“I’m not interested in chasing after that girl. She’s not my type. I don’t even pretend she is. I’m not interested in her or your bet.”
He turned to walk away, but I caught him by the shoulder and stopped him. “Hear me out. I’m not talking about a bet to see if you can get her before I do. I’m saying I’ll bet you I can get her to fall for me.”
“What’s in it for me, other than seeing you make an ass out of yourself?” he asked with the sinister grin he wore so often around me.
“Name it. You set the terms.”
He took a few moments to think about my offer and finally said, “Let me see if I got this straight. You’re bothered that I don’t think you have it in you to get this girl, so you want to make a bet that you can?”
I forced a nonchalant shrug. “If you don’t think you’re up to it…”
“Is this part of that Stefan charm that gets all the women to fuck you? I don’t see it, but if you insist, I’ll take your bet.”
“Good. Name your terms.”
“You have to get this girl to fall for you, and I don’t mean just sleep with you. She has to be in love with you or you don’t win.”
The reality that making a woman fall in love was much harder than making one fall into bed with you could be a real problem. Women like Shay didn’t do either easily, I guessed, but sex was a whole lot easier than love.
“Fine.”
“And you have only one semester to do this in. She made it clear in the interview that next semester she’s not going to be able to work since she’ll be studying abroad. That gives you maybe four months.”
“Four months? What the fuck, Kane? How long does it take for you to get into a woman’s pants? Jesus, I bet I can do it in a tenth of that time.”
“You do realize she’s not like the other women who work for you, right? She’s smart, successful, and from what I already heard from her when she stood right there and dressed you down, she doesn’t even like you.”
“No matter. I’ll take the four months, but I don’t plan to need it. What else?” I bragged, secretly admitting to myself that it very well could take half that time just to get her to warm up to me. After that, though, it would be smooth sailing.
“You have to show proof.”
I’d always suspected Kane was a kinky one. What did he want? Video? “Proof like what? You planning to watch me sleep with her?” I joked.
“Cash and Olivia are planning their engagement party for just around the time you’d have to get Shay to fall for you. You’re going to have to show up to the party with her, and you’re going to have to get her to say she loves you.”
“As long as I don’t have to be in love with her, we have a deal.”
“The man whore in love? I’m not ready for hell to freeze over just yet. No, all you need is her in love with you.”
I chucked him on the shoulder. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this cruel, Kane. It seems heartless to have the girl fall in love with me when I won’t be in love with her.”
Shaking his head, he smiled. “Not cruel at all. If I thought for a second that this one would even give you the time of day, I wouldn’t agree to this bet at all. I don’t think you have a chance, little brother. You’ve met your match this time.”
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. So what do I get if I win?”
Kane grinned. “A gorgeous woman you’d never deserve in love with you.”
“Not good enough. I want something from you when I win. Put up or shut up.”
“You can’t want money. What else do I have that you want?” he asked, genuinely confused about what I could be angling for.
“Your Mustang.”
A look of terror crossed his face and he shook his head quickly. “No.”
“What’s wrong, big brother? Chicken shit?”
“I’m not risking my car. There’s no way in hell I’m letting you touch that baby.”
I’d wanted to get my hands on Kane’s 69 Mustang Boss 429 since the first time I laid eyes on it. Black, sexier than any other vehicle I’d ever seen, it was the one car I hadn’t been able to find for my own. I’d get that car and Shay too.
“Seems like you think I might win, Kane. All that talk and when push comes to shove, you’re nowhere to be found.”
Leaning down, he pushed his face close to mine. “I’m not betting my car, Stefan. I don’t care if you fuck this girl or not. No deal.”
“Then let me have it for a weekend. I win and you give me your car for a whole weekend.”
He seemed to think about my concession and nodded. “And what do I get if you lose? I’m not risking the one thing I care about more than life itself if I don’t get something pretty fucking incredible in return.”
“My humiliation won’t be enough?”
“I don’t think you’ll be humiliated. You won’t really care for her, so your feelings won’t be involved. This has to be something worthwhile if my car is on the line, even if it is only for a weekend.”
“How about my apartment? You seemed to like it when you came over that one time.”
Kane raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “You’re going to give me your apartment on the bay?”
“Sure.” I was pretty sure he’d never get to step foot into my place.
“So let me get this straight. If you don’t get this woman to fall in love with you within four months, you’ll give me your apartment. For how long?”
“For an entire year.”
“And if you do get her to fall in love with you, you get my car for a weekend?”
“Sounds good. Is it a deal?” I asked, holding my hand out to shake on it.
Kane took my hand and shook it hard. “I’m going to enjoy that place of yours, and seeing you get shot down by a real woman will just be icing on the cake.”
“Just get that Mustang ready for me. I plan to enjoy my weekend with it picking up women. If you had any skills, you’d use it to get chicks too.”
Shaking his head, he mumbled something as he walked away, no doubt sure he would win our bet. I had no intention of losing this one. That car and my reputation meant too much to me.
I headed into Cash’s office to find him staring at his laptop. “Hey, about that girl who came in to be a bartender. Shay was her name, I think. I changed my mind. She’ll do fine, so give her a call and see when she can start.”