The Dare (8 page)

I probably should have apologized for my
bluntness, but things were better that way. She needed to know it
had been a one-time thing. Yeah, she was beautiful, but that didn't
mean I was ready to hand my balls to her on a silver platter.

Been there done that. Never again.

So what if that made me insensitive? I had my
job. I loved my job, and I intended to do anything to keep it.

I turned on my phone and looked down at the
screen.

Rick:
Call as soon as you land.

I texted him back instead, knowing I didn't
want to be that annoying guy who started talking loudly when
everyone was trying to grab his bag and make it down the narrow
aisle.

Me:
Landed. Can't talk. Everything
okay?

Rick:
Define okay.

Me:
Did the problem go away?

Rick:
If the problem you're referring to
is an attractive thirty year old that works for the company whose
bill you just rejected because you said it wasn't soundly written,
then yeah. Sure. Peachy.

Me:
What?!

Rick:
Like I said, call me when you have
time. We need to make this go away. Approval ratings can drop
overnight. Good news? People think you're getting married, and the
news is loving it. So stay put.

Cursing, I put the phone back in my pocket
and rubbed my temples.

"Bad news?" Beth blinked her green eyes
innocently.

"Thanks to you, yes." I was trapped. I
couldn't leave, and if I stayed, I stayed next to Beth, and the
longer I was in her presence, the more I wanted to attack her
—
in a totally sexually pent-up frustrated
way. One where there was biting and fighting and
—
"

"Me?" Her eyebrows shot up.

I tried to look pissed instead of
aroused.

"Any chance I can pay you an obscene amount
of money to kick me in the balls on national television and say
you're mentally insane?"

Beth's eyes narrowed into tiny slits. "Tell
you what, I'll kick you in the balls for free. As for the rest of
it, go screw yourself."

"Ha," I said dryly. "Chemist's got some
personality after all." I was being an ass. I knew I was being an
ass, but I was pissed. I'd specifically asked her if she had a
past. I'd specifically asked about any sort of drama in her past
and she hadn't even thought to tell me she worked for GreenCom?
Technically, it had been my fault. I hadn't looked at her work
history, just her title. And honestly it didn't matter that much. I
was more upset over the fact that I could smell her damn perfume,
and it was choking the bachelor out of me.

"You're an ass," she hissed, pushing past me
and walking down the aisle. By then, people had basically vacated
the plan.

With a curse, I got up and walked slowly down
the aisle.

I'd been drugged by an eighty-six-year-old
woman.

Couldn't remember my one-night stand.

Had been accused of sleeping with a
prostitute.

On a last-minute vacation where I felt
slightly manipulated and possibly kidnapped.

And my approval ratings were going to
hell.

Things couldn't get worse.

I finally reached the gate where Travis,
Kacey, Char, Jake, and Beth were waiting.

Clearly something was wrong because they were
frantically dialing their phones, and Kacey looked like she was
ready to cry.

"What?" I asked stupidly. "Did someone
die?"

All eyes turned to me.

"We can't find Grandma." Beth's voice was
strained. "She said she had to use the powder room and just
disappeared."

"I'm sure she's fine," I soothed. "After all,
this is Grandma Nadine we're talking about. I'd feel sorry for her
attacker. Hell, I'd probably watch the entire episode and order
popcorn."

The group seemed to relax a bit.

That is, until we heard honking.

And then a splash of leopard flew by me at
top speed.

"I think I found her." I pointed.

Grandma parked the airport cart, giving
herself whiplash in the process, and stepped out. "Sorry, dears, it
took me the longest time to find one of these things."

I winced. "Grandma, I think it's illegal for
you to drive that without assistance from the airport staff."

My body gave an involuntary shudder as
Grandma's pointed stare met mine. "I am the law."

Ho-o-oly shit. What had I gotten myself
into?

"Get in." Grandma put the cart in reverse,
nearly killing two elderly people in the process, then pulled out
her lipstick and began applying in the rearview mirror.

Great, so she used mirrors for lipstick
application and not driving. We were in such good hands.

The last thing I wanted to do was go to
dinner. Sleep. That's what I wanted. Sleep. And to hear from Rick
that everything was fine.

I picked up my bag and made my way to the
cart, eying Beth as she leaned on Char. Was she crying? Had I done
that? Feeling like a jackass, I moved toward her, only to be
stopped by Jake and Travis, both of them looking like they'd rather
shoot me in the face than let me even near their family.

"Listen, punk," Jake started.

I laughed. I couldn't help it. Punk? Really?
That's what he was going to go with? And then he punched me in the
stomach. I doubled over, not a proud moment. Travis pulled me by
the shirt and leaned me against the wall so it looked like I hadn't
just gotten the wind forced out of me.

"Listening." I glared.

"We will end you." Travis smiled, as if he
was excited about the idea of killing a state senator and going to
federal prison. "Leave her alone."

"Her?" I repeated. "You mean Grandma?"

"Grandma?" Jake snorted. "That woman could
run circles around you in her sleep. Hell, I don't even feel sorry
for you. We're talking about Beth."

"Hey," I held up my hands, "I didn't do
anything wrong."

"You slept with her."

"I'm not sure," I answered honestly. "I can't
exactly… remember the details."

Travis nudged Jake. "Performance
anxiety?"

"Hell no," I growled. "I think I was too
drunk or
—
"

Wrong thing to say.

I got punched in the stomach again.

My stomach had dropped to my balls
—
well, at least I wasn't hungry
anymore!

Travis swore. "Don't play games with her.
Leave her alone. Let her have a relaxing time in Hawaii and be
nice."

"I'm nice," I defended myself.

"You're a…
politician
." Jake made mock
quotes. "That basically means it's your job to be nice and make
everyone feel confident in your abilities, but I see through the
bullshit. I saw through it when you were after Char, and I see
through it now. Leave. Her. Alone."

"Or what?" I sneered. Okay, so I wasn't
actually going to do anything, but I was pissed they were
threatening me.

"Oh that's easy." Travis stepped away,
smirking at Jake as if they had this giant-ass secret I wasn't a
part of. "You don't leave her alone, and we let you fend for
yourself with that one." He pointed back to the cart where Grandma
was currently thrusting her phone into the air and yelling.

"I have no service! Damn third-world
country!"

I'd last five minutes alone with that woman
before committing a federal crime. "Fine, but for your information,
I was going to leave her alone anyway."

"Sure you were." Jake rolled his eyes.
"That's why you've been staring at her ass for the past ten
minutes."

Naturally, my eyes went directly where they
weren't supposed to, and I was gifted with another hard slap to the
stomach.

"Glad we understand each other." Travis
smacked my cheek.

"Shit, you're like Grandma's mafia."

"She'd be one hell of a mob boss." Jake
whistled, thrusting his hands into his pockets. "Oh, and by the
way, have fun at
dinner
."

"Damn." Deflated, I watched as the group got
on the cart and wandered down to baggage claim, leaving Beth,
Grandma, and myself.

"Well!" Grandma clasped her hands. "Isn't
this nice! Now, how about that dinner?"

"How long do you plan to keep this up?" the
agent asked pointedly.

Grandma grinned and leaned forward over the
metal table. "How long do you have, sugar?"

Beth

I was a blubbering idiot. The only
explanation I had was PMS or something like it. Char and Kacey
enveloped me in a few side hugs and told me men were asses. It
helped. Kind of.

I could only assume they'd seen my fallen
face and were trying to offer their support in any way possible,
which to girls basically meant bashing on the guy in question until
the crying girl stopped crying and started joining in.

But I didn't want to join in. Because,
regardless of how harsh Jace had been with my feelings
—
at least he'd been honest.

Honest, I could do. It was the men who lied
about who they were that really bothered me. I'd dealt with honest
most of my adult life. I could work with it; logically I could
explain it.

Maybe it was my hair.

I'd always been told the brown was too
dull.

Or possibly my eyes? But, in my opinion, they
were really the only thing I had going for me. Dark lashes fanned
the emerald green of my eyes, giving them an almost exotic
look.

But that was it. No, seriously. It was all I
had. My body was normal, not too big, not too small. And I
officially sounded like Goldilocks from
The Three Bears.

"Was he mean to you?" Char squeezed my hand.
She'd always been the type to fight first, ask questions later.

I loved her for it.

"Nah," I lied. "He was a perfect gentleman.
Not too bad for a senator."

"Senator my ass," Char hissed. "He's slimy,
that one."

"I thought you liked him?" I argued.

"Liked." Char sniffled. "Past tense. I liked
him before he stole you away from the wedding reception. I liked
him before I found out you were plastered against his naked chest
for hours on end. And I liked him before he started staring at your
ass as if it held secrets to national security."

"He was staring at my ass?" I asked in a
much-too-hopeful voice. Bad Beth. Very bad.

"Not the time, Beth." Char's eyes narrowed.
"Remember what happened with Brett? And Steve? And John?"

"Stop naming men from my past before I kill
myself," I muttered.

Kacey didn't say anything. She watched our
exchange with interest, her mouth turned upward in a smile as she
looked between Jace and me.

"He
is
cute," she finally said.

Um, actually he was a god. No really, ask
Marvel Comics.

"Kace…" Char warned. "Cute is for puppies.
Not politicians."

"Let's go!" Grandma shouted above the boys
fighting and the girls laughing next to me.

"Go get 'em, tiger." Char pinched my butt.
"Make him work for it."

"Work for it?" I asked innocently. I had a
sneaking suspicion she didn't mean actual work, as in giving him
math formulas and solving for Z. But something way harder, like
actually trying to be sexy.

Char's answer was to nudge Kacey and laugh.
Was I missing something? Shrugging, I summed it up to being overly
exhausted and tugged my purse over my arm. Dinner. One dinner. And
then I was going to find some Hawaiian man in a loin cloth to rub
coconut oil all over me and say big words like electromagnetic and
ionic… bummer. I was my own ionic bond. No matter how many times
I'd wished I could stick to something, it hadn't happened.

Crap. I had no charge. I so
wanted
to
charge. I
needed
a charge.

"You okay?" Jace asked, once we fell into
step behind Grandma.

"Do I have a charge?"

"Huh?"

"A charge," I repeated.

"Like a card?"

"Like a bond."

"I think I'm confused."

I sighed heavily. "Ionic bonds. They're
formed when charged particles stick together. I think I'm
chargeless."

Jace's face lit up with humor. "Chargeless,
huh? Is that your professional opinion?"

"I'm going to the ladies' room! Damn wine!"
Grandma yelled and stomped off, leaving Jace and in the very
romantic spot people like to call the wall between the ladies' and
men's restrooms. Toilet flushing was our romantic music, and the
smell of Mexican food floated through the air.

Again. Clearly I was chargeless.

"So…" Jace leaned against the wall.

"So?"

"Your professional opinion. Is that it? That
you have no charge?"

"Yup." Another toilet flushed. Awesome. I
almost wanted to cheer for that person. I mean if you can't cheer
for someone having a successful bowel movement, really, what can
you cheer for?

"Great." He grabbed my arms, pulling me into
his embrace. Toilets continued to flush, but I focused my attention
on his lips as they moved. "Now, here's mine."

His kiss was tender, elusive. I leaned into
him, and I was rewarded for my efforts as his hot mouth pushed
harder against mine. Without warning, he pulled back.

"Beth," his hoarse voice washed over my body,
giving me chills, "you're looking at it wrong. The problem isn't
your damn charge. It's that you don't even realize you had it in
the first place. If you don't know what you have, how can you use
it? So you want to form an ionic bond? I call bullshit. Why would
you want to bond with another person's energy when you have your
own? Why bond when you're a continuous spectrum?"

"You used big science words." Right, that's
all I had after his speech.

Jace's eyes flashed with amusement.
"Sometimes. It happens. I did go to school, you know."

"It was like dirty talk, only hotter." I
leaned in closer as his smile grew.