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If she couldn’t sit in a truck with him and not want to devour him, the chances of her winning the bet were slim to none.
But she had no choice. She had to take the bet.
After discovering Jesse was related to one of the most influential families in Texas, she realized he had more clout than she’d thought. He wasn’t just Corbin’s friend. He was a powerful friend. If Corbin was any kind of a smart businessman, he’d take whatever advice Jesse gave him. In business, keeping powerful people as friends was important.
Which was another reason Liberty was considering the bet.
The Cates were one of the wealthiest families in Texas. And wealthy families always needed a good event planner. If she could resist falling in bed with Jesse and instead just become his friend, she could not only save her family’s ranch, but she could also get new clients for Holiday Sisters Events. Clients who would recommend her and Belle to all their influential friends.
All she had to do was stay strong.
If Liberty was anything, she was strong.
She held out her hand. “Deal.”
Jesse hesitated for only a second before he took it. She had shaken a lot of men’s hands in her life. Arrogant men who held her hand too softly because they thought of her as a weak woman and insecure men who squeezed too hard to prove their strength and power. Jesse’s handshake was neither. His calloused fingers gripped hers with just enough pressure to make her feel respected, but not enough to make her feel threatened.
“Deal.” He grinned. “Now you’re not planning on running off like you did at Cooper Springs, are you?”
“I believe I swam off. And you just weren’t fast enough to catch me. Maybe you need to brush up on your chasing skills.”
His smile faded as his brown eyes turned steamy. “Maybe I do. How about I start by taking you to dinner tonight?”
The last thing she should do if she wanted to win the bet was to go on a date alone with him. She needed to make sure they were never alone.
“Sorry, but I already told my mama I’d cook dinner tonight. You’re welcome to come. In fact, let me give you my number.” She took a pen out of her purse and wrote the number on the lid of the muffin box, finishing by scrawling her name at the top.
He looked at the name she’d written. “I thought you didn’t like me calling you Libby Lou.”
“I figure the more it annoys me, the more you’ll use it. So I’m embracing it. You’ll have to come up with something else to annoy me.”
“I’m sure that won’t be hard.”
She laughed. “I’m sure it won’t be either.”
A smile spread over his face. Not a cocky one. A sincere one. Like he was looking forward to seeing just how much he could annoy her. She had to admit she was looking forward to it too. She hadn’t lied when she’d told him she was bored. But now, suddenly, she wasn’t bored at all. She had a challenge. She loved a good challenge.
She looked down at Tay-Tay sleeping in her lap. “You want to get your cat? I’d like to save some of my skin.”
“Sorry, but we made a deal. You’re taking Tay-Tay home.”
She stared at him. “That was before our bet.”
“Right. But you still offered and I’m accepting. I’ll bring all her designer cat things when I come for dinner tonight.”
“Talk about a cheater,” she grumbled as she tucked the kitten against her chest. She only cringed slightly when Tay-Tay dug her claws into her hand. “But good luck getting me into your bed with my daddy and his shotgun standing guard.”
He shrugged. “I’ve outsmarted many a shotgun-toting daddy.”
“But you won’t outsmart me.” She opened the door. But before she jumped down from the big truck, she flipped up the lid of the box and grabbed a muffin.
“Hey!” he said. “That’s my Cocoa Java Junkie.”
“Consider it part of your seduction. I love dark chocolate and coffee. I also love diamond earrings—at least one carat, Ferragamo shoes—red, and Gucci handbags—any.” She sent him a cocky grin. “Sorry, but you didn’t choose a cheap gal to seduce.” She took a big bite of the muffin as she nudged the door closed with her shoulder.
She could hear his laughter all the way to her car. Once she was behind the wheel of the SUV with Tay-Tay sitting in the passenger’s seat, her cellphone pinged with an incoming text. She set the muffin in the cup holder and reached in her purse for her phone. She didn’t recognize the number, but she knew who the text was from as soon as she read it.
What size shoe?
