The Dare (27 page)

"Do you love her?" she asked simply.

It should have been a simple question;
instead, the question made me get itchy and squirmy as if I wasn't
comfortable in my own skin. It made me afraid and made me feel
stupid. Saying yes seemed too hard. Saying no? Too easy.

"He does." Jake sighed irritatingly.

"How do you know?" I snapped.

"Because you're itchy."

"Huh?" Char and Grandma said in unison.

"Players, we know the game well. Believe me,
he's all uncomfortable with his feelings. It's why he's so twitchy.
His mind is manifesting a physical response to his inability to
commit emotionally."

Something happened that night.

Something I'm not sure any of us were willing
to purposefully talk about.

Jake Titus, manwhore of the century, not only
found his heart, but somewhere deep inside that brain, he found
psychology.

It scared the shit out of me.

"Are you drunk?" Char whispered under her
breath.

"Admit it." Jake ignored his wife and crossed
his arms. "What I said made sense."

"I
—
" Sweating.
Definitely sweating.

"Jace, if you like her so much, why are you
hesitating?" Grandma asked sweetly.

"Because I want to get it right." I sighed.
"I want to be what she deserves, and I don't think I am. I know I'm
not, because if it was her or my future, I think I'd still pick me.
Okay? Are you guys happy that you've just discovered what a selfish
bastard I can be? I choose me! I don't choose the really pretty
girl with bright green eyes. I choose what I've worked years for. I
want a second chance. I guess I just wanted it on my terms."

The room fell silent.

"Oh, honey," Grandma pulled me into a tight
hug, "it's good for you to admit that."

"It is?" I pulled back.

"Yes." Grandma patted my back. "It's only
when we admit what scares us the most
—
we
can conquer our demons. You're afraid of failure, but most
importantly, you're afraid of success."

"Success?" I snorted. "I already have
that."

"I meant emotional success. Nothing scares
you more than knowing, in the end, you are the reason for your own
unhappiness. Not some woman, not your career, not anything but your
own stubborn self. I believe, Mr. Senator, that you've made your
choice. I just hope, in the end, it's worth it."

"A reflection doesn't keep you warm at
night," Jake said, all teasing gone from his voice.

"You're right." I hung my head defeated. "But
the risk is nothing."

"I'm sorry." Grandma wiped away a tear.

"Grandma, it's fine it's
—
"

"Not you." She turned. "Her. I'm sorry,
Beth."

It was then that I looked at the door. It had
been cracked open the whole time. Beth stood there, bags packed.
And she'd heard the whole damn conversation. So she'd run, but it
hadn't been to the airport. She'd run to the woman who'd brought us
here in the first place. She'd run to Grandma, hoping she could fix
it, fix me. And she'd failed.

"Beth I
—
"

"Save it." She nodded her head and gave a sad
smile. "I'll just…" She backed away slowly, rolling her suitcase
behind her.

I waited for Jake to punch me. But it seemed
even he was too disappointed in me to waste any energy.

Grandma kissed me softly on the cheek and
whispered, "Be happy."

The problem? I'd never felt so alone or
disappointed in myself in my entire life, and I still had to go
tell both my parents that not only had they been duped, but that
I'd failed them.

"Disappointing, that the senator shows such
little character."

"He's just a boy." Grandma held a tissue up
to her eye and dabbed. "He wants to piss on the world and claim it
as his, all the while forgetting that at the end of the day, when
your home is empty, what do you really have to show for the success
you've had? The life you've lived? Success fades. Family? It's
forever."

Beth

I always pitied those girls you saw at the
airports. The ones that had tear-stained cheeks, were saying
goodbye to friends or family or even significant others as they put
on the old red white and blue and flew overseas.

My eyes were swollen, my bags packed like I
was fleeing the country, and, of course, in my current state of
distress I hadn't even realized that I had sweats on and no
makeup.

The conversation I'd overheard? Not my
favorite. In all my rashness I'd decided to talk to Grandma. I
know, I know. She didn't sound like the voice of reason, but I
wanted to thank her for the trip. She'd easily got it out of me,
why I was upset, and said she'd fix it. She'd grabbed my hand and
led me to the hut. It hadn't been hard to find Jace; the yelling
had helped. She'd told me to wait outside.

I wish I would have gotten in the damn taxi.
Because after hearing Jace's voice, the words from his mouth? I
knew the truth. In the end, he would always choose himself; he'd
let me walk away, and although he'd be sad about letting me go… To
him? His job was his mistress, his wife, his everything. Even if he
was guilt-free in the entire scenario, he still couldn't admit how
he felt.

To me, that was weakness. Not being able to
share your innermost feelings with someone? It's inexcusable,
especially when that person does you the great honor of doing the
exact same thing in hopes you'll return it.

I wiped away another tear and walked toward
security.

"Beth?"

Kill me now.

"Beth?"

Seriously, God, send the lightning, I wanna
go down in flames.

"Where's Jace?" A hand gripped my arm. I had
a momentary vision of me turning around, grabbing Brett by the
balls, and twisting until I heard either a pop or a tear.

"Not here," I said dryly.

Brett grinned seductively. "Paris is
sleeping."

"Your point?" What? Did he want a cookie for
getting his wife to go to bed on time? Fresh out, buddy., Sorry.
And let's be honest, even if I had a cookie, I wouldn't share. I
was so not in the sharing mood. Unless the cookie had arsenic; I'd
stuff it in his throat and smile the whole damn time.

"Well…" Brett reached up to cup my face.

I tried to jerk back, but he held my chin
firm within his fingers.

"You're here. I'm here. Your little senator
is missing, and it seems I have some free time. You wanted me all
those years ago in high school, and I'm like a fine wine. I taste
better with time… We could go kill a few hours. What do you
say?"

"You can't afford me." I glared.

"Try me."

"It was a joke." I finally jerked free. "I'm
not a prostitute, you bastard! And I'm sorry, but cheating husbands
don't really appeal to me."

"And cheating senators do?"

"Pardon?"

"Please." He laughed. "You really think
you're enough to keep a man like Jace Brevik occupied? He'd cheat
on you within the first year of marriage."

Grandma was going to have to bail me out of
prison.

I reared back to slap him, when someone
grabbed my hand and jerked me against his chest then twisted me
around. A hot mouth met mine with force and urgency; he tasted like
rum. Jace.

What? Here?

Jace released me and turned. "You rotting
bastard. I should kill you."

And then I heard a yelp.

Jace released me just as Jake landed a blow
to Brett's face, sending him sailing to the floor.

"Thanks." Jace held out his hand to Jake.
"Nice hit."

"Yeah, well," Jake shrugged, "not the first
airport fight I've gotten into."

"Titus men." Another voice chimed in.

"Char?"

My sister waved and gave me a sad smile that
just screamed guilt.

"Where are you going?" Jace asked calmly. "I
want to give you a reason to stay. I need you to stay." He cupped
my face in his hands. "Stay for me."

"That's a good reason." I nodded, tears
pooling in my eyes.

"Listen," he licked his lips, "I have
something to tell you, something to explain. I'm not really sure I
understand it myself, but I think it will help. Full honesty, full
disclosure on my part. Don't leave."

"Jace, I can't
—
"

"Who's not worth the risk now?"

Maybe he was right. Maybe in the end I was
running because I was scared.

It happened too fast. The photographers, the
lights, the cameras going off. I blinked, and then we were
surrounded. I looked like hell, and Jace looked so stunned his
mouth opened and closed three times before he could form words.

"Mr. Senator? Is this the woman you've been
hiding from us?"

"Mr. Senator, is she a prostitute? Or truly a
family friend?

"Mr. Senator, was this a planned destination
wedding, or are you just joining in a publicity stunt to help with
your approval ratings?"

Question after question was fired at him.

I waited for him to defend me, for him to
explain to them exactly what had happened with Grandma, not that
they'd believe it.

Instead he looked directly at me and said in
a sad voice, "She's an old family friend. No wedding, no
prostitutes, just the happy coincidence of being on the same
vacation. Isn't that right, Beth?"

His eyes pleaded with mine, while tears
clouded my vision so much that I couldn't see straight. I gave a
pathetic nod and turned away, knowing this time he wouldn't come
after me, and I wouldn't turn back.

He'd been given a third opportunity in a day
to make his choice.

And for the third time, he'd failed to choose
me.

"Did you send the reporters?" The agent
rubbed his face and sighed.

"It's possible."

"So that's a yes."

Grandma picked at her sweater. "I'm elderly,
memory's not what it used to be."

"And just how was ratting out the senator
supposed to help the relationship? If anything, it made it
worse."

"It didn't." Grandma smirked. "Because
clearly the senator is still missing, and so is she."

Jace

The look on Beth's face devastated me, like a
punch to the gut. I tried to catch my breath, but every inhale was
filled with utter disgust and panic. I'd just told her to her face,
for the third time that day, that she wasn't enough. But I'd done
it to protect her
—
to give her time to
decide what she felt about me. Instead, she'd walked away. Not me.
Her.

Every insecurity she must have felt about
herself was probably scratching to the surface, and it was all my
fault. All because I was selfish careless bastard. Every instinct
told me to run after her, but what would that do? She'd probably
slap me and end up on the six o'clock news. So I stayed rooted to
the ground and did my damn job
—
I smiled
pretty for the cameras, and I smoothed things over. Never in my
life had I had to work so hard to pretend like my world wasn't
crashing down around me.

"Senator," another reporter shoved a
microphone in my face, "Channel Five, can you tell us why you're
visiting the islands?"

A flash went right off in my line of
vision…

I heard screeching tires all over again, and
then glass went everywhere. A flashlight was shined in my eyes.
"Son, are you alright?"

I forced a tight smile. "Much needed
vacation."

"But our sources say that
—
"

"Excuse me." I pushed away from the crowd to
Jake and Char. They'd come as reinforcements to help convince Beth
to stay.

The reporters followed me.

Char opened her mouth, but Jake covered it
with his hand. "Not here."

We walked outside and got into a cab.

I was tense as hell.

"Why?" Char whispered.

"What did you want him to do, Char?" Jake
jumped to my defense. "Call her out on national television? Say
that they were together? Steal the last shred of privacy she may
have had? The way I see it is he made it easier for her to
run."

"She's not running!" Char fired back. "She's
hurt!"

"So am I!" I yelled, realizing too late that
I had given myself away.

Char grabbed my hand, but I couldn't feel it.
I couldn't feel anything.

I'd told myself I wouldn't get attached, and
look where that had gotten me. In the exact predicament I hadn't
wanted to be in. I wasn't heartbroken. I was too angry with myself
and angry with the situation to feel anything worthwhile.

The anger didn't dissipate. If anything, it
intensified when we pulled up to the resort, and my parents were
waiting in the lobby with Grandma in tow.

I expected lots of yelling and confusion.
What I didn't expect was for my father to pull me in to a giant hug
and pat my back, like he was still somehow proud of the ass his son
had become.

My mom smiled sadly and squeezed my hand.

"Let's go have a nice morning chat." Dad led
me toward one of the restaurants.

I ordered black coffee and stared mindlessly
into it while he ordered breakfast for both of us.

"A month ago," Dad stirred some milk into his
coffee, "I had a nice chat with Travis."

Not what I expected. Warning bells went off
in my head.

"He was worried about you, said you'd been
drinking more and acting careless. I immediately assumed it was all
that Kerri-business coming back to haunt you. Then Travis said
something interesting."

"I'm sure he did." Numb. I was so damn
numb.

"He said, you'd drunkenly told him about the
best night of your life."

Well, hell.

"And imagine my surprise when it wasn't the
night of your election, but the night you took your cousin to
prom."

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.