"

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