The Bet

by Lily Zante

  His directness blew her away. “I’m saying that because it’s true.” With both hands on his tiny shoulders, she drew in a breath. “It doesn’t matter who was the daddy in the house you grew up in, your real daddy, the one who’s going to be there for you is the one who’s there for you now.”

  He looked unsure. “Look at me, Jacob. I’m right, aren’t I?”

  He shrugged.

  “Does Tobias spend time with you?”

  He nodded.

  “And does he tuck you in at night?”

  “Yeah. And he reads to me.”

  “And he reads to you?” said Izzy. “And what else?”

  “I don’t know.” He looked down and shrugged. “He takes me to the park, and he’s took me on a helicopter ride.”

  “Taken me,” she corrected.

  “Yeah, he did, and he tickles me, and he makes me laugh, and we go for hotdogs and have man-to-man time.”

  “Man to man time?”

  He shook his head proudly.

  “He sounds like a real dad to me, Jacob.”

  His lips edged out into a tiny smile.

  “So, how about we get out of the pool and shower, and maybe go to the park or something—whatever you want to do?”

  ~ ~ ~

  “You waited for us,” cried Jacob, as soon as he returned from his swim.

  “Yeah, dude. I told you I would.” Xavier put away his cell phone knowing that it would take a while to sift through a week’s worth of backlog. He was halfway through it, that and his current goal of trying to get some investment into a new stream of business. His virtual assistant had gone AWOL on him. The normally reliable middle-aged woman who took care of his accounts and paperwork and all the other various tasks he had for her, had left to take care of her husband who’d broken his leg.

  Why the fuck she couldn’t work around that was beyond him. It left him in a serious bind. Coming back from the wedding to a truckload of correspondence to deal with as well as her unfinished work had been the hugest pain in the ass.

  “How about we go to lunch?” he suggested. “Tobias told me you like hotdogs.”

  “I love hotdogs!”

  “How about you?” he asked Izzy.

  “I don’t like hotdogs. Anyway, we’ve already made plans, haven’t we, Jacob?”

  “But I’m hungry.”

  “NYB,” he said, trying to appeal to the babysitter. “On the Upper West Side. They do the best burgers in all of New York and you can get a huge plate of salad, and you get to pick anything you want.” Jacob suddenly didn’t seem too excited by that. “And you get to fill your own ice-cream bowl and put anything you want on it!” That seemed to do the trick.

  “I wanna go!”

  “I thought you might.”

  NYB was touted as a child friendly place, and had won rave reviews for its salad and ice-cream parlors. He wasn’t so keen on the noise, what with it being full of families on weekends, but the burgers were amazing.

  Izzy snorted. “I prefer not to pay overinflated prices.”

  “Lunch is on me.”

  “No, thank you.”

  “C’mon, Izzy,” Jacob pleaded.

  “Yeah, C’mon, Laronde,” he said, easing into his usual Xavier-The-Stud-Stone smile. “A nice fat piece of meat might put a smile on that face of yours.” He was fully aware of the innuendo, but he wasn’t at all prepared for her answer.

  “I’m a vegetarian.”

  How could he forget? A vegetarian. Of course, she would have to be. No alcohol, no animal products. Fuck. He hoped she wasn’t one of those virgins-until-she-got-married types. “They’ll do some … some … green stuff, I’m sure.”

  Jacob giggled. “Like grass, you mean?”

  “Vegetarians don’t eat grass, Jacob.” Ouch. She sounded pissed, and pissed wasn’t going to get him in her good books. He gave her the once over, when she was glancing at her cell phone.

  He didn’t know what it was—a sudden change in the weather, or a lack of sexual activity, or the fact that she was so obviously not interested in him, but damn it if Laronde didn’t look more attractive each time he saw her. On the flipside, she was cold, possibly frigid even, and a smile wouldn’t go amiss on that pretty little face of hers either. His gaze fell to her lips, and he wondered what it would take to make her face light up.

  “You want to go with Xavier?” she asked Jacob.

  “Yeah. I’m staaaaar-ving. Can we go now?” Jacob asked.

  “Sure, kid.”

  “Lemme just get my bag of toys.” He raced away, leaving him and Laronde staring at one another. It was a deja-vu moment, taking him back to the party in the summer, when Petra had spilled her drink over her. Laronde was in the same jeans and leather jacket, with her nearly-dry tousled hair hanging down, and looking at him as if she wanted to scalp him.

  “Have I done anything to offend you?” he asked, trying to warm the atmosphere between them.

  “I had plans to take Jacob to the park this afternoon.”

  “We can still do that.”

  “My plan didn’t include you.”

  “That was very selfish of you.”

  “I think it was very selfish of you to change our plans to suit you.”

  “Why do you have such a problem with lunch, with me coming along?” he asked, walking towards her, unable to keep that grin from spreading across his face. It was a thing with him, that hardened expression on her face was like an ultimate challenge, and he was determined to make it soft again. “And are you always going to be pissed when you see me?” he asked, ignoring the seething look on her face when she didn’t say anything.

  “It depends, are you always going to show up wherever I go?”

  He chuckled, because she was so dangerously close to the truth and he needed to deflect it. “Don’t flatter yourself, Laronde.”

  “Why are you here, Stone?”

  “To spend time with Jacob. I didn’t want him to sit around by himself and get bored.”

  She punched out a laugh.

  “I’m ready.” Jacob stood between them with a backpack on his back and Iron Man in his hands.

  “Shall we go?” He flashed her an over-the-top dazzling smile, and for a fleeting second wished this chick would melt so that he could get to the fuck-like-rabbits part. She wasn’t about to warm to him anytime this month, he was in for the long-haul, but once she got to know him, she would soon come begging.

  He had everything on his side to win; the territory, for one. This was New York, his city and not some goddamn rock pool in Fiji which was going to ruin his Salvatore Ferragamo loafers.

  All he had to do was give her the right amount of attention and he’d soon be in her panties.

  Fact.

  Some things were done deals, and this was one of them. “What about your grandparents, Jacob?” Izzy asked.

  Grandparents? Shit. Grandparents weren’t part of the deal. He knew where this was going and he opened his mouth to object, but she beat him to it.

  “It wouldn’t be fair to leave them at home, would it, Jacob? That would be very selfish, not to include them.” She gave Xavier a self-satisfied smile.

  Jacob piped up. “Can they come?”

  “I’m sure they’d love to try the best burgers in New York.” She exaggerated the words and flashed him a smile that was worthy of a toothpaste ad. “Go and ask them.” They glowered at one another in tortured silence while Jacob disappeared.

  “Burgers for lunch?” exclaimed Dale, walking into the living room. “Why, thank you, Xavier.”

  “Are you sure you’d like us to come along, dear?” Savannah’s mother asked.

  “It’s supposed to be the best burger place in New York,” Izzy said. “We’d love for you to join us.”

  He grimaced at Izzy. The conniving little thing.

  “Let me fetch my bag,” Jean said. “Dale, you need your jacket.”

  As Jacob’s grandparents disappeared again, he sucked in his cheeks. This wasn’t part of the p
lan.

  “Oh,” said Izzy, staring at her phone. She looked up at him. “I’m sorry. I can’t come. I need to deal with an emergency.”

  “Aaaw.” Jacob whined as if he believed her, but Xavier knew better. She had done this on purpose. “An emergency?” She’d stitched him up, and now she was pissing off and leaving him to have lunch with the kid and the golden oldies.

  What the hell was he going to talk about?

  “Sorry, Jacob,” said Izzy, gleefully. “I’ll make it up to you another time. Enjoy your lunch, guys.”

  “Can we still get a ride in your Ferrari?” Jacob asked.

  Chapter 13

  Fuck. Hard to believe how his Saturday was turning out.

  The kid he didn’t mind so much, but Savannah’s parents? What was he supposed to talk about now that they’d eaten their lunch and were sitting around waiting for the server to clear the table? They were sitting in a semi-circular booth, with big comfy leather-clad seating. He and Jacob on the ends, and Dale and Jean in the middle. He had to make conversation, and it wasn’t always easy to talk to Jacob across the table.

  It was all Laronde’s fault. His plan had backfired magnificently. That girl had one-upped him again, and it was starting to piss him off.

  “Would you like to see the dessert menu?” A server asked him. Christ. No. He didn’t want to spend another second here. But then he caught sight of Jacob’s face. The kid wasn’t asking for anything, and he hadn’t snatched the dessert menu from him. Instead, he just sat there saying and doing nothing, but, goddammit, it was clear enough to see from the look on his face. There was hope, and wanting, and something else Xavier couldn’t put his finger on.

  “What kind of question is that?” he replied, taking the proffered menu and handing it straight to Jacob. “We always have to have dessert. Knock yourself out, kid.”

  “More calories,” giggled Jean.

  “Now, now.” Dale got out his spectacles, as did his wife, and they looked through the menu again.

  “What would you like?” Xavier asked Jacob. A pair of green eyes peeked at him as the menu lowered. “You can have anything you want, don’t be shy.”

  “Is it okay if I have a triple-chocolate sundae, please? That’s what I would like.”

  “Isn’t that too much chocolate, Jacob?” Grandma piped up.

  “I think we can be a little lenient on him this weekend,” Xavier winked at them.

  “We could share it.” The boy offered. “It looks too big, and I won’t be able to eat it all.”

  “Eat what you can kid.”

  He gave the server Jacob’s order, ordered nothing for himself, and watched the server take down Dale and Jean’s order. And that was when he saw Izzy walk into the joint, looking around the busy, noisy floor.

  What was she doing here? He looked around, anticipating who she had come to meet until, like a dart out of nowhere, he was hit by the notion that she had come back for them.

  It had to be.

  For a moment he indulged in the pleasure of watching of without her knowing. In her standard black leather jacket and jeans, still chewing that goddamn bubblegum, she had a didn’t-give-a-shit attitude he was starting to find irresistible.

  When the server led her over to their table, he sat back, and a tiny explosion went off in his chest. She had come back for him.

  “Izzy!” Jacob cried. She greeted everyone, with “I changed my mind,” and sat next to Jacob who moved up to make room. Now she was facing him.

  “What made you change your mind?” he asked, intrigued to hear how she would explain it.

  He shoved a menu in her direction, and noted the way she took the menu but pretended she hadn’t heard him.

  “Haven’t you ordered yet?” she asked, surprised, looking at the empty table. “We’ve eaten, dear. We’re ordering dessert,” said Jean.

  “Why don’t you order something for yourself, Izzy?” Dale suggested. “We can wait.”

  “Or you could order your main dish, and sides, and we’ll get our dessert,” Xavier offered. He had no intention of sitting here longer than he had to. Unless by some miracle, he managed to shake Jacob’s grandparents off, leaving him with Izzy and Jacob. Because now that she had come back, there was no point in wasting the day.

  “I’m not actually that hungry.”

  “Ate something on the way before you got here?” he asked, still none the wiser as to why she had changed her mind. She ignored him again.

  “I’m having a triple-chocolate sundae,” Jacob told her. “You can share it with me, if you want.”

  “Aw, that’s sweet of you to offer,” she replied. “I might try a spoon of it.”

  The sound of a ringtone going off had them all checking for their cell phones. “Jacob,” said, Dale, fishing out his phone. “Your mommy’s on the line.” Wildly excited, Jacob reached for the phone and started to talk, but seemed to be having problems hearing.

  “I think it’s too noisy for him to hear,” Jean remarked, and her husband suggested they go outside where it would be quieter.

  Izzy got up so that Jacob could get out, and Xavier looked for the bodyguard who followed Jacob and his grandparents outside. When she sat back again, she buried her head in the menu, probably so she wouldn’t have to talk to him.

  “So,” he said, making another attempt to find out. “What made you come back?” He watched the way her bangs fell forward, as if she was trying to hide under them.

  “I came back for Jacob.”

  “For Jacob?” he chortled. “Really?”

  “Really,” she replied, then cocked her head, as if she had realized what he was getting at. “You didn’t think I came back for you, did you?” Her gaze turned from curious, to mocking. “Dude, you really should stop flattering yourself.” It was the first time he’d ever heard her use his word, and his reading of body language books told him she was mirroring him.

  This was a plus.

  A huge plus.

  She liked him, even if she didn’t know it yet.

  She continued, “I’d already heard you were full of yourself, and I knew what to expect from you, but how is it that you still manage to surprise me every time I see you?”

  He placed his elbows on the table, leaning forwards on the large table. “I surprise you every time you see me?”

  “Every single time. You’re so sure of yourself, so cocky, and arrogant, and vain.”

  “Thank you.”

  “And only a complete jerk like you would take that as a compliment.”

  His reply sent her expression into a tail spin. Her nostrils flared, and she looked as if she was going to say more, but she held back. He grinned at her, knowing it would rile her up, because he liked getting her riled up. Because, from past experience, whenever he’d had a disagreement with a girlfriend, the make-up sex was always so much better than normal sex. He couldn’t wait to see what it would be like with Izzy, on both those counts.

  Her lips pressed together tightly, making him wonder what it would be like to have her mouth on him, have her on her knees. He shook himself out of the trance.

  “I don’t expect you to admit anytime soon that you like the idea of spending an afternoon with me … and Jacob,” he added as an afterthought, “but at least have the decency to own up to it so that we can stop beating around the bush.”

  Her neck elongated, and her face jutted out a fraction. She looked to be in total shock or surprise, he wasn’t sure which. “This is really happening,” she said, talking to herself, “You really went there. Your ego is even bigger than I thought.”

  “It’s not the only thing that’s big.”

  She blinked rapidly a few times, her mouth opening as she shook her head. “Unbelievable. I can’t wait to tell Cara,” she mumbled, finally.

  “Who the hell is Cara?” The idea that he was the butt of someone’s joke soon sobered him up. There was fun to be had in getting her worked up, but knowing she might be talking about him to others, that they might be lau
ghing at him, pissed him off. It was bad enough that Tobias and Luke ganged up on him at every opportunity.

  “Nobody you need to know, or worry about.”

  Before he had a chance to say anything, dessert and Jacob and his grandparents arrived at the same time and their moment of bonding was over. She was mad though, rabid dog mad. He could see it on her face.

  For some crazy ten second slot this morning at the pool, when he could see she didn’t want him to get into the water with her, he’d seen something in her eyes which he hadn’t been able to pinpoint. He hadn’t gotten in because he could sense her unease. And even now, she had surprised him. Most girls loved this kind of subtle dirty talk, but he could see that it did nothing for Laronde. He couldn’t even engage this woman into conversation without her wanting to put him down.

  This wasn’t about his libido, and his magic touch, or not. There was something about Laronde, something hidden, something deeper, and the more she pushed away, the more he wanted to get to know her.

  ~ ~ ~

  He was deplorable.

  She’d never met anyone who’s head was stuck so far up his own ass that he couldn’t see daylight if it blinded him.

  The only reason she had returned was because she didn’t feel right leaving Jacob with Xavier, even though his grandparents were with him.

  After hearing his concerns about a sibling, about his fears that Tobias might not love him as much, it only struck her, as she got on the subway going home, that she was abandoning Jacob by leaving him with Xavier. Just because she herself wanted to avoid being around that obnoxious man, didn’t mean that the poor boy had to suffer.

  Izzy grit her teeth tightly together as she sat back down once Jacob and his grandparents squeezed past her and into their seats.

  She couldn’t wait to get home and tell Cara how insufferable Xavier Stone was.

  “Here you go, Ma’am.” The server placed the desserts at the table. “And here are some extra spoons for sharing.”

  “How was your Mommy?” she asked Jacob.

  “She’s having fun.” He scooped out a huge spoonful of chocolate sundae and shoved it into his mouth. She took a teeny portion, seeing that he seemed to be enjoying it so much.