“You’re a chauvinistic, arrogant, misogynistic, selfish bastard,” she snapped, “and the only reason any girl goes to bed with you is because you magically turn on the charm, and it’s like a smokescreen—it hides what you’re really like.”
“I’m not misogynistic.” He neatly avoided the other, possibly more correct, accusations. “I don’t hate women. I happen to like them very much. And of course I turn on the charm and put on an act—that’s what all guys do. You really think I’m the only man who doesn’t burp or fart on the first date?”
Maisey chuckled, and Joss grinned.
“I get your point,” Tasha admitted wryly. Then her mouth set in a firm line. “But the fact is I know the real you. So what I’m saying is there’s no way I could possibly fall for your charms when I know how tarnished you are beneath the silver plating.”
Kole always knew when he was getting under Tasha’s skin—her eyes would narrow, she’d clench her teeth, and sometimes she’d get so angry she’d either yell or walk off. What she didn’t know was how much she got to him sometimes.
He could be arrogant, irreverent, and insouciant. It was partly cultivated and partly natural because, basically, he didn’t give a flying fuck what anyone thought of him. Ever since Harry died, he’d been determined to do exactly what he wanted with his life. What was the point in getting knotted up in worries and fears when at any moment the metaphorical wheels could slip from under him and everything would fade to black?
But that didn’t mean he didn’t feel anything, and her inference that women were only attracted to him because they didn’t know the real him stung.
Still, he didn’t show his hurt. Instead, he leaned back on his hands and raised his eyebrows. “Maybe the real me is the one the other girls get to see—did you ever think of that?”
Her gaze flicked over him, curious at that thought. Then she said, “Nah. I’m not falling for that. I know you’re an ass deep down.”
Irritation flared through him. “So which charm school did you go to again? Sweetheart, I can’t imagine falling for you if you danced around my bed naked with tassels on your tits.”
He’d hoped to infuriate her, but, to his surprise, her lips curved and she tipped her head from side to side as if thinking about the tassels as an option. “I have a few tricks up my sleeve,” she said. Her eyes twinkled.
He glanced at her chest. The notion of Tasha Wilde dancing around his bed twirling a pair of tassels wasn’t as distasteful as it should have been. She had nice breasts, generous and yet girlishly high, and where the cool summer breeze played across her skin, he could see her nipples peeking through her T-shirt.
She pointed two fingers in a V shape at him, then pointed at her face, drawing his stare from her boobs. “Eyes up, soldier.”
He met her gaze, unable to hide a smile. Her lips curved in response. They’d always bantered like this, teetering on the line between flirting and arguing. If he was honest with himself, he quite enjoyed it.
“You know,” Joss said, interrupting his train of thought, “if this were a bet, I’d put money on Tasha to win.”
“I don’t think that’s going to be…” The words sunk in, and Kole stared at him. “Wait, what?”
Joss shrugged. “She’s always gotten to you—you can’t deny it. You like to think you’re James Bond, impervious to a pair of fluttering eyelashes, but the truth is you’re an old romantic at heart. If Tasha turned it on and went all out, she’d reel you in like a twenty-pound snapper.”
“Bollocks,” Kole said.
“Actually,” Maisey said, “I have to agree with Kole. He’s immune to feminine wiles. I should know—I’ve tried them on him all my life and he’s hopeless.”
“It’s not quite the same thing when your sister uses them,” Joss said wryly.
Maisey shook her head and gave Tasha an apologetic look. “I’m sorry to say it, but I don’t think you could win that bet. You’ve seen the kind of girls Kole goes out with. They’re like pampered Chihuahuas, all blonde hair and long nails, with brains the size of peanuts. You’re like a Rottweiler. A very small one.”
“I’d say I’m more of a German Shepherd,” Tasha said. “Intelligent and a very quick learner.” She raised her eyebrows at Kole.
“Actually, I would imagine you’re like a praying mantis,” he said. “I bet you bite guys’ heads off after you’ve slept with them.”
She grinned and shrugged as if to say perhaps. He smiled, surprised to feel the stir of something inside him. It could have been the way she was standing. Hands in the pockets of her stone-colored shorts, she’d dropped a hip and it accentuated the curve of her waist, making her look saucy and suggestive. Her legs were tanned and shapely, and although her hair remained tied up in the usual ponytail, strands fluttered around her face, softening it a little. She really was rather lovely. Beneath all the growling and yelling.
“Well,” Joss said, “perhaps you ought to put it to the test.”
They all looked at him. “What do you mean?” Tasha said.
The doctor stretched out and observed them both with interest. “You’re both so certain of yourselves. Prove it to us, then. Prove you’re immune to the other’s charms.”
“Joss…” Maisey warned.
“No, I’d quite like to see the outcome of this,” he said. “And let’s raise the stakes a little. There’s, what, eight days until the dude who owns the shop comes back from Peru?”
“Yes,” Tasha said cautiously.
“So let’s say whoever wins the bet, wins the shop.”
Everyone went quiet.
“That’s a stupid idea,” Maisey said eventually. “It’s like a bloody Shakespearean play.” She looked at her best friend, then at Kole. “You’re kidding me,” she said as she saw the look on his face. “You’re not really considering this?”
He studied Tasha. Her face was expressionless, and he couldn’t tell what she was thinking.
It was a stupid idea. If they both knew they were dating for a bet, there would be no way they would allow themselves to fall for the other, especially in eight days!
Nevertheless, it had piqued his interest. Tasha had spoken so confidently. You’d fall for me before I ever fell for you. The stubborn part of him that hated to be beaten wanted to prove her wrong. Also, she’d spoken the truth when she said everyone put on a different face when they dated. And he wanted to know what hers was. How had she enticed the lovers she’d taken to bed? She was like a hedgehog, so prickly he couldn’t imagine her letting anyone close. What was she like when she dropped that hard, confident mask?
Unable to suppress a surge of naughtiness, he shrugged. “Doesn’t matter to me either way. I already have my name down for the shop, and even if I took the bet, I’d still win.”
Tasha’s eyes narrowed. “Right. You’re on.”
Maisey sat up hurriedly, brushing sand off her shorts. “No, no, no! This is a nightmare. You can’t do this.”
“Why not?” Joss looked thoroughly amused. “This is going to be better than an evening at the cinema. I’ll have to buy popcorn.”
“Because you can’t play with each other’s feelings like this.” To Kole’s surprise, Maisey looked upset. “Someone’s going to get hurt.”
“Well, according to Kole, he’d never fall for me even if I danced around his bed naked,” Tasha said, “so he doesn’t have a lot to worry about.” Her eyes met Kole’s, challenging. That comment had got to her, he thought. Interesting.
“And what about you?” Maisey frowned at her. “You know what he’s like. He has some kind of secret weapon he whips out on unsuspecting females—what if it actually works on you?”
“I’d quite like to see his secret weapon actually,” Tasha said with much amusement. Kole and Joss laughed, but Maisey glared at her. Tasha sighed. “Oh, come on. You really think men are the only ones who can have a fling without getting their emotions involved? We’re talking eight days—that’s not long enough to fall in love with anyone anyway.�
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“So what’s the point?” Maisey asked, bemused.
Tasha studied him, tipping her head. A smile spread slowly across her face. “I want to see what all the other girls see.” She glanced at Maisey. “And I don’t just mean the secret weapon.”
Her eyes were intense, interested, and his heart rate picked up a little. She was serious about this.
“Yeah,” he said. “Me too.”
Her eyes widened a fraction, lighting with something—excitement? The thrill of the challenge?
“There you go,” Joss said. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream it is, then. Shake on it.”
“Wait, wait.” Maisey held up a hand. “There have to be a few rules.”
“Like what?”
“First off, no dating anyone else for eight days. That’s only fair.”
Kole and Tasha both nodded. “Okay.”
“And Joss and I will make the final decision. Next Sunday, we’ll announce who we think has the most feelings for the other. And you both have to agree to abide by the decision.”
Kole looked at his sister. She had a determined glint in her eye that told him she wasn’t messing around. But what did he have to worry about? He wouldn’t fall for any girl, let alone Tasha, in eight days. Not that she’d fall for him either—they’d always been too irritable with each other for that kind of connection to happen. But he might be able to work on her a bit, get her to at least admit he wasn’t quite the arrogant ass she always seemed to think he was.
“Okay.” He looked back at Tasha and held out his hand. “May the best man win.”
She chewed her bottom lip. Then she leaned forward and shook his hand. “Or woman.” Her eyes met his, unfathomable behind her dark-rimmed glasses, and deep inside he felt a shiver of anticipation.
This was going to be fun.
Chapter Three
Tasha dropped Kole’s hand and moved back. Warmth had flowed through her at his touch. Realization began to settle over her like a sheet of sand blown by the wind. Was she really considering this?
“Well, now that excitement’s over, I really have to get back to work.” Joss rose to his feet and dusted off his trousers. “You guys coming?”
“Actually, I wouldn’t mind a moment with my new girlfriend,” Kole said. “If you have the time, Tash? I’ll take you back to work afterward.”
Her heart increased its pace, but she shrugged. “Yeah, whatever.”
“Can you drop me off?” Maisey asked Joss as she also stood. She and Tasha were both working at the same café while they waited to set up their shop.
“Sure. Come on.”
Maisey gave the two of them a last look. “Have a think about this before you do anything stupid,” she warned. “It’s not too late to back out, you know.”
“I’m not backing out,” Tasha said firmly. “I want that shop.”
Kole gestured toward himself as if to say me too.
“It’s just…” Maisey hesitated. “We all get on so well. This will change things. And not necessarily for the better.”
“It’s eight days,” Tasha said. “Not even your brother’s that much of a Casanova. We’ll be fine.”
Maisey looked doubtful, but Joss tugged her sleeve, and they walked off up the beach toward where he’d parked his car.
Tasha glanced down at Kole. “What do you want to talk about?”
He leaned back, stuffed his hand in the pocket of his jeans, and withdrew the small camera he always carried around with him. “I want to take your picture.”
She sighed. “Kole…”
He held up the camera, then waited. “Say yes.” He always asked permission first. She liked that about him.
“No.”
His expression turned to amused exasperation. “We’re not going to get very far if you won’t do as you told.”
That made her chuckle. “You like to boss your girlfriends around?”
“I don’t mind the submissive type, I have to say.”
“Then we’re going to have a lot of trouble.”
He chuckled and gestured to the camera. “Well?”
“Go on, then.”
She stood patiently and looked at the sea while he clicked, used to this. She couldn’t remember a time when he hadn’t had a camera in his pocket. “What kind of camera is it?” she asked as he waited with the lens trained on her. “It’s quite tiny. I thought you usually use great big ones with the long lenses.”
“Too heavy when I’m out and about. I like to point and shoot at whim.”
She laughed, and he clicked again. “Got it.”
“Got what?”
“Your smile. It’s like the transit of Venus—it doesn’t come around very often so you have to catch it when you can.”
She gave him a wry look and sat on the sand next to him. He switched off the camera and tucked it back in his pocket, then leaned back on his hands, legs stretched out.
“So then,” she said. They sat close, their shoulders brushing. “Why did you agree to this bet?”
He looked across at her. “What do you mean?”
“You already have the shop. Why would you agree to go ahead with the bet when you could lose it?”
Usually, his eyes held frustration or exasperation whenever they looked at her. But at that moment, they were lit with something else. Interest? “Well,” he said, “firstly, there’s no way I’m going to lose.”
“Ha. Famous last words.”
“If you say so. I remain confident in my prediction.”
She rolled her eyes. “And secondly?”
“Can’t you guess?”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
The corner of his mouth curved up. “I want you.”
Her thoughts shuddered to a stop as if someone had slammed on the brakes. “What? You’re teasing me,” she said cautiously. “I know I irritate you.”
“Well, yes. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to see what lies behind that feisty façade.” He tipped his head. “We’ve always fought, and we’ve always hidden any feelings we’ve had for one another because I’m Maisey’s brother and you’re Fox’s sister. There’s always been an invisible line none of us wanted to cross. But do you really think I haven’t watched you dating guys and wondered what they get to see when they take you home?”
She swallowed against a nervous lump in her throat. She hadn’t thought this through. She’d imagined going on a few dates, maybe making out on the sofa… But Kole’s eyes and his words suggested he had a little more in mind.
“What are you saying?” she whispered.
“I wondered how far you wanted to take it.” His eyes were intense, amused. “Perhaps we should set some limits.”
The summer breeze stroked up her arms, and Tasha shivered, conscious of her nipples tightening beneath her T-shirt. She was determined not to let him see how he was unnerving her though. Part of her couldn’t shake the feeling he was already playing the game, trying to push her out of her comfort zone. Little did he know she didn’t really have one. “Or perhaps we shouldn’t,” she murmured.
His eyes widened. “Huh.”
“Just so you know, you fascinate me too,” she said. “You’re right—I’ve always kept a lid on it because there’s an unwritten law that we’re all out of bounds. But we’re all grown up now. I haven’t dated in a while. And I like sex. It’ll be interesting to see what I can show you.”
He chuckled at her choice of pronouns. “You’re very different to most girls I go out with.”
“I take that as a compliment.”
That earned her an exasperated look. “I don’t just date bimbos.”
“You always date bimbos. Nearly always. And even though most of them have an IQ lower than my shoe size, they still seem to see something in you I don’t get to see. I want to know what it is.”
“Well, then, I suppose you have eight days to find out.” His eyes challenged her to break it off.
“That’s twice as long as your normal relation
ships last,” she couldn’t stop herself from saying, even though her heart thumped at the notion of what she was getting herself into. “How will you cope?”
He didn’t smile, though. Instead, his eyes became hooded, as if he was already thinking about where this might lead. “Tash, I want to make this perfectly clear. If we do this, if we forget about being friends, if we date for eight days and you say there are no limits…” His gaze dropped to her mouth. “I’m not going to hold back.”
Her grin faded, and she had to stop herself from giving a big nervous gulp. “What do you mean, not hold back?”
“I want that shop.” He looked determined. “And I’m going to get it. So if you’re going to be my girl for eight days, you’ll be getting a hundred percent of me. No holds barred. You think you can handle that?”
She stared, and in spite of his arrogant assumption that would normally have her spitting feathers, she was suddenly lost for words. “I…um…”
“But then that’s it.” His eyes were clear. “I’m not looking for a relationship. And I don’t want you blaming me when you lose the shop and your heart.”
Surely, he was teasing her. No guy could be that confident of winning over a girl. In confirmation, his eyes twinkled and his lips curved.
Still, his words resonated through her as if someone had struck a tuning fork. You think you can handle that?
She looked down as she felt coldness on her hands, and realized she’d clenched them deep into the cool sand lying beneath the hot surface. Unfurling her fingers, she let the grains trickle through. Certain he wanted her to ask, she fought not to, but in the end she couldn’t stop herself. “What did you mean, ‘You think you can handle that?’”
He shrugged. “Some girls seem to think I’m quite…demanding, shall we say.”
A frisson travelled through her again that had nothing to do with the summer breeze. But she knew better than to show her fascination. “I can top that,” she said. “One ex told me I was so unladylike, I ought to work in a brothel.”
Kole roared with laughter, then sobered at the look on her face. “You’re kidding me.”
“Nope.”
His jaw dropped. “One of your boyfriends actually said that to you?”
Treat with Caution (Treats to Tempt You Book 1) Page 2