The Bet (The Bet #1)(44)

Jake was too damn good at being charismatic.

Travis sat on the bed and groaned into his hands. Kacey was an obsession, one he couldn’t seem to get over no matter how many years spanned between seeing one another.

One minute she seemed irritated with him; the next, he could almost swear she wanted him to kiss her.

Which probably meant his mind was playing tricks on him. The last time they kissed she admitted to being semi-drunk, which didn’t bode well for his confidence that she wanted to repeat the act.

Cursing, he went to the bathroom and brushed his teeth then peeled off his clothes and jumped into bed.





Chapter Twenty-three




“Rat bastard!” Kacey punched the pillow with her fist. “Of course the tea wasn’t decaf, you idiot.” She cursed herself and threw her legs over the bed.

With a grunt she opened the door to the room and padded down the hall to the new wing of the house.

I will not allow myself to get creeped-out by the weird sculptures, she chanted over and over again as she got farther into the new wing. Travis was the only one staying in this section of the house. Which, on one end of things, was good; it meant she didn’t have to see him as often, considering he had separate entrances to and from the giant estate. Not that it mattered. She had spent nearly every waking moment with the man.

On the other hand, it also meant that when she had to go searching for him at 2:00 a.m., she had to bypass an actual gallery of masks that in her opinion, could suddenly burst to life at any minute.

She finally reached the end of the hallway where two double doors resided. The master suite.

I’m going to castrate him. “Travis!” She pounded the door. “I know you’re in there! Come out here and fight me like a man!”

No answer.

“Son of a—”

“What the hell, Kace? Do you know what times it is?” Travis opened the door just as she was about to curse him into the fiery hole he crawled out of.

Words, however, would not flow out of her slack-jawed mouth. The man was naked — well, not entirely. He was wearing short boxer briefs that did nothing to hide the strong muscles plunging into his—

Truly he was sin incarnate. Big shock there.

“You!” She pushed his chiseled chest and backed him up into the room, slamming the door behind her. “You and your trickery are not welcome, Travis Thomas Titus!”

“Whoa, easy now, don’t go dropping my full name like that. Things can’t be that bad.” He pushed his curly golden-brown hair away from his face and yawned. “Now, can you please tell me what I did so I can go back to sleep? Some of us don’t stay up all hours of the night contemplating ways to torture others.”

“The tea…” Kacey pushed him again. “…was not decaf!”

A grin broke out on Travis’s face. “Oh?”

Kacey reached for his shoulders but he was too fast, throwing her on her back on his very comfortable bed and hovering over her. Not good. Oh God above, he was warm and, Don’t look, Kacey. Just don’t look.

“Kace, why are your eyes closed? Come on, open them, and fight me like a man.” He winked and leaned in close enough to brush a kiss across her lips.

To her ultimate shame she leaned forward expectantly.

“Sorry about the tea, but I do have a reputation to protect. And you did promise never to tell anyone about the bunny I used to sleep with, as well as everything else you laid out on the table tonight.”

“It slipped!”

“We took a blood oath!” he argued, his warm breath sending chills down her neck. “And I wanted revenge.”

“Fine!” Her teeth clenched together in annoyance. “But now you will have to suffer the consequences.”

“I tremble with fear.” Travis pushed away from her and dove under the covers. “Hey, can you grab the lights when you leave?”

Maniacal laughter erupted from her lips. Yup, definitely running on no sleep. “I’m not leaving.”

“Normally when a scantily clad woman says that, and she’s this close to my bed, it means I’m about to get laid. But judging from the look on your face, I’m going to guess you’re not offering.”

“I’m going to sleep with you.”

Travis’s eyes bugged out of his head. He looked from right to left and then carefully pulled the blankets back and leaned close to her, both hands up as if she was a dangerous animal ready to snap.

“And you’re not going to get laid. You’re going to sleep too. So move over bed buddy. You’ve just acquired a roomie!”

Travis glared then nervously looked around the room. “I’m a bed hog. Trust me, you’re better off sleeping on the floor.”

“No, I think I’ll take the bed.” Kacey grinned. “Oh and I snore, and sometimes I have night terrors. So if I start screaming just shake me, but make sure it’s gentle. If you wake someone up from a night terror and freak them out… well, let’s just say that’s when they turn homicidal.”

It looked like Travis wanted to say something, but instead he marched over to the light and turned it off. Then crawled back into bed.

“If you ask me to spoon you, I’m going to smother you with my pillow,” he grumbled.

“Please, like I want your favorite appendage anywhere near my body.”