Double Dare
By
Rhonda Nelson
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This book is an original publication of the
author who wrote the story herein contained.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
places and incidents are either the product of the authors’
imaginations or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to
persons, living or dead, actual events or locales is entirely
coincidental.
“
Double Dare” copyright ©
2011 by Rhonda Nelson.
This book has been published by Rhonda Nelson
at Smashwords.
Cover Art by Dee Tenorio, Laideebug
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Chapter One
“
Drive, Jaynes!”
In a blur of white satin and lace, Louisa
Marie Honeycutt dove into the waiting limousine, slid across the
expansive leather seat, then with a furtive look out the tinted
window, issued the desperate order again.
Befuddled, her driver started to protest.
“But—”
“
Now!” Lou demanded,
frantically battling the clinging net of her veil from her
face.
Started by her vehemence, Jaynes’ usually
light foot hit the accelerator hard. Tires squealed as Lou’s head
snapped back from the unexpected jolt.
Lou blinked, then sighed with overwhelming
relief as the big car swiftly lengthened the distance between
herself and the church.
She’d done it! She’d
escaped!
Narrowly, and admittedly not by
conventional methods, but the fact remained that she was
free.
Giddy with a sense of liberation, Lou clamped
a hand over mouth to keep a wicked giggle from escaping.
“
Might I ask where we are
going, miss?” Jaynes’s distressed voice asked
hesitantly.
Lou frowned. Her mental cheerleading session
came to a halt. “I haven’t gotten that far in my plan yet, Jaynes.
Just get as far away from the church as you can,” she instructed
grimly. The satin of her gown hissed as she shifted to a move
comfortable position.
Eyes darting nervously between the road and
the rearview mirror, her timid driver cleared his throat.
“
May I be so bold as to ask
a question, miss?”
In the process of removing the dratted veil
from her head, Lou sighed patiently. Though she was certain Jaynes
had played a part of spy for her exasperating overprotective
father, Lou had always had a soft spot in her heart for the aging
driver. For whatever reason, she had the uncanny notion he returned
her feelings.
“
Permission granted, Jaynes.
Ask away.”
“
I was, uh, curious as to
the w-whereabouts of your, er…groom?”
Lou removed the last pin from the veil,
wadded it up and banked it off the glass into the floorboard, then
set about removing the pins from the elaborate knot of curls on her
head. Excitement bubbled through her and she resisted the urge to
do a wriggly little dance in her seat.
“
I imagine he’s at the
altar,” she replied matter-of-factly. “Where I left
him.”
Jaynes’ eyes bugged and a little choking
sound emerged from his throat. “Uh, miss. This— This is highly
irregular. Your father will not be pleased. I must return—”
Lou’s grin disappeared and her gaze snapped
to his. “You’ll do no such thing. As for my father, I’ll deal with
him…at a later time.” An image of her intimidating sire flashed
before Lou’s eyes, momentarily taking the starch out of her
newfound spine. Lou winced. She’d also be forced to deal with her
equally intimidating almost-mother-in-law, but she, too, would have
to wait.
“
For now,” she told Jaynes,
“you’ll do as I say, and I say we will not be returning to the
church. Understood?”
Jaynes nodded reluctantly. “Fine, miss.”
One more hurdle taken care
of, she thought. Lou tugged the last pin from her hair, then shook
it free and massaged her tender scalp.
Now
what? Now what? Now what?
she wondered. She
couldn’t go back to the house. Her father would surely find her,
then drag her kicking and screaming back to the sacrificial altar
of marital bliss.
Humph. Like hell.
James Whitehorn Honeycutt would simply have
to find another way to merge Honeycutt Foods with Reedwater Snacks.
Regardless of what her father thought, the merger wasn’t worth her
freedom, or her happiness.
“
Miss?”
“
Yes, Jaynes?” Lou said
absently, her mind occupied, her gaze trained on the changing
sky—partly cloudy, partly clear—as they neared the downtown Atlanta
area.
“
Y-you realize, of course,
that this is only temporary,” he offered hesitantly.
Lou met his gaze in the mirror and quirked a
brow.
Jaynes reddened, but blustered on. “Your
father and Ms. Reedwater will insist upon the match. They’ll chalk
up your defection to pre-wedding jitters and will simply reschedule
the wedding.”
A line of displeasure formed between Lou’s
brows. Drat. Double drat. Jaynes was right. As soon as her father
managed to find her, he’d do exactly as her insightful driver had
pointed out. And undoubtedly Lou thought grimly, the second time
around he would see to it there was no avenue for escape.
Which was why she couldn’t be captured just
yet, Lou decided, thoughtfully tapping a finger against her chin.
She needed time. Time to formulate a plan and prepare an argument
for her overbearing, well meaning, if misguided, lovable
parent.
In order to pull this off, she would have to
lie low. Obviously, staying with a friend was out of the question.
Undoubtedly, he’d check with them first. Her next thought was a
hotel, but she quickly nixed that plan as well. Her father was a
resourceful man and wouldn’t hesitate to trace her credit cards.
Lou made a mental note to stop by an ATM and withdraw a substantial
amount of cash to subsidize this escape.
Okay. She couldn’t go home, she couldn’t go
to a friend. Getting cash and checking into a hotel would take care
of the immediate problem, but not the long-term one. She needed to
get out of town. Her brow furrowed. But where could she possibly—
Suddenly a phrase emblazoned on a nearby awning snagged her
attention.
Are you ready for the time of your life?
Lou read the slogan of Double Dare, Inc., on
the awning outside the red brick building, and felt a rush of
excitement swirl through her. A bright ray of sun pierced the
clouds and bathed the business front, giving the fanciful
impression of divine intervention. A wonderful idea came to her,
resulting in a small smile. Lou instructed Jaynes to circle the
block, then attempted to recall everything she could about the
rather unorthodox firm.
As best she could remember, Double Dare
specialized in adventure guides for thrill seekers. In fact,
several friends who’d employed the company’s services had also
suggested that Lou hire them to plan her honeymoon. Lou hadn’t even
considered the idea. In all truth, she’d work up even less
enthusiasm for the honeymoon than she had for the wedding. She’d
let Chad take care of those arrangements.
She felt a little guilty, remembering the man
she’d just humiliated before all of Atlanta’s elite. Though he’d
never been so crass as to admit it, she didn’t believe Chad had
particularly wanted to marry her either. Like herself, he’d just
assumed he was obliged to help secure the merger and had gone along
with what his high-handed, imperious mother had told him to do. A
shudder of dread shook her at the thought of her
almost-mother-in-law.
Coolly beautiful, Edwina Reedwater had a way
about her that could make the most courageous person uneasy.
Occasionally, Lou had even witnessed a tremor or two in her
father’s unshakable fortitude when faced with the intimidating
widow.
Edwina would be furious. With Lou. And out
for blood.
Indecision gnawed at her.
Jaynes circled the block, once again passing
the impressive business front which housed Double Dare, Inc.
Impossibly, the shaft of light shining on the building appeared
brighter.
Lou made up her mind.
“
Jaynes, keep circling until
I tell you to stop.”
Suddenly, her father’s loud baritone blared
over the radio attached to the dashboard. “Jaynes! Jaynes! Where
the hell are you? Is Lou with you? Come in, Jaynes.”
Horrified, Lou met her driver’s eyes in the
rearview mirror. But to her surprise, Jaynes took a deep breath and
gave her a reassuring smile. He switched the radio off and Lou
smiled gratefully.
“
You’d best hurry, miss,”
Jaynes advised.
Lou nodded and quickly went to work on her
dress. She couldn’t very well waltz into Double Dare in her wedding
finery, but she didn’t have time to stop and change. Especially not
now.
Lou was thankful for the simple satin sheath
she’d chosen for today. Though quite formal, it would suit her
purposes with a little altering. Lou scooted forward, reached
behind her back and deftly unhooked the chapel-length train, then
shoved it aside. Seed pearls ricocheted off the tinted windows and
pinged to the floor as she yanked the lacy overlay from the bodice
of the dress. Her mood lightened with each tear of the fabric as
she enthusiastically attacked another row of pearls. White gloves
and thigh-high white stockings joined the growing heap of
discards.
When there was nothing else to rip or tear
from the dress, Lou smoothed her fingers over the modified Vera
Wang and studied her handiwork. Not bad, she decided, suitably
impressed with her impromptu alterations. Alterations which had
proven very therapeutic, she thought with a smile. She flipped the
visor down and checked her makeup, deemed it acceptable, then
attempted to do something with her hair. Lou frowned. The tight
blond ringlets were both her crowning glory and her bane of
existence.
And, despite the amount of hairspray the
stylist had used, right now it was the latter. Her corkscrew curls
stood out every which way, making her resemble a cross between
Cruella DeVille and Medusa, she thought disgustedly. She needed a
barrette, a headband, something.
Inspiration struck. Lou rifled through the
bridal debris until she found the item she’d been looking for: her
veil. Lips pursed, she inspected the fabric, then yanked it free of
the headband. When she’d positioned the new accessory on her head,
Lou smiled. Perfect.
“
Okay, Jaynes. Take me to
Double Dare, Inc.”
Lou wasn’t so interested in having the time
of her life—she was more concerned with saving it.
Sam Rawlins looked at the depressing figure
displayed in ominous LED green on his desktop calculator, then
flipped his pen on the desk. The tiny thump it made was positively
pitiful.
He leaned back in his chair, rubbed the
bridge of his nose and exhaled a mighty breath. Hell, at the rate
he was going, it would be at least another year before he could get
the magazine off the ground.
Another year of performing stunts, when he’d
rather be writing about them.
Sam muttered a heartfelt,
“Aw, hell”—his greatest concession to any setback no matter how
bad—then leaned forward and set his mind to today’s task. Though
the thought of further delays was bitterly depressing,
The Edge
would simply have
to wait until his possessed the capital for the
start-up.