The Wager tb-2

by Rachel Van Dyken

  “Mr. Casbon got me that tattoo in Hawaii last winter. It was a gift. I can’t just say no to a gift.”

  “Mr. Casbon?” Char asked from the front seat.

  “Neighbor,” Jake growled. “Don’t ask.”

  “He has a walker now,” Grandma added. “It’s harder for him to get around, though he is much more creative these days.” She chuckled. “You’ll meet him at the wedding.”

  “Can’t wait.” Char grinned and winked at Jake.

  “All right.” Jake opened the door. “Let me see it.”

  “I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Pull up the pant leg. Let me see it.” He pointed down at her leg. “If you don’t let me see it I’m announcing it in the local church bulletin.”

  Grandma gasped. “You wouldn’t dare!”

  “He would,” Char said. “Believe me, his apple definitely fell from your tree.”

  Grandma smiled. “That’s my boy.”

  “Up.” Jake motioned, ignoring the compliment.

  “Fine.” Grandma pulled up her pant leg. The tattoo was really colorful; in fact it would’ve been a really pretty tattoo if the woman in the hula skirt wasn’t naked.

  “Sailor Jerry,” Jake guessed.

  At Char’s gasp Grandma said, “It’s a classic! Why, we had these around war time!”

  “Naked is still naked, war or no war,” Jake said.

  “Topless,” Grandma shrugged, “is not naked. It’s not as if I have the girls—”

  “And you’re done talking,” Jake interrupted. “So what do we do? Char and I have to plan this joint party you’ve suddenly come up with out of nowhere and you don’t want anything to do with Petunia.”

  With a dramatic sigh, Grandma got out of the car. “Fine, I’ll play nice. Just don’t let that, that, woman, near me!”

  “Grandma.” Jake kissed her hand. “I knew we’d see eye to eye.”

  “Rogue.” She winked. “You always were my favorite.”

  “Funny; I heard you say the same thing to Travis not so long ago.”

  She waved him off. “Yes, well, right now he’s on my shit list.”

  Char burst into laughter behind them.

  Grandma peered around Jake. “I know, I said ‘shit’, but it’s true. He’s been sneaking out of his room! Not to mention he’s terrible at it. He’ll thank me after the wedding night; that is if he doesn’t die first. But if he does at least he’ll die pure rather than as a sinner.”

  “I think he and Kacey have already—”

  “Shh, all right. I’m off to search for the vodka. I’m going to need strong spirits if I have to breathe the same air as Petunia the Prude.”

  Char got out of the car and followed them. “Grandma, it’s like ten in the morning.”

  “Dear.” Grandma turned and faced Char. “When you’re eighty-six and you’ve lived a long, full, and happy life, the last thing you pay attention to is the time. So it’s ten in the morning? It’s five o’clock somewhere!” With that, she waltzed off.

  “Hmm,” Char said.

  “What?” Jake looped his arm in hers.

  “I’m trying to figure out what I’m more concerned about.”

  “Huh?” Jake stopped walking.

  “Grandma listening to Jimmy Buffett or the fact that she’s drinking nine hours before the pleasure party.”

  “Her costume may be a lamp shade,” Jake agreed. “But you heard the woman, and what she says is law.”

  “So maybe being eighty-six won’t be so bad.” Char laughed.

  “Live by her rules.” He pointed to the kitchen where Grandma was pouring herself a healthy drink. “And I’m sure it won’t be.”

  Chapter Forty

  “Open the door, Char. It can’t be that bad.” Jake knocked for the tenth time and waited. Char swore on the other end. “Char? I’m waiting. We’re the hosts of the pleasure party.”

  “Don’t say it like that.” She said from the other side of the door.

  “How do you want me to say it?”

  With a groan, she pulled open the door. “Don’t laugh.”

  Laugh? Was she insane? She looked like a hotter version of Britney Spears, before the crazy. Her long chestnut hair was straightened and hung past her breasts. She had on a leather hat that matched her short leather dress. She put her hands on her hips; they were covered with lace gloves.

  “Get in the bathroom,” he growled.

  Char’s eyes widened as she backed up.

  Jake kicked the door closed just as his mouth found hers. He lifted her onto the counter and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

  “Damn, you look good.” He kissed her exposed neck. She tilted her head back and let out a soft feminine sigh as her fingers dug into his back.

  “It’s time!” Someone banged on the door.

  “No it’s not,” Jake argued, not taking his lips from Char’s neck.

  “Oh, but it is.” The door burst open, revealing the lady from the store. “Trying out some products, I see? The costumes do it every time.”

  Jake jerked away from Char and cursed, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

  “It’s your turn.” The lady handed an outfit to Jake. “Everyone’s ready but you.”

  “Right.” He took the outfit. “Thanks for reminding me.”

  She stood there and waited for Char to leave before the door clicked shut again.

  Char’s outfit had been something out of his wildest fantasies; his couldn’t be that bad, right?

  * * *

  “Have you seen Jake?” Jace asked as he took a seat across from Char. “I’ve been meaning to ask him about his toast. I kind of want to do something tomorrow night, too; that is if he’ll pull his face out of his ass long enough to talk to me.”

  Char offered a polite smile. “I haven’t seen him yet, but I’m sure he won’t mind.”

  “He’s not worth it, you know,” Jace said in a voice so low only Char could hear him.

  “I’m sorry; what?” Char took a sip of wine and smiled as friends poured into the large living room.

  “Jake.” Jace moved to sit next to her on the couch. “He’s a player. The man’s good at what he does, but he doesn’t do commitment. You should know that.” Jace sighed. “Things with him… relationships with that type of guy… They’ll always be difficult to manage. And in the end there’s always a fifty-fifty chance your heart will get broken.”

  “Thanks for your concern.”

  Jace winked. “It’s selfishness on my part, purely selfishness. I think you’re beautiful. I’ve only known you for a few days but I’d love to take you out on a date.”

  “Well, um, Jake and I, you see, we’re—”

  “Ladies and gentlemen, the best man has offered to do a dance for us!”

  Offered my ass, Char thought. He’d probably been probably coerced; either that or drugged.

  The lights were lowered and then a spotlight went on in the hall. “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy” by Big and Rich started to pound through the sound system.

  Jake appeared in leather chaps, with something resembling euro shorts underneath but no shirt. No worries there, though: He was wearing a lace tie and a black cowboy hat.

  Hot damn, the man looked edible.

  Clearly, the sales lady had wiped some product on him by the looks of it; he was glowing with some sort of oily liquid all over his chest. Char’s mouth dropped open when his eyes found hers. With a purposeful strut, he made his way toward her.

  Dollar bills were stuffed into his pants as he crossed the living room.

  Stopping in front of her, he leaned down low and then straddled her lap. Holy crap, holy crap—she looked around for help. Was he really going to give her some sort of cowboy lap dance? Magic Mike style? In front of the entire wedding party? And Grandma?

  With a wink, he began to move across her lap. He mouthed sorry when he elbowed Jace in the face as he did a body roll.

  Move over Channing Tatum. H
oly crap, she was going to have a stroke.

  The chorus hit and everyone joined in on the song. “Save a horse, ride a cowboy!”

  Jake tilted the brim of his hat to Char and moved off of her lap. Had she had it her way, he would have stayed there all night.

  He moved across the room with pantherlike grace. His golden brown hair fell across his face and had a slight curl to it. She wasn’t sure if it was sweat or the oil that was causing his hair to curl. But she’d had no idea it was so naturally curly, or so devastatingly hot that she’d literally throw Grandma under a bus in order to put her hands through his hair.

  A few other girls yelled his name. He turned his full attention toward them and danced into their group.

  “Like I said.” Jace cleared his throat next to her. “Once a player always a player. You think he’s ever going to give that up?” For you? The last part wasn’t spoken out loud, but Char felt the words like a punch to her chest. The music stopped; everyone clapped. Char looked down at her lap and played with the stem of her wine glass.

  “Now, everyone welcome the bride and the groom, with a special guest in tow!” A miserable-looking Travis walked down the hall. The man was huge, all corded muscle and brute strength. He was also in a leather caveman costume. Poor guy, definitely got the short end of the stick.

  Kacey was dressed in a short white leather skirt and a lacey white shirt. She looked ready to party.

  Behind them followed Grandma.

  In an actual cat suit, which really wouldn’t have been such a stretch if she hadn’t painted whiskers on her face. But if anyone could rock it, it was Grandma.

  “Let’s get this party started!” Grandma shouted.

  Kacey sipped her wine as the music changed to techno. People around the room mingled and laughed, but Char felt completely alone.

  As if someone had taken the fight out of her.

  Her dress wouldn’t allow for her to sneak in her cell phone, so she was officially the lame girl staring at the table at a party she was supposed to be hosting with Jake.

  Jace leaned in to her left. “You want me to refill your wine?”

  Anything to get rid of him and his condescending attitude. “Sure, thanks.” She handed the glass over and stared as Jake continued to flirt and talk with a few mutual friends Char hadn’t seen in a while. These were the rest of the bridesmaids. Technically, it was Char’s job to go make introductions and be the bigger person but she kind of wanted to wallow.

  “Char!” Jake called from across the room, waving her over. Trying not to scowl, she got up from the couch and felt her face heat as the girls eyed her up and down. Sizing up the competition perfectly.

  When she was close enough Jake wrapped his arm around her, holding her hostage. “This is Char. I think a few of you guys went to high school together.”

  “Really?” Char asked, not recognizing any of the faces.

  “Yeah.” Jake squeezed her shoulder. “Really? Don’t you remember, Britney?”

  “Ugh.”

  A tall blond girl with a wide set mouth and brown eyes held out her hand. “It’s nice to see you again.” Mental note: Britney was nice and had a really kind smile.

  “And Lillian.” Jake pointed to an Asian woman with blue streaks in her hair. Char had never seen her before in her life, but shook her hand anyway.

  “I know you remember me.” The next girl said with a touch of venom in her voice. She was about as tall as Char, but curvy in a Kardashian sort of way. “Amy—”

  “Stevens.” Char choked out. Clearly God was finished punishing Jake and had now moved on to her. Great. What were the odds? The same girl they’d gone to junior high camp with? And why the hell did Kacey have her in her bridal party? Seriously? To be fair, Kacey had never known why Char hated Amy. Char had been too embarrassed over her obsession with Jake to tell her. As far as she knew, Amy had kept in touch with Kacey. Technically, it was Char’s fault the girl was here; she’d been so focused on work that when Kacey had sent her all the details on bridesmaids Char had all but ignored her and just agreed to whatever. Ugh, now she regretted not thoroughly reading those e-mails. How had she missed Amy’s name?

  “Great to see you again, Char.” Amy’s smile didn’t reach her eyes, and after a few awkward moments she touched Jake lightly on the arm. “So tell me about life. I’d love to catch up; it’s been ages.” And just like that Char was pushed out of the way. Jake looked back at her and gave her a pathetically kind smile, which just made everything worse.

  If he was a jerk at least she could be angry with him.

  But when he was nice or when she felt like he was pitying her? It sucked—hard.

  “Here’s your wine.” Jace came up alongside her. “Hello, plastic surgery.” He shook his head and stared at Amy and Jake.

  Char growled low in her throat and took the wine from Jace’s hand.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  Char let out a breath and faced him. Why couldn’t she like him? Maybe if she closed her eyes she could believe he was Jake, and not Jace she was kissing or touching.

  Would every man fail in comparison to Jake? Would she forever live her life comparing them to him in the first place?

  “Attention, everyone! Please take your seats!” The lady from the store moved to the middle of the room and slowly began removing different gadgets from boxes and setting them out on a black velvet tablecloth.

  Char was no prude, but even she was shocked. Helpless, she looked to Jake but he was still engrossed in conversation. Her eyes darted around the room. Kacey was laughing, Travis was looking longingly at Kacey, and Grandma was…

  Oh great. Grandma was dragging Petunia down the hall for the show.

  It was going to be a fight of epic proportions.

  Char cringed when the lights went off.

  The table glowed.

  Hell.

  “Now.” The lady clapped her hands. “I’m Lola. I’ll be your pleasure consultant for the evening.” Jace choked beside her. She slapped his back and he wheezed out a “thank you”.

  “To make this party more intimate, I’ve set up different tables and products in the spare bedrooms. I’ve also brought some wonderful lingerie from our romance line. Perfect for the bride!”

  “Here, here!” Travis shouted.

  The room filled with nervous laughter.

  “Now…” Lola started at the far end of the table.

  A half hour into the presentation Char was thankful the lights were turned down. Her face was probably as red as a tomato.

  After the final product was displayed, Jace whispered next to her. “Does it make me less of a man to admit I didn’t know half of what she was saying?”

  “No, that makes you normal,” Char said.

  “Good, because I started getting worried about a quarter of the way through.”

  Laughing, Char patted him on the arm, just as Jake’s eyes fell on her hand from across the room. He shook his head, lips in a firm line, and made his way down the hall.

  “Any questions?” Lola asked. The lights went up.

  Grandma was swaying in the middle of the room with her wine. The fight had gone out of Petunia. Either that or she was dead. Jury was still out. Her eyes were closed and she was leaning back on the couch with her mouth open.

  “You killed her.” Char pointed to Petunia.

  “I drugged her.” Grandma did a little twirl. “She wouldn’t stop complaining about the party, so I crushed a Benadryl into her juice.”

  “Grandma!” Char scolded. “That’s dangerous!’

  Grandma took a long sip of her wine. “I dated a pharmacist once.”

  “Doesn’t make you a pharmacist.”

  “Ah, details.”

  Pinching the bridge of her nose, Char decided not to fight that battle.

  “Are you okay, dear?” Grandma’s eyebrows furrowed with concern.

  “Headache.” Heartache; same thing.

  “I’ve got aspirin just down the hall in my room. Go gra
b one, they’re on my nightstand next to the Benadryl. Just be sure to take the white pill and not the pink pill. The pink pill will have you three sheets to the wind after all that wine.”

  Nodding, Char walked off down the hall to grab some aspirin. Grandma’s room was on the bottom floor because she hated climbing stairs. Kacey had said that just this last year Grandma had wanted to move upstairs because she’d watched the movie Up and thought it would be fun to have one of those chairs that attaches to stairs like a ride.

  She was vetoed.

  With a sigh, she pushed open the door and found Jake and Amy in an embrace. Amy’s arms were wrapped tightly around his neck and she was wearing nothing but cheap lingerie from the party.

  Jake pushed her away, and then saw Char.

  “Do you mind?” Amy spat in Char’s direction. “We’re kind of busy here.”

  “Char, wait!” Jake called, but she was already running, in platform heels no less, down the hall and out the door.

  Chapter Forty-one

  “Damn it, Amy!” Jake yelled. “What the hell is wrong with you? I said I wasn’t interested.”

  “You looked interested.” Her eyebrow arched as she tried to get close to him again.

  Jake lifted his hands to stop her. “Seriously, not interested. Not now, not ever.”

  “Guys like you…”

  “Guys like me, what?” Jake sneered. “Finish what you were going to say.”

  She licked her lips and crossed her arms. “They don’t say no.”

  Jake nodded. “You’re right.”

  Amy’s smile was vicious as she approached.

  “I must not be that guy anymore.” He stormed out of the room in search of Char.

  An hour later, he still hadn’t located her to apologize. The only damn reason he’d been in that room in the first place was because Amy had had so much to drink that he didn’t want her to ruin the party by going crazy—he’d seen her pop a few pills before her last glass of wine.

  Muffling another curse, Jake made his way upstairs to get some of the oil off and to change into clothes that didn’t make him look like a poorly paid prostitute. Funny, how just a few months ago he would have been totally okay with looking like this. Now he just felt dirty, used, gross.