Tell Me Something Good (10 page)

At her nod, Tate turned over the hourglass, and Noelle leaned in to look over Mike’s shoulder. Mike looked at the card. “What we like to do on Sunday afternoons,” he yelled.

“Have sex,” Shannon blurted out.

Noelle and Tate looked at each other and burst into laughter.

Mike sighed. “No, the other thing.”

Shannon deflated. “Oh. Watch football.”

“Yes, football,” Mike said and reached for the next card.

Noelle breathed a sigh of relief when the couple fell into a rhythm, using clues from their personal life to get words.

“What’s next? Truth or Dare?” Mike asked after the game. He and Shannon had rallied, narrowly losing by two points to Noelle and Tate.

“Yeah, that sounds fun,” Shannon said.

Noelle froze. “I thought we could play Monopoly next.” Even to her ears, she sounded stiff. Boring.

“Oh, okay.” Shannon smiled, but it was obvious the idea didn’t excite her.

Still, Noelle couldn’t bring herself to open her mouth and agree to the sudden change in her carefully thought-out plans.

“Come on, Doc. You’re not scared of a little game of Truth or Dare, are you?” Tate.

“Of course not,” she shot back.

“Then go with it.” Eyebrow arched. Challenge issued.

Could she
go with it
? She’d planned the entire evening down to the last millisecond. She wanted Mike and Shannon to succeed, and being in control was the only way she knew how to make that happen. But…yes, she could go with it. She didn’t want to be known as a stick-in-the-mud. As someone who was allergic to fun.

Besides, tonight wasn’t about her. If the couple she was championing wanted to play Truth or Dare, then she’d host the best Truth or Dare game ever. She clapped her hands. “Okay. Truth or Dare it is.”

The game began innocently enough, much to her relief.

“Which body part of mine do you like the best?” Shannon asked Mike.

“Your legs,” he answered immediately.

“Really? I’d thought you’d say my boobs.”

“I know,” he said with a smirk. “Which body part of mine do you hate the most?” he asked in return.

“Hmm. Your ears. They stick out.”

“Thanks, baby,” he said tugging on his left ear.

“Hey, you asked.” She kissed him on the cheek. “Who’s next?”

Noelle pointed to Tate. “You.”

“Truth or dare?” he asked, studying her.

“Truth.” She wanted to ease into the game and not give Tate an opportunity to come up with some crazy, probably embarrassing, dare. Hopefully, he didn’t ask her anything too off the wall or dirty.

“What’s one thing you always wished you could do, but haven’t done yet?”

Oh, good. A safe question. She tilted her head to the side, pondering the question. “I don’t know. Let me think about it.” She snapped her fingers. “I know. It’s not the craziest thing ever, but I’ve always wanted to take a helicopter tour of the city. It would be cool to see Dallas from that perspective.”

“Ooh, that does sound cool,” Shannon said.

Noelle relaxed. Good call on her part to not let her need for control spoil the evening.

And then things got crazy.

“Noelle, I dare you to sit on Mike’s lap through this round of the game,” Shannon said when Noelle underestimated the other woman’s diabolical streak and chose dare.

Shock reverberated through Noelle body. “Wait. What? You really want me to sit on his lap?” She stared at the glass of wine in Shannon’s hand. Was that her first glass?

“Sure. Why not?” Shannon replied. Lively. Upbeat.

Because he’s
your
boyfriend. Because sitting on the lap of someone I’ve known less than a week and only in a professional capacity is weird. Because I don’t want to.

Noelle stared at the other woman in consternation, but Shannon’s friendly, unaffected smile remained in place. Despite the drink in her hand, Shannon’s eyes were clear.

Okay, then. Obviously, Shannon had an agenda. Noelle didn’t know what it was, but she’d go with it and see how this all played out. She’d agreed to the game and all its rules, after all. Shrugging away the trepidation pushing down on her shoulders, she stood and took the few steps to Mike, who was sitting in a chair on the other side of the coffee table. “You okay with this?”

“Absolutely. What man wouldn’t want a beautiful woman sitting on his lap?” Mike sounded confident, but she read the uncertainty in his expression. She highly doubted he was interested in her, but this situation was still awkward. So awkward.

She studied her dare partner. Stocky frame, pecan-colored skin, bald head. He wore khakis and a red polo. He smiled up at her with kind eyes. He was a good guy. He’d never once complained about the situation he’d inadvertently found himself in, taking it all in stride.

“Okay. Here goes nothing.” She gingerly situated herself sideways across his lap. “You know, this isn’t too bad.”

“Hey! I think I was just insulted,” Mike said.

Noelle laughed and patted his cheek. “Sorry. That wasn’t my intention.”

Yes, she was okay, but if she were honest with herself, she’d rather be sitting on the lap of the other man in the room. The man who hadn’t made so much as a peep since the dare was issued. He wasn’t even looking at her. He drank his beer like he didn’t care. He probably didn’t. They’d agreed their kiss meant nothing. There was no reason for him to care, other than the remote possibility that Mike would fall into lust with her, which would help Tate win the bet. A completely ridiculous scenario.

Time to move this party along. The quicker she did, the quicker she could go back to her own seat. Noelle turned her attention to Shannon. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare.” Shannon’s eyes gleamed. Obviously, she expected retribution like being ordered to give Tate a lap dance. The guys, too, probably. So she should do it. “Eat one of everything on the vegetable tray after dipping each item in the ranch dressing. Without using your hands.”

Shannon’s eyebrows headed north, but she didn’t question why Noelle hadn’t given her something naughty to do. Good because Noelle had no idea how she would’ve responded. Instead, Shannon dropped to her knees in front of the coffee table.

Noelle held her breath when the other woman lowered her head. The baby tomato was easy enough. Shannon’s smile of triumph had Noelle laughing. Shannon did okay with the celery stick until it slipped into the dressing. She grumbled and fished it out with her teeth, smearing dressing across her face in the process.

After a few more mishaps, Shannon stood and bowed to a round of applause, ranch dressing dripping down her face. “Thank you, thank you.” She bent down for a paper towel and wiped away the dressing. “Your turn, Tate.”

Tate took a sip of beer and finally looked Noelle’s way. “Mike, truth or dare.”

“How about a dare?”

“Touch your tongue to your nose. If you can’t, you have to touch Shannon’s nose with your tongue for thirty seconds.”

Mike made a scoffing noise. “That’s it? Man, that’s easy.”

Except it wasn’t. He tried three times, but his tongue only reached about halfway above his top lip.

Noelle clambered off his lap, happy to have her awkward dare end.

Shannon and Mike met in the middle of the room.

“I’ll keep time,” Tate said. He raised his watch to eye level. “Go.”

Mike touched his tongue to Shannon’s nose.

After a few seconds, she giggled. “Thirty seconds is a lot longer than it seems, huh?”

Mike grunted. Shannon wiggled closer and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Am I distracting you? Are you going to make it?”

“Time,” Tate called out.

Shannon tried to back away, but Mike pulled her closer and covered her mouth with his. Shannon threw her arms around his neck and joined in the kiss. Noelle covered her mouth with her hand to stop a squeal from escaping. The duo didn’t look like they planned to come up for air anytime soon.

Excellent development.

She met Tate’s eyes. She gave him a thumbs-up and mouthed, “Thanks.”

He shook his head and loudly cleared his throat. The couple reluctantly broke apart.

“Thanks, Tate,” Mike said with a broad grin. “Great dare.”

“Happy to be of service,” he said dryly. “It’s your turn.”

Mike rubbed his hands together. “Truth or dare, Tate?”

“Dare.”

“How about this? You and Noelle face each other across the room. Each one takes a turn stepping toward each other. The first one to make contact has to answer a penalty question.”

“Easy enough.”

Noelle wasn’t so sure. Her nerves were already jangling. A sixth sense told her this wouldn’t be as simple as it sounded.

Noelle and Tate took their positions. “You start,” she said.

He nodded and took his first step. She couldn’t look away. He wouldn’t let her. He’d zeroed in on her like she was the only other person in the world. An allure she couldn’t resist. They moved ever closer, until their steps could be measured in inches because they were so close. His heat threatened to singe her, but she refused to back down and let him win.

She took another step until only a breath separated them. In this position, she had to tilt her head back to keep from head-butting him. Dark whiskers covered his jaw. Would the hair be soft to her touch? She longed to find out. She curled her hands at her side. “Your turn.”

He shuffled closer. Their thighs aligned. Her forehead touched his chest. They weren’t plastered together, but they didn’t have to be for arousal to crash over her. To ease the ache inside her, all she had to do was stand on her toes and give him a victory kiss. Would it be as incendiary as their kiss at the park?

“Doc?” he whispered, his breath tickling her ear, his husky tone sending another blast of desire through her.

“Yeah?” she murmured.

“You won. The penalty question.”

“Oh. Right.” She hastily stepped back and glanced up. His amber eyes gave nothing away. What was he thinking? Feeling? Was he as unnerved as she was? As aroused? She retreated another step. “Quick. What do you fear the most?”

“That I’ll never understand my parents.” He looked as stunned by his answer as she was that he’d given it. Neither moved. The truthfulness of his confession was easy to see on his face. Her heart ached. If she could, she’d gladly take on some of his pain. He needed a friend. She could be that. She was that. She squeezed his hand.

“What was that?” Mike called out.

Noelle moved around Tate, who still looked shell-shocked. “I asked him to name the most embarrassing CD he owns.”

“What did you say?” Mike asked.

“
The Lion King
soundtrack,” Tate said, turning to face them. “My mom bought it for me when I was a kid.”

“Hey, you can’t be embarrassed about Sir Elton John,” Noelle said.

“You can when you still have it when you’re sixteen and your friends find it in your CD collection.”

“Poor Tate.” Noelle patted him on the arm. “Can you feel the love tonight?” she sang dramatically, holding her arms out.

She clapped her hands in surprise when Tate, Mike, and Shannon sang the next line. She joined in, all their voices rising, as they finished the chorus.

“Tate, the guys on The Gridiron wouldn’t believe that their fearless leader was singing a song from
The Lion King
at a couples’ game night,” Mike said.

“What’s The Gridiron?” Noelle asked.

“You’ve never heard of The Gridiron?”

“Umm…no. Should I have?”

Mike nodded eagerly. “Yes! It’s
the
website for sports fans. It’s like a Facebook for sports lovers. People have friends, usually fellow fans of their favorite sports. If you want to know what’s going on with your favorite team, it’s the first place you go. The website always has the latest sports news. There are message boards and articles written by league insiders. Athletes go there to talk directly to fans.”

“Sounds interesting, but what does have to do with Tate?”

Mike cocked his head to the side and stared at her. “Wow, you don’t know. He started the website after he graduated from college. He’s a legend.”

Nonplussed, Noelle turned to Tate. She knew his family owned Grayson Electronics. She’d assumed he lived off that money. “You own a social networking site?”

“He did until he sold it for a kajillion dollars,” Mike said.

Tate held his hands out, palms up, and shrugged. “Surprise. You thought I had never put in a hard day’s work, didn’t you?”

Noelle’s shoulders went straight. “That’s not true.”

“Really?” He lifted his eyebrows.

Her shoulders deflated under his unwavering gaze. “I mean how was I supposed to know?”

“It’s okay, Doc. I live to surprise.”

And hadn’t he accomplished that? Her mind was still reeling. First, he coached and financed a youth baseball team. Then he’d actually confided in her. Now he was a self-made millionaire. A year’s worth of perceptions and assumptions needed immediate adjustment and she didn’t know if her brain was up to the task. She was a psychologist. It was her job to read people and see beneath the surface. But she’d been so wrong. So very wrong.

Tate picked up a deck of cards from the coffee table, his eyes twinkling. “Now, that we’re done with the revelations part of the evening, how about a game of strip poker?”

“Good idea,” she said.

The deck of cards clattered on the coffee table. “What?”

Noelle collapsed on the couch in laughter. “Gotcha. You should see the look on your face. You’re not the only one capable of surprise.”