Chapter 22

"What do you think that was all about?" Liz asked Lucky as soon as they were in his room.

He shrugged. "They were probably talking about us. I could tell by the expressions on their faces when we walked in."

"Why would the four of them be talking about us? What's there to talk about, anyway?"

He laughed. "Haven't you noticed they're all convinced that we're going to fall for one another?"

"No, I haven't. I hope they're not too disappointed when it doesn't happen. I don't fall for guys anymore."

He looks at her skeptically. "Anymore? You can't exactly force yourself to not fall for someone. It just happens."

"Well, I don't do it. I was hurt too many times back home by guys that I thought I was madly in love with, although now that I look back at them, it was never more than a crush. Still, I ended up getting hurt, so I told myself that I wasn't going to let myself fall for anyone until I knew them well enough to know they wouldn't hurt me."

"I'm sorry that you were hurt, but that's no reason to just swear off guys all together." He chuckled. "Anyway, try to tell that to my dad and he'll just give you a lecture on how certain people are fated to be together, and how you can't control what happens. He's real big on that stuff."

"I'm sure he is, but I don't plan on asking his opinion any time soon, anyway."

Lucky shrugged and went over to his computer. While he was waiting for it to load up, he turned back to Elizabeth. "We better get started on this mortgage stuff."

"Yeah, I know." She started to walk over to him, but stubbed her toe on a book that was laying on the floor. She stumbled and nearly fell down. Lucky was quick, though, and managed to catch her. She looked up at him, embarrassed, as he tried not to laugh.

Liz couldn't help noticing how strong his arms felt around her, but quickly brushed the thought aside and got back on her feet. She stood up and brushed her hair out of her face. "Thanks."

"I thought you never fell for guys," he said, laughing.

She rolled her eyes. "I knew you'd have a field day with that. I tripped, okay? What do you expect when you leave a book laying out in the middle of the floor?"

"Oh, so now it's my fault that you're a klutz?"

She glared at him. "I'm not a klutz! One clumsy moment does not make me a klutz. God, how could anyone actually think I would fall for you?!"

"Hey! I'm a good catch, you know!" He laughed, realizing what he just said. "Sorry, no pun intended there."

"Oh yeah, you're a regular comedian," she said sarcastically. "Is that computer done yet?"

He looked at the monitor and nodded. "Yeah, give me a second and I'll sign on." A few minutes later he was online and they were looking up mortgage sites. "What kind of mortgage payments are we looking to make?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Just keep in mind that I only make $22,000."

"Yeah, but I make enough for both of us, so that doesn't really matter."

"I'm not just going to sit back and sponge off of you. I can pay my own way." She hated that he kept throwing his salary in her face.

"Look, Elizabeth. We're supposed to be married, and this is what married people do. They pool their money together, so it's not like only one of us is paying. We're both contributing to everything. That's why it's called joint checking! Okay, so you're independent. That's fine, I even admire it a little, but for this particular project, we need to do things the old-fashioned way. That's what Ms. Kraft wants, remember?"

Hating to admit that he was right, she just nodded. "Fine, let's just do this mortgage thing so I can go home," she grumbled.

~*~

"Okay, so how are we going to know who cracks first? I mean, we can't watch them 24/7!" Emily said after they finished their "tea" with LuLu.

"Well, if we're not there to actually witness it, we'll ask them directly. They'll be too happy to want to lie to us," Luke said.

"I say that when we're around them, have someone always nearby to eavesdrop. Not necessarily listen to every word they say, but if it looks like they're getting close to admitting anything, lean in to listen," Nikolas suggested.

"So now you're saying we should stalk them everywhere they go?" Laura asked, wondering if they were taking this friendly wager a little too far.

"No, not at all. If they're alone somewhere, I wouldn't say one of us should start hanging around, that would be too obvious. But, if they're in a public place, like Luke's, then it would be easy to make sure we're within earshot if need be."

"You know, for a Cassidine, you're pretty smart sometimes," Luke said, slapping him on the back.

"Thanks, I think."

"Why do I have a feeling this thing is going to blow up in our faces?" Laura asked, shaking her head. "If Lucky finds out that we're sitting down here placing bets on the two of them, he'll kill us."

"Nah. He's a good sport. He'll probably just laugh at it and move on. He'll just be more determined than ever not to give in to his feelings, that's all. So, we have to make sure he doesn't find out." Luke looked at all of them to make sure they understood.

"I just hope they fall for each other and get it over with," Emily said, just as Lucky and Liz appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Don't worry guys, she already fell for me," Lucky said, laughing. Liz glared at him and punched him in the shoulder.

"I fell on you, there's a big difference, you dimwit!" she argued.

"Aw, see, she's already calling me pet names. Right, Honeybunch?" he said, laughing, as he put his arm around her.

She shrugged out of his grasp and scowled at him. She was about to shout at him when she realized that doing so would only egg him on more, so she decided to change her approach. She smiled sweetly and moved back next to him. "Of course, Pookie. But, as much as I'd love to stay here and discuss this, I have to be getting home, so I'll see you tomorrow." She reached up and pinched his cheek before bounding down the rest of the stairs. She turned and said good-bye to the foursome in the living room, then looked back up the stairs at Lucky and blew him a kiss before leaving the house.

Lucky just stood there for a moment, fuming. His face had turned bright red as he turned on his heel and stomped back up the stairs, grumbling to himself. As soon as they heard his door slam, they all burst out laughing.

"Sorry girls, but I think you're going to be out a couple hundred bucks soon," Luke said, grinning at Nikolas. Laura and Emily just looked at each other, afraid that for once, Luke might be right.

Graphics Courtesy Of: