Page 15 of All Bets Are Off

“It seems wrong to go to a bar and not have a drink.”

“You could just tell me what you want,” I prodded. Something occurred to me out of the blue. “Wait … nothing happened to Rex, did it?” I’d never really worried about him despite his position. “He wasn’t hurt, was he?” I moved to stand.

Zach reached over to rest his hand on my wrist. “He’s fine. Last time I saw him, which was about an hour ago, he was leering at the newest cocktail waitress.”

I let out the breath I’d been holding. “That sounds like him.”

“Yes, your brother isn’t discriminating. He’s perfectly happy to hit on anybody in sequins.”

“Yes, I remember that time he got to meet Cher.”

Zach barked out a laugh. “You’re funny. I forgot how funny you were, Squirt. That might bode well for what I’m about to propose.”

I was instantly alert. Zach had never proposed anything other than mischief with my brother as far as I was aware. Why would he possibly be proposing anything to me? Unless… “My brother told you I lost my job, didn’t he?” I was resigned to embarrassment. “If you’re about to offer me a job counting chips behind the cage, I appreciate it, but I’m not that hard up.”

Yet,I silently added.I’m not there yet. I might get to that point, though.

“Actually, that’s not what I was proposing.” Zach looked up and leveled Tallulah with a pointed stare. “I don’t suppose you could leave us alone, could you? This is a delicate topic.”

Tallulah narrowed her eyes. “You haven’t turned into a serial killer since high school, have you?”

Zach looked taken aback. “Um … not last time I checked.”

“Okay.” She pointed toward the guard. “If you make one wrong move, if I even catch a whiff that you have a human teeth collection, I’ll have him eat you for lunch and spit you out.”

Zach stared at the guard for a moment, then grinned. “Thanks for the warning.” He watched my friend leave, indignation causing her hips to swing, and he was still smiling when he looked back at me. “I haven’t seen her in forever. She grew up…”

“Hot?” I volunteered.

“I was going to say feisty.”

“Most people say hot.”

“Well, I’m not most people.” He largely ignored his daiquiri and tapped his fingers on the bar. It was obvious he was nervous. What I couldn’t figure out was why.

“Why don’t you just tell me what you want,” I suggested. “Then I can turn you down, and we’ll call it a day.”

“How do you know you’re going to turn me down?”

“Because I hate you. You’re mean to me.”

He had the gall to look wounded. “When was I ever mean to you?”

“Um, all the time. You called me names.”

“Terms of endearment,” he corrected.

“You made it so my brother was mean to me. He didn’t think he would look cool in your eyes if he liked his little sister because you hated your sisters.”

“Your brother didn’t need my input to be a jackass. That’s simply who he was.”

“Only around you.”

“Well…” Zach seemed to catch himself and regroup. “I have a proposition for you.”

“I thought it was a proposal,” I teased. The daiquiris were obviously getting to me because I was starting to feel that floaty feeling that always signaled doom.

“It is a proposal of sorts,” he confirmed. He took another drink of his daiquiri, although he didn’t look fond of it. “I think we should get married.”

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