Over his shoulder, Anthony said, "Back to the hotel."
"But why?" I asked.
He laughed. "Because we got what we came for."
Insulted now, I sputtered, "What? The pizza?"
"Nah," he said, "to make sure you're alright." And then, he exited the condo, pulling the door softly shut behind him.
On my face, I felt the beginnings of what became a big, stupid smile. I was still smiling when I turned to Jake and said, "Can you believe those guys?"
Jake was smiling, too. "WhatIcan't believe is their sister."
I couldn't help but tease him, just a little. "You mean Selena?"
"Yup."
My jaw dropped. "What?"
He flashed me that familiar cocky grin. "Nah. The other one."
I reached up with both hands and gave him a mock shove to his chest. With lightning speed, he caught my wrists and held them tight.
Laughing, I tried to pull away. "Stop! No fair."
"Screw fair," he said. "Where's the fun in that?"
I gave another mock tug. "But you've been so bad lately."
"Oh yeah," he said, looking maddeningly unconcerned. "How so?"
I searched my memory bank and blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Well, there was that bet with my brothers."
"Yeah? Which one?"
"That last one," I said, "where you bet on me getting fired last Saturday."
"Nah. That wasn't the bet."
"Yes, it was," I insisted. "You told me so yourself."
"Wrong," he said, gently turning my wrists inward. He lowered his head and kissed the left one, softly, just above my palm.
My breath caught. "Fibber."
"No fib here." He turned and kissed the other wrist, making my pulse give a maddening jump. With his lips still grazing my skin, he said in low, seductive voice, "The bet was on you leaving your job,noton you getting fired."
With him so close, I was finding it hard to think. "Huh?"
"Maybe I was betting…" His lips moved higher, trailing up the inside of my lower arm."…or should I say,hoping, that you'd quit."
"Actually," I breathed, "I did."
He pulled back. "What?"
At the look on his face, I had to smile. "You're not the only one with surprises."
"When?" he asked.
