The Love Wager

Hallie

“My mind is blown,” Chuck said, tossing back one of the shots Hallie had poured for the two of them and set on the table in front of them. “You guys are incredibly convincing.”

Hallie took her shot, feeling the whiskey burn down her throat. “It’s easy, because we’re best friends and we have sexual chemistry.”

“So. Um.” Chuck grabbed his water bottle and took a long drink before wiping his mouth and saying, “Tell me again—why aren’t you really dating if you have chemistry and you’re best friends . . . ?”

Hallie tilted her head. “It sounds simple, doesn’t it?”

“Incredibly.” Chuck looked toward the door of the multipurpose changing/gathering room, through which most of the bridal party had just exited. Pictures were over, and they were ready to party.

“It’s complicated. Jack thinks we have too much chemistry and we won’t stop bonking if we start being friends with benefits.” Hallie slid her feet back into the red pumps and pulled her compact out of her bag. “He thinks that we would have sex until we were dead and ruin our friendship. I, on the other hand, think he’s one of those guys who needs to be in a relationship, so I don’t want to be his low-hanging fruit, the person he gets into a relationship with because it’s easy and we had a good bonk.”

“He’s not your douchey ex.” Chuck leaned over and checked his hair in the compact she was looking into. “And I feel like he actually does like you.”

She opened her lipstick and raised it to her mouth. “I think we both like each other, but not enough or in the right way to risk the friendship.”

“Listen to me right now.” Chuck stood as she finished applying her lipstick. “Risk the fucking friendship.”

She stood as well and showed him her teeth. “Lipstick-free?”

“You’re good,” he said, then bared his teeth, to which she responded, “You are, too.”

“Seriously, though, if you two are perfect for each other, fuck everything else.”

Hallie picked up her bag and said the words that hurt her soul. “I can’t bear the thought of losing him, though, Chuck. I can’t.”

The breakup with Ben had been awful. Out of nowhere. She’d assumed they were close to getting engaged, and she’d been absolutely in love with him, and then he’d told her that he didn’t love her and she wasn’t enough.

She’d been devastated and destroyed, but she felt like losing Jack as a friend would be a thousand times worse.

“Hal.” Chuck grabbed her bag from her fingers and tucked it under his arm; he knew she hated clutches, which was what made him an above-and-beyond friend. “You won’t lose him. You won’t. And don’t you think the possibilities of love are worth the risk?”

“Shit. Yes.” She took a deep breath and nodded. “I need another shot if I’m going to make him fall in love with me tonight. Care to join me?”

“I’d be delighted.”

•   •   •

Because of bridal party obligations, it took forever before Hallie was finally able to meet up with Jack. After the pictures, she and Chuck had to sit at the head table while everyone made toasts, and then she had to sit there while everyone else got their food first.

Thank God for phones.

Jack: You look bored.

Hallie: That’s because I am bored.

Jack: Wanna play a game?

Hallie: Absolutely I do.

She glanced in the direction of his table, but it was hard to see him because people were milling about the ballroom.

Jack: Let’s call it yell, beat, or kill.

Hallie: wtf you animal.

Jack: Choose one person here to publicly yell at, one whose ass you’d like to kick, and one you’d like to murder.

Hallie: Wow.

Jack: I’ll start. I would like to publicly yell at your cousin Emily, who is seated beside me and will not stop telling me about her food allergies.

That made Hallie grin; Emily was a lot. She texted: I get that. So what about the ass-kicking?

Jack: That’s easy. I would like to kick your new brother-in-law’s ass, because his fraternity friends are a bunch of blowhards who’ve wasted far too much of our time with their stupid toasts. He should have better friends.

Hallie: I back you on this. May I assist?

Jack: Of course. Choose your weapon.

Hallie: Cake knife.

Jack: Excellent choice.

Hallie: And now, for the murder . . .

Jack: This obviously has nothing to do with you, but I would really love to wring the neck of Ben Marks.

Hallie looked up from her phone and craned her neck to find Jack. She couldn’t, but she was a little taken aback that he even knew Ben’s last name.

Hallie: It was the scarf, wasn’t it?

Jack: Certainly didn’t help. But every time I look at him, I want to hurt him for making you feel like you weren’t enough.

Hallie wasn’t laughing anymore. She texted: Did I tell you that?

Jack: Chuck did, but he was drunk and it was a slip. Please don’t get mad at him. But here’s the thing, Hal. It’s fine if it wasn’t meant to be for you and Ben, but you have to know that you are more than enough. You’re perfect, and if he was too fucking stupid to see that, it’s on him.

Hallie could no longer read the text in front of her as tears blurred her eyes. She blinked fast to clear her vision before texting: You’re not allowed to be this nice. You’re screwing up my makeup.

Jack: So how should we kill him?

Hallie shook her head, and at that moment the crowds cleared just enough for her to see Jack’s face as he smiled at her. She texted: I think death by poison is a very humane way to put Scarf out of his misery.

The toasts finally ended, and Hallie and Chuck bailed on the wedding party and went to sit by Jamie and Jack. As they approached the table, Hallie took a minute to admire Jack while he wasn’t looking.

His suit and tie were black, and something about the whole look was ridiculously sexy. He looked like a cologne ad. He looked like the guy who’d be on the cover of a romance novel about billionaires. He was dashing and gorgeous, and her heart stuttered a little when he looked up at her from his chair.

“So,” he said, his eyes crinkling around the corners. “Those hiccups.”

“Why didn’t you scare me or something?” She grabbed the chair next to him and scooted it closer, pushing back the warmth she felt for him over what he’d said about Ben. “I thought you were my friend.”

“What exactly should I have done—shouted?”

“Sure.” She grabbed his hand in both of hers and started playing with his fingers while she leaned in close. “Anything would’ve helped.”

A tiny wrinkle formed in between his eyebrows as he looked down at their hands.

She said, “I don’t want to sound like a creep, but you look incredibly hot.”

He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “Are you hitting on me, TB?”

“Little bit. By the way, Chuck and I decided that we’re not going to dance together for the bridal party dance—he’s going to dance with Jamie and I’m dancing with you.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Do I have to?”

“Oh, my God, you don’t know how to dance, do you?”

He smirked and said, “Actually, my nana made me take ballroom dancing.”

“Shut up.”

“Seriously.” He picked up his glass and said, “For three years.”

“So you can, like, waltz?”

He raised his drink to his mouth. “So hard.”

“You can waltz the crap out of me?” she asked, laughing.

“And then you’ll beg me for more, honey.”

As it turned out, he wasn’t lying.

When the DJ finally called for the wedding party to hit the dance floor, Jack led her around like he was Fitzwilliam Darcy at a Netherfield soiree.

“Dear God, are you literally Prince Charming?” Hallie said.

Jack put his mouth to her ear and said, “Yes, but don’t tell anyone. People lose their shit over royals.”

“My lips are sealed.” She laughed, squeezing the warm hand that held hers. “By the way, I love the feel of your mouth on my ear, in case you’re wondering.”

“Is that right?” he asked, his lips moving over the shell of her ear, clearly on purpose.

She shivered as he took his time to pull back his mouth from her skin. “Maybe I’m just sensitive, though. Tell me, does it do anything for you?”

She raised her head and brushed her lips against his earlobe, then nuzzled his neck with her nose, wanting to bury her whole self in him.

“Quit it.” He looked at her hotly, his eyes intense. “You know it does.”

“I can’t help myself.” She laughed again, thinking the couples of yesteryear might’ve been onto something with this whole dancing thing. “Making you look at me like that is downright intoxicating.”

“You enjoy making me weak?” he asked as he guided her around the dance floor.

“I enjoy making you feel.”

“Sadist.”

The shots were kicking in. She didn’t feel fuzzy, or anywhere close to drunk. Just relaxed enough to say, “If I tell you something about feels on our last night of fake dating, do you promise to forget it later?”

He didn’t answer but just looked at her, and the heat of his hand on her lower back teased her skin through the dress.

She said, “It’s not going to change anything, and it’s not like I’m falling for you so don’t get all weirded out. But I’m pretty sure I feel something.”

“What?”

“It won’t affect our friendship, and I don’t want—”

“Say it again.”

“Jack—”

“All of it, Hal.” He pulled up and stopped so they were just standing on the dance floor. His eyes were unreadable. “Tell me.”

She regretted opening her big, fat mouth, because she had a feeling he was freaking out. Still, she said, “It’s not a big thing. I just think I might have some feelings for you that I can easily forget tomor—”

He kissed her.

Right there on the dance floor, as the wedding party moved to a sweet song about forever, Jack wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed the hell out of her. Her arms slid around his neck and she angled her head just a little, absolutely fine with letting him devour her mouth in the middle of her sister’s wedding reception.

She didn’t want him to ever stop.

“Hal,” he said against her lips, not even attempting to stop kissing her to speak.

“Hmmmm,” she sighed.

“You are so getting railed tonight,” he growled.

That made her start laughing, and when she opened her eyes, he was squinting down at her in that way she adored.

The rest of the reception went by in a blur because she couldn’t focus on anything but Jack. She suddenly had this greater awareness of him, this buzzing electrical connection, and she had no interest in anything but him.

Cake cutting, “Electric Slide,” chocolate fountain—they were all just white noise in the background as Jack grinned at her in a way she felt down to her toes.

Jack

“Hey, Jack, can you do me a favor?”

Jack, who’d been standing next to the bar, watching Hallie do a stupid line dance with Chuck and her sister, looked at Hallie’s mom and said, “Of course.”

“Since food service is done, the caterers left, but I want to make sure this cake topper gets put in the freezer so Riley and Lillie can have it for their anniversary. Here’s the kitchen key—can you put it in the freezer for me?”

“No problem.” Jack set down his glass, took the key, grabbed the section of the cake she wanted to save, and took it into the kitchen. He found a shelf for it in the back of the freezer and was closing the cooler door behind him when Hal walked in.

“Hey.” She grinned at him like he was exactly what she’d been looking for. “You.”

She pushed his chest, giving him a little shove so his back was pressed against the freezer door.

Goddamn. He liked her so much it was stupid.

“There’s a lot of booze in that smile,” he said, looking down at her hand. The sight of her short red fingernails on his chest did something to him. Ever since she’d said she had feelings for him, he felt like a wild animal on a leash, straining to get at her.

“It’s only ten percent wine,” she corrected in that breathy voice he’d only ever heard when he was kissing her. “Ninety percent happiness.”

And then, because of her high heels, she easily reached up and pressed her lips to his. He instantly fell into her, tangling his fingers in her hair and losing his damn mind. Her mouth was soft and tasted sweet, like champagne, and he wanted to sip at it until he fucking drowned.

God help him.

Her hands flexed on his chest, grasping, and it was like an electric shock that he felt everywhere. He trailed his mouth down to her throat, where her skin smelled like the Chanel No. 5 she’d left on the vanity in their room, and he wanted to consume her.

The skin on her throat, just under her ear, underneath the curtain of hair on the back of her neck—he wanted to taste every inch of it. She made a noise in the back of her throat, a demand, and he moved behind her, lifting her hair in his fist so he could drag his teeth over her nape.

“Jack,” she said around a sigh, slapping her palms against the freezer door, “that is . . .”

She trailed off, and he said against her skin, “Hot?”

“Mmmm,” she breathed, pressing her backside against his front. “I was going to say ‘wicked.’ ”

He wrapped a hand around her waist and pulled her back, closer, so she was flush against his body. “You make me that way.”

“What time is it?” she asked, making a little noise as he nibbled at the skin between her shoulder blades. The red bridesmaid dress exposed half of her back, and he would be eternally grateful to Lillie for selecting the style.

“Almost ten,” he said, unwilling to leave her body to verify.

“Dammit, we only have a few minutes before the bouquet toss,” she said, her voice almost a whisper. “Please hurry, Jack.”

Her words almost made him dizzy with lust, and he clenched his teeth as he said, “By ‘hurry,’ you mean . . .”

She answered him with her hands on his belt.

Hallie

Apparently that was all it took.

Jack muttered a string of obscenities as he hurried to multitask things like belts and zippers. She felt she was going to die waiting as he slid his hands up her dress, his fingers drawing a line up the sides of her thighs as he raised the skirt and bunched it in his hands.

And then he was there—oh, God.

They groaned in unison, and after that his hands were on her hips and she might’ve lost consciousness as he drove her absolutely wild.

“This doesn’t count,” he said, his voice thick and hot, “as our first time post-hotel.”

“Don’t,” she replied, bending a little lower and arching her back, making him growl, “be bossy.”

“Honey,” he rasped, and then her knees nearly gave out as he touched her with a talented hand. “At this moment, I will be whatever you want me to be.”

“Jack?”

They both froze at the sound of Hallie’s mother’s voice. She started knocking on the kitchen door, pounding, and Jack said, “Shit.”

“Don’t you dare stop,” Hallie said.

“Your mother—”

“Is locked out.”

He groaned into her neck and said, “I didn’t lock the door.”

“I did.” She looked at him over her shoulder.

He lifted his head and his eyes were hot blue on hers. “You did?”

She nodded.

“You fucking hero,” he said, making her gasp as he started moving again.

She laughed and moaned at the same time.

He muttered into her hair, “I want to see your face.”

“What?”

“Your face.” He turned her, breaking contact for only a split second before sliding right back inside her.

“Well, hello,” she breathed, her eyes heavy as he smirked down at her.

“Better,” he said, his face going all intense as his hands found her ass and he lifted her, pinning her against the freezer door with his big body.

“So much better,” she whispered, letting her head fall back against the door as she grasped at his back and he continued moving in a way that made her want to scream.

“Like the hotel,” he panted, at the exact second she whispered, “This is just like the hotel.”

She opened her eyes and smiled at him, but it quickly fell away as his body pushed her harder, drove her deeper, as his blue eyes penetrated hers in the hottest way.

“Hal,” he bit out, his nostrils flared, the muscles in his neck straining above his shirt, “God, I—”

She raised her mouth and swallowed whatever he was going to say in a desperate, wild, hungry kiss.

•   •   •

“Your mom thinks I’m evil,” Jack said, looking over Hallie’s head toward where her mother was seated.

They were standing beside the gift table, where Hallie had been instructed to count how many packages would need to be carried up to her sister’s room.

“She just didn’t understand why the door was locked,” Hallie said, grinning. She was having trouble not grinning as she talked to Jack like they hadn’t just had screamingly hot sex in the banquet kitchen. “And why it took so long for us to open it.”

“You’re enjoying this,” he said, managing to look disgusted and amused all at the same time.

“Am not.” She looked at his handsome face, heard the notes of “A Groovy Kind of Love” coming out of the DJ’s speakers, and was a little nervous about how happy she felt at that moment.

“Then why are you smiling?”

She rolled her eyes. “Because I’m happy.”

He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. “I don’t know if I trust happy Hallie.”

“You should.” She grabbed his tie and pulled him a little closer. “Because she’s obsessed with the way you move around a kitchen and is desperately thinking of a way to lure you back in for round two.”

“If you’re there,” he said, sweetly brushing a tendril of hair behind her ear, “I’m there.”

At midnight, the reception was still raging. Hallie had planned on helping with cleanup, but every time Jack looked at her, she toyed with the idea of being the worst sister in the world. She was seriously contemplating just sneaking away with him when her father appeared with Ben at his side.

“Hal, your mom sent me to get you. She’s in the prep room, trying to figure out whose stuff is whose. Can you help?” her dad asked.

“Um.” She glanced at Ben, simultaneously irritated by his presence and absolutely neutral, emotionally speaking.

Her dad gave her a knowing look and said, “Ben volunteered to help. Isn’t that nice?”

“So nice,” Jack muttered, and it definitely didn’t sound like a compliment.

“Yeah.” Hallie didn’t care about Ben and just wanted to know how quickly she could be up in the hotel room with Jack. She asked her dad, “How long do you think it’ll take?”

He sighed. “You know your mother.”

“Ugh.” Hallie turned back to Jack and said, “Just head up to bed. God only knows when I’ll be done.”

“Can I help?” he asked, and as their eyes met, she realized it was their last night there. Their last night fake dating. Their last night sharing a room.

The look he gave her said he was thinking the exact same thing.

They were down to mere hours.

“It’s not your problem, man,” Ben said, giving him a charming smile. “You’re just a wedding guest. If I were you, I’d take that excuse and run. Make the wedding party do their jobs.”

Jack looked at Ben like he wanted to hit him.

Then he looked at Hallie—really looked—almost as if he was searching for her decision.

She had no idea what to say. She wanted Jack by her side no matter what she was doing, but she didn’t want him to feel forced to help, either.

“Do you have your room key?” Jack asked, his eyes unreadable.

“Oh.” She narrowed her eyes and tried to remember if she’d grabbed it while also trying to analyze the nuances of their situation. “I don’t know.”

“No worries. I’m a light sleeper.” He cleared his throat and said, “I’ll hear when you knock.”

They exchanged another look—lust and longing and something else she couldn’t put her finger on—before he said good night to her dad and then left the ballroom.

Hallie hadn’t even made it to the prep room when her phone buzzed.

Jack: I miss your mouth already.

She smiled and typed: My words of wisdom?

Jack: No, your gorgeous lips and the way they feel when you suck my tongue into your mouth.

Hallie: Damn, Marshall—this is a PG-13 show.

Jack: Then someone’s going to be pissed when I tell you that I can’t stop thinking about the way your ass looked when your hands were on that cooler door.

Hallie felt that in her stomach.

She texted: Confession: that might be the hottest I’ve ever had.

Jack: MIGHT? Hal.

Hallie: I just mean I can’t decide between up-against-the-freezer-door and on-top-of-the-hotel-room-desk.

Jack: Confession: My favorite part of hotel night was actually your Rumple Minze lips.

Hallie: Mere kissing??

Jack: That falling-off-a-building feeling the first time you kiss someone is just perfection.

Hallie set her hand on her stomach when she read that. God, Jack was a heady drug. He would be a lot to recover from, and it was terrifying. She texted: So you’re saying it could’ve been anyone.

Jack: Anyone who knew how to make a perfect Manhattan, tell a ridiculous joke about the Kansas City Chiefs, climb on my lap to get my attention, and have the name Hallie Piper.

Hallie: Nice save.

Jack: Thank you very much, TB.

She was about to drop her phone into her pocket when she saw texting bubbles. She stared at the screen as she walked, and when the text finally came through, she felt breathless as she read his message.

Jack: It couldn’t have been anyone but you.

As she followed Ben and her dad, Jack’s words kept playing through her head, over and over on a loop.

I miss your mouth already.

My favorite part of hotel night was actually your Rumple Minze lips.

It couldn’t have been anyone but you.