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“Okay.” He thought for a second, and then landed on the one offer she couldn’t refuse. “If you win, I’ll cook for you.”
She snorted.
“My grandmother’s homemade pasta.”
Her mouth dropped open.
He grinned, knowing he had her. He didn’t make his grandmother’s homemade pasta recipe often, but he had made it for Gia when they were married—for their anniversaries. Both of them.
“I can guess what you want if you win.” She folded her arms. “I’m not having sex with you again.”
“You’re sure you’ll win. What are you worried about?”
“Hmm. Well I was sure. You’re pretty motivated by sex.” Her smile held. She didn’t hate this idea. Not even a little.
“I admit, that’s a good motivator.” Especially sex with her. “But this time we’re not doing it on a bathroom counter. We’ll be in bed.”
He tipped his head and walked closer, daring her to say no. To admit that she was afraid of losing, and therefore sleeping with him. Or worse, to refuse the bet because she didn’t want to sleep with him.
She did neither.
Because she’d sooner die than admit she didn’t think she could win. Plus, as he’d suspected, she wanted to sleep with him again.
She folded her arms over her breasts. “This is bribery. I love that pasta more than anything.”
“I know.” He loved every second of this exchange. He slid by her and headed for the kitchen. “Have fun shopping. I’ll be here toiling away on a solution.”
“Shopping can wait,” she said. “If I’m going to win, I may as well do it. Also, I expect the works for my meal. Candles. Music. I want to walk in and mistake my kitchen for a fancy Italian restaurant.”
Yep. He had her. Now all he had to do was win.
“Sounds like you’re taking the bet.” He pulled open the refrigerator and pretended to search for something to eat.
“Okay, Jay.” She faced him. “We have a deal.”
She picked up her tablet and walked through the kitchen, sliding her sunglasses onto her nose. She took her place outside on the lounger by the pool.
The clock was officially ticking. He no longer cared whether or not he found the problem before Royce and Taylor came home.
All he had to do was find it before Gia did.
Gia justified her decision not to shop since she had something to wear to her date tomorrow. Nothing new, but still.
She’d spent the remainder of the day hunched over her notes and her tablet, though sadly didn’t feel much closer to the answer than before.
The stakes were high. Jayson’s grandmother’s pasta recipe was nothing to joke about. Plus, while sex with him was off the charts fantastic, she also knew the repercussions of falling into bed with him again.
She didn’t need to feel any more for him than she already did. Letting her heart be involved after she’d put their marriage and divorce to bed could be disastrous. She was supposed to be moving on, but here she was a year and a half later and not only had she had sex with him already, he was inside their former shared house right now.
Which was why she didn’t cancel her date.
She’d paused from her work by the pool to check her messages on the Divinely Yours app. She had several, including one from Denver Pippen. He mentioned he’d be out of the country for a skateboarding competition in Germany. He let her down easy, telling her know that while he’d had fun at the wedding, he didn’t see them going further.
She agreed, but appreciated his candor. He could’ve ghosted her, but chose to lay out the facts. Pip wasn’t a bad guy, he just wasn’t right for her.
She’d scrolled down through a few seriously gross offers in her inbox before coming across a message from a name she recognized. Elias Hill.
Elias was the founder/owner of Hill Yacht Company. He’d praised her work at ThomKnox and then invited her out on the maiden voyage of his latest model before it hit the showroom floor. He’d sealed the deal at the end: “No pressure, Gia. Just a day on the water.”
