The Wager (23 page)

“Doesn’t make you a pharmacist.”

“Ah, details.”

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Char decided not to fight that battle.

“Are you okay, dear?” Grandma’s eyebrows furrowed with concern.

“Headache.” Heartache; same thing.

“I’ve got aspirin just down the hall in my room. Go grab one, they’re on my nightstand next to the Benadryl. Just be sure to take the white pill and not the pink pill. The pink pill will have you three sheets to the wind after all that wine.”

Nodding, Char walked off down the hall to grab some aspirin. Grandma’s room was on the bottom floor because she hated climbing stairs. Kacey had said that just this last year Grandma had wanted to move upstairs because she’d watched the movie
Up
and thought it would be fun to have one of those chairs that attaches to stairs like a ride.

She was vetoed.

With a sigh, she pushed open the door and found Jake and Amy in an embrace. Amy’s arms were wrapped tightly around his neck and she was wearing nothing but cheap lingerie from the party.

Jake pushed her away, and then saw Char.

“Do you mind?” Amy spat in Char’s direction. “We’re kind of busy here.”

“Char, wait!” Jake called, but she was already running, in platform heels no less, down the hall and out the door.

“Damn it, Amy!” Jake yelled. “What the hell is wrong with you? I said I wasn’t interested.”

“You looked interested.” Her eyebrow arched as she tried to get close to him again.

Jake lifted his hands to stop her. “Seriously, not interested. Not now, not ever.”

“Guys like you…”

“Guys like me, what?” Jake sneered. “Finish what you were going to say.”

She licked her lips and crossed her arms. “They don’t say no.”

Jake nodded. “You’re right.”

Amy’s smile was vicious as she approached.

“I must not be that guy anymore.” He stormed out of the room in search of Char.

An hour later, he still hadn’t located her to apologize. The only damn reason he’d been in that room in the first place was because Amy had had so much to drink that he didn’t want her to ruin the party by going crazy—he’d seen her pop a few pills before her last glass of wine.

Muffling another curse, Jake made his way upstairs to get some of the oil off and to change into clothes that didn’t make him look like a poorly paid prostitute. Funny, how just a few months ago he would have been totally okay with looking like this. Now he just felt dirty, used, gross.

He’d grabbed a wet cloth and started wiping off the oil when a phone started ringing. He looked over at the nightstand. It was Char’s phone, and the screen told him the call was from her job.

She’d been ignoring her phone the whole weekend so he figured he’d just ignore it, too.

But ten minutes later, after two more missed calls, he lost his patience.

“Hello?” he snapped the minute it rang for the third time.

“Who the hell is this?” a man yelled.

“Jake Titus. Why? Who’s this?”

“Mike Cromwell. I’m your little girlfriend’s boss.”

Jake didn’t have the strength to say that they were anything
but
dating, and that Char was probably planning on killing him in his sleep tonight. “What can I do for you, Mike?”

“You can tell Char that she has exactly six hours to get a story to me or she’s fired.”

“A story?” Jake repeated. “Any story?”

“No, you idiot.” Mike cursed into the phone. “The wedding. She’s supposed to be covering the wedding.”

“But—”

The phone went dead.

Stunned, Jake sat on the bed, still holding the phone in his hand. So it was all about a story? She was being nice to him to get to him?

Like every other girl in the world.

Char wanted something from him, but now he wondered if the something she wanted wasn’t what he was willing to give. His body? Something snapped inside. Maybe she’d pushed him past his breaking point, but he was pissed. No, he was more than pissed. How could she do this to him? After everything he’d said to her? All they’d shared? To her, all he was worth was a flashy smile and a story. But to him? She was the world.

All the nameless faces of past conquests flashed through his mind. All the women, all the sex, all the partying… Every last female had wanted something from him, whether it was his money, his status, his bed. And Char? She’d turned out to be the worst of them all, because she’d pretended to be his friend. She’d maneuvered herself into his life so fully that the idea of purging her out was so repulsive he felt like he was going be sick. So this was what betrayal felt like? Like knives stabbing into your front and your back, an absolute loss of control over your own emotions? Right. Well, he hated it. He hated that Char had been the one to make him feel that way. He’d never expected more out of those other women because he’d known what those relationships were. They’d wanted something from him and he’d wanted something from them. All parties left satisfied. But now? He was left feeling empty, as if he’d just offered Char all of his possessions in hopes that she’d at least give him a damn hug and say “thank you” rather than run him over with the moving truck and drive off.

He hated putting her with those other women. He hated allowing her name to even be next to their names. But…

She’d ended up being just like
them
.

A wave of nausea overtook him as he set the phone down. With shaking hands, he ran his fingers through his hair. Char had just wanted a piece of the Jake Titus joke.

Which meant only one thing: He was getting ready to jump off the commitment cliff without a parachute.

Well, if she wanted a story, she was going to get one. No way was he going to let her blame him for losing her job.

* * *

An hour later, Char walked back into the room. Her cheeks were flushed and her hair was wind-blown.

“Where’ve you been?” Jake asked. Char rolled her eyes and tried to walk back out, but Jake caught her arm and dragged her back inside. “I was worried.”

“Oh, spare me. You looked really worried in Amy’s arms.”

Jake muttered an oath and walked away from her. “I didn’t want her then and I don’t want her now, but then again, you trusting my word means you actually have to trust me as a person. It means I have to trust you, too. And I don’t.”

Char threw down her purse and charged toward him. “How dare you! I’ve done nothing to—”

He held up her cell phone. “Mike called.”

“You’re such an ass!” Char jerked the phone away from him. “You answered my phone? That’s private.”

“You’re lucky I’m a good guy.”

She snorted.

“So ask me.”

“What?” Char scrolled through her messages. “What the hell do you want me to ask you?”

“About the wedding. You know, details, who the caterers are, what celebrities are going to be stopping by… you know, the nitty gritty details. Interview me.”

Char’s face fell as she stared into his cold, unresponsive eyes. “Jake, I was never going to go through with the interview.”

“I don’t care.” He did care but he didn’t want her to know he did, because it just made him look pathetic. “Ask me the questions.” He threw a piece of paper and a pen onto the bed. “Come on. Do you want to get fired?”

“No, but—”

“I’m pissed as hell right now,” Jake said honestly. “But I’m not going to be the reason you lose your job.”

“Well, aren’t you just a regular Mother Theresa.” Char snorted. “Don’t you know me better than this, Jake? Do you really think I’d betray my friends to get ahead in the world? I’m not you!”

“You’re being a bitch.”

“You’re an ass if you think so little of me,” she yelled.

“Yeah, well, you’re a shitty friend.” Jake’s nostrils flared as his voice rose. “I thought you were different. That’s why I—”

“Jake?” Travis’s muffled voice came from the other side of the door. “The party’s breaking up, man. Have you paid that crazy lady with the sex toys yet?”

“So many things wrong with that sentence.” Jake rolled his eyes. “Coming.” He walked toward the door. “You.” He pointed at Char. “Not a word to Travis and Kacey. Don’t even tell them you were thinking about taking your boss up on the offer. It will break their hearts, and they have enough going on. I’ll give you a damn story. I’ll run down the street naked if I have to; just leave them alone.”

Disgusted, Jake walked out the door, all the while wondering if his heart would ever be able to trust anyone.

Char stared in shock at the closed door. What had just happened? Was Jake actually giving her advice on how to be a good friend? After he’d led her on and then took Amy into a room and made out with her? The man was a mess! And he had the audacity to say that what Char was supposed to be doing was low? She wasn’t even going to do the interviews! She’d decided to sacrifice her job, a job she needed in order to eat, because she didn’t want to betray her friends.

The jackass hadn’t even given her a chance to explain! Once again, his cocky know–it-all attitude had surfaced, leaving her heartbroken and confused. She’d seen him in a searing lip lock with enemy number one and he was lecturing her as if she was the one who’d broken his heart!

Jake would never understand her hesitation about what she did because he’d always had money. He didn’t realize how tempting it was—to be able to pay rent, to eat, to not let your parents down again and again!

With a cry she threw herself onto the bed and cursed Jake Titus to hell. It was becoming a habit. Maybe if she cursed him enough times her heart would stop breaking. So close, yet so far away.

* * *

Jake said almost nothing to Char all day Saturday. In fact, the only time he did speak to her was when he’d asked to use her floss that morning. She’d dangled it in front of his face and waited for him to make some sort of joke.

Instead, he took it, flossed his teeth, and left the room.

Adding insult to injury, she was fired that morning.

She’d missed her deadline. It was entirely possible her life as a reporter was completely over.

Char checked her watch. It was already five and Kacey and Travis still weren’t back from town. They’d run some sort of last minute errand.

She tried Kacey’s’ phone again, but there was no answer.

Everyone was getting restless. Char began to pace in front of the gazebo. Thirty minutes later Grandma burst through the door.

“They won’t be making it to the rehearsal,” Grandma said. “Flat tires.”

“Tires? As in more than one?” Jake asked, rising from the pew.

“I’m afraid so. It was as if someone slashed them.”

Petunia shook her head. “Portland’s full of gangsters. Probably one of them boys.”

“Right.” Jake smirked. “Because we know lots of gangsters that want to off us.”

Petunia stiffened.

“We’ll just have to carry on without them.” Grandma rubbed her hands together. “Char, you’re the maid of honor, you’ll stand in for Kacey; and Jake, as the best man, you’ll be standing in for Travis.”

Char’s stomach plummeted. God was cruel. The one man she had been in love with since junior high was now standing in the groom’s, only it wasn’t real. And again, so close. Her heart constricted as she looked into his eyes because she knew this would never be her reality. It was all some sort of sick joke from the universe. She’d hold his hands; he’d pretend to put a ring on her finger.

And at the end he’d walk away.

Char jumped when Grandma blew her whistle. “Order, everyone!”

“We aren’t in a court,” Jake grumbled.

“I need order!” Grandma blew the whistle again, this time right in the pastor’s ear. He winced and looked away, poor soul. “Now, let’s have the girls fan out under the gazebo. Yes, perfect!” She pointed to the guys. “And the men: let’s have you line up on the other side. Oh, that looks lovely.”

It looked horrible, but nobody asked Char so she kept quiet. Then again, it could just be her crappy attitude.

“Pastor?” Grandma raised her hand instead of blowing the whistle, praise God.

“Yes, Nadine?”

“Will you please go through the entire ceremony? I want to be sure that the microphones are working and we’ll be able to hear the bride and groom.”

“Of course.” The pastor smiled and held out his hand to Jake. “I’m Jim.”

Jake shook his hand.

Pastor Jim turned to Char. “And you must be the maid of honor.”

Her smile was tight as she took his hand.

“Both of you stand just here.” He pushed them together.

Char almost stumbled into Jake’s hard chest. His eyes were distant, as if he was shutting her out from his world. She could almost see his abs through his tight black t-shirt. Lowering her gaze didn’t help because then she had a full view of his distressed designer jeans, and his Marc Nason boots that had probably cost more than her car.

“Dearly beloved…” Jim began reciting the welcome and the prayer. “Now we are going to move on to the vows. Take each other’s hands and repeat after me.”

“I, Jake Titus…” Jim started.

Jake cleared his throat. His hands were so warm as they held Char’s. “I, Jake Titus.” his voice had a husky drawl to it as he continued to talk. “Take you, Char Lynn, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health.” His voice caught in his throat as his eyes burned into hers. “To love and to cherish, to treasure, to be my best friend, from this day forth until my last breath leaves my body—I will be yours, as long as we both shall live.”

Char had to bite her lip to keep from crying. It was everything she’d always wanted to hear him say.

Jake closed his eyes when he was finished.

“Now, Char.” Jim cleared his throat. “Repeat after me. I, Char Lynn…” Char repeated the same vow. Halfway through her hands started shaking. Jake opened his eyes and mouthed
It’s okay
, so she kept going.

By the time she was finished, her heart was pounding so hard she would swear Jake could hear it. He smiled sadly when they had to release each other’s hands.

Jim addressed the nonexistent guests. “Travis and Kacey, or in this case Jake and Char, both expressed interest in writing personal vows to each other. We will hear them now.”