GAMBLING ON LOVE (Travis Series) (20 page)

“Well, I
…
I hope I’m not embarrassing you, but I just have to ask
.
Where did you get your nose done
?
It’s positively the most perfectly symmetrical nose I’ve ever seen and I’
m
just
d
ying
to have the name of your plastic surgeon.”

The woman smiled and touched her nose
.
“Really
?
You think it’s symmetrical
?”
When the rest of her friends laughed, she started giggling
.
“I’d love to help you out, but this is all natural.”

Beth’s hand flew to her mouth, her eyes wide with feigned embarrassment
.
“Oh, I’m so sorry
.
I hope I didn’t offend you.”

The woman waved her hand dismissively
.
“Oh, you didn’t
.
I don’t think anyone
has
ever told me I had a symmetrical nose before
.
What’s your name
?
Are you here with friends?”

Beth glanced around
.
“I
’m
here with my cousin, Mark, but he seems to have abandoned me
.
My name is Lizzie Sweet.
”
She made a pretext of searching the crowd for Mark again
.
“He was supposed to teach me how to play tennis, the traitor.”

The young woman laughed and stuck out her hand
.
“I’m Megan Tudor
.
You can sit with us if you’d like.”
 

Megan introduced her friends as Beth sat to join them
.
Within an hour
,
she had them all
enrapt
with tall tales of Mommy and Daddy and how they were constantly dragging her from one country to another.
 

“I finally just put my foot down,” she told them with a flip of her head
.
She
smiled slyly
.
“Of course, Daddy managed to slip me a gold card before he left so I grabbed Mark and here I am.
”
By this time, Mark had made his way to the pool and was already surrounded by
half a dozen
women
.
No doubt they were all volunteering to teach him to
mouth to mouth techniques
.
“There’s that rodent cousin of mine.
”
Beth pointed him out and was pleased by the soft gasps and giggles coming from the ladies at the table.

Megan turned a bright smile on her
.
“I’ll do
anything
if you introduce us.”

Beth smiled back
.
God, she loved it when a plan came together
.
“Well…if I could get a few of you to go with me for tennis lessons tomorrow, I just might be persuaded
…
”

 
 
 
 
                                                         *
**

The
close
-
knit group
consisting of
three
men
and four
women
had
quickly accepted her as if she was one of their own
.
Only two of them were dating each other
,
while the remaining members of the
Rich and Spoiled
Club
were scouting for bed partners
.
Because she’d convinced them she was the same age they were, she was a little worried they’d think it was strange
for her
to
go
after Sam when he arrived
.

Not that he was much older than her
newfound
friends, but he was an extremely imposing man who obviously wasn’t the type to invite the attention of young college girls
.
To pave the way, Beth made it clear early in the conversation that she was attracted to men who were a bit older and more mature.

“Mother just despises it,” she’d giggled, “which, of course, is why I do it.”
 

She’d set the stage
;
now all she had to do was wait for Sam to show up
.
Her cell phone finally rang
shortly after six o’clock.

“Tell me you haven’t been wandering around this place all day dressed like that.”

Beth’s eyes scanned the crowd
.
“Daddy,” she chirped, as she got up from the table
.
“It’s my
dad
,” she explained
and
then moved out of earshot
.
“Where are you
?
I can’t see you.”

“I’m close enough to see you’re only half dressed,” Sam muttered reproachfully.

“Sam, it’s a country club
;
I’m supposed to dress like this
.
How would you like to play a game with me?”

“What kind of game?”

“Just move to the bar in the corner
.
I’m sure you’ll catch on.
”
Beth disconnected
the
call with a sly smile
and
then returned to the table
to
wait
.
It didn’t take long.

“Oh, my God,” Megan rasped
.
“Look what just strolled in.”

Everyone at their table followed her gaze to the bar
.
The men in the group groaned but the women were fanning themselves.

Beth acted mildly interested
.
“How would you ladies like to make a little wager
?”
They all looked at her expectantly
.
“I’ll bet each of you twenty dollars he turns you down and ends up in
my
bed tonight.”

The woman all laughed and grabbed for their purses
.
“You are
so
going to lose,” Megan grinned
as she
fluffed
her hair.

She stood
and
made quite a production of swinging her hips as she sauntered
over
to the bar
.
Beth watched her perch on the edge of the stool next to Sam and s
trike up
a conversation that ended with a shake of his head and an apologetic smile
.
Megan leaned forward, giving it one last ditch effort,
and
then shrugged and returned to the table.

“Good luck,” she said to the next woman that rose from the table
.
She watched her friend go to the bar
.
“She hasn’t got a shot in hell
.
He said he only came here to drink and wasn’t interested in what I was offering
.
Oh, ouch, there she goes.”

When the last of the women had returned to the table, Beth got up and straightened her skirt
.
“I’ll see you all tomorrow
.” She
grinned.
 

She walked confidently to the bar and moved the stool a good six inches away from Sam, smiling to herself when he didn’t even turn his head in her direction
.
She
glanced at her new friends, blew them a kiss, and set out to seduce him
.
With her backside to Sam,
Beth propped her foot on the metal bar at the bottom of the stool and slowly leaned over to tie her shoe, making sure her bottom rubbed invitingly against his thigh.

“Damn it, Anne,” he whispered hoarsely, “are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

Beth turned with a big smile on her face
.
“How did you like my game
?
”

“I didn’t.”

“Why not
?
Did you find it difficult to turn the
young beauties
down?”

“No, I found it difficult waiting for the one I wanted to proposition me.”

She moved closer
.
“You want to kiss me now, don’t you?”

A soft growl rumbled in his throat
.
“Don’t tempt me, honey, or you’ll be putting on a much bigger show than you planned on.”

Beth just smiled
.
“I’ve got eighty dollars riding on this
.
I told them I’d have you in my bed within five minutes of meeting you.”
 

A slow grin spread across his face
.
“Split it fifty-fifty and it’s a deal.”

She leaned forward and pressed her mouth to
his,
letting out a soft moan when he wound his arms around her waist and drew her into his warmth
.
As it always happened when Sam kissed her, Beth felt breathless and dizzy, forgetting everything but the feel of his lips and the warmth of his body pressed so close to hers.

Eager
to get him alone in her room, she tilted her
 
head back and gave him a
 
sultry smile
.
“Shall we go someplace a little more private?”

“Oh, yeah,” he said huskily.

“Wait
!
I almost forgot.
”
She left him and hurried to the table where her friends were staring in open
-
mouthed disbelief
.
“Ladies
.”
She
held out her hand
.

Without a word
,
each of them dropped a twenty dollar bill in her palm.

 
 
 
 
                                                          *
**

Sam watched Anne shimmy out of her tennis skirt and pull off her top
and
then gaped at what she was wearing
.
He’d already peeled off his shirt
,
slipped out of his shoes
,
and
was just reaching for the zipper of his jeans when he caught sight of the swimsuit she’d worn under her clothes.
 

"You’re not wearing that to the pool, are you?”

Beth laughed
.
“That’s usually where swimsuits are worn.”

“That’s not a swimsuit,” he growled softly
.
“It’s two scraps of material held together with
a
string.”

“You don’t like it?”

“I didn’t say I didn’t like it
.
What I don’t like is how other men will be ogling you when you wear it.”

“Well, I didn’t buy it
so
men would ogle me
.
I bought it because I liked it.”

“Don’t you think it’s a little too
…
little?”

Beth frowned
.
“Does it look bad on me?”
 

Sam crossed the room and put his arms around her
.
“No,
it’s sexy as hell
.
I’m
just
not
comfortable with so much of your delicious body
on display
.”

“Would you feel better if I wore a one piece?”

“Immensely,” he grinned, “although I’d feel even better
if
you covered yourself from neck to toes.”

“Or better yet, you could lock me in a room and shove food through a hole in the door.”

Sam acted as if he was contemplating it for a moment
and
then leaned down and kissed her
.
“I’m sorry, honey
.
Was I being possessive?”

“Maybe just a little,” she said.

“Is there anything I can do to make up for it?”

Beth gave him a
suggestive
smile
.
“I can think of a thing or two.”

It only took her a few minutes to tell him what she had in mind but it was several hours later before Sam was satisfied he’d performed each and every request to the letter
.
Of course, as a chronic
overachiever
he also felt it was necessary to add a few
…
embellishments of his own.