The Dating Dare (Gambling Men Book 2)

by Barbara Dunlop

  There was a knock on the door.

  I got up to answer, my first thought being that Sophie was back. Like me, she was probably feeling way too blue to sleep. I hoped she hadn’t driven her car after we’d had the wine.

  Then I hesitated before opening the door.

  It was really late, well after eleven. And why hadn’t she texted me? She would have texted me if she was coming back.

  I glanced to the dead bolt to make sure it was locked.

  “Hello?” I said through the door.

  “It’s Jamie.”

  At the sound of his voice, my chest tightened with anticipation. I was glad that he’d come back, way too glad.

  I quickly unlocked and opened the door.

  “What happened?” I asked him, drinking in his handsome face but forcing my thoughts to Sophie. “Is it bad? Is it good? Have you talked to Sophie yet?”

  He came inside. “I haven’t talked to Sophie. It’s too late to call her.”

  He was right about that. And bad news could always wait until morning. If Sophie was already asleep, it seemed cruel to wake her up only to make her more miserable.

  “What happened?” I asked, hesitant to know, but knowing that not knowing wouldn’t change a thing. I knew that much.

  “Aaron and I talked to Horatio.”

  “And?” I backed away a little and braced myself.

  I was pretty sure the outcome was inevitable. But once I heard the words, there was no more hope for Sophie. I felt terrible for being a part of boosting then dashing her dreams.

  “It turned out badly for me,” Jamie said, looking grim.

  It wasn’t the answer I’d expected. “I don’t understand.” I struggled to figure out what it might mean. “Oh, Jamie, what did Horatio do? Did you get fired”

  “No. It wasn’t that.”

  I felt a small measure of relief.

  “But he won’t walk away from the investment.”

  It took me a second to have the words make sense inside my head.

  Jamie’s expression was at odds with his words.

  “But that’s good,” I said. “That means Sophie will get the money.”

  “No, that’s bad. Yes, they’ll get the money. And if they lose it, Aaron and I will be in big trouble.”

  I was confused. “You told Horatio the whole story, right? He knows you think it’s risky. If he decided to stay in anyway—”

  “Sure, I told him the whole story. Problem was, he didn’t believe me.”

  I lowered myself into an armchair. “Why didn’t he believe you?”

  “He thinks I want the investment for myself.”

  “He thinks you’d lie to him?”

  “Horatio is not exactly the trusting type. Aaron had him convinced he’d beaten me to the punch. He thinks the minute he pulls out, I’ll jump in.”

  “Would you?” Even as I asked the question, it sounded silly.

  Jamie didn’t have five hundred thousand dollars to risk. And why would he put his money where it would be locked up for a long time, and where he thought he might lose it?

  Why would anyone do that?

  They wouldn’t.

  “It’s still a risky investment,” he said. “And if it goes bad on him, Horatio will save his reputation by putting the blame on us.”

  “I’m so sorry.” I stood again. I was feeling worse by the minute.

  “I hope I can help them. They need to get out of R & D, bring it to market and scale up.”

  “I’m sure you can,” I said. Everything I’d seen Jamie touch had turned out well.

  “Even if I can think of something, Ethan doesn’t seem like the kind of guy to listen.”

  “You’re a lot smarter than Ethan. And Sophie will listen to you.”

  Jamie gave a cool smile at that. “I appreciate the vote of confidence.”

  I didn’t think Jamie needed me to tell him what he already knew. He was amazing, in so many ways. I thought it had to be obvious to the world.

  We gazed at each other in silence.

  Memories of our swim bloomed to life in my brain.

  I wondered if he was remembering, too. I didn’t know how to ask. I didn’t know how to bring up the subject—the fact that I was sitting here wishing I could throw myself into his arms and pick up where we left off.

  I didn’t have any experience with this.

  How did people tell a friend they wanted to sleep with them?

  I was pretty sure they did it all the time. Friends with benefits was a thing. It was a big thing. People seemed quite taken with the concept.

  It seemed like the kind of concept Tasha would like. Tasha would definitely like an arrangement like that—all the benefits and a friendship, too. Why wouldn’t she want that?

  And she’d ask. She’d just outright ask: Hey, Jamie, how about we sleep together tonight?

  I snickered at myself.

  “What’s funny?” Jamie asked.

  “Me,” I said. “Tasha me.”

  His gaze went soft as he studied my face. “You are Tasha.”

  “Sometimes,” I said.

  I’d been very Tasha this afternoon when I jumped off that rock, then nearly jumped Jamie’s bones. That had been very Tasha.

  “Why is Tasha smiling?” he asked. “I’m assuming she’s not amused by my predicament.”

  “Not at all. I’m really sorry about that.”

  He waved my words away. “Let’s get back to the smile.”

  I stepped forward, bringing myself closer. It felt easier to say the words when there was some intimacy between us.

  “You remember this afternoon?” I asked.

  He moved too, closing the distance between us. “Is that a joke?”

  “It’s an opening line.”

  “Yes, I remember this afternoon.”

  I gathered every ounce of my courage and dived into the deep end. “Do you want to sleep with me?”

  “Did I not make that obvious?”

  “Because I want to sleep with you. There, I said it.” I paused. “Okay, you probably already knew that.” I recalibrated in my brain. “I’m thinking Tasha would just say it out loud. And so would Jamie. You know that Jamie would say it. If Tasha and Jamie wanted to be friends with benefits, they’d say so. They’d say it. They’d own it. They’d do it. And they’d enjoy it. No big thing. No big deal. They wouldn’t dwell on whether or not it was a good idea. They’re exciting. They’re risk takers. They embrace life and enjoy every single moment of it. And there’s no reason, none at all, why we shouldn’t do exactly that. I have condoms, you know.”

  Jamie cracked a sudden smile. “Are you done?”

  I took a breath.

  Part of me couldn’t believe I’d just blurted all that out.

  Another part of me was darn proud for having done it. “I think so...yeah... I think that about does it.”

  “Yes,” Jamie said.

  I waited for more.

  He didn’t say anything else.

  “That’s it?” I asked.

  “That’s it. A solid, definitive, exciting, risk-taking yes.”

  I reached for his shirt.

  He reached for mine.

  We all but tore off each other’s clothes.

  Then we stopped. We stared at each other. We were mostly naked, both breathing deeply.

  “I want to do this fast,” Jamie said.

  I was fine with fast. I was more than fine with fast. We had two perfectly good sofas within a few feet of where we were standing. And there were the armchairs. I’d make love on an armchair.

  Or the floor. I’d happily make love with Jamie on the floor, too.

  “But I want it to go slow.” He reached out and feathered a touch on the tip of my bare shoulder.

  O
h, yeah. Slow sounded marvelous.

  His palm cupped my shoulder, and he drew me into a kiss.

  It was long and deep and sexy sweet.

  I stepped into him, my nipples brushing his chest. Tendrils of passion were winding through me, heating me straight to my core.

  I wrapped my arms around his neck, leaning into the strength of him.

  He cupped my rear with both hands, pulling me against him.

  “But I can’t do slow,” he growled against my lip.

  “Okay,” I said.

  “Slow later,” he said and scooped me into his arms.

  I didn’t know where we were going, and I sure didn’t care.

  He rounded the divider in less than five seconds. Deposited me on the bed and followed me down, covering my body with his heat.

  He kept up his kisses, and I molded my lips to his, thinking that he tasted good, really good, extraordinarily good. I didn’t think a man’s lips could taste so sweet.

  His palm stroked its way up my side, over my ribs, onto my breast, settling there.

  I arched my back, and a moan vibrated my lips.

  His fingers wrapped my nipple, and the tingle told me it was beading in response.

  “Tasha,” he whispered, then stroked his tongue against mine.

  I loved my name on his lips, my special, secret name that meant everything I was doing was okay. It was better than okay. It was fantastic and fun, and there wasn’t a reason in the world I shouldn’t be enjoying sex with Jamie.

  We’d made a deal. And it was a good deal. It was a marvelous deal, and all I had to do was lie back and enjoy it.

  I parted my legs to cradle him, and I stroked my hands down the length of his back, feeling the satin of his skin, the definition of his muscle, marveling at the texture and the masculine contours of his body.

  I broke from his mouth to kiss his shoulder. I wanted to see if his skin tasted as good as his lips.

  It did.

  I kissed my way across his chest.

  He threw his head back and groaned.

  His fingers tightened on my nipple, sending quivers of desire rocketing down my body. I arched into him, my legs going around his waist.

  “Condom,” he whispered.

  Good call. For a second I’d forgotten.

  I would have remembered, I told myself as I reached out and pulled open the drawer of my bedside table.

  The interruption was brief, and I watched his expression until he was done and met my eyes. His were dark blue, deep and intent.

  “You’re gorgeous,” I said.

  He smiled. “You’re the gorgeous one.” His arms slid back around me, and he held me so tenderly close that I felt a random tear slip from the corner of my eye.

  I wasn’t crying. I wasn’t sad. I was very, very far from sad. If anything, I wanted to whoop with joy.

  “You ready?” he asked.

  I’d been ready for quite a few days now.

  “Yes,” I said and angled toward him.

  He pressed into me.

  I closed my eyes, savoring every inch and every second, until we were together and desire was rocketing through my body.

  He pulled, and I gasped.

  His voice was a groan again near my ear. “This is so not going to be slow.”

  “Good,” I said.

  Slow could come later. At least, I hoped slow would come later. If making love with Jamie felt like this all the time, I didn’t know how we’d ever stop.

  His body met mine, and I synced our rhythm. His hands were everywhere, plucking my passion, drawing out sensations I hadn’t known existed.

  A colored haze took over my brain, green then blue then yellow and orange. We flew high and crested fast.

  I cried out. I dived into the sun. Waves of pure ecstasy all but lifted me from the bed.

  Jamie groaned, and our bodies pulsed together for long minutes.

  Then I felt the tension drain from him. I melted into every touch, every sensation. My skin was slick against his. The air finally felt cool on my limbs.

  “Wow,” Jamie said.

  “Wow,” I said back.

  “That was fantastic.”

  “It was,” I agreed wholeheartedly.

  “We have to do that again.”

  I smiled at that. I loved the conviction in his voice. “Right this second?”

  “Tonight. Definitely again tonight.”

  His words made me think about tomorrow.

  But I wasn’t going to think about tomorrow. I was Tasha, and I was daring and confident, and I was going to take this moment, this night for what it was. A supergood time with a man who was becoming a supergood friend. There was absolutely no value in worrying beyond that.

  * * *

  It was Sunday, and I opened my apartment door to Sophie.

  I was expecting Jamie in an hour, and until I saw her standing there I’d hoped the knock meant he was early. I’d hoped he was as anxious to see me as I was to see him. Then I hoped Sophie couldn’t see the disappointment on my face.

  She didn’t.

  She looked tired and frustrated.

  “It’s hard trying to get rich,” she said and moved past me.

  She was dressed in jeans and flats. Her light brown hair was swooped up in a ponytail that looked hasty. And her sparkly T-shirt hung lose over her jeans—no half tuck, no saucy knot, no nothing. This wasn’t like Sophie.

  “No orders yet?” I knew they’d all been contacting potential customers.

  I told myself I was sympathetic. And I reminded myself how important the success of BRT Innovations was to Sophie and everyone else, including Jamie. I reminded myself that sex with Jamie was secondary to his own career and to Sophie’s future.

  Still, I couldn’t stop thinking about his arrival. And I couldn’t help hoping Sophie would be gone by then. Most of all, I couldn’t help picturing Jamie naked.

  “We’ve been at it for months,” she said. “We’re all working doubly hard now, and Jamie is helping, but there’s no interest from the market. I’m talking zero interest, Nat. And it’s starting to terrify me.”

  I closed the door. “These things take time.” I knew that had to be true.

  She took a couple of steps and then turned to face me. “It would be different if we had some maybes, if people liked the idea but maybe couldn’t afford Sweet Tech. If they thought they might want to buy one in the future. But nobody wants to buy one in the future. They won’t even consider the possibilities.”

  I knew I’d be a terrible salesperson. I couldn’t even imagine how demoralizing it must be to face so much rejection.

  “We’re moving pretty fast, spending, spending, spending,” she said, looking even more worried as she said it. “Ethan’s put together ten more prototypes.”

  “You need those for sure,” I said, trying to sound optimistic but feeling as worried as Sophie looked.

  She gave a nervous laugh. “You have to spend money to make money?”

  “I’ve heard that.” I didn’t have much else to offer.

  “We’re spending Horatio’s money now. And the things Aaron’s said about his uncle make me feel like we’re indebted to a criminal—like he’ll break our legs or something if we don’t pay it back.”

  “Nobody’s breaking anyone’s legs.” I thought about my half of the money Jamie and I had amassed and wondered if contributing it would help.

  I could wait for a condo. I could be happy in my apartment for a few more years. At least it looked great now. It wasn’t ugly anymore. I had that going for me.

  Another knock came on the door.

  My brain and my heart rooted for it to be Jamie. I couldn’t help the feelings, even though I knew they were selfish.

  “Aaron was going to meet me here,” Sophie said.

/>   More disappointment for me.

  As I walked to the door, I told myself to stop being so self-absorbed.

  Last night with Jamie had been beyond amazing, and I couldn’t wait to be alone with him again, to kiss him, make love with him, to talk, to laugh, to whatever with him. I was greedy for every second we could have together.

  I was greedy. And I needed to stop. Sophie needed my support right now.

  I opened the door, and it was Jamie.

  My heart lifted.

  “Hi, Tasha,” he said, his eyes warm, his lips breaking into a smile.

  “Why do you call her that?” Sophie appeared at my right shoulder.

  Jamie was obviously surprised to see her.

  “It’s short for Natasha,” he said.

  “So is Nat.” She looked from him to me and back again. “And what are you doing here?”

  Jamie didn’t answer.

  I opened my mouth, hoping something logical would come out of it. No reasonable explanation was forming inside my head.

  Then Aaron appeared in the hallway.

  “Did Aaron call you?” Sophie asked Jamie.

  “He didn’t have to call me,” Jamie said, brushing past the awkward moment. “We work in the same office. What’s going on?”

  As Jamie moved past me, he purposefully brushed his hand against mine.

  My skin tingled and my heart thudded.

  It had been a busy week, and I was impatient to get to the benefits part of our friendship again. I was feeling really impatient. Clearly, I wasn’t a very good friend to Sophie.

  “We have to get this under control,” Aaron said as he walked in the door. “We can’t keep bleeding money with nothing to show for it. We need a plan to get some orders under our belt.”

  Bryce and Ethan arrived behind him, and my apartment filled up with the entire gang.

  “We need to open some doors,” Aaron said. “Nobody is taking us seriously.”

  “Because Sweet Tech has no track record,” Jamie said, sounding impatient. “BRT Innovations has no track record. That’s been my point all along.”

  “An ‘I told you so’ isn’t going to help,” Aaron said.

  “Even if it makes you feel like the big man,” Ethan tossed in.

  “Ethan,” I snapped.

  Aaron was right. But Jamie was right, too. And Ethan being rude wasn’t going to help any of it.