The Bet (Winslow Brothers 1)

“I steal your panties because I know it turns you on,” Jude answers through an amused chuckle. “Actually, it turns us both on.”

I don’t know why those words threaten to do exactly what he said they do, but yeah, I have to shift a little in my seat.

“And I was never in the Boy Scouts,” he adds. “But now, that’s got me wondering. Were you in the Girl Scouts? Because I’d love to see you at my front door in one of those outfits, trying to sell me your cookies.”

“Why do I get the sense that cookies is code for something else?”

He waggles his brows. “Because it is.”

“Sorry to disappoint, but no, I was never in the Girl Scouts,” I answer honestly. “Although, I wanted to be.”

He quirks a questioning brow. “Parents didn’t let you?”

“My twin sister Belle didn’t let me.”

“Now, that, you’re going to have to explain.”

“Well,” I say through a soft exhale of air. “Belle was always a bit shy growing up, and in elementary school, we tended to stick together. Her by my side because I was good at doing all the talking for both of us. And me by her side because I felt like I had to protect her, I guess.”

“I take it she wasn’t a fan of being a member of the Brownies?”

“Nope.” I shake my head. “She wanted to play soccer instead, but she didn’t want to play by herself.”

“So, you never got to sell any cookies?”

“Or wear the sash and get all those badges.”

“Ah. I see.” A big smile consumes his lips. “That was the draw for you. The badges.”

I widen my eyes and nod. “The Girl Scouts were like an awesome secret club. Man, I swear, if only I could go back in time and tell Belle to grow some balls and play on the soccer team by herself, then I could fulfill my Girl Scout dream of having a sash full of those hella cool badges.”

He grins. “Sophie Sage’s one regret in life. Never being a Girl Scout.”

“Ha! Yeah. Well, one of many regrets, I guess.”

“You have that many regrets?”

I search his eyes. “Don’t we all?”

“I don’t,” he answers with the kind of confidence that makes me a little jealous it’s even possible to be that self-assured. “I try not to spend my time regretting shit. And I definitely try not to spend my time doing shit I don’t really want to do. The combination makes it pretty easy to have zero regrets.”

“You mean to tell me you don’t have any regrets? At all?”

He shrugs. “Nothing comes to mind at the moment.”

Good grief. All I can do is stare at him like he has two heads. No regrets? Must be nice. There’re about a million things I’d like to change from my past.

“Jude and Sophie,” the pilot’s voice rasps over the intercom and grabs both of our attention. “I’m happy to update that we are now at cruising altitude. Feel free to take off your seat belts and enjoy the rest of the ride. We’ll be in Vegas before the sun comes up.”

I whip my head back to Jude. “Did he just say Vegas?”

“Shit,” Jude mutters, shutting his eyes for a beat before opening them up again and looking into mine with a guilty smile encompassing his mouth. “I guess the cat’s out of the bag, huh?”

“Wait… You’re really taking me to Vegas?”

“I am.”

His answer makes my head want to spin right off my damn neck. “What are we going to do there?”

Not once in my life have I ever been the type of woman who just jets off last minute to a city like Las Vegas. I mean, this is…flipping Vegas we’re talking about here. The city of sex and sin and a place where even hookers are legal!

I’ve never been there, but you’d have to live like a caveman to have never heard someone tell a wild Vegas story. Hell, their whole motto is What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

I’m not sure if I should be thrilled or terrified. I mean, Vegas with a man like Jude? It feels like big-time trouble. However, I don’t know if it’s the good kind or the bad kind.

Or maybe it’s a little bit of both…

“We’re going to have a good time, that’s what we’re going to do,” he replies simply like we’re not heading across the country to Las Vegas, but instead, going to feed some damn pigeons in Central Park. “Well, in between the meetings I have scheduled.”

“Wait…this is a work trip?”

“Yeah, but don’t worry. You’re not going to be left to your own devices the whole time,” he tells me. “I only have two meetings and, well, the investors that are flying us out there want us to enjoy ourselves. Hell, they’ve been trying to get me to move to Vegas for years so I can do more than just consult for them. Trust me, I’ll be with you ninety-nine percent of the time, experiencing everything this city has to offer.”