Free Stacking the Deck (A Betting on Romance Novel Book 2) by Cheri Allan Page B

girls do. She let out a nervous exhale. She’d thought the pale mauve looked quietly elegant and understated but now it just looked like she’d borrowed nail polish from somebody’s grandmother.
    Wishing she were more the type that could get away with metallic blue, she set her paper cup down on a window sill. Bailey was right. It was stupid to come.
    She was just about to walk down the hall in search of a restroom when Valerie and her gang stepped out of the kitchen. They flipped their hair at the boys who were lingering around the cupcakes. “Hey, guys.”
    Chip Otterman, Dan O’Connell and a few other popular guys stood around, periodically dipping their fingers into the cupcake frosting and licking it off. Dan winked at Valerie. “Hey, gorgeous.”
    Valerie preened and flicked her hair again, her giant silver hoop earrings glinting as she did so. “You’re not going to stand here all night and eat cupcakes, are you?” she teased.
    He eyed her as only a horny teenaged boy can, a mixture of hope and confidence warring on his features. “Got any better ideas?” he asked.
    “Oh, I’ve always got ideas,” Valerie cooed. My God, she was good. Beth watched as Valerie pulled an empty wine bottle she must have retrieved from the recycle bin from behind her back. “How about we all have a little fun? Who’s up for Seven Minutes of Heaven?”
    Dan frowned. Chip looked hopefully at Jenny. The other boys chuckled nervously.
    “Oh, come on,” Valerie urged. “Where’s your sense of adventure?”
    Chip nudged Dan. “Why not?”
    “Shut up. You just want to kiss my girlfriend.”
    “Worried?” Valerie asked, sauntering toward the door. You could tell she already knew she’d won. “Afraid he’s a better kisser than you?”
    “Heck, no,” Dan said, grabbing Valerie’s waist. He licked her ear. Beth could see his tongue snake out. “I’ll make sure you only reach heaven with me, baby,” he said.
    Gag!
    Beth did her best to blend in with the upholstery, horrified at the turn of events. This was so not where she belonged. A make-out game? Ack! No amount of reading Trish’s Cosmo s on the sly could make her good at that.
    She could hear voices outside the front door. Great. More people to ignore her.
    She took a step back into the curtains, waiting for everyone to leave so she could go find a restroom. Hide. But, just as they were about to disappear into the kitchen, Valerie turned and looked Beth straight in the eye.
    “Coming?” she said.

    CHAPTER TEN
____________________
    C ARTER KNOCKED LIGHTLY before entering his grandmother’s living room. It was one of three small rooms on the ground floor in Ma and Pop’s house Grams had been given to use after her knee replacements.  He scootched by the TV and Grams’ recliner and pulled a slip of paper from the pocket of his sweats.
    “Here’s your ticket and receipt. The lottery commission thanks you again for your donation.”
    Grams snatched the scratch tickets out of his hand. “We’ll see who’s laughing when I hit the jackpot. Ooh! Shh! They’re starting again!”
    She set the lottery tickets on a side table by her chair and waved impatiently for him to sit.
    “Sorry I missed dinner. I—”
    “Never  mind that.” Grams waved away his apology. “Leftovers are in the fridge if you want to take them home. Okay. You’ve already missed the recap of last week’s episode, so I’ll bring you up to speed. They’ve done the little vignette on each of the three finalists. Now he’s gone into seclusion to decide which two he wants to take on the final adventure.” She leaned forward in her recliner to see around him as he toed off his sneakers.
    Carter plopped onto the loveseat. “As if he can actually find ‘true love’ after ten episodes. This show is completely rigged.”
    “Is not,” Grams retorted, riveted to the screen. “I read about him in People . He’s a lonely widower and would love to find love again, but it hasn’t happened.