The Bet (The Bet #1)(38)

Jake clenched his fist. His brother smiled.

Kacey entered. “Well, I think my hair looks the shiniest it’s ever looked. Thanks, Trav. I owe it all to you.” She winked.

Travis rolled his eyes. “Yes, and my balls are—”

“Travis!” Bets almost screamed. “We’re going to have company any minute. Could you all at least try to act your age? Goodness, Jake, you’ve been groomed to take over the company, act like it! Travis, you’ve owned that ranch of yours for years, by all that is holy, be mature!”

“You own a ranch?” Kacey asked. He watched the exchange. Travis shifted his feet as if uncomfortable, then cleared his throat.

“Yes, a small one. No big deal.”

“Oh, that’s rich.” Bets laughed. “You own one of the largest ranches on the west coast, but if you want to pretend it’s small, I guess that’s your prerogative.”

It was a new feeling, being ignored, but Jake was interested to see how Kacey would respond. He crossed his arms and leaned against the counter.

“But, you said you were a ranch hand.”

Jake laughed. “Him? A ranch hand? Babe, he’s no more a ranch hand than I’m a janitor.”

“But…” Kacey’s brow furrowed.

“It’s no big deal.” Travis shrugged and began filling the glasses with water.

Kacey turned to Jake. “Any other family secrets?”

Probably not the best time to tell her that his grandmother was manipulating all of them.

“Um…” Jake shoved his hands in his pockets. “Travis used to have a crush on you? At least that’s what I assumed, considering he stuttered every time he was around any female.”

Travis froze. “Yeah, rewind to about an hour ago, and you’ll see how she reacted to that certain piece of information.”

Jake chuckled. “So that’s what started the fight. I see…”

Kacey looked angry all over again, so Jake decided to make it better. Slowly he walked to where she stood. “Kace, I’m sure it upset you, but what you don’t know is that even though he did some awful things… Emphasis on awful—”

“Thanks, Jake.”

“No problem.” He smirked. “He’s also the reason that your sixteenth birthday party was a success.”

“What do you mean?” Her shoulders relaxed.

“Well…” Jake put his arm around her tiny frame. “This one over here, the one with the stutter, was so angry that your boyfriend at the time didn’t show up, that he begged Dad to call in a favor.”

“What favor?”

Travis glanced at them nervously and shook his head. “It doesn’t matter, Jake. It was a long time ago.”

“Hey, I’m just trying to help. But yeah, Travis was the one that convinced Dad to get that local band to come play at your party. You know, the one everyone was so obsessed with?”

Kacey nodded. “Everyone heard they were playing exclusively at my party, so they came, even when my idiot boyfriend Tanner told everyone to blacklist me because I wouldn’t sleep with him.”

“Yeah, well…” Jake shrugged. “Travis also took care of that guy.” Why the heck was he being so nice to his brother? If he’d had any suspicions that they were physically attracted to each other he wouldn’t be helping at all, but he didn’t like it when they were fighting so much. It stressed him out. And he didn’t want to get wrinkles before his time, or gray hair.

“Jake!” Travis waved him off. “Don’t.”

“He beat him up, threatened him, and then told everyone he had an obsession with vampires.”

“That’s why people kept bringing garlic to school?” Kacey laughed. “Aw! Travis, why didn’t you tell me any of this? I might not have stuffed eggs down your pants.”

“Gee, thanks,” Travis muttered.

Jake used this golden opportunity to pull Kacey into a hug. “Well, can’t I have a reward for sharing good information about my brother?”

Her eyes darted between the two of them. She nodded and returned his hug.

And in that moment he remembered exactly why he had fallen for her in the first place.

She fit.

Perfectly in his arms.

As if made for him. Her scent, the way her hair tickled his nose, everything about her screamed comfort and home. He didn’t want to let her go.

Travis cleared his throat.

“Sorry.” Jake pulled back. “I must have spaced out.”

“It’s okay.” Kacey blushed and walked over to the counter.

****

Oh, hell no.

Not this time.

Not this time.

Travis was ready to unleash whatever tricks he could to get Kacey to stay away from Jake.

He would kidnap her and take her to Mexico before he let his brother sink his claws into her all over again.

“Kace.” Travis stacked the napkins in her hands. “Wanna help set the rest of the table?”

“Sure.” She went around the table putting napkins on the plates, while Travis whistled. Jake eventually got bored, as Jake often did, and made up some excuse about seeing what was on TV.

Finally.

“So, vampires, huh?”

“It was the best I could come up with. I did have a stutter, you know, and my only social interaction was that of my family and the drama club.”