A Very Daring Christmas (The Tavonesi Series Book 8) (22 page)

The sound of heels clacking on the tile floor had them all turning. A woman with curves that could outclass a Maserati stalked toward them.

“Does anyone have
any
idea how dark it is on these country roads at night?” the woman said in accented English.

“Never drive faster than your angels can fly,” Alana said.

Did Jake detect a hint of competition in Alana’s voice? The foreign woman was beautiful, but not nearly as beautiful as Alana.

“Or faster than your headlights can beam.” The newcomer held her hand out to Cameron. “I’m Brigitte.”

Cameron unlooped her arm from Alana’s and shook the woman’s outstretched hand. “I’m—”

“God, everyone knows who
you
are, darling.” Brigitte turned a flirty look to Jake. “And who is this fine specimen?”

Jake wasn’t sure he liked being called a specimen. Okay, so some of the women he’d dated had thought of him as just that. Most of them, in fact, which was why he’d chosen them in the first place. But in front of his friends and Cameron, the moniker rankled.

“Jake Ryder.” He resisted the urge to give her a mock bow. Maybe the damned castle was softening his brain.

“Ah yes, Chloe mentioned you. You’re the Southern guy. Kentucky, right?”

“North Carolina, born and bred.”

She eyed Jake up and down. “I keep telling myself I should spend more time in the South. But it’s hot.”

“That it is,” Jake said, fielding the force of her flirtation. “
And
cold.”

“We should go over the rules,” Sabrina said, saving him from making a total ass out of himself. “We’re playing charades, Brigitte.”

“We are indeed,” Brigitte said with a tilting grin.

Whether it was because Cameron was witnessing the display or because he didn’t like the flow of the game Brigitte had set running, Jake shuffled closer to Matt. “I think a stiff whiskey is called for. Want one, Matt?”

“Kentucky’s finest?”

“Yup.”

“I’ll take a double.”

“
Moi aussi
,” Brigitte said. “In fact, I’ll help you pour.”

“No need,” Matt said. “I’m on the pouring team with him.”

He could’ve kissed Matt. Brigitte was energy he’d once liked, but right then, her flirtations—which just barely stopped short of a direct invitation to her bed—rattled his cage in all the wrong ways.

He felt Cameron’s eyes on him as he and Matt walked over to the buffet at the side of the room.

“That’s Chloe’s best friend,” Matt said as they poured out three tumblers of whiskey. “She’s actually brilliant and fun when she’s not on the prowl.”

Jake downed the whiskey Matt had poured, then grabbed the decanter and refilled his glass. “She’s perfect for Mr. Prince.”

“You mean Dimitri?”

“Is there more than one prince here tonight?” One prince was more than plenty for Jake.

“They’re cousins,” Matt said. “Besides, Alana says he has his eye on Cameron. That’s probably why he’s here.”

Jake downed the second tumbler of whiskey. Maybe he would drive to the nearby casino. A round of blackjack would clear his head.

But as Matt headed off to hand Brigitte her whiskey, Parker strode into the room.

Jake blinked.

Parker was dressed in formal evening attire. And not the sort of rented getup that Jake usually relied on for those rare occasions when he was forced to put on a starched-up penguin suit. Parker looked as comfortable in the perfectly tailored tuxedo as if he’d been born in it.

“I apologize for the attire,” Parker said to no one in particular. “Had to make an appearance at the Sonoma Symphony holiday gala. My friend’s the soloist tonight. And I helped arrange their pre-party.”

Dimitri sauntered in behind him, also decked out in a tux. He held a red box out to the group and lifted the lid. “Bonbons from Belgium.”

Blackjack
. The word bloomed in Jake’s skull, looming like a beacon in the foggiest night. That was the ticket, the perfect antidote to princes and bonbons and parlor games.

He surveyed the exits and imagined he heard the drone of flight attendants in his head, repeating the safety talk that passengers listened to with half an ear while hoping they’d never need to remember it. As was too often the case, the perfect exit was behind him. He turned and took a step toward the door. His exit plan was cut short when his teammate Ryan and Ryan’s wife, Cara, walked through it.

“So I’m not the only guy who got roped into parlor games tonight,” Ryan said in his East Texas drawl. Ryan was the best center fielder in the majors and a shrewd hitter that even the best pitchers couldn’t read.

But clearly Ryan’s skill wasn’t working for him tonight.

“Dimitri, what a surprise,” Cara said as she and Dimitri did the three-cheek-kiss thing.

Jake noticed that Dimitri’s eyes didn’t linger on Cara for as long as they had on Cameron. Not even close. But Ryan stiffened at the display. In Texas, like the South, you kissed only people who were family. Or who you meant to explore in realms not suited for parlor games.

“This is my husband, Ryan. I’m thrilled you two finally get to meet.”

Ryan looked anything but thrilled.

“Hi, Jake.” Cara kissed him on the cheek. “Ryan’s a charades virgin, like you.” She winked.

Jake tried not to wince as heat crawled up his neck. What other aspects of his life had been discussed among the extended clan of Tavonesi women and their friends?

“Too bad Cody’s gone off with Zoe to Italy,” Ryan said with a laugh that sounded forced to Jake’s ears. “We Rough Rider types could just rope y’all into a corner and then head to the bar.”

“We could cut out and head to the casino,” Jake offered up, hoping Ryan would take the bait.

Cara turned to Parker. “Reluctant participants can be such a
delicious
challenge. I hope I’m on your team.”

Dimitri offered the box he held. “Bonbon? They’re fresh from Belgium.”

“Chocolate truffles are the way to my heart,” Cara said with a sly smile to Ryan.

“We’re drawing straws,” Parker said in his serious game-master’s voice. “Seemed the only fair way to do it.”

Ryan leaned over to Jake. “The fervor of fantasy baseball ain’t nothing compared to the dedication of this gang to their games. Maybe there’s a new market there—virtual charades. It’d work online, don’t you think?”

“Look at that tree!” Cara’s eyes lit up. “God, it’s
gorgeous
.”

“A feat of engineering,” Alex said as he strode over to them. “Thanks to Jake and Dimitri.”

Dimitri gave a crisp nod to Jake. “I just made a few design suggestions; Jake made it work. You know how hopeless I am with the practical elements of the world.”

Dimitri’s confessional words said one thing, but the message underneath needled into a place Jake usually kept a pretty tight lid on.

But maybe the guy really was as hopeless as he said he was. Maybe his confession was a simple truth with no hidden message. The unfamiliar environment and the feelings he wrestled every time Cameron was within twenty feet had thrown him, making his normal reactions go haywire.

Jake wished he hadn’t left his whiskey glass on the sidebar. If he couldn’t gamble to clear his head, at least he could smooth the way with more of Kentucky’s best.

Parker gathered the group. “Our hostess has insisted that we have a blind method for picking teams tonight.” He smirked at Sabrina. “Of course, I am putty in her lovely hands. So, inelegant as it is, we’ll draw straws.” He drew a straw out of the silver beaker he held and waved it at the group. “Long straws are on my team.” He handed the beaker to Brigitte. “Give Lady Luck her due.”

They each drew a straw.

Brigitte made a show of matching her short straw to Jake’s. “And here I once thought that drawing the short straw would be a bad thing.” Her sultry accent punctuated the saucy look in her eyes. “Perhaps there is a God.”

Jake’s gaze shifted to Cameron.

Dimitri took Cameron’s straw from her fingers and matched his against hers. “Perfection,” he said. He wasn’t looking at the straw. Cameron blushed. Jake ignored the impulse to choke Dimitri.

“Short straws begin.” Parker handed out slips of paper and pens. “Write your book, song or film title on these papers and then fold them like so. Short-team papers go in this basket. Long-team entries go in this bowl.”

He moved a chair from the two lines of chairs and then rearranged them so that they’d all be able to see each other.

“Five against six?” Ryan asked.

“I’ll count as two,” Parker said without a trace of smugness. “And we each have one Oscar winner in our ranks. Should be just about right.”

“Confidence was not spared in the DNA of my cousin,” Alex said.

Jake angled for the seat next to Cameron, but Dimitri got there first. Brigitte slipped into the chair next to her and then patted the chair on her other side, flashing a come-here smile. Resigned, he was sandwiched between her and a stony-faced Matt.

Alana patted Matt’s knee and glanced over to Jake. “Matt was a virgin last year. You’ll catch on.”

Sabrina stretched her legs out in front of her and crossed her arms. “Who goes first, Mr. Rule Maker?”

“Let our pros start,” Parker said. “Sets the standard.”

Sabrina looked at him blankly.

“Cameron and you. Actors, remember?”

“Oh, no,” Cameron said.

“Oh,
yes
,” Parker insisted in a tone that said his rules weren’t to be toyed with.

He went through the hand signals for the game. Jake lost track after the signals for book, film and song.

The way Cameron was watching and repeating Parker’s signs so studiously brought the damnedest sweetness to her face. She was always trying to do the right thing.

Maybe he’d judged her too harshly. Deep down, he admired her dedication to the Dominia water project. In a fit of inspiration, he reached to whip out his phone so he could text his accountant and follow through on the impulse he’d had earlier that morning. But then he remembered—no phone. He’d call the next day from Trovare’s landline. He had the Nike advance; he could afford to help. Even if he wasn’t up for all the political and public hoopla, a hundred thousand dollars should move the needle.

“Makes baseball signs look simple,” Matt grumbled, drawing Jake’s attention back to Parker’s exacting instructions for the game.

Cameron made a show of drawing a slip of paper from the bowl Parker held out to her. She read it. Then grimaced.

“Can I try a different one?”

“No, darlin’,” Parker said with a broad smile. “Rules are rules.”

Sabrina squinted at him and pursed her lips. “Except when they’re not. C’mon, give my
colleague
a break.”

“She’s on the
other
team, Sabrina.”

Sabrina settled back in her chair. “Point taken. Proceed.”

Cameron studied the slip of paper and then tucked it into the pocket of her jeans. Jake tried not to remember taking those jeans off her. No success. He saw delicious skin as the jeans slid down her hips and—

“Book!” Brigitte cried out, startling Jake from his fantasy.

Cameron shook her head and made a winding signal near her ear.

“Film,” Alana said.

Cameron touched her nose.

“Nose,” Jake said, unable to resist teasing her.

Cameron shot him a glare. She held up one finger.

“One word,” Alana said. She elbowed Matt. “You’re not helping.”

Matt grinned. “I’m preventing confusion.” Alana leaned over and kissed him. He drew her closer. They’d been married for some time, but the energy crackling between them had hot written all over it.

“I think
I’ll
use that tactic,” Ryan said from where he sat across from them. He planted a kiss on Cara.

Cameron crossed her arms. “Hello? Movie.
One
word.”

“
No
talking,” Parker said.

Cameron raised her hands in the air, outlining a pole.

“Flagpole,” Dimitri said, looking very satisfied with himself.

Cameron shook her head and repeated the gesture.

No one said anything.

She turned her back. Whirling, she marked an oblong shape around her on the floor and then made a rowing motion.

“Boat,” Jake said.

The grateful smile Cameron shot him as she touched her nose melted into his body with force.

“
Das Boot
,” Dimitri guessed.

“
One
word,” Cameron said.

“No talking,” Parker barked.

“But
Das
doesn’t count; it’s an article.” Dimitri eyed Cameron like a bear wanting to lap up honey.

“Clearly it’s not the name of the film,” Jake countered in a cutting tone.

Cameron stomped her feet.

“Marching,” Brigitte said.

With a look of pure exasperation, Cameron shook her head.

Brigitte leaned close to Jake. She smelled of exotic flowers. Too exotic for Jake’s tastes.

“Our colleague is impatient with us,” she purred. “How unfortunate.”

In front of them, Cameron pointed to herself.

“Woman,” Matt said proudly, as if he’d coined the word.

“
Gorgeous
woman.” Dimitri crossed one leg over the other and loosened the bow tie at his neck. “
Very
gorgeous woman.”

Cameron ignored Dimitri—keeping Jake from strangling him—and pointed to herself again, then pivoted and pointed at Sabrina.

Brigitte slid her hand to Jake’s thigh.

“Friends?” Jake guessed. He grabbed Brigitte’s hand to remove it from his thigh. Cameron focused on them, her face clouding. He dropped Brigitte’s hand and slid a couple of inches in the opposite direction.

“Or fiend?” Matt said, sending the other team into laughter.

Cameron shook her head. She put her hands to her hips. After a moment’s thought, she pointed to her head and made a sign that looked to Jake like a signal to steal a base.

“
Actress
,” Alana supplied, stifling a laugh.

Cameron waved both hands toward her body—the universal sign for take the next base. He’d like to take the next base. With her and right then.

With an exaggerated gesture, Cameron drew a line around herself and then stood at the apex of the angle she’d drawn and spread her arms wide.