Page 170 of The Bet
“But I’ve got a lot to say to you.”
“I’m not interested. I’m really not.”
“I know you hate me,” he whispered the words quietly, and peeked at Jacob who seemed to be hiding behind a huge menu. “I would hate me too, but at least give me the chance to explain, because you might hate me less, and I’ll take that over you hating me so much you can’t bear to look at me.”
She ground out a sigh. “It’s not wise to have this conversation here. Some ears pick up everything” she said, cryptically.
She was right. He looked over at Jacob, and at the large menu covering his face, and knew of the boy’s superpower to absorb information like a sponge.
“They do some excellent salad here, Jacob,” he said, hoping to convince the boy. “Over there by the salad bar. Why don’t you go and get some, dude?”
“I hate salad.” Jacob made a face.
“But it’s too good for you. Even Iron Man likes salad.”
“No he doesn’t!” Jacob protested. He rubbed his hand over his face, stole a glance at Izzy hoping she might help, but she didn’t even look at him. She obviously wasn’t going to make this easy.
“If you have some salad, maybe Izzy will let you have ice-cream later. You can make your own, remember, like last time?”
“Izzy always lets me have ice-cream, and I don’t even have to have salad to get it.”
“Don’t you want to set a good example to your brothers?”
“That’s low,” he heard Izzy say.
“Don‘t you want to be a role model for them?”
Jacob looked thoughtful. “Okaaaaay,” he said, slowly. “I’ll try the salad.”
“Great move.” Izzy got up to go with him, but he grabbed her arm. “The bodyguard’s going. Let the kid try it alone. I can see him from here.”
Izzy pried her arm away from him, but didn’t sit back. “This is you all over. You’re despicable. You’ve proved that you’re a manipulative asshole who thinks he can treat people like dirt. You made a 7 year old go and do something, not because you care about him but because you want to speak to me.”
“I care about Jacob, and I care about you. I’m in love with you Izzy. I didn’t expect to fall for you, but I have.” He’d said it, not out of desperation, or as a way to manipulate her, but because he was speaking the truth. He was falling for her.
The fact that her skin seemed to turn pink, gave him hope. She stayed silent, but at least he’d managed to get a reaction out of her—even if it was hate, right now.
He could work with that.
He would show her that he had changed, and that he wasn’t the same loser who had made the bet. The very thing that had cost him her.
“You wouldn’t know the meaning of the word,” she said, sitting back stiffly. She grabbed a menu and held it up so that it half-covered her face.
“You stood up for me,” he said, remembering “You told Savannah about Jacob spilling the news about the twins. Why did you do that?” It had to be because she cared about him.
“I hate lies, and mistruths, and deception.”
He swallowed. “Thank you for doing that.”
“There’s nothing you can say to me now that will ever change the way I think about you.” She turned to him with her dark, angry eyes. “I had an idea you were a jerk, way before the wedding, and I can see now that my initial impression of you was the right one.”
He clasped his hands together. “I can be stupid, and I made a grave error of judgement, and I know you won’t believe me, but I forgot all about that stupid bet soon after I started to get to know you. And I’ll tell you when that was,” he said, seeing that he had her attention now, “It was a couple of times after we started hanging out. That’s all it took, Izzy. A couple of times.”
“You’re a liar. You even took me to your friend’s bar and paraded me.”
“I didn’t parade you.”
“You made me think you were taking me out to celebrate getting that investment.”
