Dare (2 page)

“Jesus!” Olivia gawked at her pals. “Three hundred dollars. You guys shouldn’t have spent so much! I mean, come on, that’s more than I’ll ever need in…toys.”

“Remember, they have lingerie too. Nothing better than some silk and lace against a woman’s tits and clit,” Candy joked and clicked her glass against Olivia’s.

Olivia’s head spun. She wasn’t sure if it was from the alcohol or the thought of shopping for lingerie. Not like she had a man in her life to show it off to.

But she had promised herself that she’d get out more. Maybe find her kind of right man and fall in love.  Her parents had been married fifty-two years. She believed in love and marriage. It would happen when it happened.

She did yearn for male companionship from time to time. But as she watched the sea of bodies writhe against each other on the dance floor, the men and women flirt at the bar, she didn’t want to enter the ‘dating pool’ for any amount of money.

The singles scene was hell. From her standpoint, no one searched for Mr. and Mrs. Right anymore. They only wanted the ‘Right Now’ relationships and to play the field. While Olivia wasn’t one to get on a soapbox and lecture about safe sex, she didn’t agree with the freeness of having it with a lot of people, either.

Very particular about whom she let into her life, and bed, Olivia had only had three lovers. All were men she trusted and had known for months before the relationship turned physical. 

Which was why she trusted Leroy, her red rubber
boyfriend,
that she kept tucked away in the nightstand beside her bed. He didn’t talk back, never let her down, and was never unfaithful.

“And of course, you know that’s not all. You have our dare, don’t forget!” Jessica exclaimed.

Olivia blinked, Jessica’s statement registering.

Her mouth suddenly felt like paste at the mention of their yearly ritual.

Heart lodged in her throat, she stared at her grinning friends, all of whom were obviously very pleased with themselves.

“Okay, let’s have it.” She put the gift card in the back pocket of her jeans and leaned her elbows on the table.

Since college, the girls always issued dares. Some had been harmless, though some had also been downright crazy. Hell, Candy had lost her virginity on a dare, something she was still pleased about to this day.  Holly had dared her to sneak into the football team captain’s dorm room and steal his boxers.

When ninety minutes had passed, the girls had headed to the Fraternity House to find out what happened when Candy descended the front steps, grinning like a fool. The jock—Olivia couldn’t remember his name now—had yelled from the window and let something drop from his hand. They were all shocked when Candy’s purple bra landed on Jessica’s shoulder.

“You need a man in your life, Liv,” Candy said, smiling.

A shiver of unease slid down Olivia’s back.

“Yes, yes, Candy, we know,” Holly grumbled. “You have lots. But tonight isn’t about you. We’re only talking about one night for our Olivia. A happy evening and happy trails the next morning. She needs s-e-x. That’s why we want her to have a man.”

“Hey,” Olivia interjected, insulted, and the dare forgotten. “I can find my own man and
sex
—which I can say out loud instead of spell it—is not an issue for me.”

“Right, Leroy, we know,” Candy groused. “But Mr. Red isn’t flesh and blood. You need a real man, just for you.”

“All right. I’ll play along. Where is he? What’s his name?” She scanned the room, wondered if this flesh-and-blood male was hidden in the wings.

“We don’t know. That’s for you to decide,” Holly said.

Olivia frowned. “What do you mean, for me to decide? Explain.”

“Well, we’re calling a dare.” Jessica blushed.

“What! You’re—what?”

They were confusing her with the talk of a date and a dare. What did they have in com…

Oh god, they wouldn’t!

“Look…” Olivia began.

“No, too late.” Holly grinned, slapping the table. “It’s issued. As soon as Jessie said it, it was done.”

She should have just stayed home. A quiet evening of reading or watching TV, or lounging in a bath full of bubbles with candles flickering and jazz music playing wouldn’t have led to this.

Olivia raised her head, glared at Candy. “I won’t. No.” She adamantly refused.

Holly sat back in her seat, arms folded. “I told you she wouldn’t do it. She’s chicken.”

Olivia’s hackles rose.
Damn, Holly
. She knew she hated to be called chicken. She just didn’t see the point in forcing her to go out with someone. He was probably a computer geek with a high IQ and square-framed glasses. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but it was not the vision of her kind of date.

“Olivia, come on,” Jessica implored. “We’re not going to dare you to do anything that will totally upset you. We just want you to find a man for the evening—for tonight—and have a bit of fun. You never just kick up your heels and let loose.”

“A night of fun? Tonight! You mean for me to do the dare tonight? Come on, where am I going to find a guy to hang out with all night?”

Her friends, though she wouldn’t call them that at the moment, gazed around the bar. Olivia shook her head. “No. Absolutely not. I am not picking up a guy in this place. I don’t see one guy I know or have seen before.”

“Chicken,” Holly grumbled, loud enough for Olivia to hear.

Olivia turned her head and shot daggers Holly’s way. “Shut up.”

“The official dare, Holly, if you please,” Candy piped up.

“No. Wait.”

“Olivia must find a man—of her own choosing—and spend all night with him. Just the two of them, and she must not leave his presence before eight tomorrow morning.”

Olivia dropped her head into her hands, wanting to scream. She was so tired. She didn’t want to have to find a man tonight.

She raised her head and opened her eyes. They landed on a man across the bar she hadn’t noticed earlier. That she hadn’t spotted him earlier surprised her. He was a hard man to miss.

Darren Shalvis. The P.I. her office used from time to time. From afar, she admired his short, dark, curly hair, styled a little like that Eric-hottie from
CSI: Miami
. Darren had a toned, lean body, muscles in all the right places, six-pack abs, and was rarely seen out of the worn, military-style twill jacket.

Some days, she found herself eager for Darren to come into the office more than she should be. The men she usually liked and dated were desk-types. Three piece suits, briefcases and Blackberrys attached to their hand.

Darren didn’t have any of those qualities. He was a man’s man. Women gawked when he walked into a room, eyes drawn to him like beacons on a landing strip. Olivia’s included.

Christina Aguilera’s
Ain’t No Other Man
pulsed through the club. The music vibrated over the floor, through the wooden chair and into her body.  Her nipples tightened and her pussy clenched as he caught sight of her from his spot at the end of the bar. He raised his glass in acknowledgement.

Olivia gave him a small smile then turned back to her friends. She tried to ignore the beat of the bass moving through her. The words made her think of Darren in a room alone with her and
no other man
in sight.

“I really can’t believe you guys,” Olivia mumbled.

Finished with her drink, Holly laid her hand on Olivia’s shoulder. “It’s nearing ten o’clock. You best start scoping the place out.”

Olivia shrugged her off, unimpressed with all of them. She stood, jerked a few bills from her pocket, then threw them on the table. Resigned to what she had to do, she needed to make a pit stop before moving forward.

Perhaps if she snuck out the back…

“And no slipping away, Olivia,” Holly said, as if reading her mind. “This is ironclad. We made a pact years ago—”

“Yes, I know, dammit. We all agreed we’d never turn down a dare. Even drew blood to seal the deal. Jesus.” Olivia sighed. “I give up. You three got me, I’ll finish it. But look…” She eyed each of them in turn. “I have my cell. Should I need any of you, at any time, you answer the damn phone. Don’t ask any questions and just do whatever I ask. Got it?”

They all nodded. “Good. Now, I have to hit the ladies’ room, then get on with it.” Olivia muttered.

“Go get ‘em,” Candy called as she walked away.

Olivia squeezed past the endless bodies as she moved through the bar.

Once enclosed in the washroom, she stared in the mirror. She fluffed her hair, then yanked out the lipstick from her pocket. Pausing before she added the pink shine to her lips, she leaned against the counter.

A long, deep breath quelled the urge to scream in rage. Her friends were the best women she knew but when they ganged up on someone, that person was a goner.

Olivia never thought they’d pull something like this on her. Make her find a man.

She smiled as she came to a sudden realization.

Though good, they didn’t realize they weren’t too specific in their dare.

“Olivia must find a man—of her own choosing—and spend the night with him. Just the two of them and she cannot leave his presence before eight a.m. tomorrow morning.”

Oh yes, she’d find a man all right—one who was
not
a stranger—and would request to spend the night with him as a favor. What the two of them did, however, the girls hadn’t specified. They could do whatever Olivia wanted, as innocently as she wanted.

Smug now that she’d figured out how to outsmart her dear friends, she headed for the door.

She knew just the P.I. to turn to.

Chapter Two

Darren Shalvis—Dare to his closest buddies—took a swig from the longneck bottle in his hand and listened to the beat of the music.

It was exactly what he needed tonight. He was tired of his latest case investigating the
Lombardy
murder. He was sure the accused had offed her mother–in-law, but Presley and Malone had hired him and were convinced of her innocence. Everything Dare found pointed the other way.

Women
.

Sometimes they were exhausting.

After he closed down his office for the night, he met with his on-again-off-again bed partner, Victoria, at her place. That had unfortunately been a mistake.

Lately, Dare had the feeling
Victoria
was too serious about him. He’d rarely seen her the last couple of months because of her possessiveness. The continuous phone calls day and night, dropping by his place unannounced and even mentioning a family get-together were clear indications. And he’d wanted to talk to her, explain it was time to move on, but he hadn’t had the chance until tonight.

When he finally sat her down after he peeled her off his body—she’d attached herself to him the moment she opened the door—she hadn’t taken the
calling it quits
news very well.

After she went so far as to throw things at him, Dare left her in a foul temper. He’d enjoyed
Victoria
—between the sheets she was a spitfire—but she wasn’t the woman for him.

Hell, he knew
Victoria
had been after one thing from him. Well, okay, a couple of things, but her top priority was his money.

The Shalvis Car Company was a multi-million dollar enterprise. His brother, Bryan, was at the helm, while Dare kept his fifty percent ownership and only went to meetings if called upon. After his father’s death last year, Dare was grateful to
Bryan
for taking charge of the business.  Dare had no interest in sitting behind a desk day after day going over income spreadsheets and worrying about the stock market.

Or women that were with him only for the money.

Someday he’d find the right woman for him. And perhaps that day would come soon. He really hated the dating scene and fake women.

He set the bottle on the bar, and ran a hand through his hair. He signaled the bartender for another and rolled his shoulders in hopes of easing the tension that had settled there.

It had been a long week and he was thankful it was Friday. Though Presley & Malone had him on call over the weekend, he looked forward to a couple days of freedom.

“Darren?”

Dare turned on the stool, surprised to see Olivia Warner in front of him.

She seemed different than she usually did at the office. He only ever saw her in black and white—high-collar blouses buttoned all the way to the top, long skirts or dress pants. Tonight, she was dressed in tight blue jeans and vibrant white V-neck t-shirt with an image of ruby red lips on the front.

He had to admit, he liked how those lips lay over her breasts.

At the office numerous times, he’d never had much of a chance to talk with her, but she’d caught his eye from the moment he’d seen her. He’d walked into the office and caught sight of her delectable ass encased in a black skirt as she bent over her desk writing on a memo pad.