He smiled, unable to resist the happy sound.
“His music was awful,” she admitted. “But mostly it was relentless. There was never space for me to listen to what I liked. It always had to be his music.”
“What kind of music do you like?”
“A little of everything except heavy metal.” She grinned at him. “That was one of the questions on the list.”
He wanted to taste the smile on her lips. “I can work within the rules.”
“You seem like the type who likes to break them,” she said.
“I like to win. You don’t need to break rules in order to win. You just have to know what you want and play smart.”
She shook her head. “That’s not how most men are. Most men don’t care how they win.”
“What’s winning if you hurt people in the process?” he asked, lifting his whiskey.
Her timer rang.
“Switch,” she called out, her gaze on his.
In the melee as people moved around, he glanced at Erik, hoping to catch his eye and give him a little encouragement. Fortunately, Didier stopped at Erik’s table and said something that made the girl laugh and Erik’s shoulders relax. Didier had always been a good teammate.
The next man came up to the table, looking in question at the two of them. “I’m next,” he said hesitantly.
“Go on to the next table, mate.” Jamie flashed him a smile and held his fist out. “I’d wish you good luck, but I don’t need to because you’ve got this.”
Brightening, the man bumped his fist. “Thanks, man,” he said, walking a little prouder.
Jamie returned his attention to Rachel, who was gaping at him in surprise. “You were nice to him,” she said, almost like an accusation.
“He looked like he needed a kind word.”
She sat up, blinking at him. “The right word can change everything.”
“Exactly.” He leaned forward, feeling every cell of his body alert as he studied her. He couldn’t have put it better. “Because words have power.”
“What’syourword?” she asked, meeting him halfway across the table.
Her soul shined through her eyes, and he had to grip the table to keep from falling into them. He shook his head and focused on her question. “There’s only one word in this moment.Yes.”
“Yes,” she repeated, biting her lip as she sat back, obviously taking it in.
He couldn’t wait until she said yes to him. He wanted that more than he’d ever wanted to win a championship.
But he knew better than to push, so he nodded at her mobile. “You going to set the timer?”
Shaking her head, as if she were as dazed by their sudden common ground as he was, she put the timer on and announced it. When she lifted her gaze to his, she asked, “You’ve never cheated to win?”
“Never.”
“But you’ll sometimes break rules, won’t you?”
“Sometimes.” He shrugged. “But not if it’s at anyone’s expense.”
“And—”
“Isn’t it my turn to ask you a question?” he interrupted mildly.