Текст книги "The Dare"

Автор книги: Rachel Van Dyken

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Chapter Seventeen

"Do you feel guilty?"tThe agent asked.

"For?"

"For potentially harming innocent people with your schemes and ministrations?"

"I'm sorry." Grandma shook her head. "I don't understand the question?"

Jace

"How's the ass?" Beth called behind her as I let out another streak of swear words into the trees.

"Angry."

"Maybe he's hungry."

"No, I'm going to go ahead and go with angry. I'd be pissed if a two-hundred-pound man was riding me too."

"Maybe you should stop talking for a while." She laughed. "You're not doing so well with the whole stringing-words-together thing."

"Damn mating spiders threw me off."

"And again, point proven. Maybe this should be quiet time where you stare longingly at me and say I'm beautiful and irresistible and—"

"Can we switch animals?" I complained as Donkey let out a fart that smelled like dead chicken and enchilada. How was this supposed to be a romantic excursion?

She turned around and smirked as Donkey made another grunt and tried to catch up. "No."

"Please?"

"Be the prince, Jace!"

"My noble steed's older than Grandma! I need a steed!"

Donkey farted again, this time gifting me with the smell of roses. If roses smelled like burning flesh.

"Such a stud." She chuckled. Her posture was perfect on the horse as it galloped ahead. It made her look like some sort of avenging princess storming the castle.

Shit. Did that make me the damsel?

"Beth…" I growled. "I take it this isn't impressing you or making you feel like you're living in some damn romance novel."

She stopped the horse and turned around. "Take off your shirt, and we'll talk."

"No." I shook my head firmly. "I have to draw the line somewhere. I'm not going to take off my shirt while riding an ancient donkey through the jungles of Hawaii."

"Fairytale." Beth coughed, her damn eyes lighting up with humor, while mine narrowed with self-loathing and defeat.

"Why yes, Channel Six News, I am a prostitute. Want to see my client list? Oh, Senator Brevik? He's so extravagant!"

"Well played." With jerky movements, I finally managed to get Donkey to stop walking and peeled off my shirt. "Happy?"

"Immensely." She sighed happily. "Now mush."

"Not at the Iditarod," I called after her.

"So what are we supposed to say?" she grumbled. "Our guide is too far ahead of us, and I'm not getting lost again."

"I don't know, say please?" I really had no experience with animals or nature. My hikes had been by the Columbia River, not in spider territory.

Hybrid Metrosexual: Man who likes showers more than dirt but still knows how to smoke cigars and chop wood. See also: Tom Hardy.

"Go!" Beth pulled on the reigns and then kicked her heels into horse's sides.

Of course, it reared up.

And, of course, it took off into a gallop.

She wanted a fairytale ending?

"Donkey! Go!" I kicked the donkey's sides. It turned its head and looked at me like I was some sort of irritating fly, buzzing around his overly large ears. "Donkey, go!"

"Well, shit."

The donkey hee-hawed and took off into a gallop after Beth. I held on for dear life as the ride jolted my teeth near out of my head. Really? Shit was his word?

"Beth!"

The donkey slowed.

"Shit, donkey. Shit!"

Hello, second wind.

"Jace!" she called from behind her. "What do I do?"

The guide had stopped his own horse and was looking on. He took an apple out of his bag and bit into it as juice ran down his chin.

"A little help!" I yelled as Donkey decided to slow down to a walk.

"The horse will stop when it wants to stop," the guide yelled back.

Tour guide, my ass. Had we even signed release forms?

"Beth, pull on the reigns!"

Donkey was gaining on her. Okay that was a lie. Mold grew faster than the animal was moving.

"Tug them back and say halt!"

"Halt!" Beth yelled, pulling on the reigns.

The horse reared up again, this time causing Beth to fall out of the saddle and down the horse's backside, directly into a puddle of water.

But hey, the horse stopped. So I counted it a win.

"Whoa there, boy, whoa."

The donkey screeched to a halt or, if you were watching, slowly took one last step and began chewing on the grass next to Beth's foot.

I jumped off and ran toward her, much like a prince rescuing the fair damsel. You know, if the prince rode an ass and used a hair dryer to fight off spiders. Then sure, I was the prince. "Are you hurt?"

"I don't think so?" Beth touched her fingers to her temples and shook her head a few times. "But I'm going to have a bruise on my entire backside for at least a month."

I couldn't hold my laugh in any longer. "Some excursion, huh?"

"Yeah," her eyes narrowed, "some excursion." She pulled me into the rather large puddle and splashed me with water.

Laughing, I pulled her into my arms and kissed her. It just seemed like the right moment – you know, with Donkey looking on and farting and the mud caked to my chest and face.

"I'd get up if I were you." The guide suddenly appeared with his horse and damn half-eaten apple.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." He took another loud bite of his apple. "Puddles are a mating ground for mosquitos, and those bites swell as big as watermelon around here."

Beth and I both jumped up as fast as we could. The ten year old in me wanted to push her back into the puddle, point, and laugh. Fairytale, fairytale. I clenched my teeth. I really needed to start trying harder. The sooner things went well, the sooner I could put the week of spiders, donkeys, and mating mosquitoes behind me.

"Well," the guide scratched his head, "guess you'll need to wash off. The waterfall is just over that ledge right there. I'll hold the animals while you guys explore. Return in a half-hour so we can make it back in time for dinner."

"Great." I held out my hand. "Let's go Beth. I don't think Donkey wants to carry both of us, and I don't trust the horse."

She slipped her hand in mine. We were silent as I led her around the ledge and down toward the water.

"Wow." Beth breathed. "That's gorgeous!"

The waterfall was at least thirty feet high with jagged rocks near the bottom. A pool was behind the waterfall and there were steps that led into it.

"Huh, that's kinda cool." I pointed. "People must come down here for – oh dear Lord."

"What?" Beth's eyes followed where I was pointing.

A very large hairy man had just appeared from the lagoon; he must have been taking a dip because when I had originally looked, the water wasn't really moving.

It sure as hell was moving now.

"Um..." Beth chewed her fingernail. "I'm trying to decide if being clean is worth it."

I looked down at my muddy jeans and dirt caked arms. "It's worth it."

"Okay," Beth peeled off her shirt, "but let it be known: if it makes the six o'clock news that you were bathing under a waterfall with a large naked man, I'm not coming to your defense."

"Thanks," I muttered. As I unbuttoned my jeans, a moment of panic hit me swiftly in the gut. Was I really going to jump naked into the water? And why the hell was I suddenly nervous about being naked?

"Last one in's a rotten egg," Beth yelled. I looked up. And nearly had a stroke as I watched her perfect body catapult into the water in a perfect dive.

"Well, shit," I mumbled.

A distant hee-haw from Donkey followed.

Great. My sidekick was an ass. At least he had good hearing.

I threw off my boxers and joined Beth in the water.

The man had disappeared again under the waterfall, leaving us alone in the main part of the pool.

Beth popped up out of the water, but in my fantasy-like state, everything was happening in slow motion. She shook her head. As water droplets fell across her body, she bit down hard on her lower lip and then blinked the water away from her eyes before giving me a come hither glance.

Hell yes.

I felt like I was experiencing my own version of Peter Pan when he gets rescued by mermaids. I don't care what guy you ask – the mermaids in that story were hot as hell.

Side note to parents :, The reasons kids like that story is because there are no rules in Neverland, and the mermaids are hot.

Screw Tinkerbell. Just give me mermaids.

Or Beth.

Beth as a mermaid.

Beth in a mermaid costume under a waterfall holding a bottle of—

"Jace?" Beth snapped her fingers in front of my face. "Are you sick or something? You're all flushed."

"Viagra." I nodded, "It's, uh, probably still in my system."

"You do know you can only use that excuse possibly one more time, right?"

"I'm aware," I croaked, reaching out to touch her smooth clean skin. "I'm also frighteningly aware of you."

"Frighteningly?" Beth repeated. "Is that a compliment? Or does that mean I look scary."

"You look beautiful," I said honestly. "Scary beautiful. The type of beautiful that guys are afraid to touch. The type of beautiful that makes men want to risk everything for one taste, one touch, one night. Mix that with your brains, and you're the epitome of why men fight wars."

Beth's smile lit up my world. "Are you saying men fight over intelligence as much as they fight over beauty?"

"Yes," I whispered, pulling her body against mine as I took us closer to the waterfall. "Because you wear your intelligence, it's part of your beauty. You can't separate the two. I admire both. I'm attracted to both."

Her breath hitched as a blush stained her cheeks. "Nice words."

"True words." I cupped her face. "You may be asking for the fairytale, but I wouldn't lie to you just to make you feel better."

She tried to jerk away from me. But I held her face captive.

"If you could see what I see," I traced her jaw with my fingertips, "you would fully understand why you are the most frightening woman I've ever met."

"I do see what you see." Beth sighed. "That's the problem."

"I disagree."

"Big shock."

"Listen to me." I pulled her flush against my body. "You see boring. I see brilliant. You see brown hair, I see brown hair with honey highlights. You see normal pale-pink lips, I see bubble gum."

"Bubble gum?" She smirked.

"That's what you taste like." I nipped her lower lip with my teeth. "Damn bubblegum that never loses its flavor. I could taste you all day and still crave your sweetness." I was struggling between my own honesty and feelings. I wanted her to see herself how I did, but at the same time, telling her these things? It didn't change what I would do. I would walk away. I would. I would. I had to keep telling myself that.

"Why don't you?"

"What?" I snapped out of it.

"Conduct an experiment."

She trailed her fingers down my chest. I felt it in all the places I was trying to ignore, so I kept her virtue intact. Knowing a hairy middle-aged man was most likely watching us was literally the only thread holding my arousal together.

"What kind of experiment?"

"A taste test." Her arms wrapped around me, which meant we were chest to chest, her softness against every plane on my body.

"I like tasting." My mouth collided with hers before I could form another thought. I wasn't sure if I leaned in or she leaned in, or if I was seriously hallucinating from being drugged by Grandma.

In that moment. I didn't want to be honorable. I really wanted to be a manwhore like Jake. I wanted to be the guy who didn't apologize all the freaking time. I didn't want to be the stuffy US senator, who half of the state hated. I didn't want to have to worry about someone watching me, or ruining my reputation.

I just wanted to have her.

And I was selfish enough to want to take her any way I could – even if that meant that I'd be giving her nothing in return. It made me the worst type of man to willingly walk into something, knowing that I wasn't going to stay. I may not be lying to her about my actions. But I knew that actions helped people form opinions, and my actions would lead her to believe I wanted more than the next few days – and that was the last thing I could afford. A relationship past the few days we had.

"Sorry to break this little love scene up," our guide said from the shore. "But if we're going to make it back in time for your dinner reservation, you gotta wrap this here up. How much longer you need? Five? Maybe ten minutes?"

I jerked away from Beth and grumbled, "Five minutes? Really, man?"

"At least thirty." Beth winked, bless her heart. "But we'd have to charge for the show, so we may as well get out now."

"Damn, I would have liked a little show," another voice chimed in from behind us.

I slowly turned to see the giant hairy man who, no doubt had a giant hairy spider like Frank as a pet. He was grinning from ear to ear. And again, arousal disappeared faster than it had appeared in the first place.

"We'll just be going now." Beth grabbed my arm.

"Turn around," I snapped at the man who was still watching.

He laughed.

"I will drown you."

He stood to his full height of at least seven feet.

Gulping I pointed. "I will die trying to drown you."

He smirked but finally turned around, giving Beth a chance to jump out of the water and put on her clothes.

"Nice," she whispered, while I threw on my shirt and jeans.

"What?"

"You threatening a man three times your size."

"Let's not exaggerate." I snorted. "He's like twice my size. "

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"Let's go!" our guide yelled from his perch on the rock.

"Shit, shit!" I called.

"What are you doing?"

I grinned. "Calling my donkey."

Donkey, the bad ass, rounded the corner and hee-hawed.

Beth patted my shoulder. "You do realize you're riding a donkey, and you're a democrat, right? And you yell shit shit instead of his name?"

"Admit it." I elbowed her. "If you were undecided, you would totally vote for me if I had a donkey named Shit."

"I would. If I was undecided," she admitted.

"See?"

"But, sorry, Senator. I'm a republican."

"What?"

"Let's go!" the guide yelled again.

"Well, shit."

Hee-haw!

Chapter Eighteen

"You say that the senator was… peaked?" The agent cleared his throat. "In what way?"

Grandma examined her nails. "In the same way you are when you lust over that blond agent who cuffed me."

"You're good."

"I'm Grandma." She beamed.

"We should send you to North Korea."

"Lovely people." Grandma nodded. "Just lovely."

Beth

Okay, so it's possible I wasn't really a republican. I was undecided. I was one of those people who hated making other people angry, so I just shrugged and told them I didn't pick sides. Which pissed people off even more because they said I had no backbone. But really, I hated that type of confrontation, and whenever the topic of politics was brought up, there was usually arguing, yelling, or both.

The ride back to the hotel was quiet.

Well, except for the donkey.

Hey, was it my fault I kept saying shit?

The poor thing hee-hawed himself hoarse, and I was pretty sure that Jace was ready to make a donkey sacrifice by the time we got back to the resort.

We only had a few minutes to change, so I took another quick shower, scrunched my hair, and threw on a white strapless sundress with tan wedge sandals. The packet Dr. Z had given us said that the only time we could express ourselves via different clothing was at dinner and on excursions. I took that and ran with it. I was already tired of my stupid linen pants and white shirt.

"Ready?" I breezed into the room, looking for Jace.

He was outside, leaning against the privacy fence, watching the ocean. His muscled back was to me, and it looked like he was smoking a cigar.

Holy Thor.

That was going to be my new curse word. Oh my Thor. Holy Thor. Good Thor! Yeah, I could get a lot of use out of that one.

His muscles rippled under the sun, and I may have swooned a bit on my feet as I watched, like the creepy boring person I was.

How the heck had boring-old-me convinced him to play the fairytale? Thank Thor, he did.

By my calculations I only had five days left.

Five days of him. And then reality.

So I watched, longer than was appropriate. And when he puffed on the cigar and blew out the smoke, I tasted his tongue on my lips.

People were rarely that good looking in person. Most actors were short, male models were skinnier than me, but Jace? He was every inch just as gorgeous, if not more so, in person.

Maybe when it came to Jace, I wouldn't be undecided, I'd probably march into the voting cubicle and freaking break the pencil while I checked the box by his name.

"Ready?" he said without turning around.

I nodded.

Idiot. He couldn't see me.

He turned.

His six-pack winked.

I waved.

"Beth?" Jace's eyebrows drew together in concern.

"Yes." I steered my eyes away from Jace's abs and managed to look him in the eyes. "I'm ready. Grab a shirt, and we'll get going."

"You don't want me shirtless?"

"No." I laughed. "I don't want to cause other women to fantasy cheat on their significant others. It would hardly be fair to the other men there to have you shirtless."

Red stained his cheeks before he quickly pulled a white t-shirt over his muscled chest.

Since when has linen looked hot on guys?

Oh right. Since Brad Pitt. Sorry, but you've just been replaced.

Jace grabbed my hand and kissed it. I tried not to sigh or look as nervous as I felt. Tonight felt more real. Maybe it was because we'd kissed a lot, or maybe it was because he seemed to actually be enjoying spending time with me.

It felt like a date.

Then again, anything would feel like a date after the whole sugarcane incident. I gave him another smile and tucked my excitement into the farthest part of my brain.

"So what restaurant is the mixer at?" Jace asked, "You never told me."

He gripped my hand as we rounded the corner toward Blu.

"Habachi Grill."

Jace put his arm protectively around me as he led me around a couple walking slower than us. And then grabbed my hand again. To him it was effortless.

But I'd never had a guy do that before. I'd seen it all around me. A guy being protective without realizing it. Or walking on the outside of the road so the girl is protected and safe. But experiencing it? Felt amazing. I felt… treasured. Crap. I needed to remember it wasn't real. He may be attracted to me, he could think I was the best thing since Netflix – but in the end, he wouldn't be waiting like Mr. Darcy.

"I love Habachi." Jace cleared his throat.

Okay, was it me or were things awkward? Was I overthinking things?

"Beth…" Jace stopped walking and turned me to face him, placing his hands on my shoulders. "I have to tell you something."

"Okay." My throat was seriously starting to close up. He was going to bail. He was going to say he couldn't do it. He was going to abandon me; I was too boring. I knew I should have kept talking. What was wrong with me? Why couldn't I be interesting —

His hot mouth pressed against mine as his hands came around my head, pulling me into his kiss, sucking the panic right out of me.

"You look…" He shook his head and let out a string of curses. "Let me try this again." He grabbed my hands and looked down at them as our fingers intertwined. "You look absolutely… stunning."

I couldn't hide my smile.

Mars could probably see my smile.

And I couldn't care less.

"Thank you," I said finding my voice.

"No." Jace released my hands and tilted my chin so his lips were a breath away from mine. "Thank you."

"I don't understand?"

With a wink, he released my chin and grabbed my hand again as we continued walking.

"I love white."

"Okay?"

"And I love wedge heels."

"Aw, you know what wedge heels are. Well done."

He grimaced. "Don't tell anyone."

"I'll take it to my grave."

"You wore your hair in kinks."

"Kinks?" I laughed. "You mean in waves?"

He blushed and licked his lips. "Yeah, that's what I meant."

"Thought so."

Jace shook his head and wrapped his arm around me as the door was held open for us in the restaurant. "We have reservations under Brevik."

"Right this way, Senator." The waitress had dark cropped hair and a piercing in her nose; she looked about twenty years old, and I immediately wanted to trip her for looking at Jace longer than necessary. And how did she know he was a senator? I specifically called him Mr. Brevik not Senator Brevik? Was the guy that famous?

Doubtful, it was Oregon, not California.

Jace held out my chair. There were eight seats around the grill. I'd hoped it would be just me and Jace, but mixer made it sound like we had to mix. Which totally reminded me of college orientation where you run around playing silly games, trying to get to know people in your class. I hated mixer games; I always ended up being the awkward one or, worse yet, the boring one with no boxes checked on Get-to-Know-Me-Bingo.

The restaurant looked really empty. Maybe it wasn't going to be as packed as I'd thought? Hope died the minute I heard a familiar voice.

"So you guys made it?" Brett slapped Jace on the back and took a seat, leaving Paris to pull out her own chair. Poor soul struggled sitting in it because her spandex dress was so tight her legs wouldn't lift high enough. A nicer person would have helped.

I smirked.

Not because I wasn't nice.

But because she wouldn't take her whoring eyes off of Jace.

"Uh, yeah." Jace put his arm around me and tugged me close. "We thought a little food was necessary to keep going."

Would it kill him to be the smooth politician at least once today? I kicked him in the shin.

"Going?" Brett smirked.

"Like bunnies," I said without thinking. To be fair, I meant the Energizer Bunny, but that wasn't how it was understood.

Jace had just lifted a glass of water to his lips and started choking.

Brett's eyes narrowed as he took us both in.

"Good evening." A server approached with a cart of tea. "I'll be your server today. Your chef will be here momentarily."

"Bunnies, huh?" Brett smirked, ignoring the waitress, and his fiancée as well as the fact that the conversation had taken a downward turn into hell. May as well get comfortable, I didn't see things improving for at least a few hours.

"Yeah." I gripped Jace's arm, digging my nails into his skin; he yelped and put his water down.

"But enough about our very satisfying sex life… what have you guys been up to all day?"

"Searching," Brett smirked, "the Internet."

"Aw, shit."

I froze, momentarily thinking I was about to hear Donkey. Instead, my blood ran cold when I realized what Brett must have been searching. He knew it was a ruse. He knew we weren't together.

Rejection sucked.

I wanted to wallow.

How was it fair that the one guy who'd rejected me when I was in high school now thought I was a lying prostitute? Forget feeling insecure – now all I felt was shame.

"How much does she charge?" Brett asked calmly as he placed a napkin on his lap.

"Excuse me?" I seethed, reaching for a knife to stab him.

"For your services." Brett grinned smugly. "Not that I'm interested, since I really am happily engaged. Besides, I'm not a fan of disease."

Paris pulled out a nail file and began filing like the world was about to end if she didn't get rid of her chip and a hangnail.

I sighed. "Your definition of happy and mine are two very different things."

"You couldn't afford her," Jace snarled.

Okay, so not the rescue I was hoping for, but it worked.

"I've got money." Brett rolled his eyes. "And I wouldn't want her anyway."

"That's it." Jace stood and grabbed Brett by the collar. "Beth, we'll be right back. Brett and I are going to go have a little heart to heart and grab a few drinks, okay?"

"Sure." My hands trembled as they reached for the water glass.

"Welcome to Blu Hibachi!" A female voice all but shouted.

I looked up in horror.

There stood Grandma, giant-ass knife in hand, a black pantsuit, and a leopard scarf tied around her head.

"Should you…" I pointed, "have knives?" Or anything that could cause physical harm to herself or anyone standing within a foot of her?

"Of course." She threw the knife into the air. I almost passed out until she caught it with her other hand and winked. "I studied for years to learn the art of the Hibachi." She said Hibachi with way more emphasis on chi than I think the Japanese would say was appropriate. "Where's Jace?"

"Having a conversation." I sighed.

"With his fist," Paris interjected.

Oh wow, so airhead could speak. Nice.

"Fist?" Grandma began stacking vegetables and types of meats on the hot grill. The minute she threw oil on the heat, I was hit with a cloud of heat that should have singed eyebrows. "He's fighting someone?"

"Her fiancé." I pointed at Paris. "An old… friend."

"Please." Paris snorted. "He said you were like the nerdiest girl at his school, doubt that makes you friends."

I wasn't sure if I wanted to grab Grandma's knife and stab it into myself or just Paris.

She giggled.

Just kidding.

Paris. I wanted to stab Paris.

"You let Grandma handle these things." Grandma threw another knife into the air. "After all, this is your vacation, Beth, and you only have few days left."

"Of vacation." I finished.

"NO, you only have five days to make him realize what he's worked his entire life for is standing right in front of him. A Grandma knows these things."

"Grandma." I fought to keep the tears from rolling down my face. "I'm not that person. I'm not his penguin or lobster or whatever you want to call it. He's an island I'm lucky enough to be stranded on for the next few days, that's all."

"I sure hope not," Jace said from behind me. "I was hoping I was more than a damn island."

"What do you want to be?" I tried to sound like I was joking.

He gripped my face hard in his hands and kissed my mouth. "The world. I'd rather be the world."

Grandma cleared her throat.

Paris rolled her eyes and continued filing her nails at the freaking table. Seriously. Here's to hoping a piece of nail lands in her food and not mine because heads would roll if I crunched down on something that wasn't a carrot.

Besides, Jace had just said he wanted to be my world. I just about died as his words sank into my consciousness, healing cuts I never knew existed. "Where's Brett?"

"Oh, Brett." Jace grimaced. "He got sick."

Paris grabbed her purse. "Guess that's my exit then, huh?"

"Oh, he'll be back. I told him it would be wonderful to enjoy some dinner with him this fine evening."

My eyes narrowed.

Paris shrugged. "Fine, I'm going to use the restroom. If he gets back before I do, tell him I want something with shrimp."

Her heels clicked against the floor as she sauntered away, her ass nearly falling out of her dress.

I let out a breath of relief.

"Oops!" Grandma dropped some shrimp onto the floor. She picked it up and placed it back on the grill. Then she grabbed something out of her pocket and put a few drops in the sauce for the shrimp.

I smacked Jace, "Do something! She's drugging—"

I paused.

"You were saying?" Jace laughed. "Let her eat bad shrimp. See if I care. Technically, I can't kill the guy, but that doesn't mean I want to sit here and eat with them. The sooner Grandma gets rid of them the sooner we can romance."

"Romance? You're using it as a verb?"

He grinned, "It's an action."

"So now I get action."

"Oh sweetheart, you have no idea."

My face fell. "He thinks I'm a prostitute, doesn't he?"

"No. He thinks what I tell him to think."

My head snapped up. "What did you do? Brain wash him?"

"Baby," Jace whispered in my ear, "sometimes being a politician has its uses. Brett's a weak man. My ploy had nothing to do with punching him in the face or lying to him. But everything to do with what I could get him. He thinks we're dating, and the story is a cover-up because of another scandal in my past."

"What did you have to do? To convince him."

"I paid him fifty grand."

My mouth dropped open.

"Geez, I'm kidding..." Jace chuckled, warm against my ear. "I told him I loved you."

My world plummeted. Had he no idea? That those three words had just shattered my entire existence? Because I wanted it to be real. And he just reminded me yet again that it wasn't.

"Hungry?" Grandma flipped a few pieces of clean shrimp onto our plates. "Eat up!"