Page 4 of About That Pact

“Just met at the bar,” Rafe finished. “What do you want me to tell Charlie?”

Jason winced. “I don’t know, just don’t tell her I left with someone. She loves having blackmail. Gotta go.”

Jason went back to the woman and left the bar just as Charlotte came back to the table. Rafe had an idea. This was a win-win for him, but she wasn’t going to like it.

GOING BACK TO the dreaded table where Rafe was waiting, she searched around for her brother. The last time she saw him, he had been flirting shamelessly with someone at the bar. Now, Jason was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s my brother?” she demanded from Rafe as she sat down. Fingers crossed he hadn’t left already.

Rafe didn’t answer. Instead, he shot her a wicked smile that was nothing but trouble. He was up to something.

“Stop looking so pleased with yourself. Where’s Jason?”

He chuckled as if her annoyance only made him happier. “How about we play a game?”

“If this is a new version of Where’s Waldo, I don’t want to.”

“How about for every question you ask, I’ll answer, but you owe me a favor.”

He was making a bet with her, like they used to when they were kids. A smart move for her would be to leave, but when had she ever played it smart when it came to him? She had the emotional scarring to prove it.

“Fine, but nothing crazy,” she warned him. “Where’s my brother?”

“He left.”

That was it. A two-word response. This was shaping up to be a crap game.

“Okay,” she enunciated slowly, like she was dealing with an idiot. “Where did he go?”

“I can only tell you if you don’t use it against him.”

She huffed. “What are we, twelve?”

“Do you want to know where he went?”

“Fine, I won’t say anything to him about his whereabouts.” If it turned out he went to the zoo, she would be pissed. Owing Rafe anything because her brother wanted to see a zebra would be the cherry on top of the shit sundae of her week.

“He left with some girl. Mandy, Maggie, Molly…something like that. And the location, I’m pretty sure he has a rule about not allowing women to go to his place. I don’t know where Missy lives, so he could be anywhere.”

Knowing her brother, the zoo may not have been off the table. She shook her head. “I can’t believe he left. Why didn’t he wait?”

“Because he said you were going to chop his balls off. His words, not mine.”

“We could have left together.”

Rafe lifted a dark eyebrow. “Like that wouldn’t have been weird—you escorting your brother and his one night stand out of the bar.”

She cracked at his humor and grinned. When their waitress finally made it back around to their table, he ordered them both more wine, and she left to get their drinks.

“Awfully presumptuous of you,” Charlotte took the drink menu out of his hand. “I don’t know if I want a white wine.”

“I did a story on wine pairings. The white will work well with the appetizers I ordered when you disappeared earlier.”

“Are you referring to your job like you’re a reporter?”

“I do report on things. Do you have a better word to use?”

Their waitress returned with the food and drinks, fawning over Rafe.