The Bet (EBOOK)

“One woman, for
life. Hell, no.”

Xavier had waited until Tobias was well out of earshot to
state his observation. They were sitting outside on leather couches, on the
rooftop terrace of The Oasis, the bar his friend owned.

Tobias was flying Luke and his team to his wedding on
Kawaya, his three hundred acre private island in Fiji. Luke and his staff were
taking care of the drinks for the four day wedding extravaganza.

“He’s your brother. Be happy for him,” Luke drawled.

“I am happy
for him,” Xavier insisted. Tobias seemed more relaxed these days, and it was
all due to Savannah and Jacob. “It was about time he met someone. I could say
the same about you.” He glanced at his friend, but Luke kept quiet.

“Not me.” Luke shook his head. “I’m too busy to be dealing
with women.”

Girlish laughter bubbled around the room making Xavier
glance over his shoulder. Even though it was late evening and the night sky had
darkened to a rich navy-blue, the soft lights from the lamps made it easy to
see everyone. He raised his glass to the group of women who sat around a table
scattered with jewel colored cocktails. A couple of them acknowledged him with
an interested smile.

“Know them?” he asked his friend. Luke seemed to know
everyone who came here.

“Lawyers and legal eagles, celebrating an engagement. That’s
all you need to know.”

Xavier eyed them slowly, his gaze lasering in on a woman
with long wavy hair and what looked like a big and beautiful pair of breasts.
His mouth watered at the sight of her hard-to-miss nipples poking through her
silk dress. He flashed a smile at her, appreciating the view.

Even with the slight chill in the air—a promise, in this
last week of September that fall was around the corner, it wasn’t that cold
because of all the heaters Luke had placed around the terrace. Or maybe the
woman wasn’t cold and was just excited to see him.

“Quit bugging my clientele.”

“I don’t see them complaining.” Xavier lifted his beer
bottle to his lips.

“That’s because they don’t complain to you.”

“Bullshit.” Xavier looked at his friend dubiously. “Nobody’s
ever complained to you about me. You’re making that shit up.”

On second thoughts, it was probably better not to risk
anything while Tobias was around. With his wedding to Savannah a week away, his
brother could sometimes get easily irritated. In fact his family, especially
his parents, seemed to get annoyed when it came to Xavier and his love life. He
didn’t understand why. He was young. Maybe not so young. But twenty-seven wasn’t exactly old.

Tobias was going to celebrate his thirtieth birthday the day
before he got married. Talk about hitting two major milestones one after the
other.

Luke’s gaze drifted to the table of women before returning
to him again. “Is Xavier-The-Stud-Stone in action again? Won’t your girlfriend
mind?”

Xavier rolled his eyes at the mention of the nickname Luke
had given him many years ago. “I’m only looking.” Gisele wouldn’t like him ogling
other women, but she wasn’t here, and he wasn’t about to do anything silly. He
wasn’t that much of a douchebag. “You all set for the wedding? All set to show
off your mixologist skills?” he asked, his fingers curling around the glass
bottle.

“Don’t call me a mixologist. I don’t need any fancy, stupid
labels.”

“Okay, calm down.” But Xavier guessed that his cocktail
making skills behind the bar helped him pick up a lot of girls. Not that the
dude needed to be behind the bar. “Think of the shit ton of publicity you’re
going to get from it.”

“That’s not why I’m doing it,” Luke protested.

Xavier snorted in disbelief. “It’s not as if you would have
turned this opportunity down.” It was Tobias
Stone’s wedding, for fuck’s sake.

“Tobias doesn’t want any press,”

It was true. Tobias was an intensely private person. “My
brother’s anal like that.”

Luke leaned forward. His sleeves had been turned up,
revealing hard, tattooed forearms that had Xavier wondering if he should get a
couple of tattoos himself. Chicks loved that stuff. And that, along with the
handful of bars and clubs Luke owned in and around New York, made him a babe
magnet. Xavier envied him a little, and for having a thriving business which
didn’t seem like that much hard work.

“I don’t blame him. He wants no paparazzi and nothing
leaked. I respect that, and I haven’t told anyone outside of my team. My staff
is discreet, and they won’t leak anything to the press. I’m honored that Tobias
asked me.”

“He’s asked you based on my recommendation.”

“He’s been here plenty of times without you.”

Xavier scratched the side of his jaw. “When?” Tobias wasn’t
a party-animal. “He’d rather watch the stock market than hang out in a bar.”

“He’s been here a few times with Savannah.” Luke’s eyes
twinkled. He seemed to be enjoying the telling of this news. Xavier angled his
head. Yeah, well, things were slightly different now that his brother had met
Savannah. These days Tobias was a changed man who had gone from spending most
of his time in the office, to actually having a life outside it.

Another shriek of laughter bubbled across from the table
behind him, forcing him to cast another look over his shoulder. He quickly
scanned around the table and zeroed in on the same woman again. His gaze
settled on her a moment longer than usual, until she returned the stare, and
then he turned his back on her.

Show interest, but not
too much. Raise their hopes, get them excited, and then pull back.