Page 23 of High Stakes

“Did you at least convince Drake you’re making progress?” asks Raff.

I nod, “Yeah, he met her but then Laurie interrupted us, and I left them to talk.”

“Wait,” snaps JP, “So you left her with him? What if she told him you’ve only just met and it’s all bullshit?”

“Yeah,” agrees Raff looking equally concerned. “I had a job convincing him you’d moved so fast.”

“Relax, Bella knew it was important she lie for me.”

JP frowns, “You told her?”

“Of course I didn’t,” I snap, tired of him assuming I’m so stupid. “I got her there on the pretence she pretended we were dating. I told her she owed me one.”

“And she didn’t think that was weird?” asks Raff.

“Probably but she didn’t object so who cares. I got the jobdone.”

“No,” snaps JP, “You left the job half done so you could fuck that bitch. You’re gonna blow this if you don’t start acting like Bella is the only damn thing you see, Aiden.”

“He’s right,” Raff agrees. “Laurie is in the past, leave her there. She made her choice the second she left you for that rich fucker.

I take another gulp. “This is all Jakes fault,” I hiss angrily. “The entire thing is fucked up. I don’t know if I can do it.”

“Give up then,” says JP, shrugging, “Prove him right. You’ve always been a selfish bastard, why should we expect anything different?” He throws his cloth on the bar top and storms into the back office, slamming the door.

“It’s not hard, Aiden. Just fuck the virgin. Most men would kill for that challenge,” mutters Raff in annoyance.

“But it’s not that simple. She’s hard work and how the fuck will I get proof. This whole thing feels like it’s set up to fail. And why her? Why did Jake specifically pick Bella? I can’t even ask her if she knew him because of his stupid fucking rules.”

“There’s no obvious connection between them,” admits Raff. “I’ve asked myself the same questions over, but it makes no difference. The deal is you take her virginity. So, take it and we can all move on.”

Bella

Aria glances back from where she’s perched in the window to fill the display cabinets of this morning’s bakes. “I don’t see the problem, Bells. You aren’t together,” she states matter of fact.

She’s right and I can’t even explain why I feel so gutted by the entire thing. I’ve avoided Aiden since we got home last night. I even got up earlier and came to work at five a.m. just so I didn’t risk bumping into him going for his early morning run.

“I guess I just feel disappointed,” I mutter with a shrug.

“That it wasn’t you he had up against the wall?” she asks, smirking.

I narrow my eyes, “No, of course not. But he made me cancel my date. Why didn’t he just take her as his date? It makes no sense.”

“Have you asked him?”

“No. I’ve been avoiding him.”

She laughs, climbing from the window and turning to me. “Seriously, you can’t be a weirdo about this, he’ll run a mile.”

“I don’t care. I’m not trying to catch him.”

“Sure,” she says, her voice full of sarcasm.

“I’m not,” I cry, annoyed she’d think differently. “Especially now I’ve seen what a whore he is.”

“You can’t comment because you’ve never had sex. He’s free and single, he can shag whoever he wants.”

“I know that, but he can’t ruin my plans.”

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