How could he prove himself when there were no monsters?
Good thing he was the smartest kid in his class. He knew just what to do. All he had to do was cause the trouble and then save her from it.
First, he set her doll on fire, but that didn’t work out as planned. In fact, the doll was now sitting in the garbage can. How was it his fault that the fire extinguisher didn’t work?
Next, he put a snake in her sleeping bag. When she woke up screaming, he rushed to her side to grab the snake but then couldn’t find it! Jake ratted him out, and Kacey was so angry she cried.
In one last final attempt to impress her, he tied her shoelaces together so she would fall, and then knelt down on his knees to help her.
But she was so mad she slapped his hands away, threw off her shoes, and ran away crying.
Girls.
He would never understand them.
After all, he was trying to help her every time.
And every time she just pushed him away more.
Which meant only one thing. In order to win the bet, he would just have to try harder. And he knew just how to do it.
“Hey, Jake? Do you know where any rocks are?”
Chapter One
Present Day
Kacey searched his eyes for any hint of amusement. He couldn’t be serious, not Jake. Jake never took anything seriously. She quickly raised her hand to feel his forehead and inwardly shuddered. Why God had blessed such an arrogant man with the face of a movie star was seriously beyond her realm of understanding.
But there he was, a regular Adonis, staring back at her as if his eyes didn’t make mortal women uncomfortable.
“Are you drunk?” she whispered, leaning in closer, all the while cursing the expensive aftershave floating off him.
Jake slapped her hand away. “No, I’m not drunk. Geez, Kacey, you’re acting like I’m propositioning you for sex or something.”
“That’s the example you come up with? Sex? Really? Because to be honest, Jake, this is so much worse!” Her hands shook as she tried to level her breathing to a normal pace. At this rate she was going to have a full on panic attack.
“How is this worse?” His voice rose a few octaves as other patrons of the coffee shop looked in their direction.
Kacey leaned back against the leather chair and groaned.
“I’m dead serious, Kacey. It’s the only way to convince them.” Jake leaned forward, his bronzed muscular forearms flexing against his rolled up sleeves as he rested his hands across the table.
“You do realize your parents have known me since I was three? Furthermore, I’m convinced that your mother would be able to see right through us. And don’t even get me started on that grandmother of yours.”
Jake’s stone face cracked into a smile.
“Don’t laugh! I’m serious, Jake! The woman should have worked for the FBI.”
“It’s her eyes.” Jake shrugged. “They always get me.” He shuddered. “But you’re getting off-topic, Kacey. I’m desperate.”
“Oh, wow. Well, when you put it that way, how could I turn you down? You’re desperate! Romantic man you are not. I have no idea how you managed to become the city’s most eligible bachelor, and at twenty-one. Impressive.” She shook her head in disbelief.
“Really, you don’t know?” He leaned forward, his biceps tightening beneath his grey button-up shirt, ready to burst through at any minute. His clean-shaven face held a hint of a five o’clock shadow, and his dark hair fell in waves across his forehead. Clear hazel eyes gazed back at her, and she couldn’t find the strength to look away from his lips as his tongue ran across them.
Crap. She was actually sweating just looking at the guy. It didn’t help matters that this was the first time she had heard from him since the incident. Not that this was the time to bring that up.
“Fine.” Kacey told her heart to stop beating so fast and closed her eyes again. “Jake, it won’t ever work. Why don’t you get one of your stripper girlfriends to do it for you?” And please, for the love of God, leave me alone. Too many memories stared back at her through his eyes, and she wasn’t sure she could stomach it. Not after hearing that the restaurant her parents had owned just opened up two new locations, one of them in Seattle. The wound seemed to open all over again. She shuddered and let Jake continue to plead his case.