The Wager (The Bet 2)

“Still feeling it,” Travis admitted. “Good to know she’s moved on to her next victims.”

Travis and Kacey walked off toward security, leaving Jake and Char alone.

“Do you think of us as a train wreck?”

“Nah.” Jake winked. “I think or at least I’d like to think I’m not stupid enough to ignore you forever. Sooner or later, we would have ended up together. With or without Grandma.”

Just then Grandma walked by and snorted. “Shmuck.”

“Or not.” Jake laughed.

“I love you.” Char reached up and kissed his lips. He’d never tire of her, ever. Maybe his Grandma knew him better than he knew himself. After all, it had taken a hell of a lot of plotting for him to pull his head out of his ass, and he knew, sooner or later, he’d have to thank Grandma all over again for her manipulative ways.

About the Author

Rachel Van Dyken is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of regency and contemporary romances. When she’s not writing you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and plotting her next book while watching The Bachelor.

She keeps her home in Idaho with her husband and their snoring boxer, Sir Winston Churchill. She loves to hear from readers! You can follow her writing journey at www.rachelvandykenauthor.com.

Please see the next page for a preview of THE BET

Chapter One

Present Day

Kacey searched his eyes for any hint of amusement. He couldn’t be serious, not Jake. Jake never took anything seriously. She quickly raised her hand to feel his forehead and inwardly shuddered. Why God had blessed such an arrogant man with the face of a movie star was seriously beyond her realm of understanding.

But there he was, a regular Adonis, staring back at her as if his eyes didn’t make mortal women uncomfortable.

“Are you drunk?” she whispered, leaning in closer, all the while cursing the expensive aftershave floating off him.

Jake slapped her hand away. “No, I’m not drunk. Geez, Kacey, you’re acting like I’m propositioning you for sex or something.”

“That’s the example you come up with? Sex? Really? Because to be honest, Jake, this is so much worse!” Her hands shook as she tried to level her breathing to a normal pace. At this rate she was going to have a full-on panic attack.

“How is this worse?” His voice rose a few octaves as other patrons of the coffee shop looked in their direction.

Kacey leaned back against the leather chair and groaned.

“I’m dead serious, Kacey. It’s the only way to convince them.” Jake leaned forward, his bronzed muscular forearms flexing against his rolled up sleeves as he rested his hands across the table.

“You do realize your parents have known me since I was three? Furthermore, I’m convinced that your mother would be able to see right through us. And don’t even get me started on that grandmother of yours.”

Jake’s stone face cracked into a smile.

“Don’t laugh! I’m serious, Jake! The woman should have worked for the FBI.”

“It’s her eyes.” Jake shrugged. “They always get me.” He shuddered. “But you’re getting off-topic, Kacey. I’m desperate.”

“Oh, wow. Well, when you put it that way, how could I turn you down? You’re desperate! Romantic man you are not. I have no idea how you managed to become the city’s most eligible bachelor, and at twenty-one. Impressive.” She shook her head in disbelief.

“Really, you don’t know?” He leaned forward, his biceps tightening beneath his grey button-up shirt, ready to burst through at any minute. His clean-shaven face held a hint of a five o’clock shadow, and his dark hair fell in waves across his forehead. Clear hazel eyes gazed back at her, and she couldn’t find the strength to look away from his lips as his tongue ran across them.

Crap. She was actually sweating just looking at the guy. It didn’t help matters that this was the first time she had heard from him since the incident. Not that this was the time to bring that up.

“Fine.” Kacey told her heart to stop beating so fast and closed her eyes again. “Jake, it won’t ever work. Why don’t you get one of your stripper girlfriends to do it for you?” And please, for the love of God, leave me alone. Too many memories stared back at her through his eyes, and she wasn’t sure she could stomach it. Not after hearing that the restaurant her parents had owned just opened up two new locations, one of them in Seattle. The wound seemed to open all over again. She shuddered and let Jake continue to plead his case.

“Um, because they’re strippers?” Jake lifted his hands into the air and shook his head. “Do you want my grandmother to die? Because I assure you, that will do nothing more than cause another stroke.”