If She Dares (Contemporary Romance) (14 page)

“Want to crash a twelve-year-old’s birthday party? In exchange for Tony helping me move last month, I promised to draw caricatures for his niece’s party. His family’s huge, so there will be roughly a thousand kids and adults. Juliet will be there.”

“Sounds like fun.”

“It won’t be.”

She chuckled. “Then why are you inviting me?”

“Because misery loves company. Please say yes.”

“Count me in.” She had a horrible suspicion that if he’d invited her to a tax audit, she would consider going. “I’m sorry our plans got ruined tonight. But I guess it’s good that you were available for your phone call.” She hoped he knew that, if there was anything he wanted to discuss, she was here for him.

Unsurprisingly, he didn’t volunteer any details. “I’m mostly sorry I didn’t get to kiss you good-night. It’s becoming my favorite way to end the day.”

That admission made her toes curl. “Same.”

She hung up the phone with a smile on her face, but she couldn’t help noting the irony. After all of the shamelessly intimate things she and Jack had done to each other, some of which made her blush in the light of day, he’d shied away from the simple act of kissing her goodbye in front of her sister.
That’s not who we are
. But she couldn’t deny that part of her wished it were.

* * *

“L
ET
ME
GUESS
,”
Riley said, “we’re headed to the house with all of the balloons?” The house in question was at the end of the street, a white two-story with big columns in front. So many bright balloons had been tied to the mailbox that she wouldn’t have been surprised to see it floating away.

“Yep. Tony’s mom lives there with her youngest, who’s in college, and his sister Anita recently moved back in with her daughter. Tessie’s the birthday girl. Anita’s going through a really rough divorce. Tony said not to be surprised if she bursts into tears at random intervals. As long as I’m handing out warnings, when Tony and his wife disagree about anything—and they will—they get loud. They’re good folks, but if you stand too close for too long, you’ll get a headache.”

She raised an eyebrow. “So who would you recommend my being close to while you’re busy sketching the guests?”

“Dave and Juliet. You already know her, and they’ve only been married since June, so they still like each other.”

Was he kidding or was he really that cynical?

“Plus, Dave’s about nineteen feet tall, so he provides shade from the sun,” Jack added as he parked along the curb.

As she climbed down from the truck, a gust of wind caught the edges of her skirt, and she pressed the material against her thighs, wondering if a dress had been the right call. Since Jack’s only family was a seemingly estranged mother, meeting his friends might be the most personal glimpse she got into his outside life. She’d wanted to look nice. The black knee-length dress was made from casual jersey, and the red polka dots gave it a playful, ladybug feel she deemed appropriate for a kid’s party. Granted, the crossover bodice and deep V-neck lent itself to cleavage, but she’d handled that with a red sweater.

Jack smiled at her. “Have I told you how great you look? Although, I still say your Halloween costume would’ve been better. Think of how happy the kids would have been to have a real live superheroine at the party!” He’d been lobbying all week for her to wear it.

She just shook her head, trying not to encourage him by smiling. “You are incorrigible.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

* * *

A
S
THE
PARTY
wound down, Juliet frowned at the pink plastic cup in her hand. “I think I need a drink—a real one, not fruit punch made with powder.”

From the other side of the picnic table, her husband nodded. “Maybe fruit punch made with vodka.”

Juliet turned to Riley. “Do you and Jack have plans after this?”

Riley was watching Jack help load folding tables into the back of a truck, appreciating the way his muscles flexed. “Not that I know of.” Her only plans were to get him back to her apartment and have her way with him.

“Dave and I know a piano bar with strong drinks and terrible acoustics.”

“Sounds fun.” Maybe she could wait another couple of hours to get Jack naked. She’d really enjoyed meeting his friends today—even Tony and Marie. The couple bickered, but it was mostly bluster. Their affection for each other was obvious.

Everyone was in agreement on the piano bar, and thirty minutes later, Riley found herself sliding into a booth that faced two grand pianos on a raised dais. Tony offered to buy the first round to thank everyone for their assistance at the party, and Jack went with him to the bar to help carry drinks.

“Sorry I didn’t get to talk to you more today,” Marie told Riley. “Juliet told me how nice you are. And how surprisingly normal.”

“Surprisingly?” Riley asked.

Dave laughed. “Celeste had crazy eyes.”

“Crazy everything,” Juliet corrected. “And, hoo-boy, did she come unglued when she realized Jack didn’t want a relationship.”

That sounded like Jack all right.

“The one before Celeste was perfectly sane,” Marie said. “I never understood why they didn’t stay together longer. She was sweet.”

“To the point of being bland,” Juliet objected. “Jack needs someone who can give him a little hell.”

“Well, there was the woman on the bomb squad,” Dave recalled. “She was tough as nails. But damn scary.”

Riley smiled politely at his comical shudder. Yet deep down, she couldn’t help wondering how long it would be before Jack was introducing some new woman to his friends.
What will they say about me?

Out of nowhere, she recalled the reason Jack had given for not watching
Titanic
.
Why sit through it just so I can be depressed when it ends?
Was she setting herself up for an ending that would leave her in tears?
Little late to worry about that now, Ry
. She was already too invested in the movie to walk out.

Thankfully, the topic switched to Juliet and Marie mocking Dave for his attempted balloon animals.

“I think it’s safe to say, if you ever leave the force, balloon animals are not your fallback,” Juliet heckled. “But Jack could probably get a job at an amusement park tomorrow drawing people. Riley, did you know he was that talented?”

She told herself it was too dim in the bar for them to see the blush climbing her cheeks. “I’ve seen some of his work before, yeah.”

The piano players shifted from the rollicking country song they’d been playing to a slower recent hit, and Juliet’s face lit up. “This is the song Dave and I danced to at our reception!”

Her husband grinned. “I may have dropped off a tip and a request on our way to the table. Care to dance, Mrs. Burke?”

They didn’t seem to mind that they were the only two people on the tiny dance floor. Riley watched them wistfully. What would it be like to fall in love and build a future with someone?

Slow down, you’re not even a full-time dog owner yet
. She wasn’t ready to share her life on an intimate level. But if she was, it wouldn’t be with a serial dater who’d never even spent the night. She’d told Jack she wasn’t looking for a relationship, either, and she’d never once asked him to sleep over. So why was she suddenly annoyed he hadn’t?

It was irrational, yet she caught herself scowling as he and Tony returned with the drinks.

He raised his eyebrows in question, but then Marie distracted him.

“I’m not taking no for an answer this year, Jack Reed. You always give Tony excuses for why you can’t join us at Thanksgiving, so this time
I’m
asking. You are not spending another Thanksgiving alone with microwaved food on my watch.”

So Jack didn’t even spend Thanksgiving with his mother? That confirmed Riley’s impression that he and his mom were estranged. What had happened in the decades between her helping him scare away a bunch of bullies and his not even seeing her on national holidays?

“I appreciate the invitation, Marie, but—”

“Not taking no for an answer,” she repeated.

“But Riley’s family invited me to spend Thanksgiving with them,” he said.

Riley tried to mask her surprise. She hadn’t expected to be used as his alibi, although, technically, Wren
had
broached the subject. Jack shot her a pleading look and gently squeezed her thigh beneath the table.

“That is correct,” she said with a nod. “Sorry to steal him out from under you.”

Marie looked stunned but then smiled. “Oh, I see. In that case, you two have a lovely Thanksgiving.”

When she and Tony began spiritedly debating whether or not to invite a crazy uncle, Jack pulled Riley against his shoulder.

“Thanks,” he whispered. “I love them, but a day with Marie and her mother hollering at each other about the proper consistency of mashed potatoes might be a bit much. I wanted to turn her down without hurting her feelings.”

“No problem. And just so you know, you would be entirely welcome if you wanted to have Thanksgiving with us for real.” She blinked. Where had that come from? You didn’t invite the guy you were “shamelessly using for sex” home for a family holiday.

And yet, it seemed she had. Nothing to do now but brazen forward. “You can be my deterrent against Mom inviting any ex-boyfriends. Plus, the food’s fantastic. Mom will spend the whole day in the kitchen, and Dad will sleep in the recliner, so you wouldn’t have to worry much about them. Rochelle and her husband will spend most of the afternoon on a jigsaw puzzle. Wren’s the only terrifying one, and you’ve already survived her. You don’t have to give me an answer right now,” she said, bracing for his instant refusal, “just think about it.”

“I will.”

“No pressure, just— Wait, what?”

He gave her a full smile, dimples and all. “You’ll be there, right?” When she nodded, unable to find her voice, he said, “You
and
fantastic food? Tough combo to resist. I’ll think about it, and let you know.”

Her heart felt tight in her chest—not in a painful way, more like it was really full.
We are more than sex
. She may not know exactly what they were, but he’d invited her to a kid’s birthday party to meet all of his friends, and she’d asked him to have Thanksgiving with her family. They were definitely more than just the sex.

* * *

R
ILEY
GRINNED
,
HER
GIDDY
buzz fueled more by the handsome man next to her than the two potent cocktails she’d had. “You were wrong about today,” she told Jack as he punched in the code for the parking-lot gate. “It
was
fun.”

“No, today was tolerable. The last hour and a half was fun.”

When it had become clear that Juliet was the only one of them who could carry a tune, Dave had announced in a fit of mock jealousy that if they couldn’t sing better than her, they’d just sing louder. “Juliet was a good sport.”

“She likes you a lot,” he said, parking the truck. “But I’m not sure we can trust her judgment in people. I mean, she married
Dave
, so...”

She shoved his shoulder. “Your friends are great.
You’re
great. And you make me feel great when I’m with you.” Eagerness sizzled through her. Watching him drive, she’d been counting the minutes until his hands were on her. “But I’ve been thinking... I’m not sure I need your help to make me more daring anymore.”

His posture stiffened almost imperceptibly, but he kept his voice light. “Getting tired of me already, gorgeous?”

“Not at all. I only meant, I don’t have to wait for you to dare me to do something. I can make impetuous choices all on my own. For instance,” she said, slanting him a glance, “I could dare to go to a party commando.”

He sucked in a breath. “You did not.”

She flashed him a brilliant smile and hopped out of the truck.

There was enough illumination from the parking-lot lights to make out the predatory gleam in his eyes as he advanced on her. “I’m going to need proof.”

With a squeal of laughter, she darted into the building. She took the first flight of steps so quickly, her feet only hit every other stair. The echo of the stairwell door closing behind Jack reverberated in the emptiness, making her feel like they were the only two people in the building. She raced up the second set of stairs. Even though she was in shape from her martial arts classes, she knew Jack could have caught her sooner. He was savoring the chase.

But on the third-floor landing, he spun her into his arms. He nipped at her lower lip. “You are the most delightful tease I’ve ever met. The wondering is fun, but I have to know...” Beneath the hem of her skirt, his fingers skated over the sensitive flesh of her thigh, and she squirmed, a little ticklish and a lot aroused.

Encountering silk, he pulled back to give her a look of reprimand. “You lied to me. There should be some kind of consequence for that.”

“Technically, I didn’t lie,” she objected. “I said that I
could
dare to go commando. And, who says it’s too late?” She wriggled away from him and reached under her skirt.

Immobile except for the rise and fall of his chest, he watched her intently.

She inched the panties down slowly, stepping out of them one foot at a time, then stuck them in the pocket of her sweater. “My reputation for honesty has been restored. Happy?”

“Yes. You make me happy,” he said simply.

Melting at his words, she stretched up to kiss him. Her unspoken thank-you quickly turned into something more carnal than grateful. Their tongues twined, their hands roamed with increasing urgency. She could feel Jack, hard against her thigh, and knowing how much he wanted her amplified her own desire. It wasn’t until her sweater—which she hadn’t even realized she’d shrugged out of—hit the hardwood floor that she regained a measure of sense.

She turned toward the stairs. “Race you to the top?” She couldn’t wait to get him inside her apartment. Inside her.

But he held her hand, stalling. “Ever fantasize about sex in public? Being so swept away that you’d risk getting caught?”