One Daring Night (2 page)

Jeff tried to rise again, but Joni shoved him back into his seat. As long as she was standing and he was sitting, she was in the position of power. She wasn’t going to give that up.

“Please, Joni. Let me explain.”

She shook her head. “No. I’d rather Heidi explain. Are you here with Jeff on a date?”

Heidi looked around the now-silent dining room, then nodded slowly.

“And have you been out with him prior to tonight?”

Heidi nodded again. “I didn’t know he had a girlfriend.”

Joni raised her hand. “Don’t worry, Heidi. I don’t blame you.” Joni was careful to make her voice as kind as possible when she asked, “And have the two of you consummated this relationship?”

Heidi frowned and for a second, Joni wondered if the woman knew what the word
consummate
meant.

Then Heidi whispered, “Yes.”

Joni stiffened her spine, working overtime to keep the tears at bay. She wanted to rail, to call Jeff every horrible name she could think of, but the breath would be wasted. The damage was done.

“You’ll find your things outside tomorrow morning. Don’t come by until then.”

Jeff winced. “God, Joni. You gotta let me—”

“No. I don’t have to do anything,” Joni said, cutting off whatever pleading Jeff planned to do.  “You see, I don’t want you anymore. I’m done. Have a lovely dinner.”

With that, she spun on her heel and headed back to the door. The hostess looked equal parts horrified and impressed. Joni latched on to the impressed and let that tiny spark of appreciation carry her out of the restaurant and all the way to her car.

She still felt eyes on her, so she started the car and put it in drive. Unfortunately, the tears she’d tried to hold at bay came, blinding her. Her foot pressed firmly on the brake. She couldn’t see the steering wheel, let alone the road.

Rather than let her tears fall, she simply sat, frozen, as she concentrated on her breathing. One breath in, one out. Three times she repeated the in and the out. Then, she closed her eyes, sucking in more air.

It occurred to her after several minutes of the quiet inhalations and exhalations, her tears weren’t ones of sorrow.

They were angry tears. Raging, furious, fiery tears. Tears she refused to shed. A brash sense of recklessness washed through her. She’d wasted years of her life in a relationship with a faithless, ungrateful man. Joni had always been the quiet, reliable woman, but no more.

She was overwhelmed by the desire to do something crazy, wicked, completely out of character.

But what?

She had about as much adventure in her as a brick wall. Then she considered how much that description fit. She was sturdy, steady, immovable. Once she’d made a serious commitment to Jeff, she never considered anything else.

Now, her mind raced with the need to move. Fast. Heedless. Jeff had torn down her wall and left her exposed. But somehow that didn’t seem as frightening as much as it felt freeing.

She could do anything now. Be anyone. No…better than that…she could finally be herself.

In one blinding flash of brilliant white light, Joni’s blinders fell away. She could see.

So it was time to move.

But where?

Eric noticed the curvy woman the second she walked into the restaurant. The way she stormed toward their table would have sent his hackles up and had him warning Alex that danger was approaching, except she wasn’t looking at them. Instead, all her focus was solely on the occupant of the table next to theirs.

The guy at that table appeared to be clueless about the tractor beam he was trapped in, too wrapped up in looking at the nondescript flavor of the month sitting with him.

While the brunette seated there was almost a cliché as far as attractiveness went, the storming invader was the more interesting of the two females. God. She was gorgeous. Fire incarnate with her long, curly strawberry-blonde hair, the embers of it catching the muted light, with each step revealing another shade, flickering, wild, untamed. Beautiful.

Eric had spent the majority of his free time surrounded by traditional beauties. Women who had achieved what society deemed the standard in prettiness. The woman marching across the restaurant didn’t fit that mold in any way, shape or form, and yet she was…spectacular. From her curvy, over-endowed-in-all-the-right-places figure to her sharp chin and large eyes. Nothing about her spoke of the classic looks men were trained to think of as perfection thanks to television and magazine ads. But it didn’t matter. On her, everything came together and worked.

Eric was so taken by her, he didn’t even realize she’d spoken until Alex turned to look.

His friend turned back around with an amused grin. “Looks like we’re about to get quite a show. Stupid bastard got busted.”

Ordinarily, Eric would have found enjoyment in such a spectacle, but there was something about this woman’s face, her taut expression, that had him clenching his fists beneath the table, fighting not to stand up and teach the prick who’d hurt her a lesson he’d never forget. 

As she spoke, he was impressed by the strength in her voice. How many women would walk into a public place and face down the man who’d betrayed their trust? He found himself admiring her more and more with each word she spoke.

The man was obviously an idiot. Who would let go of such a passionate woman? Eric glanced at the brunette who apparently didn’t realize she was with a man who’d been spoken for. He couldn’t help but notice the lack of fire, of personality. The woman interested him as much as the décor in his doctor’s office.

Once she’d spoken her peace, the spitfire turned on her heel and left the restaurant. The moment she was gone, Eric recognized the almost unbearable tightness in his pants and he was forced to discreetly adjust the hard-on the spirited woman had produced.

“Wow,” Alex said quietly. “That was fun.”

Eric nodded numbly, his gaze drifting out the window. The woman was in her car. She’d started it, but she hadn’t driven away yet. “Alex. I have to go.”

Alex followed his line of sight and chuckled. “Thought you were marrying the next woman you slept with?”

Eric looked at his friend, then gave him a cocky grin. “I am.” He opened his wallet to pull out some cash, but Alex waved him away.

“This one’s on me. Figure I’ll get the money back with interest tomorrow.”

“I’m not losing,” Eric insisted.

Alex lifted his glass to him. “Good luck, my friend. I’m dying to see how this ends.”

Eric ignored Alex’s laughter as he rushed toward the entrance. He had to catch the woman before she got away.

Joni
.

He’d heard the cheating boyfriend say her name several times. It was one name Eric definitely wouldn’t be forgetting anytime soon. He’d never seen such courage. The woman had faced the man who’d hurt her head-on, without tears or pleading. She’d been incredible.

As he walked across the parking lot, his gait slowed when he spotted Joni sitting behind the wheel of her car. Her eyes were closed, but she didn’t appear to be crying.

He was nearly to the vehicle when he stopped completely.

What the heck was he supposed to do? He couldn’t very well swing open her passenger-side door and climb in the car. He’d scare the hell out of her.  

He paused just a few steps in front of her car and looked at her. That was when her eyes opened and landed on him.

Eric held her gaze for several moments, trying to read the look on Joni’s face. She didn’t lower her eyes or seek to look away. Instead, she tilted her head slowly, studying him. Then, fortunately, she shifted her car back into park.

He was shocked when she lifted her hand and, with a crook of her finger, beckoned him closer.

Eric walked to her side of the car as she lowered the window.

“You’re blocking my way.”

He grinned. “Didn’t look like you were trying to go anywhere.”

“Do I know you?”

He shook his head. “Not yet.”

“Do you want something?”

Eric nodded. “Yeah. I want to take you out for a drink.”

Joni narrowed her eyes and he tried hard to look like a normal, sane guy instead of some weirdo who tries to pick up freshly jilted women in parking lots. Jesus. No wonder she was looking at him as if he were a perv.

“I heard what happened back there in the restaurant.” He hastened to explain before she put the car in gear and pealed tires in her attempt to escape. “That guy—”

“My ex,” she interjected.

“The asshole,” he corrected. She nodded her head in a silent touché. “He did a really crappy thing. I admire the way you stood up to him. The way you walked into that place and called him out for it. That took guts. And I thought I’d like to buy you a beer.”

Her smile grew as he spoke before the tiniest bit of disbelief entered her pretty brown eyes. “You really thought that?”

“Yeah. I did.”

Joni turned, looking at the restaurant she’d just left, giving him the chance to study her profile. She was quite beautiful. And even more appealing was the fact she appeared to have no idea how attractive she was. He’d spent way too many days…and nights…with gorgeous women who used their looks to further their agendas—whether it involved getting into his bed or his bank account. Joni didn’t fit that mold, didn’t feel like someone whose motives he’d constantly have to question.

The silence grew uncomfortable and Eric feared he was losing her. That she was going to leave. “Come on,” he prodded. “Take a chance. For one night, be daring. You already started in the restaurant. Keep going.”

She sighed, then looked at him again, and he sensed she’d come to a decision. He was surprised to feel his chest tighten, his heart stutter a bit as he waited to see if she’d give him a chance.

“I’ll take you up on that drink invitation on two conditions.”

He heard himself say, “Anything,” before he could even think through his reply. Then he realized the response would be the same regardless. He’d do anything to spend the evening with her.

“First of all, I don’t want beer. I want tequila.”

He tried not to wince as he recalled what tequila had done to him last night. It didn’t matter. Alcohol wasn’t going to make any decisions for him tonight. He’d already made them. “You got it. And the second?”

“Honesty.”

He frowned. “What?”

She gestured to the restaurant. “I just spent the last three years of my life with a lying, cheating son of a bitch. I’ve been fed so much bullshit lately, I’m choking on it. If we go out for a drink, I want one night of no games, no deception, no playboy pick-up lines. Just you and me. No pretense and no attempts to impress each other with stuff that isn’t real. You up for that?”

He never missed a beat. “Absolutely.”

She laughed. “You sure you don’t want to take a second to consider it? Because I’m warning you right now, you’ll be getting the same from me. Some guys can’t handle the truth.”

“I can.” After years of lying through his teeth—and being lied to—to get laid, he had to admit there was something refreshingly inviting about the idea of complete honesty. Then he recalled Alex’s advice. Honesty had been the top of the list.

Besides, this woman had done something no one had done lately. Captured his attention. Held it. Intrigued him.

“Where to?” she asked.

Eric didn’t even attempt to hide his too-pleased grin. He lifted his hand and pointed across the street. “How about the Taphouse? You can leave your car here and we can walk over together. If you decide you hate me, you’ve got an easy out.”

He didn’t want to give her any opportunity to reconsider and hightail it out of here. Walking a short distance to a pub seemed like the safest way to keep her on the hook. If they separated, even to drive somewhere else, what was to keep her from getting halfway there, then coming to her senses and taking off?

Joni considered his suggestion, then rolled up her window, turned the car off and got out. Once again, he was taken in by her courage. “Okay. I’m in. One daring night.”

He reached out a hand to her. “I’m Eric Bryant.” He gave her his whole name in hopes she’d reciprocate. He wanted to be able to find her again if tonight went well.

She took his proffered hand. “Joni Allen.”

He threaded his fingers through hers, holding tight as he led her to the bar. Joni accepted his grip in stride.

He felt her eyes on his face as they walked. When they reached the door, he turned to give her a quizzical look. “What?” he asked.

“I’m trying to decide if this whole thing you have going on is more arrogance or self-confidence.”

“I assume one is better than the other?”

She shrugged. “I can deal with confidence. Arrogant men make me see red.”

“Good information to have.”

She followed him into the Taphouse. “I told you I was going for complete honesty.”

“And I promised you the same, so I think it’s a fifty-fifty split on confidence and arrogance.”

“Hmmm. Well, you’re cutting it close, but I’ll let it ride for now.”