The Wager (30 page)

Feeling her cheeks heat, Kacey looked down. He hadn’t said that to her for a week or so, which was totally understandable since they had been all but separated by Grandma. It felt good to hear it.

“Don’t.” Travis chuckled. “Don’t get shy on me all of a sudden.”

“Not shy.” Kacey met his gaze. “Just happy to hear you say it.”

Travis’s brow furrowed. “Do I not say it enough?”

“You do.” Kacey didn’t even sound convincing to herself. “Holy crap, I’m turning high maintenance. It’s because you spoiled me!” She pinched his arm and found satisfaction in his cry of pain.

“Brat.” Travis threw her onto the bed and straddled her, holding her wrists down so she couldn’t move.

Kacey thrashed against him. Damn the man, he was strong.

A muscle ticked in his jaw as he clenched his teeth together and closed his eyes. His dark wavy hair hung over his forehead as he leaned close enough to kiss her. Instead he inhaled and did nothing.

“Um, Travis.” Kacey whispered.

“Hmm?”

“What are you doing? I thought you were dying? I thought you said you were going to go crazy without any sort of physical contact, and you’re…” She laughed breathlessly. “You’re smelling me?”

“Yup.” He continued inhaling, his nose tickling the sides of her face as he moved all the way down her neck.

Crap, he felt good; she’d forgotten how right they felt together, how just being near him made everything suddenly seem okay. The world faded into the distance; it was just them.

“I love your neck.” He murmured, his lips burning against her skin as he continued to talk. “It smells like flowers. It always has, but I don’t know if it’s your perfume or just you. It’s incredible.”

His tongue slipped beyond his lips, tasting her skin, slowly and then he kissed once, twice, pausing between each kiss as if to memorize the exact taste of each individual spot he was touching.

Travis’s lips left her neck and moved to her shoulder. “I was obsessed with this shoulder for an entire year.”

“Shut up!” Kacey laughed. “What is wrong with you?”

He held her right shoulder in his hand, moving his thumb over her delicate skin causing goose bumps to erupt down her body. “It’s true. You wore a shirt that fell just over this shoulder, your right one. I tripped walking down the hall because I was so focused on that little piece of skin. I swore to myself that one day I’d reach out and touch your shoulder, of course in my teenage years, it went beyond that. I wanted—”

“To kiss me? Have sex?”

Travis laughed, his smile doing crazy things to her stomach. He had no idea how devastating he was. “Nah, sweetheart. I just wanted to hold your hand. And that’s the truth.”

“Hold my hand? Kind of tame, don’t you think?”

“Not to me.” He swallowed, his eyes taking on a sensitive look as he licked his lips and brushed the hair from her face. “I knew you’d never kiss me, not then, so I told myself if I could just hold your hand…”

“What?” Kacey asked, breathless.

Travis reached for the hand that was still pinned above her head and entwined his fingers with hers. “That it would be enough.”

Kacey’s throat was thick with emotion. She couldn’t even respond. What do you say to that?

“I would have been satisfied,” Travis continued. “I would have been happy even… living my life, continuing to live, to move on, away from my first love, if I could have just held your hand. At least that’s what I believed.”

Kacey squeezed his hand and brought it to her cheek. “And now, now what do you believe?”

“Never.” His voice was hoarse. “Ever.” He released her hand and braced her face. “Would it have been enough? One graze of your fingertip.” He dipped his thumb into her mouth. “Damn, but it would have killed me. And now, I just want you all the time, every second of every day. I can’t get it out of my head. I won’t ever be satisfied of you. And I hope this, this burning, this fever, that you cause in me, never recedes” He took her mouth with his, sucking her lips before retreating back again. “Just in case there were any doubts, you know, before now, you are more than pretty.”

Kacey’s eyes welled with tears.

“I told you once, a few months ago that you should be told every day… Clearly I’ve been too selfish to think to say it. Hell, I haven’t thought past the fact that your hand is missing its best friend: me.” He winked. “But Kace, thank God that you’re mine, because you are beautiful. I love your eyelashes—”

“—Travis.” She interrupted him with a kiss.

He pulled back. “Let me finish. I love your eyelashes; they smile with the rest of your eyes. And your hands, God made them to hold mine, seriously, Grandma even asked, he said yes, by the way…”

“Oh yeah, what else did he say?” Kacey joked.

“That you were mine, from day one, from the first desire to see your shoulder, to hold your hand, to kiss that perfect mouth. It was you and me against the world, and it always will be.” He sighed. “Marriage is just the beginning of our story, and I hope to God that when he writes The End, it’s us, on that last page, still holding hands.”

Kacey didn’t trust herself to speak; she could only nod as she watched the love Travis had for her wash over his features, from his eyes to the protective stance of his body as he hovered over her. “I love you.”

He sighed against her lips. “Sweetheart, I love you so much. I can’t wait to marry you. And just know I’m sorry in advance.”

Already in a stupor, Kacey shook her head. “For what? What are you going to do?”

Winking, Travis pulled away from her and put on his shirt.

“Travis, wait—”

“I love you… and I know I’m going to regret this in about five seconds, which means I have to lock the door to my room…” He sighed. “But sweetheart, I’m going to take Grandma’s advice, considering she’s the reason for us getting together in the first place. I’m going to walk out that door and wait another twelve hours.”

“Hmm.” Kacey played with the strap on her bra “Really? Twelve whole hours?”

“Damn you.” Travis closed his eyes and sighed. “Yes. Now keep your lingerie on while I try to make it by that dog without getting killed.”

He made his way to the door slowly, as if he was already doubting his decision.

With a sigh, Kacey got up from the bed and walked toward him; she wrapped her arms around him from behind and leaned her chin against his back. “I love you, Travis Titus.”

“You,” Travis paused, his muscles tensed beneath her arms, “are my life, future Kacey Titus.”

She released him as he turned the knob to the door and walked out.

The man had the self-control of a saint, and instead of making her angry, it made her love him all the more. In twelve hours he’d be hers, all hers.

Char moaned as an arm pulled her close to something warm. She sighed happily when eager lips met hers. Chuckling, Jake moved on top of her and pulled his shirt off. The man was insatiable—which was fine with her. He crooked his finger at her as he moved away. She lifted up her top halfway and stopped.

With a hungry pounce, he ripped it off her body and jerked down the straps of her bra. His mouth was on her in seconds. Hands moved to her hips as he moved her against him and made a sound in the back of his throat that sounded like a desperate plea.

“I can’t get enough,” he said, stealing another rough kiss. “Please don’t hate me for wanting you again.”

Hate him? She couldn’t get her clothes off fast enough. Who knew she’d be spending the first night of marriage in a tree house? With Jake Titus? And Twinkies. Okay fine, so God had a sense of humor after all.

“Damn, you taste good.” His tongue tangled with hers as his hands moved to her hips.

Fireworks sounded the minute his hands grazed her skin, or maybe it was a whistle. She kissed him harder. Something was off.

The fireworks got louder.

And then someone was knocking on the door to the tree house.

“Okay, you two!” Grandma yelled. “Get down here! We have plans to make! And a wedding to attend! Get down!”

Jake, obviously not caring, continued kissing her.

Char kissed him back; that is, until he was jerked away from her by Grandma herself, whistle in hand.

Jake swore violently as he covered himself with the blanket. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Grandma shrugged. “You have the rest of your lives to fornicate in the tree house…”

“Not fornicating if you’re married,” Jake pointed out.

“Fine. You can screw later.” Grandma glared. “But the caterers are here and the cake has arrived. I need the topper.”

Char felt her eyes widen. “Uh, it was um…”

“I know you have the topper,” Grandma said, sounding bored. “Blanche confirmed that you paid for it.”

“Expensive piece of work, that cake topper,” Jake grumbled.

“Down, both of you.” Grandma blew her whistle one last time and made her way down the ladder, all the while yelling. “You have ten minutes to bring me the topper.”

“Or what!” Jake called after her.

The whistle was all they heard, and then Charles Barkley made his way outside barking. He had a shock collar around his neck, with one push he stopped barking and whimpered, falling to the grass in pain. “Use your imagination. I do believe they have these for the male—”

“Fine!” Jake yelled. “Have it your way!”

Now was the time to panic. “Jake, we don’t have a stand for the topper. We can’t just let it ruin the cake.”

Jake swore. “It either ruins the cake by falling through it, or by sitting on a stand that says ‘Tits Forever’.”

Char covered her mouth with her hands and laughed. “To be fair we got sidetracked.”

“You,” he pointed, “were a distraction. Had you not waltzed around me in high heels and short skirts, I would have built a damn topper.”

“Right. So where’s your hammer?”

At Jake’s guilty look, Char shot him a triumphant glare. “Wow, do you even know what a nail is?”

He grinned shamelessly. “I think I’ve proven I can nail things.”

“Holy crap, it’s a tie between me wanting to give you a high five or slap you.”

“What happened to the whole naked option? That not on the table anymore?”

“Negative.” Char threw on her shirt and stood. “That left the table the minute Grandma mentioned shock collars and alluded to male parts.”

“Noted.” Jake winced. “Fine, let’s get this over with. Maybe nobody will notice?”

“Right.” Char nodded. “And maybe Grandma and Mr. Casbon didn’t play Charades last night.”

Jake flinched. “Arousal. Gone.”

“Good.” Char held out her hand to him so he could help her down the ladder. “Because it would look all kinds of inappropriate if you looked horny while handing over that topper to the caterer.”

Jake climbed down after her. “You always know the right thing to say.”

“It’s why you married me.” Char grinned.

Jake lifted her into his arms and carried her across the lawn. “Among other things.”

“Put me down!”

“Threshold.” Jake blew a kiss across her face. “I do things right.”

“Except you don’t,” Char pointed out.

“Some things,” he set her on her feet the minute they were in the kitchen, “I do right, like the important ones named Char. If you didn’t hear me after I said it about a billion times last night…” he pulled her flush against his body, “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Her eyes welled up with tears just as another whistle blow assaulted the air.

“Topper. On it.” Jake released her and ran down the hall.

Jake tilted his head to the right and winced. “It looks fine, right?”

Char was motionless next to him. He nudged her. “Right?”

Her inability to speak and her all-around pinched expression didn’t make him feel better about what they had done. The caterers had come up with a brilliant plan; they kept extra icing around just in case some of the bows on the cake fell off. It was a black and white cake with white icing and black bows, simple, elegant, in Char’s words, “cute.” Luckily for them, easy enough to hide the word ‘Tits’.

So now, it just said Forever.

Only, it wasn’t centered correctly because well, you could tell there was supposed to be two words. Not one.

“It’s fine.” Char finally said. “I can’t even see the Tits anymore.”

Jake exhaled. “Really? No tits?”

Grandma chose that exact moment to walk up. “What’s this I hear about tits?” She smacked Jake hard upside his head. “Are you able, for just five minutes, to stop thinking about sex and focus on something else?”

Char kicked his shin, and he responded with a loud, “No, I just can’t help myself. I’m a—“ He sighed heavily, feeling his shoulders slump. “Lost cause. That’s what I am. Sorry Grandma, it won’t happen again, I’ll try harder.” He clenched his teeth and sent Char a seething glare.

Grandma eyed both of them speculatively before she walked around the cake. “Something’s different.”

“Outside.” Char blurted. “It’s because we’re outside, and the light, from the uh, the light from the particles in the air—“

“—and sun!” Jake near shouted. “The sun makes the cake look…”

“Beautiful!” Grandma clapped her hands together, making both Jake and Char sigh in unison. “Well done! I knew I could trust you two.”

Jake closed his eyes and swore as Grandma clicked off. “We’re going to kill her; this is going to be it. If she finds out we did this…” He scratched his head. “She can’t find out. That’s it; I won’t be responsible for ruining the wedding.”

Char grabbed his hands. “It’s fine! Nobody is ever going to see the Tits.”

A male caterer walked by and whistled low.

Jake called after him. “She doesn’t mean her tits, she means—”

Char covered his mouth. “Let it go, just let it go.”

Feeling her fingers against his lips, seeing her mouth so close, damn, he wasn’t focused on the wedding at all, he was focused on them, on her to be exact. Without a second thought, he grabbed her hand and pulled her back into the house.

Grandma soon located them. “Hurry up! We have pictures in two hours and cocktails before the wedding at four!”

“Yup!” Jake said in a strained voice as he continued pulling Char up the stairs. Finally, when they reached the bathroom, he slammed the door behind him, double-checked that he’d locked it, and turned on the shower.