Calista Burke wanted to pinch herself ... that is, in the seconds when her stomach wasn't threatening to embarrass her by heaving the remains of her stop at Starbucks onto the Crime Tells' carpet.

She'd done it. She'd landed the job--or more accurately, she'd landed a chance to try the job.

She wanted to jump up and down, to give Tyler Keane and Lyric and Erin Montgomery huge hugs for all the time they'd spent telling her how they solved cases, and more importantly, all the hours they'd spent teaching her how to play poker.

That had been part of the interview.

Calista wiped damp palms against her jeans. She hadn't won a single hand, except when Bulldog Montgomery folded, but she must have done okay. Whatever he'd been looking for, he must have found, because both Lyric and Erin said their grandfather didn't take on a case or let someone work for him until he'd challenged that person to a game of cards so he could see what they were made of.

She grinned. She'd spent so much time around the Montgomerys and Maguires that she didn't even blink anymore when someone pulled out a deck of cards or cup of dice in order to decide who was going to make a run for Starbucks or pay for a take-out order--or, when it was just the girls, who was going to be the one to spill their guts and share a personal tidbit of information, especially a sexual one. Gambling was in their blood. And it all started with Bulldog.

Until he'd semi-retired and started Crime Tells, Bulldog Montgomery was one of the most sought after detectives in the gambling business. Even now, he was still called in to consult, though he just as often sent one of his grandchildren to work the case, and he didn't limit himself to gambling cases anymore. He took on a wide variety of cases in Northern California, anything that grabbed his interest or seemed like something his grandchildren or the other detectives working for him would enjoy handling.

Calista grinned. And now I'm not only one of them, but I'm about to get my first case.

Her heart did a little hippity-hop in her chest. Never in a million years would she have guessed that when her brother, Kieran, finally fell in love and married Lyric Montgomery, it would change her life too.

But then, no one could spend time around Lyric without developing a little streak of adventure, without at least considering the possibility of "going for the gusto" as Lyric loved to counsel.

Calista looked around her. Well, this was part one of her great adventure. The next part was a little harder--actually being a detective instead of what she'd been since graduating from college, a kindergarten teacher.

The Burke family had always run heavy on police, firemen and schoolteachers--with the men getting the first two professions and the women ending up in the classroom. Calista straightened her shoulders. Well, now it was time to break out of that mold. Grinning, she picked up the phone to dial her sister-in-law, but before she could punch in the second number, a woman walked into the office.

A ball of nerves settled in Calista's stomach. Think the first day of school with a class full of scared kids and neurotic parents. Dealing with a client will be a piece of cake compared to that. She settled the phone back in its cradle and smiled at the woman. "I'm Calista Burke. You're here to see Bulldog?"

The woman frowned slightly, checking her expensive watch before holding out a manicured hand with two gem-laden rings and a diamond tennis bracelet. "Yes. I'm Sarah Winston. He's expecting me."

Calista shook the extended hand. "I'll tell him you're here."