The Dare (17 page)

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!

"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.