The Bet (The Bet #1)(56)

Travis cursed and turned to the pot of macaroni, which looked pretty pathetic with the orange stuff in it. “I forgot to drain the water.”

“Yup.” Kacey nodded.

“Pizza?”

“Chinese?”

“Thai?”

“Italian,” they said in unison. Kacey went to the house phone while Travis got on the Internet on his phone to find some Italian take-out.

A quick thirty minutes later and they were sitting over chicken alfredo and opening up a bottle of red wine.

“So… good,” Kacey murmured between bites.

“I can’t cook, but I can order…” Travis boasted as he held out a piece of bruschetta with goat cheese to her lips.

It was the type of meal she would never eat on a first date.

Possibly not even on the second.

Way too much garlic.

It was comfort food at its best, and she couldn’t imagine a more perfect meal to share with Travis. They’d ordered enough to feed a small country, but there was something about having so many choices laid out around them.

“I can’t do it,” Kacey said as she exhaled and took a gulp of wine. “I’m done. I seriously cannot eat another bite.”

Travis put his hands behind his head and leaned back on his chair. “That’s too bad.”

“Why?”

He shrugged. “Part of your surprise is dessert.”

Did his version of dessert include lots of skin, whipped cream, and chocolate? Because at this point Kacey was beginning to think she would really like some more food. Mouth watering, she leaned forward. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

“So, you’re game then?”

He was talking about going upstairs, right?

“I am if you are.” Her heart skipped a beat as Travis walked around the table and pulled her into his arms.

“Music to my ears. Now, go grab a sweatshirt.”

“Huh?” What the heck kind of foreplay was this?

“For dessert,” he clarified, a mocking twinkle in his eyes.

Kacey bit her lip and stepped out of his embrace. “Fine, but this better not be a trick.”

“Please.” Travis held up his hands. “Like I’ve ever tricked you.”

“Says the one who put frogs in my bed when I was ten.”

“In my defense, they were dead.”

“Yes, Travis,” Kacey said, rolling her eyes. “That makes it so much better. Dead frogs. Seriously?”

“Just grab your sweatshirt.” He suddenly looked nervous and insecure as he stuffed his hands in his jeans and looked at the ground.

“Okay.” Kacey took off at full speed and grabbed the first sweatshirt she could find in her bag. When she ran back down the stairs Travis was already grabbing the keys and leading her outside. “Okay, where are we going?”

“It’s all part of the surprise.”

“Right.” Kacey hopped into the truck.

“And my charm.”

Rolling her eyes, she pulled a piece of gum out of her purse and waited while Travis’s truck pulled out of the long driveway.

It took all of ten minutes for them to reach their destination.

And Kacey honestly couldn’t have guessed it.

Not even if someone had given her hints.

Because it was the place where Prom had been held her senior year of high school. It also used to be her parents’ restaurant before they’d died. So many memories threatened to escape from her. She had to hold her breath to keep them in. Swallowing, she forced herself to exhale slowly as the lights flickered in front of her. It looked exactly as she remembered it.

Nestled beautifully on the Columbia River, it had been one of the hot spots for locals. The beer selection had been legendary. It had had so many wines from around the Columbia River and Yakima Valley that people often had joked that the best place for all-day wine tasting was a table at River’s Edge.

“River’s Edge,” she whispered and looked down at her hands. They were clenched together as if to keep the pain in. All the memories… her parents’ death, the times she and Jake would come here and try to convince her dad to have just one glass of wine, even though it was illegal…

He never would, but still.

Her many stolen kisses by the waiter’s entrance in the back.

It was also the only place Travis and Kacey had talked in the last five years.

She remembered it like it was yesterday. Her parents had left the business to her, naturally, but she’d wanted nothing to do with Portland or her old life, so she had sold it to a family friend and taken the money to buy a car and pay off her parents’ debts. It had also been an escape, which is exactly what Travis had told her the day she’d signed the papers.

“What the hell are you doing, Kacey?”

She remembered the rabid look in his eyes, like he was ready to tear something apart but couldn’t find an object. Now that she thought about it, he had been really good-looking at the time, but she had been so frustrated with him, so angry that he would make light of her pain, he seemed ugly and unbearably frustrating.

“It’s my life!” she’d screamed.

“It’s their legacy!”

“I don’t want it!” She’d beat against his chest over and over again. But he hadn’t budged. Instead, he’d held onto her as if he’d never wanted to let her go. He’d then whispered in her hair that it would be okay.