Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 79932 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79932 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
“Definitely,” I said, more than a little shocked she’d set a timer. Thirty minutes had flown by. I didn’t realize I was hoping she’d lose track of time with me and want to stay longer. “Tell Craig I said let you back up,” I said. “In case you get tired of dancing.”
She winked at me, then blew me a kiss for good measure. I couldn’t help but smile as she and Jesse headed out.
I cleared my throat and focused on the hand, which had paused because Asher hadn’t dealt the last card yet.
“We playing or..?”
“Bullshit she’s your girlfriend,” Wes said.
I shook my head. “Did you not just see her?”
“She looked pretty into him,” Brynn said in my defense, and I nodded my thanks to her.
“Anyone can look into someone in the beginning,” Wes countered. “Doesn’t mean it’s a relationship.”
I sighed, but shook my head.
Ethan contemplated for a few seconds before a wicked smile overtook his expression.
Oh fuck.
“Put your money where your mouth is, Cross,” Ethan said in a mocking tone. “Three months of monogamy with Aspen,” he continued.
“Oh, here we go,” Alex chided in from where she sat with Brynn and Daisy. “What?” she asked when they gave her a questioning look. “You guys did it to me and look how that worked out!”
She wasn’t wrong. My bet against Ethan that he couldn’t make a woman fall for him longer than a week led to him meeting the love of his life.
That wasn’t what was happening here, though.
“Of course, I’ll be monogamous in a relationship,” I said.
I just didn’t happen to be in a real one, not that they needed to know that.
“Then write it on a chip,” Ethan challenged me, eying my blank chips. “If you win, who cares? You don’t have to stick with it. Don’t have to try. But if you lose to me? You have to stick with it, and if you can’t…I get that ’64 Ferrari.”
I swallowed hard, analyzing my hand. I still had several outs, and he could be bluffing. With the way he was talking, I was leaning more toward he was bluffing.
Gareth folded his cards, wanting no part in it.
Fuck it. I called.
The river came.
I didn’t get my straight.
Ethan checked, and I did the same.
He had a pocket pair of kings that annihilated my hand.
Shit.
Asher and Wes burst out laughing, and the girls gasped.
“Here we go again,” Doyle grumbled.
“If you don’t like the way we play, feel free to leave,” Gareth said.
Doyle didn’t respond, and I couldn’t throw in my own jab because I was too busy wondering how I’d pull off this bet because there was no way in hell I was losing that car to Ethan.
“I’m out,” I said, pushing away from the table.
If I was going to get Aspen to agree to be my girlfriend for three months, I had to act fast.
CHAPTER 2
Aspen
Officially weirdest night ever.
My sneakers scuffed against the concrete as we made our way out of the club. I knew we could’ve stayed and danced and drank, but the events of the night made it impossible.
I could still feel Crossland’s hands on my hips, could still smell the cedar and cinnamon of his scent, could still hear the way his voice shaped my name, and it was all making my head spin. Not to mention the stack of hundreds I now had shoved into my small black clutch.
“I can’t believe you wanted to leave,” Jesse said as he kept pace with me. “If I were you, I would absolutely have milked that guy for all he was worth.”
“If you were me, you would’ve negotiated your way into a much higher price,” I said, chuckling as we finally made it past the line of people waiting to get into the club.
“Damn straight,” he said. “I know my worth, unlike some of my best friends.” He eyed me knowingly.
I flashed him an equally knowing look, silently expressing that that subject was not up for discussion.
“What?” he asked, ignoring my look completely. “You didn’t see the way he was looking at you. You totally could’ve gotten more out of him.”
I laughed, shaking my head. “Because that’s how life works.”
“Apparently,” Jesse said as we pulled off to the side of the building, settling into an open alcove while we chatted. “I mean, according to the ten thousand in your purse, anyway.”
I couldn’t argue with him there, but I also couldn’t imagine getting any more out of the rich mystery man with eyes like an Artic lake. I could barely wrap my head around the last hour of the night, let alone think about working some sort of angle to get more money out of him.
The last thing I ever thought about was me.
Almost my entire life has been about my sister, Brecken—taking care of her, making sure she was fed, clothed, and healthy. Making sure she got enough rest for school, making sure she got into the college of her dreams…the college I was still struggling to pay for thanks to my parents being completely absent since I was fifteen years old.