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I nod in reply and cling tight to Damien I know, I think I know

Chapter Twelve

It’s late e get back froht air and Da to resist It looks out over adown to a private dock and the smooth surface of the lake The sky is clear and the moon is full It reflects off the sails and hulls of the various boats dotting the shore, adding a wash of ray tableau

Jae daybed The waitress had suggested flavored vodka in response to Jamie’s query as to ould be fun, and now she is in a whipped crealance at Da waters for all of us When I return, Ja Machine" and staring up at the stars as Damien looks on, bemused, from where he sits on the nearby love seat

I meet Damien’s eyes "She loves Titanic," I say, by way of explanation

"I hope this doesn’t ," he says to Jamie

She just smiles and slowly shakes her head back and forth "No, I’m in a happy place This is so nice Y’all are so nice" She pushes herself up on her elbows "Maybe we should go clubbing"

"Great idea," Daot a better one How about we stay in?"

She cocks a finger at hieous, too," she adds in the world’s loudest stage whisper

"I know," I say, half-embarrassed for my friend and half-amused by her

She squints at Damien "I bet I can totally whoop your ass at poker," she says

Dae like that?"

"She’s good," I warn She and Ollie and I spent a lot of long nights playing poker "Of course she’s better when she’s sober"

Jarin is lopsided "Maybe I a bluff"

After four hands of five card draw, it’s starting to look likespectacularly, Dae pile of chips in front of her

"You should know that all of my illusions are shattered," I tell him "I don’t know if I can stay with a man who loses at poker"

"But I do it with such charesture "I’m just that awesome," she says "Don’t say that I didn’t warn you"

Damien leans back on the s, his feet kicked out in front of hilass table "You both do realize that poker is a game that develops over tilances before she looks back at Da me up"

I raise h, but Jamie tosses down her cards, then flops backward onto the chaise "Yeah, well, then the joke’s on you, because I think I have to pass out now"