“Friends, Alex,” I hissed at him under my breath, worried the others had heard him.
He chuckled and leaned closer. “If you win, you see the sketch. If I win, you have to volunteer at the FBT.”
“Seems a bit uneven.”
“Take it or leave it.” He leaned back in his chair, his eyes watching me carefully.
“What would I have to do at the FBT?” I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Whatever I think appropriate.”
I studied him for a minute, considering what he could possibly force me to do. Clean out bird cages? Been there, done that. Cut up mice? Didn’t bother me anymore.
“Fine. But I get to keep the sketch if I win.”
“Deal.” He held out his hand and I shook it even though he still hadn’t told me what we were going to play. Hopefully not cards. I hated poker.
He stood up and moved toward the back of the plane. When he came back with a box in his hand, I laughed.
“Monopoly?”
“What? You’re too good for Monopoly?” He set the box down on the table and proceeded to set up the game. “What do you want to be?”
“The shoe.”
“The shoe?” He looked at me doubtfully. “Are you sure?”
“My mom was always the shoe.” The words popped out of my mouth without thought. I hadn’t thought about that in a long time.
“Very well. The shoe it is.” He set out the shoe and the top hat before distributing the money.
It didn’t take long to see why Rose had told me to not take the deal. Alex was incredibly lucky when it came to the game. Always passing GO, always collecting money, never landing on any of the spots normal people feared.
“You’re cheating! Give me the dice!” My sad stack of paper money was shameful.
“How dare you!” He mock-glared at me.
“No one is that lucky. How are you doing it?” I reached over the table, trying to swipe the dice from his hand. He laughed while I tried to pry his fingers loose.
“I don’t cheat! I’m just incredibly smart. And it’s my turn again.”
“Being smart doesn’t get you to land on the Pass Go spot every time!” I sat down and Alex opened his hand to show me the dice.
“Normal dice. Nothing to see here.” He rolled double sixes and I groaned loudly. Another good move.
“You’re so cheating. Magnets or something.” I grumbled as I collected the dice for my roll. Eight spaces put me on one of his hotels. Cursing under my breath, I took half my remaining money and threw it at him.
He laughed. “Thank you. I appreciate your patronage.”
“Shut up and roll, cheater.”
Chapter Fifteen
The Royal Price Tag
—Financial Tally
In only a few more rolls I was completely out of money and Alex was gloating. “Ah, what shall I do with you?”
“Again?” I raised my eyebrow. He was competitive, but so was I.
“But I’ve already won.” He smiled. “And I like to win.”
“Bet you can’t do it again.” I narrowed my eyes. We still had two hours before we landed to refuel.
“Oh, I can do it again.” He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “But I’ll only play again if we up the stakes.”
“What are you betting?” The last couple of hours had gone by in a flash as I laughed and joked with Alex. I hadn’t realized we’d started flirting until I was almost out of money.
“If I win I stop pretending we’re just friends.” His voice dropped an octave and he glanced at my lips. “And I get to kiss you. Whenever I want.”
My body temperature rose as I considered what he was asking. “One kiss?”
“Maybe.” He leaned even closer. “But we both know we’ll want more than that.”
“And what do I get if I win?” I licked my lips, his smell invading my senses. A kiss didn’t sound too bad. In fact it sounded like a pretty good idea right now.
“What do you want?” He smiled cockily, knowing exactly what I was wanting right this minute.
“You teach me Lilarian.” I frowned. “I don’t want to sound like an idiot at the ceremony.”
“You realize this means I win either way.” He ran a hand over the scruff on his jaw and I was mildly fascinated by the sound it made under his fingers.
“No. If I win, you have to teach me Lilarian while keeping your hands to yourself.” I picked up the dice and rolled. “Like a good friend.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” He kept his voice low. “I can think of some really fun ways to teach you my native tongue.”
“I bet you can.” I let out a nervous chuckle, thinking about the things I’d like him to do with his tongue.
“I can think of some things I’d like to hear you say in Lilarian, too.” His eyes stared holes into me as he moved his top hat five spaces. “Loudly.”
“Then you better bring your A game.”
“I always bring my A game.”
“Is that so?”
We set up the board for another game. Alex’s eyebrows had drawn together as we worked our way around the board and I realized he meant business. It excited me to know how serious he was about winning a kiss, but it also scared me. Possibly because I was excited by the idea.
Eventually I bought a hotel and put it on Park Place. I needed to reel in my hormones and focus. Even if he won, I wasn’t going to just give in to him. It was too complicated.