She stopped short, spilling tea down the front of her t-shirt.
“What are you doing? Put that down.” She stomped her foot, spilling more of the tea on herself.
Erik turned around with a smile on his face. “To Do” he read, “Find boat rental… plan hiking at Vikingholm’s… buy deodorant. What a list Jess. You think you might get all hot and sweaty when you meet Ian Drake?”
Jessica, too steamed to answer, glared.
“Of course I wouldn’t worry too much about the deodorant if I were you since I doubt you’ll make it within a mile of him let alone close enough for him to smell you.”
Through her red haze Jessica saw, but ignored, the others who walked into the room after Erik had finished taunting her.
How dare he! She thought. She had soooo had it with him. She took a breath and let it out slowly.
“Yes, Erik; I know that’s what you think. Isn’t that why we’re all here?” Jessica paused and then continued. “I think, though, that I still have a bit more time to win this bet. So back the hell off. And, don’t even think of trying to sabotage me. I’m onto your strategy and I’ve got my eyes wide open.”
“Jessica, you may not believe this,” Erik said, shaking his head slightly, “but I’m not here to sabotage your plans. I’m here to take a little vacation, and maybe even help out. Though, I doubt you’d ever let me.”
He shrugged and dropped the plans back on the table. Looking over at the rest of the group he called, “dibs on shower,” and headed for the bathroom which Blaise had finally vacated.
Becky and Peter looked at each other and then watched Jessica walk over to re-organize the scattered papers. The tears she had held back when Erik was in the room now threatened to spill.
“God, why does he have to be like that? You didn’t hear him; taunting me and criticizing me… Of course all he let you hear was him being all nice and understanding.”
Jessica paused to take a breath. “As usual it’s like he’s some sort of saint when he’s around everyone else.”
Sighing, Jessica turned around and was surprised to find Peter and Becky smiling.
“Well, I’m not sure what you think is so funny; I am your sister after all” she pointed to Peter. “And your best friend,” she pointed to Becky. “And yet you let him walk around and make me feel like shit. You don’t even say anything to him. Can’t you make him back off?”
Peter looked at Becky then came over and put his arms around Jessica. “We’re working on it sis. Trust us.”
Jessica, still in a snit, returned Peter’s soft look with an annoyed glare.
“Yeah, well he’s your best friend, so if you can’t stop him no one can.”
Then she reached out and grabbed Becky’s hand.
“Come on,” she said, waving the folder in the air. “Apparently I need to find a good place to hide this.”
Chapter Forty-six
An hour later the whole group crammed into the car to go to dinner. Jessica had to keep shifting around to avoid Erik, who had evilly pushed Becky aside to sit beside her. Every time the car turned their legs would collide. As if to antagonize her more, Erik leaned across her every now and then to speak to Peter who was driving.
“Hey Pete, how’s this boat handle?”
Peter laughed and swerved as if to show that this boat moved just fine. Unfortunately this threw Erik right onto Jessica’s lap and called to mind the last time his hand had been on her thigh. Her traitorous body pined for the mini-skirt she had been wearing at her parents’ house rather than the denim capris she currently had on.
Annoyed at herself she turned on Erik.
“Do you mind?” she asked in her haughtiest tone.
“Not at all,” he leered, keeping his hand on her leg. “Do you?”
Jessica huffed loudly blowing a couple of wisps of hair off her face. Fine, so that’s how he wants to play it, she thought. Determined not to show he was getting to her, Jessica simply reached down, took his hand off of her leg and moved it… onto Blaise’s. As usual, he’d been in his own little world, so finding Erik’s hand resting on his thigh shook him up.
“What the?” Blaise snapped watching Jessica smirk at Erik who quickly removed his hand as if it had been burned. “Very mature, Jessica.”
“Do you two children need to be separated?” Jessica heard Becky call from the front seat.
Obviously restored to good humor, Erik called back, “Mo-om, Jessica’s bothering me.”
Peter looked at Becky and rolled his eyes.
“That’s the understatement of the year,” he said under his breath.
“What was that?” Erik asked, leaning toward the front once again.
“Would you just sit in your seat like a normal person Erik?” Jessica grumbled.
In the mood to act bratty Erik copied her. “Would you stay in your seat like a normal person?”
“That’s what I said.”
“That’s what I said.”
“Shut up Erik, I mean it.”
“Shut up Erik, I mean it.”
Jessica snarled at him and clenched her fist on her thigh to keep from socking him. She turned to look out the window trying to ignore his grating smirk.
What seemed like hours later the car pulled into the very crowded parking lot of the Mexican restaurant. Jessica had heard the margaritas were great, and all she could say was that they better be pretty damn terrific and strong after putting up with the obnoxious car ride.
Erik got out and aggravated Jessica by appearing to be a gentleman and holding the door open for her. Somehow Erik always came off looking like a prince rather than the scroungy dog she knew him to be.
The spicy aroma of chili peppers and garlic, and the overly loud trumpets of a Mexican mariachi band hit them as they walked in the door. Blaise had pushed his way through the crowd and was trying different names in the hopes that he could steal someone else's reservation.
“What an idiot,” Jessica mumbled to herself. Erik chuckled quietly behind her. She hurried over to the hostess stand to keep Blaise from getting them kicked out.
“The reservation is in my name, Blaise,” Jessica said through clenched teeth. Looking at the hostess she tried to smile. “It should be for five people under the name Jessica.”
The hostess gave Blaise a dirty look and stuck her nose in the air.
“Yes, I see it here, for 7:00. You can wait in the bar and we’ll call you in a few minutes.”
Yeah, right, Jessica thought to herself. They’d be lucky to eat by 9:00 if the hostess had any say in it.
“We’ll be lucky to eat at all tonight,” Erik echoed her thoughts behind her as they made their way toward the bar. Jessica looked back and saw Becky pulling Blaise to the side.
“Well, it looks like he’s about to get an earful.”
You could practically see the steam coming off Becky.
“Ouch! If it were anyone but Blaise I’d feel sorry for the guy,” Peter said.
“Come on.” Jessica pushed Erik and Peter toward the bar. “Let’s leave them to work this out.”
As they moved their way through the dense crowd Erik reached back and pulled on Jessica’s arm, moving her in front of him. They made it to the bar, but still Erik maintained his firm grasp on her arm as if he thought the crowd might otherwise swallow her up.
Behind them, Peter yelled his order over her head.
“What do you want?” Erik leaned close so she could hear. His breath in her ear tickled, making her shiver.
“They’re supposed to make pretty good Margaritas,” Jessica stuttered.
“Sounds good, let’s get a pitcher.”
He turned back to the bar and Jessica felt the awkwardness rise between them like a wall. He must have forgotten that his hand was still on her arm. It was the only reason she could come up with for why it was still there.
“Hey guys, get an extra glass for Becky, okay?” Peter called from behind them as Erik handed him his beer. “I think she’ll be needing
it.”
The heat from his hand burnt her arm as Jessica waited for their margaritas. But perhaps Erik was simply showing his bar smarts by holding onto her; people seemed to crowd around Peter, cutting him off and shifting him away. Jessica turned back to the bar and finally freed her arm to grab the Margarita glasses.
“Let’s see if Peter’s found any place to sit,” she said self-consciously, not quite meeting Erik’s eyes.
She spotted Peter heading toward Becky who apparently was trying to wave them all over.
“Here… let me,” Erik said moving in front of her and grabbing her hand. He pulled her behind him, clearing a path for them into the restaurant where the hostess was already leading the others away.
Jessica eyed the two remaining seats when they reached the table. A blatant expanse of red vinyl put her next to Erik through the whole meal. She squeezed in by him and tried to give Becky a dirty look; an impossibility since she was staring intently at her menu, neatly avoiding Jessica’s glare. Annoyed, Jess picked up her own menu with a loud, humph.
Her friends’ loyalty seemed to have gone missing lately anyway. For starters, Erik shouldn’t even be on this trip. This was her project… her mission to prove to herself that she could accomplish something big. Staring him in the face the whole time was not helping her motivation one bit.
No, not even a little bit she fumed as she felt his thigh rub against her own again. He was a great big distraction. And the worst part was that she didn’t really know how she felt about that. All she knew was that her mind wasn’t on Ian the way it should be and it was all Erik’s fault.
Chapter Forty-seven
Erik felt Jessica shift next to him yet again and smiled to himself. He guessed she must not realize that every time she squirmed it only made him that much more aware of the place where their bodies touched. The heat coming off of his tamale was nothing compared to what was flooding his system right now.
He was starting to think that antagonizing Jessica had grown into his life’s ambition, and now he had discovered a whole new way of getting her goat without having to resort to stupid arguments. He wondered what sex with her would be like. If they could ever get beyond the fighting, that is. Although, he thought, in the privacy of a bedroom she could take her temper out on him all she wanted. His mind formed an image of them tumbling around on the bed back at his condo and he groaned out loud.
“Too hot for you?” He heard Jessica ask and for a brief moment imagined she’d somehow read his mind.
“What?” He looked at her blankly and then realized she was talking about his food. “Oh! Oh yeah. You have no idea.”
His leer seemed to annoy her.
“What is with you tonight?”
“I thought it was vacation.” Erik grinned at her. “I’m just having some fun.”
For a moment they sat there, him grinning and her glaring until Becky finally interrupted.
“Hey you guys… anytime you’re ready to join the rest of the party, we’re sitting right here.”
“Yeah,” Peter laughed, “So how is it in la la land?”
“Really funny!” Jess answered back. “La la land, as you called it, was simply my making plans for our next steps in finding Ian.”
Sure, Erik thought; sure that was what she’d been thinking. Still, on the off chance it had been….
Jessica jumped about a foot when she felt Erik’s hand squeeze her thigh. She looked over to see him smirking at her.
“Are you insane?” she said under her breath. “Stop trying to distract me.”
“Hmmm, distract you; now that’s an idea. Is it working?”
“Anyway… I was saying,” Jessica ignored him and looked at the others. “We should talk about what we are going to do tomorrow.”
Becky gave her a mock glare, “I thought you said I could get a day of sun and relaxation when I got here.”
Jessica laughed at Becky’s feeble attempt to pout.
“What did you think today was? No, no. Wait before you yell at me,” Jessica laughed. “Actually what I was going to suggest was that maybe Peter could take me golfing while the rest of you get beach time.”
Peter’s eyebrows shot up.
“You have to be kidding,” he said. “You don’t even know how to hit a golf ball, do you? Did I miss something?”
“Um, no. But when I said golfing I meant going to a driving range at a golf course near here.”
Peter continued to look confused.
“Ian Drake, remember?” Jessica said as if this explained it perfectly. “He golfs.”
She waited again but continued to get blank looks all around.
“I thought we could, you know, practice at the driving range and see if he happens to show up. Or maybe ask some of the other golfers if he golfs there.”
Erik let out a huge guffaw. Catching Jessica’s glare made him laugh even harder.
“You’re nothing if not optimistic Jess. Is that the best you have? This is your big plan?”
Becky, probably observing the red creeping up Jessica’s face, interrupted. “Well, I like it Jess. Gives me some beach time and you and Peter some family bonding time.”
Becky smiled sweetly at Peter.
“Sure, play the sibling card,” Peter grumbled, but he smiled back at her.
“I thought you were supposed to go to MealTime to interview with the owner tomorrow though,” Becky said.
“Yeah, but that’s first thing in the morning.” Jessica looked over at Peter. “If I ride my bike to the catering company, could you drop the others off at the beach and then pick me up?”
“Jess this seems like a waste of time. Why don’t we all go to the beach and see if he shows up there?” Peter wheedled.
Erik let out a laugh, which didn’t help Peter’s case at all.
“Come on,” Jessica begged. “I promise to listen to all of your golf advice. And anyway, it’s not even really about the golf for me, so it’s more like you simply get some time with a golf club. You can’t tell me that wasn’t on your vacation plans somewhere?”
“Yeah, but not like this… and definitely not with you,” he answered dejectedly. He watched her pout for a second before finally giving in.
“Fine. I’ll skip the beach and take my baby sister to a driving range. How fun,” he said sarcastically.
“Well, you shouldn’t be so grim about it,” Jessica huffed. “It’s not like you’ve been that supportive lately anyway. It’s the least you can do.” She stared pointedly at Erik.
“Hey, what have I got to do with this?” he asked.
“Everything,” Peter mumbled as Jessica, ignoring him entirely, clapped her hands.
“Great,” she said. “So that’s the plan then.”
Chapter Forty-eight
“This was not the plan,” Jessica said into Erik’s obviously bemused face. “I specifically remember that Peter was the one who was supposed to take me golfing. So, what are you doing here?”
“Beats me,” Erik answered with a shrug. “I was all ready to go to the beach when Peter said something about not feeling well. All I know is he’s going to owe me for this... big.”
Jessica twisted her body to look back at the caterer’s storefront. Inside she could see them all staring out curiously at her and Erik.
"Fine, alright. Just get in the damn car,” she said pushing him off the car door where he had been lounging. “We can’t stand here arguing about it.”
She climbed into the passenger seat and waited while Erik got in and started the engine.
Okay! She took a deep breath. So what were her choices? She could either have him take her to the beach with the others, have Erik drop her off at the driving range, or suck it up and let him go with her. Not many options, she thought wryly.
The meeting with the caterer had gone well, but she wasn’t sure how much work they might have for her. More importantly, Jessica still couldn’t figure out how Sandy and Mandy were going to guarantee that she was the one who got the Ian
Drake gig; assuming it even came in.
She tried to picture herself alone at the golf course and immediately felt overwhelmed. The truth was she didn’t really know the first thing about golf and she was pretty sure they wouldn’t simply let her hang out at the clubhouse indefinitely.
So, it appeared she would be stuck with Erik. She turned to look at him. The car was on but they were still just sitting there in the parking lot.
“So, where are we going anyway?” he asked.
“Down the road; Tahoe City Golf,” she answered with her mouth still in a tight frown.
Erik pulled out of the parking space and looked at Jessica expectantly.
“What?” Jessica asked.
“Well, I DON’T READ MINDS. Which way, exactly, down the road?”
“Oh,” Jessica exhaled. “Left. That is, go left.” And she tried to give him what she thought was an ingratiating smile.
Erik didn’t seem to even see it. He drove down the road without saying another word.
Uh… Duh.” Jessica said watching them drive right by the golf course. “Did you not notice the big expanse of green we just passed? Or the extra-large Tahoe City Golf sign?”
Erik swore under his breath and pulled to the curb to turn around. It was obviously going to be a long morning.
Jessica’s club missed her first ball completely. Hearing the club whoosh through the air on her second shot, and then thud onto the ball gave her hope, until Erik swore next to her.
“Try not to kill the other golfers, okay Jess?”
Her third ball rolled about a foot in front of her and then stopped. Her fourth ball kept rolling off the fake green and onto Erik’s side whenever she tried to place it. When she reached over for the fourth time to retrieve it and almost got herself killed it was absolutely the last straw for Erik.
“For God’s sake Jessica, haven’t you ever played golf before?” Erik yelled at her.
Jessica looked around quickly. They were far down on the right hand side of the driving range, and it didn’t look like anyone had turned around to hear who he was yelling at, but you never knew. Maybe they would kick her out. Did they do that at golf courses if you didn’t know how to hit the ball? Jessica wasn’t sure, but she didn’t want to find out.
Betting Jessica Page 17