All In by Gabra Zackman Page A

the FBI. He was already the consultant for the training programs at Camp Peary for the CIA. He was FBI-trained but CIA-hired. Gabriella liked to say it made him the perfect man.
    Right now the perfect man was wearing a chef’s hat and an apron with “The Way to a Man’s Heart!” written in red bubble letters with hearts all over it. The bachelorettes all mistook him for gay, and he didn’t bother to correct them. He had chosen this class because it got great reviews in the New York Post, and Gabriella always liked to read the Post. She said it was better than a soap opera. And it said the eggplant parm was to die for. He decided he’d suck it up so that when Gabriella returned, he could make her a fancy meal she’d love, before they had sex on every surface of his bare and staid apartment.
    Just thinking about her got him excited enough to smile at the bachelorettes as he was stirring his sauce. Yes, he thought with a smile, I can’t wait to rock her world .

7
    JACKSON HAD MADE Lisa Bee the best meal she thought she’d ever had. AJ had eaten some, too, though she always made sure her eyes were on the screens and ate her meal at “mission control.” At one point she shouted out, “Jackson, old friend, this is the closest to an orgasm I’ve had in over a week!” Jackson just laughed and shook his head, then turned to Lisa Bee and said, “Tole you so.”
    Lisa Bee and Jackson sat together at Mahmoud’s dining table, shooting the shit and having, for all intents and purposes, a normal time. But Lisa Bee was blown away. All this time she’d known Jackson, she’d picked him for a fast-food kind of guy—not a man who could make a meal like this. It was sweet and spicy, nourishing and complicated, so very different from the food she’d grown up on. She didn’t think she’d ever had any meal so lovely.
    “Jackie,” Lisa Bee said sleepily, enjoying the feeling of a full stomach, “why’ve you been holding out on me? I mean, I always picked you for a White Castle kind of guy.”
    “Yuck,” he said with a belly laugh. “White Castle, Bee? You kiddin’ me? I mean, if anything, it’s Taco Bell.”
    “Right,” she said, “Taco Bell. That’s what I meant.”
    “I don’t know. When do we ever have the time to cook? I’ve always thought it was easier to just run for the boardroom .”
    “But damn, Jackie,” she said with a grin. “This is no joke. Secret weapon, indeed!”
    “I’m just glad it’s going to the right arsenal,” he said. “You’re the only one I want to impress. I mean, I haven’t cooked for anyone . . . ever, really.”
    “Really?” she asked, surprised. “Is that true? Or is this just part of your hard-core wooing?”
    “It’s true, Bee,” he said, his eyes meeting hers. “The best wooing is always the true kind. Cross my heart and hope to die.”
    “Don’t say that, Jackie. Not when we’re on a mission.” She laughed and looked away. She still wasn’t quite on board with all this, and she didn’t quite trust that it was right. Until she was sure, she’d keep the friendship strong and the rest at bay. “I’m gonna catch a few Z’s. Want to get going in a couple hours?”
    “That’s great,” he said with a smile. “I’ll make you a pot of coffee for the road.”
    ‡‡‡
    SUSANNAH AND CHAS had spent a couple of hours enjoying each other in a beautiful king-size bed with a down-filled white cotton quilt. They’d crept out to the kitchen after everyone turned in and dined on a wonderful dinner of curried lamb with chickpeas and raisins. But Susannah became anxious and wanted to do some recon ASAP. Chas agreed. They wouldn’t wait until morning. They would start right now. And it wasn’t terribly late; it was about ten P.M. , the perfect time for a mission.
    Glancing over the paperwork they had in their travel bags, Susannah and Chas began to chart a plan. Susannah opened Google Maps on her iPhone only to realize that they were walking distance from her