Free Harte Strings: The Billionaire Matchmaker, Part Two by Gina Robinson Page A

anything that wasn’t obvious?”
    “What about you, Cam?” Austin said. “Why don’t you put your money where your mouth is?”
    “My cards haven’t been read yet.” He nudged Austin. “Thought of that, smartass?”
    The men turned over their cards one at a time—Lazer, Lazer, Lazer, even Lazer said Lazer. Until only Jeremy was left.
    I smiled encouragingly at him. “Let me answer next, before Jeremy.” I flipped my card over with a flourish. “Jeremy, that’s your card. You dated a supermodel.”
    Four men turned to stare at Jeremy, expecting him to deny it and tell me I was crazy. Instead, he grinned sheepishly. And, it must be said, with a certain amount of pride.
    “What?” he said. “You guys think Lazer’s the only one with the moves? The only guy who gets the hot chicks?”
    “You!” Cam shook his head. “We’ve known you since freshman year of college. When did you date a supermodel? First grade?”
    Jeremy grinned. “Give me more credit than that .” He struggled not to laugh. “I dated her for a week and a half in the fourth grade. She sat next to me in class.”
    Dylan grabbed Jeremy in a headlock and rubbed his head. “An elementary school crush doesn’t count, buddy. Lazer’s dated mature supermodels.”
    Jeremy broke free and pushed Dylan away. “Hey!” He smoothed his hair back into place, grinning. “Hands off the hair, man.” He preened like a peacock. Jeremy was obviously a ham when in a setting where he felt comfortable. “Sh-she was already in a training bra when we went steady for a week and a half she’ll never forget.”
    “Oooooh.” Dylan made jazz hands. “Training bra. Hot stuff.”
    Jeremy socked him in the arm.
    “Boys!” Lazer said in a mock dad voice.
    Cam turned to me. “But how did you know?”
    I smiled slyly. “I asked.”
    “That’s cheating.” But Cam looked at me with awe. “You knew about the game ahead of time.”
    Yes, I was both cunning and devious. And extremely socially adept. And a damn good dating coach. Lesson one was sinking in already. At least these guys were sharp and quick learners.
    “Was it cheating? To show an interest in all of you and really get to know you?” I glanced around the group. “Be honest, did any of you feel my interest wasn’t genuine? Wasn’t it the tiniest bit flattering? Isn’t asking fun questions that make you think and remember much more interesting in conversation than the mundane, ordinary, ‘what do you do for a living’ type? Were there any painful lapses in the conversation when we were chatting? Times when you felt awkward or stiff? Or did the time fly?”
    “Shit,” Dylan said, and slapped his thigh.
    The rest of the guys looked at me with admiration. It might have been my imagination, but I thought Lazer paled.
    He made a show of taking off his watch and placing it on the table in front of him. He grinned at me, sexily, in that way that made my toes curl.
    “Scared?” I asked. “Ready to throw in the towel already?”
    “Never,” he said. “Keep going. You’re not the only one who knows how to carry a conversation and get to know people.” He nodded to Lottie. “Bring it on. Next question.”
    She smiled at him and read from another card. “Who here was voted rodeo king, largely because he looks good in a pair of chaps?”
    None of the men looked like cowboys. But I knew who was. I didn’t know for sure about the rodeo king thing, but I chose my answer with confidence and placed the card down in front of me.
    “Let’s mix this up,” Lazer said. “Lottie, give us the answer and we’ll all turn our cards over at the same time.”
    Lottie nodded. “Dylan!” She sounded more triumphant than she should have.
    “Five for me!” I turned over my card.
    It was two for the guys. Which seemed like a suspiciously low score for them. I saw Austin secretly nudge Dylan. Dylan nodded back, grinning.
    “I call foul. Dylan’s a cowboy from Omak, sure enough. But does he really look good