Page 1 of The Bet
Chapter 1
“One woman, for life. Hell, no.”
Xavier had waited until Tobias was well out of earshot to state his observation. They were sitting outside on leather couches, on the rooftop terrace of The Oasis, the bar his friend owned.
Tobias was flying Luke and his team to his wedding on Kawaya, his 300-acre private island in Fiji. Luke and his staff were taking care of the drinks for the 4-day wedding extravaganza.
“He’s your brother. Be happy for him,” Luke drawled.
“Iamhappy for him,” Xavier insisted. Tobias seemed more relaxed these days, and it was all down to Savannah and Jacob. “It was about time he met someone. I could say the same about you.” He glanced at his friend, but Luke kept quiet.
“Not me.” Luke shook his head. “I’m too busy to be dealing with women.”
Girlish laughter bubbled around the room making Xavier glance over his shoulder. Even though it was late evening and the night sky had darkened to a rich navy-blue, the soft lights from the lamps made it easy to see everyone. He raised his glass to the group of women who sat around a table scattered with jewel colored cocktails. A couple of them acknowledged him with an interested smile.
“Know them?” he asked his friend. Luke seemed to know everyone who came here.
“Lawyers and legal eagles, celebrating an engagement. That’s all you need to know.”
Xavier eyed them slowly, his gaze lasering in on a woman with long wavy hair and what looked like a big and beautiful pair of breasts. His mouth watered at the sight of her hard-to-miss nipples poking through her silk dress. He flashed a smile at her, appreciating the view.
Even with the slight chill in the air—a promise, in this last week of September that fall was around the corner, it wasn’t that cold because of all the heaters Luke had placed around the terrace. Or maybe the woman wasn’t cold and was just excited to see him.
“Quit bugging my clientele.”
“I don’t see them complaining.” Xavier lifted his beer bottle to his lips.
“That’s because they don’t complain to you.”
“Bullshit.” Xavier looked at his friend dubiously. “Nobody’s ever complained to you about me. You’re making that shit up.”
On second thoughts, it was probably better not to risk anything while Tobias was around. With his wedding to Savannah a week away, his brother could sometimes get easily irritated. In fact his family, especially his parents, seemed to get annoyed when it came to Xavier and his love life. He didn’t understand why. He was young. Maybe notsoyoung. But 27 wasn’t exactly old.
Tobias was going to celebrate his 30th birthday the day before he got married. Talk about hitting two major milestones one after the other.
Luke’s gaze drifted to the table of women before returning to him again. “Is Xavier-The-Stud-Stone in action again? Won’t your girlfriend mind?”
Xavier rolled his eyes at the mention of the nickname Luke had given him many years ago. “I’m only looking.” Gisele wouldn’t like him ogling other women, but she wasn’t here, and he wasn’t about to do anything silly. He wasn’t that much of a douchebag. “You all set for the wedding? All set to show off your mixologist skills?” he asked, his fingers curling around the glass bottle.
“Don’t call me a mixologist. I don’t need any fancy, stupid labels.”
“Okay, calm down.” But Xavier guessed that his cocktail making skills behind the bar helped him pick up a lot of girls. Not that the dude needed to be behind the bar. “Think of the shit ton of publicity you’re going to get from it.”
“That’s not why I’m doing it,” Luke protested.
Xavier snorted in disbelief. “It’s not as if you would have turned this opportunity down.” It wasTobias Stone’swedding, for fuck’s sake.
“Tobias doesn’t want any press,”
It was true. Tobias was an intensely private person. “My brother’s anal like that.”
Luke leaned forward. His sleeves had been turned up, revealing hard, tattooed forearms that had Xavier wondering if he should get a couple of tattoos himself. Chicks loved that stuff. And that, along with the handful of bars and clubs Luke owned in and around New York, made him a babe magnet. Xavier envied him a little, and for having a thriving business which didn’t seem like that much hard work.
“I don’t blame him. He wants no paparazzi and nothing leaked. I respect that, and I haven’t told anyone outside of my team. My staff is discreet, and they won’t leak anything to the press. I’m honored that Tobias asked me.”
“He’s asked you based onmyrecommendation.”
“He’s been here plenty of times without you.”
