The Love Wager by Lynn Painter

            “The server told me that there isn’t a head table, so you and I were already seated together.” His thumb stroked over her palm and she felt it everywhere. “I just had her flip it so we get to sit by your friends instead of your uncle Marco and aunt Tam.”

            Hallie looked up at his mischievous face and wondered how he could be so perfect. Marco and Tam were loud, obnoxious people, and that would’ve been the worst. She said, “My sister’s going to kill you.”

            He said, “Are you, though?”

            “You are the greatest boyfriend in the world. I could never.”

            He pulled out his phone and sent a text, and her phone buzzed.

            She pulled it out of her pocket and read the message.

            Jack: But you could kill ME, yes?

            She smiled, pulled her hand free, and replied: I’ve spent hours daydreaming about that very thing.

            Jack: Freak.

            Hallie: I’m not, but your girlfriend told me you like teeth on your neck.

            Jack: Don’t tell her what I’m about to tell you—this is just between Hal ’n’ Jack

            Hallie: Yay! The country ’n’ is back!

            Jack: Told you we’d revive it.

            Hallie: You’re nothing if not dependable. Anyway, what don’t you want me to tell your beautiful, charming girlfriend?

            Jack: When she kissed my neck today, I was *this* close to begging her to go back to the room with me.

            At the thought, Hallie’s stomach dipped and she felt a little light-headed. So . . . you wanted her to go back for more biting?

            Jack: Biting ’n’ more. ’N’ much more.

            “Would you two put your phones away?” Chuck yelled from his seat. “Come on, it looks like you’re at our table.”

            Hallie and Jack walked over to the table, and Hallie was glad the moment had been broken, because she’d been about to beg her best friend for “ ’n’ more” all night long. She took the seat between Chuck and Jack and immediately reached for the glass of wine beside her plate and drained it.

            “You drank that very fast, young lady,” Jack said in a low voice next to her ear.

            She glanced at him and rolled her eyes when he gave her that funny little squint that called her out on her flustered state.

            The room was set up to put Hallie’s sister in the spotlight. There was a table in the center of the room covered in white linens to accentuate her and her husband-to-be’s bloodred formal wear (yes, Riley had opted for a red suit to match his bride). A huge, glowing chandelier hung over their table, literally putting them in the spotlight.

            Everyone else was seated at white tables dispersed around the room in near-darkness, aside from the candelabra centerpieces.

            Hallie had to hand it to her sister; the girl knew how to create a mood.

            “So what’d you two do all day?” Chuck had already loosened his tie, and it was very crooked. “I figured we’d run into you somewhere.”

            “We just walked around the town,” Hallie said, thinking about the way Jack had been nervous about their facade and their sleeping situation. The way he’d referred to their friendship as something to protect. “What about you guys?”

            Chuck and Jamie launched into a story about getting stuck hiking with family, but Hallie couldn’t focus. Her skin was prickly with awareness of Jack’s proximity, of zippers and calves and soapy showers.

            What was wrong with her?

            The minute they finished their story, Hallie stood and said, “I’m getting a drink.”

            She walked over to the bar, regretting that decision instantly because she’d been able to avoid relatives all day by sneaking away with Jack, but now she had no escape. By the time she finally had a vodka cranberry in her hand, she’d spoken to a handful of cousins and three uncles.

            And none of that had cleared Jack out of her head.