Page 38 of The Bet
“Hey,” he said to Izzy. “How you doing, Laronde?”
She had to force herself not to narrow her eyes at him. “What does it look like,Stone?”
“I told Savannah I would keep an eye on Jacob.”
“That’s odd, because she didn’t mention anything to me about you being here”
“That’s because—” He was about to say that it was none of her business, but if he was to have any chance of getting into her good books, this wasn’t the way to do it. “Because she’s probably busy enjoying herself.”
“Are you coming in?” Jacob asked. “We’re playing tag.”
No, Jacob, don’t do it. Don’t.
“I didn’t bring my swim trunks, dude.”
“Tobias has got lots.”
No way. This couldn’t happen. It couldn’t. “I don’t think Xavier wants to get wet, Jacob.” She forced a smile. “We’re coming out soon.”
“But we just got in!”
She tried to keep her expression neutral.Thanks, Jacob. Thanks.
Xavier crouched down, but she kept her distance, a couple of meters behind Jacob who was hanging onto the pool ledge, unfortunately, still trying to convince Xavier to come in. “I’m not sure Tobias’s swim trunks will fit me,” he said to Jacob, and then stared directly at her. “They might be toosmall.”
“Gross.” Could he be any more big-headed? She shivered, more in disgust than fear. She didn’t fear Xavier, not in the way she feared Shoemoney. Granted, they were both slime balls, but she sensed that with Xavier it was more a case of bravado.
“On second thoughts, kid, I don’t want to get wet. I’ll wait for you inside, buddy. How about that?”
She glanced up at him, the tension releasing across her shoulders. Thank goodness he wasn’t.
“Don’t you want to play with us?” Jacob’s wail echoed around the pool, and she breathed easier.
“You play as long as you want, kid. It looks like you two are having fun anyways, and I’ve got a few calls to make. Don’t worry. I’ll wait for you.”
~ ~ ~
“You didn’t go swimming, dear?” Jean asked him when he returned. He explained that he didn’t have his trunks on him. “And I have some calls to make.” But instead, he hovered around in Tobias’s den. Killing time.
This bet was going to be harder than he’d thought. If not altogether impossible. But the babysitter was growing on him. She had an edge to her that other girls—who were always eager to please him—didn’t. He liked that. He liked that a lot. It made a change to find someone who didn’t laugh at his jokes, or give in too easily.
And she looked good. It was a huge bonus. He’d had the advantage of seeing her in her bikini a few times now, and he liked what he saw.
When he won, when she gave in, she wouldn’t be disappointed. He knew how to give women what they wanted, and he hadn’t been joking when he’d said Tobias’s swim trunks would be too small for him.
3 months was good. It would take longer than the 1 month he’d previously envisioned, to see this bet through. Girls like Petra or Gisele could be won over in a matter of days. He’d managed to screw Petra on the first date, in his Ferrari. She’d ridden him in the driver’s seat, so impressed had she been by his car that they hadn’t even made it to dinner.
And Gisele. With her he’d been in the Mile High club. They’d exchanged glances across the big ass seats in first class on a flight back to New York. He’d been on his way back from a business meeting and she’d gone for a casting in LA.
But Laronde?
Zero chance. She wasn’t a model or a movie starlet, and maybe that was the problem. This college girl was giving him the runaround as if she were the prize draw in a Miss America contest.
