DARE: A Bad Boy Romance (14 page)

She spent the next half hour or so exploring the house and its grounds. There was a state of the art gym complete with punch bags and all manner of fitness machines—clearly Dare’s. Outside in the back, in a secluded alcove, was a large, bubbling Jacuzzi. The agent’s? Or Dare’s? How many bimbos had the two of them shared in there?

Holly realized she hated that idea. Not of him having had other women—that would be like refusing a rare gemstone because others had touched it before her—but the idea that Dare had such easy access to the hottest women in L.A., and that his agent was supplying them. It just made her skin crawl, given what she’d just been through with Trey.

She
wanted
to be more confident in herself, but ideas like those nagged at her day and night. The only solution, she decided, was to not hold back. If she saw something she wanted, she would just have to go all out to get it. Damn the consequences. And if that meant making a complete ass of herself, so be it. A well bucket had to hit bottom before it knew where it stood. And she sure as shit couldn’t sink any lower than she’d been that morning, locked in the bathroom, with her bags packed but no way to reach them—not until Trey had finished wrecking the bedroom they’d shared for so long and had finally left.

Jesus, had all that really happened? She
had
to get over it somehow, to make sure nothing like that ever happened again.

“Ah, he’s here!” she heard a leggy PR exec tell her friend. “Best woman wins.” They adjusted their excessively flattering push-up bras. Both wore eyelash extensions and enough eye shadow to make the Sphinx look slutty.

“Excuse me.” Holly stepped out in front of them, blocking their way.

One of them muttered, “Bitch.”

After hustling her way through the crowd in the living room, Holly squeezed into the foyer, where Dare was busy fielding compliments and shaking hands and posing for selfies. These were clients, friends, and colleagues, but they were behaving more like groupies. She couldn’t even get close.

Holly imagined herself throwing a bucket of chum over the lot of them and watching them eat each other alive.

Perturbed, she made her way up the main marble staircase and sat about halfway to the top. It was cold and hard, but at least she had a bit of air up here. Dare had his hands full. He’d just have to come to her…whenever. And she
was
halfway to where she really wanted to be…up there.

God, she hated parties. They always got in the way of a good time.

She chuckled. Her sister Jess would roll her eyes at that remark. The more money Holly had, the more glamorous her life got, the more she found to grumble about, Jess was fond of saying. God forbid she wound up with a European prince or one of those Saudi sheiks. She’d be on antidepressants for the rest of her pampered life.

Okay, so Jess had relaxed that criticism in light of what Holly had been through lately, but the general observation still stood. Holly really
didn’t
feel comfortable in this world. Never had. Probably never would. But if she had to be a part of it, what she needed was someone as indifferent to it as she was. A man who didn’t take it seriously, who was glad that she didn’t take it seriously either.

She watched Dare until he got fed up with the three-ring circus. It didn’t take long, and it made her laugh, how he kept puffing when he thought no one was looking. She knew exactly how he felt.

When he finally looked up at her, she gave him one of her cheeky salutes. He stopped what he was doing, completely ignoring the group of champagne-toting socialites who’d surrounded him like glitzy fish around a harbor buoy. His gaze locked on hers. She didn’t hear anything or see anyone else. He whispered something to a member of his ring entourage, not leaving her gaze for a moment. Then he made his way up to her, all casual and smoldering, the top three buttons of his cotton shirt open, revealing the swirling black tattoos he wore like war paint when he fought.

“I’m glad you came,” he said.

“I’m glad you showed up,” she replied.

“What are you doing up here?”

“I was bored. You were taking forever.”

“Tell me about it.” He sat beside her, laced his fingers in hers. “So what did you think of the fight?”

“I think you should charge extra,” Holly said.

“For what?”

“For schooling every other fighter who watches you. Seriously, you’re amazing.”

He kissed her hand. “I was about to say the same thing.”

“That you’re amazing? Wow, that would have been…what’s the opposite of classy?”

Dare snickered. “About
you.
I was gonna say…never mind.”

“Aw, go on.”

“No, you’ve ruined the moment. Now there’s nothing for it,” he said. “We’ll just have to skip the romance part altogether.”

“And get straight into the what?”

“Party.” He winked. When she lightly punched his arm, he added, “Only kidding. So you were half way up here already. Was that a hint, Holly Watkins?”

A warm shiver went right through her. “God, I love it when you say my name.”

He leaned in and whispered, “Holly Watkins.”

She giggled, blushed, and then kissed his stubbly cheek. “Dare Bowden.”

“Mm.”

“A penny for your thoughts.”

He took a deep breath. “Come with me.”

To her surprise, he didn’t lead her upstairs, he led her down. Straight into the hornet’s nest. Luckily, the various groups had coalesced into conversation, and Holly and Dare were able to get past them. He said something to the same man he’d spoken to earlier—the black, bearded man from his entourage. Ossie was his name. He nodded, opened the front door for them, then let them out but stayed inside himself. He closed the door after them.

“We driving somewhere?” she asked Dare.

“No.”

“Then where are we—”

“It’s a surprise.”

“Ah. Okay.”

Again she got to admire the view of L.A. as he led her through the garden around to the back of the house. It was a warm, inviting view with a palpable air of mystery, but it had nothing on the man she was with. She’d seen every inch of him, she’d had him multiple times, but everything about him still intrigued her, left her breathless and wanting to know more. To have more.

He unlocked a wooden gate near a kind of natural arbor made from a pair of trees and an arch fashioned from heavily leafed vines. A nice botanical feature, obviously well kept, as was the rest of the garden. The gardener was talented. Holly regretted not having taken better care of her own plants. There was a bench inside the arbor. It might have been sweet to sit there with Dare, just the two of them alone, but he had something else in mind. It felt like they were delving deeper into his private world, into his secrets.

She liked that. She wanted him to open up; she wanted to know more.

They entered an enclosure that was walled by tall hedges. At first it seemed like a kind a miniature maze, but it didn’t lead anywhere quite so exciting. There was an old stone fountain, but it didn’t work. Yet, where was the sound of running water coming from?

“This is all very Jane Austen,” she observed.

“Let’s hope not,” he replied enigmatically.

“What’s wrong with Jane Austen?”

“She was kinda PG-rated.”

“Oh.” She had to think twice about his meaning. It became clear when she saw the next feature. “
Oh.
”

“Don’t worry,” he said. “It’s totally private.”

She couldn’t see how. The Jacuzzi wasn’t exactly within spitting distance from the back of the house, but it was definitely within throwing distance. She’d found it on her own without trouble.

Holly hesitated, scanned all the windows and the upper balcony. “I don’t know. It seems kind of exposed to me.”

Dare answered, “Trust me,” as he pulled her to him and slowly untucked her blouse. Her breath hitched when he hiked it up to grip her bare waist.

“But what if somebody—”

He silenced her with a gentle touch of the lips. Then another, more deliberate this time. He slid his tongue in so that it brushed against the edges of her teeth, now dabbed the inside of her mouth, beckoning her to join him. Holly responded in kind. For the length of a long, sensuous kiss she forgot that someone might be watching.

Dare undid the front of her pants. She found herself unbuckling his belt. Then she looked up again—that balcony, it seemed awfully close, an all-too-convenient place for someone to enjoy the show. It made her recoil.

“I’m sorry. I just can’t. It’s too exposed.”

Nodding, he took her by the hand and led her up to the edge of the Jacuzzi. “Okay. Look now,” he said.

She did. It was much better. They were completely obscured by the wall covered with creeping vines. “And no one can come out and find us?”

“My man’s taking care of that. It’s just us, I promise.”

Holly heaved a nervous sigh. “I’m sorry. You were wanting someone more…adventurous, right? I’ve let you down.”

“Never.”

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I mean, I freaking dream about moments like this, about what I’d do if a guy like you…” She shut her eyes, shook her head. “I’ve killed the mood, haven’t I? All this neurotic bullshit. I’ve gone and—”

Again, the timely kiss to take her mind off…whatever. Amazing, how easily that worked. It was like a tide rising onto a rocky beach, covering all the hard edges of reality.

“So you want me, huh?” she said in his ear, as he kissed her neck from behind. Now lower. Lower. Unbuttoning her blouse as he went. The last few were fidgety. His big, rough hands had trouble with the tiny holes he couldn’t see from where he was. No way was he going to let them cramp his style. He fucking ripped them apart. It made her gasp.

Holly spun round and kicked off her shoes, not wanting to draw this out any longer than she had to. He’d hiked it up a gear. She was revved. While she unbuckled his belt, unzipped him, he couldn’t wait either. He pulled the cups of her bra up so that her tits popped out. Then he went to work, as he loved to do, fondling those assets she was so proud of, all the while sucking and gently biting at her nipples until they were hard and erect as pencil erasers.

Jesus, that felt good. It gave her a thrilling shiver. She somehow managed to undo his shirt buttons with her eyes closed. But again, the last few proved awkward because he was so busy enjoying her breasts.

Holly wrenched the halves of his shirt.

Nothing.

She tried again; this time she continued pulling with all her strength.

Nothing.

For some insane reason it made her laugh, how pathetically weak she was
because
Dare had channeled all her energy. She couldn’t stop laughing—deep belly laughs that made her convulse.

Dare pulled away, grinning. “Would this help?” He yanked his shirt apart without much effort, revealing that gloriously toned, tattooed body of his. Millions of women had drooled over those unreal abs and those rippling pecs and the size of his arms. It somehow made the whole thing funnier still, how hot and willing he was, and on the edge of a fucking Jacuzzi. She couldn’t have dreamed it any better than this if she’d wanted. The whole thing was so beyond perfect, she felt like crying.

Laughing, crying, living the dream…it was all good. It was just what she needed. But there was one thing she needed more right now.