Page 101 of The Bet
Chapter 30
Luke had given him a look as they had walked out of The Oasis, but he was careful not to reciprocate back.
It suddenly felt wrong, his ulterior motive for being around Izzy. It suddenly made him feel slimy, especially now that she had told him things about her and her family.
Now that he understood her better, he preferred to look at tonight as a celebratory night out, and what he regretted was coming here, to Luke’s bar. It was a reminder of the part of the equation he preferred to forget.
Xavier had insisted on driving Izzy home, refusing to let her take the subway this late at night. And though he’d been expecting a tsunami of an argument, she had agreed. Maybe things were a little changed between them.
He parked outside her apartment, on the dimly lit street, and turned the engine off. “I’m not angling to come in,” he said. “I just want to make sure you get in okay.”
“I’ll be fine. It’s not so bad around here. You’re just used to your affluent areas.”
“We could stay here and talk some more,” he added, eager to let her know he wasn’t expecting her to rush out, either. Her opening up like she did earlier had broken down some of the walls between them, in his head at least.
“Thanks for this evening. I had a great time,” she said. “It was exactly what I needed.”
It made a change, her saying something nice to him, but then tonight had been a night of changes. “I never thought I’d hear you of all people, say something like that after a night out with me.”
“Me neither.”
“Let’s face it,” he said, grinning, “Youcoming out withme. Who would have thought?”
They smiled at one another.
“You’re okay, Laronde.”
“You’re just about bearable, Stone.”
She seemed to be hesitating, as if she had something to say and, sensing this, he waited, because Izzy wasn’t behaving the way she normally did around him.
“You might think I’m ungrateful and rude to you, most of the time.”
He wasn’t expecting this. “Sometimes,” he acknowledged, shifting in his seat. “I can see why I might grate on you.” What was this? Confession 101?
The pale yellow light from the street lamps was just enough to dimly light up her face, and though he couldn’t see her features clearly, he could see enough to determine her expression. “It was nice of you to offer to take me out.”
“It wasn’t a date, or anything,” he said, quickly. “I know my reputation bothers you.”
“It doesn’t bother me as much, these days, funnily.”
“No?” he asked, grinning.
“And you were on your best behavior.”
“I have to be, with you.” It was the truth. When he was around her, he had to lose the loose tongue and roving eye. Thinking about it, he hadn’t been interested in looking at other women, This evening had been more than enlightening and he could have easily spent a few more hours with her.
“You were on your best behavior for me?” she asked, trying to do her best impression of an airhead.
He shifted his body so that more of his back rested against the door. “You’re not my type, Miss Smartypants, and I get that I’m not yours, and this doesn’t have to be about us needing to make it anything else, because it’s not.”
Because he realized, despite having seen Luke, and being reminded of that ridiculous bet, that it wasn’t about getting her into bed. Hell, for the past month or so he had been so caught up in wanting the investment from Hennessy, that he hadn’t stopped to think how his getting-Laronde-into-bed plan had fallen to the wayside. He was having more fun getting to know this complicated woman, than he’d had having wild sex with someone.
For him, a connection such as this was as rare as a threesome.
“I know you’re probably 90% bravado, Stone, and 10% the real you.”
“That’s a high percentage.”
