Dare By Kacey Hammell
Legal
secretary, Olivia Warner enjoys being single and, aside from her closest gal
pals, usually keeps to herself. But the night of her thirty-fourth birthday,
she and her friends spend a fun-filled evening at a local bar where her friends dare her
to approach a man, and spend the night with him. Olivia's not one to turn down
a dare, especially from her old college pals. She only hopes the
man in question is in for some good conversation, because that's all she'll
give him.
Darren
“Dare” Shalvis has given up on women. He's tired of being chased for his money,
good looks, and prowess in bed. He prefers to meet a woman who, for once, wants
nothing more from him than mere conversation. If only the woman asking him to
spend the night with her wasn’t his favorite legal secretary.
Accepting
a dare has never been so tempting…
Available from:
She gave a small laugh and lifted the
glass for a drink.
Dare watched her lips as she drank. He
wondered what they’d taste like. It was something he’d considered many times
lately.
He was drawn to her, but unsure he’d ever
act on it.
Her whole demeanor said ‘hands off.’ And
he wasn’t sure he was ready for the challenge.
“Tell me about it.”
“I’ll cut right to the chase.” As he
turned on the stool, their knees brushed. Neither moved.
He thought he saw her eyes lit up.
Perhaps Ms. Warner wasn’t as immune as he thought.
“My friends brought me here tonight for
my birthday.”
“Happy birthday.”
She smiled. “Thank you. The jury’s still
out whether it’s happy or not. My friends decided that as a present they’d get
me a man.” She blushed and reached for
her drink.
“Go on.” Intriguing.
She set down her glass and continued,
“They dared me. Dared me to find myself a man and spend the night with him.”
Women…who understood them? He’d only ever
participated in dares when he was younger. He didn’t think anyone took them
seriously anymore.
“And you need my help, how?” Dare’s heart
rate accelerated. She wasn’t asking him to…
She stared up at him, her gaze steady. “I
need you to spend the night with me.”
If he hadn’t heard it with his own ears,
he wouldn’t have believed it. This night was the strangest he’d had in a long
time. It was as if he’d been offered a million dollars on a silver platter.
Of course, he wanted to spend the night
with her. He’d fantasized about it many times. He just wasn’t clear on what exactly
she was asking. He didn’t want any misunderstandings. “Are you asking me to
spend the night with you to…” Dare cleared his throat. “…be with you?”
“Oh! No, yes, I mean no. Dammit, I’ve
screwed this up.”
“Relax.” He put a hand on her knee. “It’s
okay. Let’s try this—do you want me to have sex with you?”
Olivia groaned. Dare love that sound, and
heat filled his groin.
“No. Not to have sex. God, this is
mortifying.” Olivia placed her hand over his where it still rested on her knee.
“Just to spend the night together—a movie, hang out, whatever—until eight a.m.,
when the dare is over.”
Dare laughed. She talked so fast he could
hardly keep up. He’d never seen her so animated before. He liked her flustered
and breathless…a lot. He wondered if she looked and sounded like that during
sex.
He couldn’t go that route. Not now.
“Okay, so let me get this straight. You
want us to spend the night together—with no sex—until morning? All because of a
dare? Why didn’t you just say no?”
“I can’t. In college, the five of us made
a pact—in blood, for God’s sake—that we’d always be friends and never back down
from a dare. Trust me, right now, I wish I’d never made it.”
He chuckled. “Yes, I can imagine how you
feel.”
“I’m so tired after the day we had. This
was the last thing I needed tonight.”
“Yeah, when I stopped by the office today
you seemed a bit irritated.”
She sighed and ran her fingers over his
hand. Dare was surprised how comfortable it felt to have their knees and hands
touch. He didn’t think Olivia was even aware she caressed his hands…or wreaked
havoc on his libido. If her innocent touches could send him into overdrive, he
wondered what would happen if she put all she had into it.
“It was the day from hell. I just wanted
to meet the girls for a few drinks, then head home to soak the day away.”
Dare grit his teeth and tried not to
think of Olivia in a bathtub—water floating around her body, relaxed, languid.
The image could send him over the edge.
“Well, you’re in luck. I’m your man for
the night.”
Olivia smiled and her eyes danced. “Thank you. I really appreciate it. The last
thing I wanted to do was have to pick up some random guy. I’m so glad you were
here.”
Pleased he could help her, Dare grinned.
He realized he wanted to anything to put that carefree smile on her face.
“So.” He took a sip of his beer. “What do
you want to do?”
She scowled. “Well, we could go back to
my place. I have a spare room that you can crash in if you want.”
Surprised, Dare took in her flushed face.
“Are you sure?”
She nodded. “Yeah. We don’t exactly have
to stay up all night. It’s still spending the night together, right?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, in a manner of
speaking. Your friends weren’t specific.”
A smug smile crossed Olivia’s face. “No
they weren’t. Which is a testament to how much they thought this through. I
would have made a list of do’s and don’ts.”
They both laughed. Olivia had a naughty
streak and he liked it. Liked it—and her—very much. A night with Olivia Warner
wasn’t what he’d expected.
Sure, he’d thought of her in his bed
often, writhing and moaning with passion, but he never thought fantasy would
become a reality. He couldn’t let the opportunity go.
His buddies didn’t call him Dare for no
reason. He could never resist a challenge.
He placed both hands on her shoulders,
drew her gaze from her glass, and put his cards on the table.
“What if we have an agreement?”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
“For us to spend the night together, we
should have some ground rules.”
“Ground rules?”
“I will spend the night with you. More
than eager to do so, except one thing.”
He wanted to taste them, desperately.
“I don’t want to sleep in any spare
room.”
“You don’t?” She gawked at him.
Her expression was comical but Dare
didn’t feel like laughing.
“No. I want to spend the night in your
room.” Dare had her full attention. She stared at him, eyes wide. “In your
bed.”
*****
The writer: Kacey is a multi-published erotic romance author who was encouraged to write by her beloved husband and quickly found herself writing fast and furiously. Not that she’ll ever tell him those three dreadful words that he longs to hear…”You were right.” Kacey is a true romantic at heart.
The Wife and Mom: Born, raised and still
living in her hometown in Ontario, Canada, Kacey found true love with her
husband. As a
Mom of three, Kacey has made certain that each of her children know the value
of the written word and the adventures they could escape on by becoming
book-a-holics in their own right.
Readers
can learn more about Kacey's books and contact her via …
Thank you for posting this!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome - a great excerpt, and I do love a dare!
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