The Dare (11 page)

"Well, we don't want to see what that would
look like, you snapping. Hurry up and hide the cookies."

"Aghhh!" I pushed him against the bed,
causing it to move against the wall. And then I realized I was on
top of him. Straddling him. And he was warm. And great gods of
Asgard, my body savored it.

"Nice thighs." He smirked. "They're strong.
Mind unleashing me before I have to get both legs amputated from
blood loss?"

"Please, like it's your legs you're worried
about."

A knock came on the door. "Five minutes!"

"She's just going to keep coming back." Jace
grunted from underneath me. "I say we hurry up and change, get some
damn food in our bodies, and then call Grandma. We can take the
next flight out of here and still have time to have a nice quiet
vacation."

"How brave! You're running away with your
tail between your legs."

"Are you saying you want to stay here?" Jace
lifted his arms into the air and turned around in a circle.

"No, that's not what I'm saying." I put my
hands on my hips. "What I'm saying is I can handle staying here. I
have balls of steel. What do you have?"

"Balls. Normal ones. Ones I'd like to keep
intact, and if I stay here much longer, they're going to pull back
up into my body and render me a eunuch. You want that to happen?
You want that on your conscience?"

"Three minutes!" Dr. Z shouted.

Beth threw a set of white clothes at me.
"You're ball-less, just like I'm chargeless!"

"Excuse me?" he shouted, reaching for his
pants.

Was he going to show me? Was this a pissing
contest? Seriously?

"You heard me!" I peeled off my shirt and
threw it onto the floor. "You don't want to stay because you know
you couldn't take it!"

"Is that a challenge?" He took two steps
toward me. "Hmm, Beth?"

"It's only a challenge if the other person
stands a chance."

"What do I get if I stay?" His eyes roamed
greedily over my chest.

I crossed my arms and glared.

"Not that."

"Like I'd have to ask."

"You're an ass!" I hissed, pulling the white
linen shirt over my body and following with the white linen
pants.

"I'm a politician, sweetheart. I've been
called worse."

"Time's up!" Dr. Z said, knocking on the door
again.

"So what do you say?" I held out my hand. "We
have a bet?"

"Wager."

"Dare."

"Deal," we said in unison.

"You stay for six days, and I help you with
the whole
I'm a prostitute
situation. I'll say whatever I
need to say to those nice little cameras. I'll even kiss you on
national television."

"And I'll…" Jace frowned.

"You'll give me six days." I licked my lips
out of nervousness. I hadn't meant to ask for that, but the more I
thought about it, the better the idea became. After all, it was his
kiss I hadn't been able to get out of my head for twelve years; his
touch I'd been thinking about every single time another man put his
arm around me. If anyone in that godforsaken hut was cursed, it was
me. Cursed with memories of a man that made me wish for the
fairytale. I'd been feeling sorry for myself for too long. And Jace
was probably right. Maybe the fairytale wasn't real, but I wanted
to experience it just for a little while. And he was going to be
the one to deliver it.

"Pardon?"

"A real six days. No strings attached.
Six-day vacation with food, drinks, fun, and…" I felt heat rising
to my cheeks, "just six days. Six days of being a normal girl in a
normal relationship with a normal guy." If the normal guy happened
to look like you could break boulders off his abs.

"Stop saying six." Jace swore. "It sounds
like sex, and I just watched you take off your shirt."

I felt my cheeks heat.

"And it makes me want to slam you against the
wall and rip it from your body, so when you ask for six days, know
that you're asking for a real six days. I'm not going to keep my
hands to myself."

"Fine." My lower lip trembled. "I just want
to be romanced."

"You want the fairytale," he said in a low
voice.

"Yeah. I do."

"I can do six days," Jace whispered. "Just
don't hate me on day seven, because I will walk away."

I snorted. "Easy, Jace. You aren't that
irresistible. It's a risk worth taking. I want to put Boring Beth
away for a while." Besides, he'd walked away before. What's one
more time?

"Beth." Jace sighed. "You're not boring. Look
maybe this isn't
—
"

A whistle sounded, and then Dr. Z opened the
door. "Ready?"

Jace held out his hand to shake mine. I
touched it, feeling the sizzle all the way down to my toes.

"Ready."

"This ship captain, did you pay him to curse
the senator?"

"Of course not!" Grandma shook her head. "No
money exchanged hands."

The agent took a long sip of coffee.

"However," Grandma paused, "there are other
ways for payment."

The agent choked. "Ma'am, prostitution is
illegal."

"I would never sell my body." Grandma shook
her head vehemently "Besides, the captain's already tasted the
goods. Past lover, you understand. He was only too happy to… aid me
in my quest."

"Your quest for love?" The agent's eyebrows
narrowed.

"Yes. Let's call it that. It has a certain
ring to it!"

Jace

I'd just made a deal with the devil. I'd
signed the contract in blood, and now all I had to do was live
through the next six days. The good news? I could save my career.
And Beth was right. She was the answer. I'd send a text to Rick as
soon as I could.

As for giving her six days of a fairytale? I
imagined it would be like babysitting, more or less. Lavish her
with gifts, feed her, give her enormous amounts of wine, and wait
for her to fall asleep at night. Okay, so maybe if I wanted to get
arrested, it would be like babysitting. I just needed to keep her
happy, repeat for six days, and home free. How hard could it be? To
woo a woman? I wooed people on a twenty-four-seven basis. Then
again, most people I wooed weren't ones I'd been pining for since
I'd gone to my first dance.

The other issue would be that damn curse. I
wasn't an idiot. I didn't believe in curses, but the man had been
right. Thirty-two minutes ago we'd gotten to the island. And for
thirty-two minutes, I'd done nothing but stare at Beth's mouth,
watched her hands as she gripped her silverware, and closed my eyes
when the breeze carried her scent into my personal space.

Shit.

Six days.

Less than a week.

I could do anything for a week.

"Jace." Beth's soft voice carried across the
table. At least she didn't sound pissed anymore. "Did you hear
anything I just said?"

"Sure." I sipped my wine.

"So you agree?"

"Absolutely."

"On the neck, don't you think?"

"Uh…" Well hell, that's where daydreaming got
a person. "The neck is perfect."

"How long should it be?"

"Long enough." I was the king of vague. I
could field questions all day long without actually giving an
answer. Point, Jace.

"And color?"

"I think bright colors are the best." I
nodded. "They seem to… attract attention." I gave her my best
politician smile.

"Hmm, maybe you're right." She looked down at
the paper in her hands and started scribbling. "Tomorrow good?"

"Sure." I leaned over to see what she was
writing down. But she jerked the sheet back. "I need you to
sign."

"What am I signing?" I asked, giving her
another polite smile.

"You said you were paying attention." She
handed me the pen.

"I was. I am."

"Good. Sign here."

I was ashamed to admit I signed, only because
I didn't want to look like an ass.

Dr. Z approached the table. "I take it you
filled out the information?"

"We did." Beth grinned.

"Fantastic." Dr. Z took the folder and pulled
out the sheet I'd signed. Her eyes widened slightly. "How very
brave of you two!"

"We thought so." Beth reached for my
hand.

I had a bad feeling.

"A twin dragon tattoo! And on your necks! How
lovely! The dragon is the symbol of being connected. It's rare for
couples to be so committed upon arrival!"

"That's us," I said in a dry voice. How the
hell was I going to talk myself out of that one? I'd signed the
damn document. "Committed." I kicked Beth under the table.

She winced as Dr. Z examined the rest of the
papers. "Alright, I'll just schedule the rest of your week and slip
the paper under you door this evening. Your first session is with
one of our newer therapists. She's absolutely lovely."

The sound of Dr. Z's heels clicking against
the tile floor felt like a noose getting tighter around my
neck.

"Tattoo?" I tilted my head. "You think you're
funny, don't you?"

"You weren't paying attention."

"I was." Sort of. If watching her mouth move
was paying attention, and memorizing her scent was my pop quiz.
Yeah, I was paying attention.

"No, you weren't. We shook on it. Six days. I
don't want you ignoring me, I don't want you texting. I want the
fantasy. God knows, it's only six days." Her face fell a bit before
she smiled to cover up her disappointment.

Shit.

"You're right." I reached for her hand. "I'll
do better. It's just been a long day." And if she kept saying six,
I was going to six the hell out of her in a public forum.

"I know." Beth stared down at our hands.

I should have pulled back. I should have run.
Instead, I placed my other hand on top of hers and whispered, "Why
don't we go back to the room. I'll draw you a bath and romance the
hell out of you."

Which also meant I was going to be rewarded
with sainthood for not trying to seduce her the minute we were
alone.

"I thought you were gifted with words?"

"Exhaustion. It's set in. Plus, I'm cursed.
Don't expect perfection."

"Who said I wanted perfection?" She winked.
"I just want the fairytale."

"Didn't we already have this talk? They're
the same thing."

"No," Beth stood, "they aren't. And that's
why you're so bitter. Some things aren't always black and white,
Mr. Senator. Now romance me."

"Day one." I smirked.

"Day one." She agreed.

I held her hand the entire way to the
hut.

****

"Sure, I'll dance with you." She put her hand
in mine. I walked her to the dance floor, unable to take my eyes
off her glistening dress or pretty brown hair. My cousin was going
to kill me if I bailed on her, but the pull was too strong.

"You're really pretty." I pulled her into my
arms and tried act smooth, even though I was pretty sure my hands
were shaking. "What's your name?"

"Beth." Her head tilted back, enough for me
to see her crazy green eyes. "What's yours?"

"Jace." My voice cracked at the end. Great,
I'd just give away my age. No doubt she was a senior and thought I
was about as cute as seventh grader with a cold.

"Thanks."

She leaned her head on my shoulder. At least
I had my height going for me.

"For what?"

"The rescue." She laughed. And a part of me
that had been dormant for a lifetime flared to life. God, she was
beautiful.

"I'll rescue you anytime. Day or night."

"Is that a promise?"

Her smile was deadly. It made me want to kiss
her, and the last thing I needed to be seen doing was kissing a
girl from another school while I got my ass handed to me by the
defensive line of the football team. It was their territory, not
mine.

But I couldn't stop the words from coming.
"Of course."

My head descended; she met me halfway. Our
lips touched, and I kissed her hard. Harder than I'd ever kissed a
girl before in my entire life. It was a hello and a goodbye kiss,
because I knew it wasn't something I'd be repeating. She was way
out of my league. As it was, I was playing with fire even kissing
what I'm sure was the quarterback's girlfriend. But I couldn't help
myself.

"Brevik," a male voice sneered from
behind.

I pulled away from Beth and slowly turned to
face, who I was sure, would be the largest kid in school.

Instead, it was the coach from the football
team. Aw, hell. He only knew me because I'd unintentionally put one
of his players out of commission for the rest of the season.

"Who are you here with?"

"My cousin." I swallowed nervously.

He peered around me at Beth and chuckled.
"She doesn't look like your cousin."

"Not her." I ground my teeth together. "She's
just… a friend."

Behind him, my cousin waved frantically.

"Look, I gotta run. My date needs me." Geez,
it wasn't like I was getting secret plays from Beth or anything. I
turned and gave her hand a quick squeeze. "It was fun."

She gave me a sad nod, and I walked away.

When I looked back, she was gone.

The sound of the alarm jolted me out of the
dream. Why the hell was I dreaming about that now? I smacked the
alarm clock with my hand and peeked over at Beth. She was sleeping
like the dead, too beautiful for her own good, and I was horny as
hell from that damn dream. I shouldn't have walked away. I should
have gotten her number. Not that it would have changed a damn
thing. People didn't date in high school and then get married right
away anymore. At the time, I'd still believed in love at first
sight. Hell, I'd thought it had been love; the rest of the memory
was painful as hell. My therapist said my mind had somehow pushed
the rest of the night out of my consciousness; he'd said accidents
had a way of doing that. I was protecting myself. But from what? I
wasn't sure.