Double Dare. Tawny Weber

then dimmed as her gaze slid away. “I’d love that, but I’m actually meeting someone else tonight. Blind date, of a sort, you know?”

      Maybe it was ego, but he swore the regret in her voice was genuine.

      “You don’t sound excited.”

      “Hardly,” she said with a laugh. She got a naughty look in her eye, shot a glance over her shoulder, then leaned close. “But you can help me.”

      “How?”

      “A little fun, kind of like that spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down.”

      Before Jesse could laugh, she’d stepped close. So close only a bare inch separated her breasts from his forearm. Seated as he was on the stool, they were eye to eye. He automatically shifted so that his hand was on her hip, and she winked her approval.

      Then she kissed him and blew his mind.

      It started as a soft brush of her lips over his, just a whisper. Her breath mingled with his a moment as their eyes met, then something wild burned in hers before the thick fringe of lashes covered them. With a quick intake of breath, she slid her tongue along his lower lip. The act was so sensual in its simplicity, so seductive in its delicious temptation, Jesse almost whimpered.

      Before he could respond, she stepped back and winked.

      “Nice to meet you, Jesse. I’ll see you later, maybe.”

      Fascinated, he murmured his goodbye and watched her walk away.

      No maybe about it, he didn’t plan to wait for later. Jesse started to slide off the barstool to follow her. Half out of his seat, he watched, baffled, as she stopped at Davey’s table. She leaned across the narrow circular surface and said something that made the dork blush. Jesse watched the guy start stuttering and babbling.

      With a frown, Jesse settled back on the barstool to watch. What did Audra have to do with a guy like Davey Larson? A simple blind date, like she’d said? A blind date, of a sort? What sort? Dave Larson was hip deep in crime, both organized and sloppy. Where did Audra come in?

      Rumor had it Davey had caught the eye of the top echelon of a local crime ring. The head of that ring had a habit of using his women for deliveries. Was she the handoff? Delivery or receiving? Either way, it boded poorly for Jesse’s shot at experiencing his ultimate fantasy.

      A haze of jealousy blurred his vision when, instead of taking the seat opposite Davey, Audra slid around to sit next to him. Damn near in the dork’s lap. When she tiptoed those delicate fingers of hers up the guy’s butt-ugly tie, Jesse actually growled out loud.

      Jesse watched Audra lean in close to Davey and whisper something. Whatever it was must have been a doozy, because Dave jumped as if she’d goosed him. A damp sheen coated his lanky face and his eyes bulged. Audra looped her finger through the knot on his tie and Davey skittered back. A group of partyers blocked Jesse’s view. He craned his neck but could barely see the tops of their heads.

      When the crowd shifted, Jesse saw Davey shaking his head like crazy. She said something, and Dave turned a little green around the gills, then jumped up from the table. Audra stared wide-eyed at him as he babbled. She was lucky not to get nailed in the face by the wild gestures the dork made. He finally ran out of steam. Mouth ajar, Audra looked stunned for a second, then said something. When Davey gave a frantic shake of his head, she held out her hand. Jesse couldn’t see what she was holding, but Davey’s eyes bulged in horror and he scampered away from the table, throwing one last comment over his skinny shoulder.

      Jesse slid from his seat, prepared to follow Dave. He hesitated, glancing at Audra. Even with her mouth hanging open, she was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. He debated between pursuing Dave or hooking up with Audra to find out what her connection was.

      Before he could take a step toward her, though, she was surrounded by three women, their shocked expressions all matching Audra’s. He eyed the blonde, redhead and brunette, but none popped up as criminals in his mental data bank. Then again, neither had Audra.

      From the looks of them, the ladies would be around for a while. Davey, though, was scurrying off like a scared rat. Jesse hightailed it after the rat, but couldn’t help shooting a final look of regret for the woman who’d briefly held the promise of fulfilling his every fantasy.

      2

      “WHAT THE HELL happened?” Suzi demanded, her voice filled with the same shock coursing through Audra’s system. “I figured a geek like that would have lousy staying power, but you barely touched him.”

      “He didn’t…” Bea gestured to her crotch area and scrunched up her face in disgust. “Just from you talking to him, did he?”

      Audra squinted in question, then shuddered as Bea’s meaning sank in. “Eww, no.”

      “Then why’d he run?”

      Audra opened her mouth, then closed it with a baffled shake of her head. Her fingers clenched the strip of fabric in her hand. She had no clue. She’d made plenty of guys tremble over the years, but she’d never made one run before. When her friends had first started spouting off that she wasn’t a Wicked Chick anymore, it had been easy to ignore them.

      But now? Audra’s breath hitched. Were they right? Was she losing it?

      “I think he mistook me for someone else,” Audra finally admitted. “He babbled a few things I didn’t understand and when I suggested we get to know each other better, he ran like a sissy-lala.”

      Isabel took the tie from her, grimacing at the ugly green piece of patterned polyester.

      Suzi flicked the flimsy fabric and wrinkled her nose. “Nice souvenir, Audra,” she said. “What’re you going to do with it?”

      “I have no clue,” she admitted. “I’ve rendered men dumb before, but none have ever hit the level of idiocy this guy did. I flirted, he babbled. I finally resorted to complimenting that ugly tie. He promptly ripped it off and tossed it at me just before he ran off like a scaredy-cat.”

      They all stared at the offense to fashion.

      “Does this mean you failed the dare?” Suzi asked in a breathy tone of shock.

      Audra’s gaze shot to hers. Failed?

      “She didn’t fail,” Bea snapped. “She isn’t to blame if a guy can’t keep it up. He obviously had issues and ran.”

      But Audra saw it in her friend’s eyes. Even Isabel’s held a faint glint of that dreaded emotion.

      Pity.

      Audra had failed. The first Wicked Chick to blow a dare.

      “You’re right, that wasn’t failure,” Suzi finally agreed. “Who knows, maybe he’s not into chicks or something.”

      Bea gave a snort of laughter and shrugged. “So we, what? Chalk it up to a first? Wanna get another round of drinks and dance?”

      Audra realized her friends would let it go then. They’d pushed the dare as a means to prove she hadn’t moved on. That she was still one of the girls.

      But now? Now she had something to prove to herself.

      “Hey, I’m not done yet,” she told them. “You dared me, I need to fulfill the dare.”

      “How?” Isabel wanted to know.

      “New dare?” Bea suggested with a shrug.

      “Like?” Audra asked.

      “Simple,” Suzi claimed. “You do the next guy to come through the door.”

      Audra sucked in a breath, ignored the voice in the back of her head claiming she was so over this dare crap, and nodded. Over it or not, she has something to prove. She eyed the tie as Isabel glanced at the ugly thing, then at Audra’s tiny purse. With a grimace, her friend tucked it into her own hobo bag.

      Audra