The Dare (25 page)

"What? So we play at being madly in love, and
if it ends up being true, you don't walk away? But if things don't
work out, then what? Then I'm left with a broken heart. Don't you
see? The problem isn't the second chance. The problem is you want
to have your cake and eat it too. You want to test the waters
because you want
safe
. And I'm sick and tired of
safe
."

Jace shoved his hands in his pockets, swaying
on his feet as if the world had just dropped onto his shoulders.
"What do you want?"

"Danger," I snapped. "Spice. Crazy." My lips
trembled. "I want crazy. I-can't-get-you-out-of–my-head lust. I
want Romeo-and-Juliet-type of love. I want Mr. Darcy to ride his
damn horse into my life. Words aren't enough. I need actions too.
And I think I deserve it."

Jace was oddly silent during my rant. And
then his face broke out into a giant grin.

"Stop smiling." I was about two seconds away
from choking the life from his body. Was he making fun of me?

"Done."

"Done?" My eyebrows shot up. "What do you
mean
done
? You're going to suddenly Thor yourself all over
the place and get romantic?"

He shrugged.

"Find a white horse and sword?"

He shrugged again.

"Stop shrugging!" This time I did stomp my
foot. Yes. I was a thirty-year-old foot-stomper, so sue me. We all
have our moments.

"Let's go." He grabbed my hand.

I stood my ground.

So he threw me over his shoulder and marched
out the little hut door. And I hated to admit I was grinning like a
fool the entire way.

"Do you think that Mr. Brevik felt outside
pressure to romance the young girl?"

"Well, of course he did! Leaving that man to
his own devices is like giving a child a quad-shot mocha. They run
into walls and scream at the top of their lungs."

"So in your mind, Mr. Brevik is a child?"

"He's a man," Grandma said slowly for the
agent's benefit.

"Your point?"

"Men, children
—
there is no difference, only that you change one's
diapers while the other just lets loose in public."

"I don't know how to respond to that."

"Like I said, men."

Jace

I was going to need a hell of a lot of
Gatorade if I was going to pull everything off. She wanted crazy?
I'd give her crazy. There I was, pouring my feelings out all over
the place like some Lifetime Christmas movie, and she still wasn't
impressed?

Fine. I'd keep romancing the pants off of her
until she realized that I was in it; I wanted a second chance. Then
again, I didn't blame her. Why give me a second chance when I'd
told her to her face that I was walking away from her?

I wouldn't trust me either.

And there was that small problem of my
profession.

"Jace," Beth snapped. I was still carrying
her; I liked carrying her. I wasn't putting her down anytime
soon.

"Shh…" I slapped her ass. "I'm thinking.
Don't interrupt a man when he's thinking."

"I want to lick you."

I tripped and almost went sailing into the
wall. All thoughts left my mind. All thoughts except her tongue on
me, my tongue in her mouth, licking. Lots of licking.

"Why'd we stop walking?" Beth said
innocently.

I slapped her ass again. "You'll pay for
that."

"Yes, please."

More licking.

"Damn it, Beth!" I huffed. "Stop doing
that."

"What?"

"That," I grumbled, setting her on her feet.
Now climb.

"Climb?"

I turned her around and pointed to the cliff.
"Climb."

"You're kidding, right?"

The cliff was a rocky climb. It led to a
ledge that was about thirty feet high. I'd seen locals jumping from
the cliff for the past few days and figured if they could do it
without dying, we could too. She wanted crazy? This was insane.

"Nope." I crossed my arms. "Not kidding.
Where's your sense of adventure?"

"Must have left it back at the hut with your
feather tea," she said through clenched teeth.

"I'm making a big gesture." I tilted her chin
toward me and brushed a soft kiss across her lips. "The least you
could do is go along with it."

"Fine, but if I die, I'm going to haunt you
for the rest of your days."

I helped her on to the rocky trail and held
her hand as we made our way slowly up the cliff. Luckily, the path
was lit by a few torches, so it wasn't like it was this creepy
abandoned area that was booby-trapped or something.

A warm breeze picked up once we reached the
ledge. Waves crashed against the rocks below us. I had to close my
eyes.

"What are you doing?" Beth squeezed my
hand.

"I forgot to tell you something."

"What?"

Shit, I was sweating. "I'm terrified of
heights."

"Then why are we here?"

"You said you wanted crazy. You said my
apology wasn't good enough, and let's be honest, you have
absolutely no reason to trust me."

"All true." She looked nervously over the
edge then back at me. "So what's your point?"

"My point is you need vulnerable."

She bit down on her bottom lip and released
my hand.

"You don't need crazy." I sighed. "You want
crazy for you."

Beth still refused to look at me.

"Heights terrify me," I continued. "If you
had asked me last week what my biggest fear was? I would have said
heights. Two days ago, I would have said Frank."

Beth's warm laugh made my stomach flip.

"Ask me what I'm scared of right now."

Beth's gaze flew to my eyes. "What are you
scared of now?"

"You," I whispered. "I'm scared I'm not who
you think I am. I'm scared that you really have convinced yourself
that I'm some sort of hero, when we both know that's the last thing
people would call me. I'm terrified that if you give me a second
chance, I'm just going to screw it up. I'm afraid that you'll wake
up, and not want me. That you'll decide I'm not worth it. Because
the truth, Beth? Guys want to be fought for too. We want to be
worthy of the women we love. I want to be the Romeo, Mr. Darcy, and
Avenger. But those shoes? They're pretty big ones to fill, and
although I love difficult situations, I don't like the idea that
one day you're going to wake up and realize how damn beautiful you
really are. You are worthy of those guys and more. I know where I
land on that totem pole, and it's on the very bottom, underneath
the dirt and worms and crap. You'll see me waving.

Beth laughed.

"I'm serious." I pulled her into my arms.
"I'm serious about you. What would you say if I told you that you
were the one that got away?"

"I'd say you're crazy."

"Mission accomplished," I whispered. "And
what would you say if I told you I wanted more than a few
days?"

"I'd say you're out of your mind."

"What would you say if I told you I burned
for you? What would you say if I told you that even before this
week, you consumed my dreams?"

Beth shook her head and opened her mouth to
say something.

I kissed her roughly across the mouth. "And
what would you say if I told you I was going to jump?"

"Jace
—
"

"I'm jumping. If only to prove to you that
I'm going to start conquering fears, starting with jumping and
ending with you."

"Jace don't
—
"

I couldn't hear her words as I jumped; my
blood was roaring too loud, and the wind whipping by my face wasn't
helping anything. The water slapped against my body as I landed,
far away from the rocks and into the warm ocean.

I didn't have time to enjoy my
accomplishment, what with Beth throwing herself off the cliff in
such a fashion that I was a bit concerned she was going to belly
flop.

Three seconds of cursing like a sailor,
followed by mind-numbing screaming, and Beth splashed right next to
me. She gasped for air, and then her hands were around my neck.

Holy shit. She was going to drown me!

"Beth!" I croaked, unable to actually
breathe.

"Don't you dare," she shook me in her tiny
hands, "do that to me again! I thought you were going to die!"

"Alive," I wheezed, "until you murder
me."

"I want to murder you."

She released me. Thank God.

"But I'm too impressed by your speech and
stupid death wish."

"Really?" My chest puffed out.

"Really." Beth swallowed. "So what now?"

"We get married."

"Be serious."

"We pretend to get married."

"Better." She grinned.

"And we get even."

"Oh?"

"I'll give it to Grandma. She knew what she
was doing, but I hardly think the couples' therapy and Viagra were
necessary to get our attention."

Beth gave me a doubtful look.

"Okay fine. It was probably necessary because
I'm a man. Happy?"

"Thrilled."

"Inspired?" I pulled her into my arms.

"Not as much as you are." Beth wrapped her
legs around me and jerked my body against hers.

"Three more days."

"Of the fairytale," I whispered. "Guess what
happens at the end?"

"What?"

"The prince wins."

"And the princess?"

"She lives happily ever after."

"In a castle?"

"Apartment."

"NO deal."

"Beth…" I growled.

She released her grip on my body and started
swimming for shore. "Come on, Thor. We have to sneak back into the
hut without Grandma seeing us. You're supposed to be sick,
remember?"

"Why would I go back to the hut when
everything I want is right here? In my arms?" He reached out and
gently caressed my hand, I shivered in response.

"That was a good speech." Beth exhaled.

I could feel her heart race as we swam us
back toward the beach. Once we could touch the ground, I pulled her
into my arms and kissed her, wrapping her legs around me in the
process.

"I could love you," I whispered.

"I could love you too."

I finally gave in. I forgot about my career,
forgot about prom, forgot about Kerri
—
I
forgot about everything, purposefully, and focused, purposefully on
the curve of her hips as I held her against me, on the softness of
her skin as my lips brushed across it. I focused on the sound of
her soft pants when my tongue licked the salt water from her
neck.

Beth arched her back as I kissed down the
front of her chest, causing our bodies to fit together perfectly.
She was on fire, and I wanted nothing more than to remember this
moment
—
since we'd somehow screwed it up
so badly the first time.

She dug her nails into my head, touching part
of the scar from the accident. And for some reason, I froze.

Something felt familiar.

Something wasn't right.

Beth. The accident.

Beth and the accident.

"Bye, Dad!" I called out and ran to the car.
"Beth." I smiled. "I'm going to marry her someday."

I jerked back from her as if she'd just
burned me.

"Jace?" Beth held my face. "What's wrong? Are
you okay?"

I shook my head, unable to find my voice. It
had been a memory. I'd been dressed in the same tux I'd worn to
prom. What the hell?

"Jace?"

"I, uh..." I couldn't catch my breath. "I
think I really may be sick."

"It's okay." Beth pulled me in for a hug.
"Let's just go back to the hut, alright?"

"But
—
"

"Jace. It's fine, plus you look really
pale."

"Right." I gripped her hand like a lifeline
and waded through the water to shore. The memory was still there,
I'd said her name, I'd gotten back into my car that night with her
name on my lips. Why?

The agent yawned. "So, the senator admitted
his feelings. Good for him."

"No," Grandma sighed, "not good. You see,
there was one thing I wasn't counting on happening, one person I
wasn't able to…" she shrugged, "manage."

"You mean one person you couldn't
control?"

"I prefer manage." She glared.

"Manage it is."

Beth

I didn't sleep all night. It had nothing to
do with the fact that sex personified was snoring next to me. I was
even partial to the snores. It had turned into my white noise, my
soothing sound.

Something wasn't right.

I wasn't sure if it was me, if it was Jace,
or if it was just the situation. But the more I thought about it,
the more I realized it was the situation.

Everything had been going fine until things
got heated during our moonlight swim. It was almost as if he'd seen
a ghost. I tucked my knees under my chest and sighed. Was it me? Or
was it something more?

I stole a glance at him, knowing that I was
being the creepy girl that watched a hot guy sleep. I was totally
pulling a Bridget Jones. The scar near his eye was more evident in
the moonlight; it made me wonder where he got it? Football, maybe?
Or getting punched in the face by Travis? I smiled to myself.

Two more days, and this vacation would be
over. Whatever Jace and I felt for each other would be tested.

The experience had almost felt like something
off
The Bachelor
. In fact, the more I thought about it, the
more it seemed exactly like a reality show. From the dates to the
excursions. I frowned.

I don't know why I didn't think of it before,
but the minute the little light bulb turned on
—
I almost started crying.

She was
Bacheloring
us. And yes I was
totally comparing my life to a reality show.

We'd had the romantic getaway, the action
adventure, the silly couples' therapy followed by the whole
vulnerable Jace moment, even down to the fact that Brett had shown
up. Both Jace had I been so ridiculously played that it wasn't even
funny
—
nor was it real.