He let out an unamused laugh, then dropped his head. "You're right. My life is a circus-I'm never alone. Wherever I go, a crowd follows and pictures show up on the Internet." He shook his head, then pulled me back to his side. "Sorry, Deborah. Welcome to my life." He flashed beautiful gray eyes at me, shattering my defenses.
I couldn't understand what was happening. This super-famous man was practically making a pass at me, and we'd just met. The fierceness of his stare made my head spin, causing me to inhale sharply. Something was wrong here. I couldn't imagine any world in which Alejandro wanted to be with me, and now I felt certain I was being conned. That seemed to be happening an awful lot lately.
But since con games were my specialty, I gave my face a mental slap and resolved to handle this man. Let him play me all he wanted; I'd simply play him back. "Oh, no you don't," I chuckled. "I'm not joining your circus. I want nothing to do with your ridiculous celebrity-you can keep it for yourself."
He wrapped his other arm around me and pulled me into a hug. "Oh ho! A challenge." He nodded his head. "Accepted. I want to get to know you." He let go of me and stepped away, pointing his chin toward the guitar. "But for now, I want to know more about that guitar. Bring it back tomorrow, and we'll authenticate it. Then, tomorrow night, come out with me."
Wait, did I hear that right? Did Alejandro just ask me to go out on a date? He seemed to be attracted to me, which was the fantasy dream of millions of women. I couldn't deny that I liked where this was going, but I knew it meant trouble. It violated a cardinal rule of conning people.
Bea always told me when I was younger, "Never fall for the mark." She insisted this was a significant rule, even though when I first heard it, I couldn't imagine why. Boys were yucky back then, so there were no situations I could imagine where that rule would be relevant. As I got older, I understood better, and these days, I understood perfectly.
Never fall for the mark.
Unfortunately, I'd fallen for Alejandro years before we'd even met. So it was far too late for that particular lesson.