Page 176 of The Bluffing Game

Sage looks out of the window. “Wow, it’s beautiful. This is, like, the exact opposite of where I was about to live.” Her eyes widen, and she swallows. “I can’t afford to pay a fourth of the rent here. I’m not saying anything about how much you pay me, but I …”

“You’re not expected to pay anything, please.” I stare at her. “And don’t even argue with me right now. I know how much you’re going to make the first month or so because you’ll be in training. And I know you just moved here, and you put a lot of money into getting your apartment. We can figure it out once you settle in a bit.”

“I don’t want you paying for me, Dalton. You don’t even know me.”

“Maybe I’m just a Good Samaritan.”

“Yeah, I somehow doubt it.”

“There’s one thing I want to say to you before we get out of the car.”

“Yeah. What’s that?”

“So, Brett, he’s a bit of an investigator sometimes. He does odd jobs for me here and there.”

“And?”

“And he can help you if you want him to. Maybe try and locate your dad.”

She looks back at Brett again. He’s taken his earbuds out now, and he nods.

“I understand this is a private matter and that Rosie may not know,” he says. “Trust me, she will not hear anything from me if you would like me to pursue this.”

Sage nods slowly and then stares at me, thinking hard. She bites down on her lower lip as she contemplates what to do.

“You don’t have to, but Brett’s the best guy I know for this sort of thing. He can find your dad if that’s what you really want, unless you have some other plans that I don’t know about.”

“I was going to go to Kettle King and maybe ask around and stuff,” she says. “But, yeah, I guess I would like the help.” She looks back at Brett. “How much do you charge?”

“I don’t. It’s on the house,” he says, repeating what I told him to say. His fee is not on the house, but I’m not going to tell her how many thousands he charges me per week. “Just get me as much information as you can.”

“I don’t really have much. Just the story my mom told me, but I can write it all down and give it to you.”

“Yeah, if you could maybe do that tonight or tomorrow, then I’ll see what I can find.”

“Thank you,” she says. She looks over at me and pauses. “It’s weird, you know? That first night I met you at Kettle King, I thought to myself, Now, that’s a man who looks like he has it all. And I was right.”

“I don’t know if I should take that as a compliment or not.”

“I don’t know either,” she says. “But I do want to say that I’m grateful to you. I really am. Hopefully, one day, I can repay you.”

“Yeah? One day or one night?” I ask, teasing.

She rolls her eyes. “I’m serious.”

“I’m serious too.”

“Dalton, don’t do this.”

“Don’t do what?”

“Don’t tease me. Don’t flirt with me.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re my boss and you’re my friend’s brother, and it’s already complicated enough. You have a son, and you’re …” She pauses. “Anyway, I don’t want to talk about it. I just think we shouldn’t flirt. We shouldn’t tease. At all.”

“That’s no fun.”