As for the other reason . . . she’s trying her best to put it out of her mind.
“Fine.” Lucien smiles back. He is poised and confident, something which does not surprise her. Men of his looks and obvious riches usually are. But then, he has not met the likes of Jared. “Let’s raise the stakes, shall we?”
Raise the stakes? Her antenna pricks up. Why is he so confident? Because he is the bigger man? Because he is used to being a big man – and she doesn’t only mean physically – in a small pond?
“What do you have in mind?” Jared says, suspicious.
“Something I’m sure you’ll agree to. If I win, you both get free room and board at this fine hotel for as long as you need to stay.”
Shannon can see the wheels in Jared’s head churning. Free room and board for as long as they wish to stay? They might be choosing to stay for a long, long time if she has her way. Jared, of course, has more wanderlust genes in his body.
Lucien turns to her. “And is this your wife?”
Jared says quickly, “She’s my sister.”
Yeah, that’s usually his line and what has most people’s eyebrows rise a tad. They look nothing alike, she knows. And they shouldn’t, because they are not blood related. He is auburn-haired and she is dark. Very dark, with hair that gleams midnight in its darkness. His eyes are brown and hers are a startling violet. He is tall and she is petite in frame, though she is not short.
“Sister.” Lucien seems amused by this revelation.
“We are not related by blood,” she quickly offers. She wonders why she did that. She is not trying to let him think she is available, is she?
She finds herself wondering if he is available too. A man who looks the way he does? No way in hell. She can imagine all the debutantes lining up to spread their legs for him.
“And if I lose?” Jared demands in that kind of lofty tone which indicates that he does not think he will be losing.
Lucien’s mind seems to be churning quickly as well.
“If you lose,” his cavalier tone suggests that he thinks it is a forgone conclusion, “then your sister will have to go out on a date with me.”
Shannon lifts her chin in surprise. A date? Her pulse begins to beat a little faster. So he is interested in me too?
Jared is surprised too.
“You want a date with Shannon?”
She bridles at his tone. Hey, I am considered very attractive, you know.
“Fine,” Jared says. “To each his own. He flexes his right arm. “Let’s do this.”
“Great,” Lucien says, smiling. “Let’s adjourn to the restaurant. There are plenty of tables there to carry out our bet.”
WAGER
The one restaurant in the entire hotel is a modest affair, with red and white checkered tablecloths and neatly folded napkins in the shape of crowns. Silverware bedecks lacy place settings. Several tables are occupied, and the patrons turn their heads to size up the three very attractive young people coming in.
Shannon’s gaze is immediately drawn to the garden beyond the wide French windows which surround two walls of the restaurant. The garden is in full bloom, and the roses are bountiful in yellow, red, pink and white amid leaves heavy with raindrops. She almost gasps at their largesse. Coming from a desert, she rarely sees such growth profusion.
And no wonder, if it rained the way it did here . . .
An entrance opens out to the patio surrounding the restaurant. Out there, several tables have also been placed. However, the tablecloths have all been folded up and no one is sitting outside. Raindrops speckle the surfaces of the tables.
A waiter bows deferentially to Lucien. “Table for three, sir?”
“Not in the way you mean, Tod. Clear a table for us over there.” Lucien points at a table for two next to the garden. Not out in the patio, but just inside.
“Clear it, sir?”
“Everything off. We want it clean.” Lucien motions to the brother and sister pair. “This way, please.”
Jared struts ahead in that cocky way of his that she detests so much. Plenty of girls find Jared very attractive – and she supposes he is in his ‘I’m all butch male and I know it’ kind of way – but she is not one of them. Maybe she did find him attractive when they first met . . . but not anymore. Not after living with him and putting up with his moods for all these years.
Jared pulls a chair and seats himself on it. Lucien pulls a chair for her and gestures, “If you will be our witness, Mademoiselle.”
“Thank you.”
She is charmed despite herself. She sits, taking care to ensure her narrow skirt doesn’t ride up her thighs too much. He seems to notice this, and she notices that he notices.