The Betting Groom (Last Play Christmas Romance Book 1; The Legendary Kent Brothers)

by Taylor Hart

  “Yes, we do. I’m excited about that.” He whipped out his phone. “I’m going to text Hank right now and have him tell all the volunteers if they want to meet back at my place around eleven tomorrow night, we’ll have hot cocoa and cookies.”

  Her heart warmed. “Well, you are Santa Claus, so I would expect you to give the elves hot cocoa and cookies.”

  He laughed.

  She felt really good at the moment. After all the snowmobiling, they’d gone back and showered. Will had forced her to take a thirty-minute nap. He’d gone to the exercise room and run. Of course he had. Now, as she sat with him, wearing the sparkly red dress, she started to believe that maybe …

  No. She couldn’t put that into her equation. She couldn’t think that after three days she could be falling for him again. “I’m barely divorced,” she asserted.

  Will nodded and sipped some water. “True. And boy, you keep telling me all about it.” He gave her a wicked smile. “Seems like it may be the only defensive play you have to run against me right now.”

  Butterflies fluttered inside of her. Sure, he’d been making some moves, but he couldn’t be serious about them being together, could he?

  The band changed songs, and he put out his hand. “It’s a Sloane Kent song. We have to dance.”

  She grinned back at him, thinking about all the times they’d danced to Sloane’s songs in the kitchen while Sloane sat on the counter and sang, strumming his guitar. She looked at the dance floor. There were one or two couples, nobody else.

  Her first thought was that she didn’t want to draw attention to them.

  He stood as if reading her mind. “How about I fire you from being my PR person, just for tonight?”

  What could she say? She did want to dance. She stood too and took his hand, feeling that constant electric pulse between them that went up a notch when they touched. “This doesn’t mean …”

  “Anything,” he affirmed, gently twirling her as they got to the dance floor. “Wait, on the count of three—skiing or dancing?”

  “Dancing,” they said in unison.

  She fell into an easy two-step with him. Their eyes held as she got lost in the dance with him, forgetting everything around them.

  It was just like it had always been. Her and Will.

  The song turned to a waltz and he moved her into those steps. Pulling her closer, he whispered in her ear, “It has always felt like we were made to dance together. Do you remember that?”

  Chills washed over her as she did remember.

  Not waiting for a response, he pushed her out, into a turn, then back to him.

  They moved around the floor quickly, and he held her like he would carry her if she put her feet up. She felt like they weren’t just dancing; they were flying, soaring. And before she knew it, she was laughing.

  He met her eyes and he laughed, too.

  She let go and turned and spun and did moves she hadn’t done since the last time she’d danced with Will at senior prom.

  Their eyes held, and she felt the intensity. Being this close to Will Kent might just have her wishing things could be different, wishing their relationship were possible.

  The song changed again. It was another country Christmas song, a duet with Montana Crew and Sloane.

  Will’s expression turned to one of pride. “My brother.” He turned to the band, and then to everyone else, who consisted of two other couples. “My brother, ladies and gentlemen, Sloane Kent, singing with Montana Crew.”

  Tara admired the way Will was beaming from ear to ear, so proud of Sloane. She remembered countless times they’d all sat around together and he and Sloane had tinkered on the guitar.

  Will sang out the song: “After midnight.” The words fit this moment perfectly. “Softly kiss your neck and then you whisper, it wasn’t over then—even when I left you. Candles after midnight, your hand feeling so right, you left before midnight …”

  He turned her out, then back to him. “The girl I used to know wouldn’t let me go; she’d chase me down and then laugh out loud when I kissed her. The girl I used to know couldn’t stop the glow when I’d hold her tight … she always wanted to stay … after midnight.”

  Her pulse raced and she felt herself getting lost in this dance, in his arms, in the way his breath felt against her cheek.

  “Now I tumble to my knees and I ask her, come back home with me and don’t leave again … ’cause we’re past that. But she pushes me away, and slaps me when I say I need her. But dang, I need her. The girl I used to know wouldn’t let me go; she’d chase me down and then laugh out loud when I kissed her. The girl I used to know couldn’t stop when I’d hold her tight … she’d always wanted to stay … and I’m asking her to stay … after midnight.”

  The song ended and his hand softly touched her face, then cupped the back of her head. There was no denying they were meant to kiss each other.

  Chapter 18

  Their lips met, and explosions went off inside of Tara. Will kept the kiss sweet, gently trailing kisses up her jawline to her ear.

  “Will,” she said, breathless.

  Finding her lips again, he kissed her but stopped dancing. He didn’t seem to care.

  More emotions burned through her, burning through the charred husks of her ex and the fact she was carrying another man’s child. She couldn’t deny she was falling for this man.

  She’d been in way over her head from the moment she’d answered the door the first night at her apartment.

  “Will,” she breathed, staying next to him, staying with her hands around his neck. Staying exactly where he always wanted her. “We shouldn’t …”

  He silenced her with another slow kiss and fell into a soft sway with her as the music started again.

  “Go, Will Kent!” someone shouted.

  She froze, but he took her hand and started off of the floor, not even pausing to pay. He just tapped the waiter on his shoulder. “Charge it to the room and give yourself a thirty percent tip.”

  “Yes, sir,” said the waiter happily.

  Pretty much everyone in the room was watching them exit, but she didn’t care. There were people waiting at the elevator. Will cursed and turned for the stairs.

  She couldn’t stop herself from laughing at the caveman taken out of his box. He pushed the door and led her down the stairs. Right before they reached the seventh floor, she stumbled, but he must have been anticipating it, because he turned to her and then she was in his arms. He flashed her a grin and grabbed the door, pushing it open, then catching it with his foot and moving into the hallway.

  She let out a laugh. “You like this.”

  He shrugged. “If you’re asking me if I like you in my arms, there’s a pretty good chance the answer will always be yes.” It didn’t take him long to get to the room and slide his card in and out.

  Her heart raced. What were they doing? What was she doing? “No, no, no,” she said.

  He gently put her on her bed, taking care not to jostle her. “Woman, you drive me wild,” he said, running a hand through his hair.

  She let herself fall back onto the pillows. “I can pretty well say that you have an effect on me, too.”

  “Yeah?” He acted surprised. “Then why all the nos?”

  She laughed, thinking it was funny that he would even be questioning her about this. “Will, I’m pregnant with another man’s child, barely two weeks divorced.”

  Gritting his teeth, he sucked in a huge breath. “I know.” He sat by her feet. Carefully, he took her shoes off, then started to massage one foot. “And what does it say about me that I don’t care?”

  She grunted. This man was crazy, but she was getting lost in the way his strong hands massaged her foot, finding all the right spots. “Oh.”

  He laughed, running his fingers up to her ankle and rubbing there. “I heard pregnant women always want their feet rubbed. Is it true?”

  She laughed out loud.

  Looking totally serious, he stopped rubbing and put hi
s hands up. “What?”

  “Don’t stop!” she cried out. “Yes—I mean, yes, pregnant women, all women, like their feet rubbed, all the time.” She motioned for him to continue.

  He laughed and took her other foot. “I guess I’ll have to take your word for it.”

  For a few moments he kneaded her foot, and then his hand went to her ankle, then trailed up to her knee. His eyes had turned serious. She knew that look.

  Without wanting to, she burst into giggles and leaned down, taking his hand off of her. “Will, you know I am not that kind of woman.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked, confused.

  Tugging her foot back, she got gruff. “I was married, Will. That’s why I’m pregnant. But we can’t do this.”

  Letting out a long breath, he flung himself back onto her bed. “I know.” All the wind went out of him. “You’re right; I have always known that. That’s why we never …”

  “Right,” she said, lying down again.

  Will flung off his suit coat and shoes, then bounced on the bed next to her. “But you cuddle and kiss, so there’s that.”

  Finding this whole night ridiculous, she laughed. “I guess it would be crazy for me to insist you go back to your own bed?”

  He cocked an eyebrow. “Is that what you want?”

  She didn’t want that. “I have to tell you something.”

  “Okay.”

  “You know how I told you about praying and then you showing up?” Thinking it was important to acknowledge God’s hand in all of this, she said, “I think that might have been kinda like … a miracle or something.”

  He grinned. “Like a Christmas miracle?”

  “Maybe.” She turned onto her side, and once again, like the night before, she found herself giving in to the comfort of this man. Gently, she put her hands over his on her waist.

  “I like the sound of that, Tear Bear,” he whispered in her ear.

  “Me, too.” She didn’t know how long they lay like that, staring out into the moonlight sky.

  “I don’t care,” he whispered into her ear.

  “What?” she asked.

  “I don’t care if you’re pregnant. I still want us again.”

  Her heart raced. Unable to believe this had actually happened between them, she put her hand on his face, loving the sexiness of his two-day facial hair. “You do?”

  He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her palm. “I don’t know if it’s crazy, but I don’t care. We should have been together a long time ago.”

  She leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips.

  Pulling back, he said, “Do you remember when we used to always say ‘forever’ to each other?”

  She laughed. “Your brothers would tease us mercilessly.”

  He grunted. “Not shocking.”

  She sighed and pushed her hand into his hair. “I will never admit this openly, so I’m reserving deniability rights right now.”

  Looking confused, he smiled. “Okay.”

  “I kinda like alpha, pigheaded men. Well, that’s not true. Maybe I just like you.”

  Pulling her flush against him, he kissed her again.

  She laughed against his lips.

  He stared into her eyes. “Kissing or foot rubbing? One, two, three.”

  “Kissing,” they both said at the same time.

  Chapter 19

  Will drove the now plowed road back to Denver. At some point last night, he and Tara had fallen asleep in their fancy clothes as they’d snuggled in her bed. At one point, she’d bolted out of bed and rushed to the bathroom. He’d gotten up and followed her, soaked a washrag, and helped clean her up.

  When they’d both changed and gotten back into bed, he’d stayed on top of the covers, taken his blanket from the other bed and covered himself, but he’d held her again. To his delight, she hadn’t even argued.

  Yeah, she liked him. She’d said so. He grinned.

  Now, they drove back to Denver and she slept with her hand inside of his. Man, this pregnancy was rough on her. He was proud of her for pushing forward. And he was amazed at how protective he felt over her.

  Pain filled the center of his chest as he thought about what she’d said about thinking of jumping that night. Would she have done it if he’d never shown up?

  Reflexively, he squeezed her hand. Questions circled in his mind about what she wanted. What she would do. When she would tell dork face. He grinned to himself. When he would finally get to punch the idiot in the face.

  No. Bad idea. As she’d said, he was alpha. He needed to tamp that down for her. He needed to be solid for her. All he knew was thathe wanted this woman in his life, and he wanted this child. He sniffed as emotion stuck in the back of his throat, and he smiled, thinking about how beautiful she would look when she got big and round.

  His phone was connected to his Bluetooth, so it rang throughout the car.

  “Dang.” He pressed answer just to stop it. “Hello,” he whispered.

  “Kent!” Evan’s voice pounded into the speaker. “You dog! I saw that kiss in the Santa getup! I guess you won the bet, but so did I, sucker! I’m wondering which of the others is going to have to go talk to Cameron Cruz by themselves?”

  Will’s gut twisted. “I have to go.”

  “Wait! Just tell me! Did you find the chick from high school?”

  Will pushed end on the call and looked over at Tara. Phew, thank the good Lord for pregnancy sleep.

  For a few moments, it was quiet. Then he heard her crying. Looking over at her, he saw her eyes were open.

  She moved her chair up to a sitting position. “Tell me the truth: is that all this was? A bet?”

  “Tara, you don’t understand.”

  “Tell me the truth,” she said again, her voice hard. “Did you make a bet about if you could score with me?”

  His mouth was dry and he felt a bit nauseous. “No! I told you after being with Tom and Emily I kept thinking of you and me and the guys were in jail and we didn’t want to face Cameron Cruz so—” He broke off, thinking how stupid it all sounded.

  “So all your friends know about you tracking me down for some bet?” She scoffed, looking disgusted. “I guess it’s too bad I didn’t let you sleep under the covers then, isn’t it? How many points would you have gotten for that?”

  “What?” he asked, incredulous. “You think I would bet on that?”

  She gestured to the Bluetooth. “I have no idea. In fact, I don’t think I even know who you are.”

  “It was for a kiss. One kiss by Christmas Eve,” he said, defending himself and hating how much the word bet made it sound like the past few days didn’t mean anything.

  She glared at him. “I can’t believe you. I can’t believe I got sucked into you.” She crossed her arms and stared out the window.

  “It wasn’t like that, okay?” He tried to reach for her hand.

  She turned even farther away from him. “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I was fooled so easily.” Her voice broke.

  “Tara, please listen.” He felt like dog dung.

  She held up a hand. “The only thing you can do for me is just shut up!”

  Chapter 20

  Tara stormed into her apartment. Will followed her. He’d insisted on bringing her bag up for her. She would have argued if she’d thought he would have listened, but she could tell he wouldn’t have.

  “Can I take it in your room for you?” he offered.

  Adrenaline was still raging through her. “Please just go, Will.”

  He put the bag down by her couch. “Tara, we need to talk.”

  There was no way she was talking to this man who had only come because of some bet. She blinked and hated that she couldn’t get ahold of her emotions. She rushed over to the side of her kitchen counter where she’d put his check, and she snatched it up, looked him in the eyes, and ripped it to pieces. “No, we don’t. Leave please. Just …” Her lip trembled. She turned away from him, feeling scattered. She’d already begun to fe
el so attached to him. She swore and put a hand through her hair. “This was all a huge mistake.” How could she have let all these old emotions confuse her?

  “Tara.” He took her by the elbow.

  She ripped away from him. “Get out!”

  He’d gone stone-cold quiet on the way home. She had wanted to open the passenger side door and just roll out, but it was cold.

  “Tara, just listen.” His voice was soft.

  She didn’t speak for a moment, trembling. Part of her wanted to hear something that would make it all better, but the other part was humiliated that she’d fallen for him so quickly. “No.”

  He put up his hand. “It might have started out like a bet, but it’s not what you think. I told you, I kept thinking about you, and then—yes, fine, I issued the bet to the guys that whoever didn’t track down the woman who got away had to face Cameron Cruz, but …” He looked confused and turned away from her. “You were more than that.”

  She pointing to the door “Leave. I’m not falling for it again.”

  Will squeezed a hand into a fist and blinked hard. “No. No. I know how it might look, but the last three days have meant everything to me, Tara.” Closing the distance between them, he put his hands on her shoulders. “I love you.”

  Blindsided, she stumbled back, but he held on to her.

  “I love you. And I know it’s not the right time and I know that I messed this all up with the stupid bet, but I do.”

  Hyper anger was taking over, and she knew if she were a cartoon character steam would be coming out of her ears. There was too much pain on this emotional roller coaster. She found she couldn’t even process what he was saying. “Will,” she said, trying to keep her voice even. “If you really do care about me, then I ask you, again. Please, leave.”

  Wild anger darkened his expression, and she saw tears misting into his eyes.

  She was tempted to listen, tempted to let him wrap her into his arms, but she couldn’t trust anyone. “Leave,” she insisted again.

  Squeezing a hand into a fist, he shook his head. “Can we please talk this out?”