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I gave an annoyed smile to Remy and a small wave to the crowd.
Cass fumed at him. “You’re exhausting.”
“Oh, come on,” he said on a laugh edged with something hot and sharp. “We’re raising money for the school library. This is just part of the dunking-booth experience.” He gestured to himself.
“When are you going to give us the shut-the-hell-up experience?” she shot back.
The crowd laughed and oooh’d, their faces swiveling from one to the other.
“I’m just saying. It’s not every day we have royalty in town. Bet she can’t throw for sh—” He glanced at the little boy. “For anything.”
“And how would you know?” I asked, taking a step in his direction.
He shrugged. “Just a hunch.” Before I could answer, he turned to the crowd. “How much do y’all wanna bet she can’t dunk me? Come on, don’t be stingy. Remember—all proceeds go to charity.”
The surrounding people laughed, a couple of men holding up bills and shouting their bets.
Glaring at him, I folded my arms across my chest, which housed a steaming freight train.
Remy smiled like the devil, leaning to the edge of the booth to collect their money. “Come on, Lady Jessamine Hastings. Hit me with your best shot. Or are you afraid you’ll break a nail?”
“Don’t let him goad you,” Cass said quietly. “Don’t give him what he wants.”
But my lips curled into a devilish smile of my own. “I’ve learned the best way to handle him is to rise to the occasion. You can’t win the game if you don’t play.”
Chug, chug, chug went the freight train in time with my feet as I walked toward the grumpy-looking coach at the bucket of balls, ignoring the slant of his very small smile.
Delicately, I took the ball from his hand and curtsied politely. “Thank you, good sir.”
I turned to the booth and narrowed my eyes at the bullseye, lining up a throw that I hoped wouldn’t embarrass me.
“Uh-oh, folks—she’s serious,” Remy said. “Shhh. Hush, everybody. Let her concentr?—”
The ball left my hand wild. But in a stroke of sheer luck, it sailed close enough to his head that he shifted out of the way on instinct.
His surprise instantly shifted back into that smile. “Somebody get her a diamond tiara,” Remy shouted. “Maybe it’ll help her throw straight.”
“I hope the water’s cold,” I shouted back.
I exhaled steam through my nose, my jaw tight as I wound up again and let go. This time, it hit the tarp around the bullseye, just to the right of my salvation.
The crowd ohhh’d at my miss. At least they were on my side.
It made sense. Who wouldn’t want to see Remy eat his words? The whole town would likely root for me, even though they’d almost certainly bet against me.
“Third time’s a charm, Duchess,” he said. “Dunk me now or I might end up like you did after your shower?—”
I’d never heard anything so satisfying as the sound of the ball smacking that bullseye, the cheer of the crowd, and the splash Remy made as he fell into a tank of water.
Those sounds were second only to the look of sheer shock on his face as the platform went out from under him.
I grinned so widely, I thought it might actually stretch from ear to ear. Remy emerged from the water with a whip of his head that tossed his hair all in one direction. And then the bastard hitched himself up on the edge of the tank and pulled himself out, all wet and slippery. His gigantic hands sloughed water along the curve of his skull, and then he turned to the crowd and waved.
And damn them all, they switched sides again, cheering for him.
But they couldn’t rob me of the joy of my win. I tucked it away for safekeeping.
I headed for Cass. “He’s a fucking menace,” I said when I reached her, but my cheeks were flushed from the surge of adrenaline.
