The Bet (The Bet #1)(55)

He shook his head. “Nope, not gonna tell you. You’re just going to have to see, but aren’t surprises the best?”

“No. No they aren’t,” she said dryly.

He blew her a kiss and then smacked her on the butt as he walked out of the bathroom. Cocky one, Travis Titus. Who would have ever thought that the little boy with the stutter had game? Or kissed like a movie star? Not that she’d ever kissed a movie star before, but she figured kissing Johnny Depp was pretty much like kissing Travis.

It had to be.

It was too good to be anything but that.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror. Every piece of skin visible was flushed. Her fingers clutched the side of the sink. A clanging noise sounded as she gripped the sink harder. The ring. Jake’s ring to be exact, stared back at her, mocking her. Instead of guilt, she felt minor annoyance. Kacey reached down and slid the ring off.

Decision made, she padded over to Jake’s old room. Everything was just as he left it. Trophies were scattered across his dresser. A few pictures of The *cat Dolls hung on the wall, and his bedspread was the same faded red. So many memories were part of this room. But it was over. Done. Tomorrow she had to leave, but she hoped Travis would ask her to stay. Actually she hoped he would make the big gesture. One thing was for certain. She was saying goodbye.

Goodbye to Jake, goodbye to the pain and the memories, and hello to a bright future with the boy next door. She bit her lip to keep from squealing with excitement as she thought of her time with Travis. She set the ring on the dresser and ran to her room to put on some fresh clothes. Whatever surprise Travis had waiting for her, she wanted it, as soon as possible. Especially if he was giving and she was receiving.

****

Kacey bounded down the stairs in the general direction of the kitchen, where she assumed Travis would be located. After all, they hadn’t eaten anything but cookies all day and it was nearing lunchtime.

The sound of a pot clattering confirmed her assumptions. She walked into the kitchen and burst out laughing.

Travis was on his hands and knees, putting bits and pieces of hard macaroni into a bowl.

“Trouble cooking?” She tilted her head and smirked.

He looked up and scowled. “Nobody ever said multi-tasking was so difficult.” He threw one last piece of macaroni into the pot and stood. “Luckily, we have more than one box of this stuff.”

“You do know you’re supposed to boil the water first.” Kacey pointed at the dry macaroni.

“I know.” Travis laughed unconvincingly and dumped the noodles into the trash and placed the pot underneath the sink.

Kacey took full opportunity to gaze at his tight jeans. She felt herself smile when he reached forward and grabbed a towel to wipe off the table. It was almost like she was in a trance. So much, in fact, that when Travis turned around she had to snap her head back up.

She felt her face flame with heat as a knowing smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Find something you like?”

“No.” She looked away and began inspecting her nails. “So why macaroni?”

“Why not?”

Men.

Travis shrugged. “I have it on good authority that it was the only food you’d eat until you turned eight.”

“Please.” Kacey rolled her eyes. “I ate other things too.”

“Name them.”

Kacey searched her memory, but the only thing she could come up with was even lamer than macaroni. “I may have had an obsession with Spaghetti-Os.”

“With or without meatballs?” Travis asked as he lunged for her and wrapped his arms around her body, trapping her within his hold.

“With.” She leaned up and kissed his chin. “Why? Are you going to make me those too?”

He shrugged. “If I burn the macaroni, we may have to rely on the microwave to fix up some Spaghetti-Os.” He kissed her forehead then moved down to her cheek. “I have a confession to make.”

“What’s that?” Kacey shuddered beneath his touch.

“I can’t cook.”

No, but you can kiss. “Well, I guess that means I can’t sleep with you.”

“Thought you’d say that.” His mouth found her neck as he tilted her back. “But we had a good run, didn’t we?”

She wondered if that was a rhetorical question as his lips pressed against the base of her throat.

Travis pulled away. “Sorry, I tend to get carried away when I’m hungry.”

Kacey raised an eyebrow.

“For food,” he clarified and then cleared his throat. “Um, anyway, let’s, uh, let’s just finish this up and we can get going.”

“Get going?” Kacey grabbed the next box and began pouring it into the now boiling water.

“Yeah, I have a plan.”

“Oh,” Kacey said laughing and threw the box at Travis. “So the food wasn’t the surprise.”

“Hell, no.” Travis shuddered. “I’m not sure if I should be offended or thankful that you think I lack that much originality.” He seemed to think about it a moment then nodded. “Thankful. I’ll take thankful. Now pour in that orange stuff so we can get on to the surprise.”

“Carbing up for something, are we?” Kacey teased.

Travis growled and pushed her against the counter. “You have no idea.” His lips found hers in an aggressive kiss. Just as Kacey wrapped her arms around his neck, she heard steam hitting the stove.