Daring Ink(14)

She’d been overjoyed when Mr. Dare had loved her campaign.

They were chatting about an upcoming project, when Ella came rushing over with an excited grin.

“I’ve found him,” she said under her breath when she reached the women.

“Avery, this is my rude friend,Ella,” Vanessa said instead of replying to her crazy friend.

Ella looked sheepish.

“Oh, sorry … It’s nice to meet you!”

“You too,” Avery replied, then looked around the room with a conspiratorial smile. “Who’d you find?”

“The man who’s going to break Van’s dry spell.”

“Ella!”Vanessa exclaimed, embarrassed that her friend would bring up such a private topic in front of a client.

“Oooh, point him out,” Avery said,leaning in closer to Ella, obviously not finding the situation inappropriate in the slightest.

Vanessa took a healthy gulp of wine and tried to act like she wasn’t holding her breath waiting to see who Ella was talking about.

“Twelve o’clock, dark hair, and dimples that have panties dropping on site.”

Vanessa turned her gaze to twelve o’clock and was shocked to find a thrill run through her at the very tall, very tanned, and very gorgeous man watching her and her friends watch him. She looked down quickly, but it was too late; she’d already caught the cocky grin he shot at her. She’d felt it straight to her bones.

“Wow, you’re not kidding,” Avery said under her breath.

Vanessa had to agree with Ella’s assessment. She was ready to drop her panties at one glance. What the hell? She’d never had a reaction like that to a man before. Certainly not just from eye contact.

“Well?” Ella asked.

“I don’t even know if he’s single,”Vanessa began, her palms beginning to sweat at the thought of approaching the handsome stranger.

“He wasn’t wearing a ring,” Ella answered. “There’s only one way to find out whether he has a girlfriend or not.”

“I don’t know,” Vanessa said, then looked to Avery for a lifeline. “Do you know him? Does he work for the team?”

Vanessa’s hope for an easy out vanished when the striking brunette shook her head.

“I’ve never seen him before. Believe me, I’d remember.”

“No excuses,” Ella cajoled. “I dare you…”

Vanessa’s head shot up and she looked incredulously at her oldest friend.

“We’re not in college anymore.”

“No, but there’s no expiration date on taking a dare,” Ella said with a grin.

They’d made a pact the first night they’d gotten drunk and played Truth or Dare in college. You had to accept all dares, or face the consequence. Which meant the other person would pick out the ugliest bra and pair of granny panties, and the welsher had to strip down ands treak in a public area. It was a stupid pact, but one they’d always adhered to, and since then, neither of them had ever turned down a dare. It may be childish and stupid, but it always reminded Vanessa not to take herself so seriously all the time.

“We’re adults now, Ella, I’m not playing some silly game,” Vanessa argued, even though she was really warming to the idea of breaking her dry spell. Especially with a guy like that!

“I don’t care if we’re eighty; a pact is a pact, and a dare is a dare.”

Ella had her hands on her hips now,and Avery was nodding in agreement.

Vanessa knew she was at least going to have to make an attempt. There was no way the other women were letting her off the hook, especially when Ella added, “I double dog dare you!”

Jeez, it looked like her friend was never going to grow up.

Vanessa downed the rest of her wine,handed the empty glass to her giddy friend, and took a deep breath.

Game on.



You can get the rest of An Inconvenient Dare by Bethany Lopez on Amazon in Carly Phillips' Dare to Love Kindle World!





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Wish to Dare

(Excerpt)

By Tracy Sharp

“Damn it!” She’d put a run in her pantyhose. Leslie Benson and pantyhose didn’t mix. She could go through four pair in an hour. Somehow, she always managed to put runs in them. Today she’d been running late and hadn’t had time to stash extra pairs in her messenger bag.

“Just take them off,” Madison said. “This is Miami. You don’t need hose.”

“I get blisters with these shoes if I don’t wear hose.” They were Gucci knockoffs some guy was selling out of the trunk of his car. Leslie didn’t make it a habit of approaching the cars, let alone the trunks, of strange men, but the shoes had called to her from that trunk. She had to rescue them. “They look like the real thing, though, right?”

Madison appraised her shoes. “It’s uncanny. That guy who peddles them from the trunk of his car?”

Leslie grimaced. “Yeah.”

Madison nodded. “I know him. Took me two pairs before I learned. They’re gorgeous but they shred your feet. Softer leather would take care of the blister problem.”

Madison could afford the real thing, now, being married to Alex Dare. Leslie planned to be able to afford the real thing someday. She eyed the shoes with a mixture of adoration and hate, and then kicked them off. She moved to take off the hose, and then hesitated.

She really had no choice. Either take the hose off or interview Dean Wilson, former running back for the New York Wolves, with a huge run in her stocking.

“Just do it. They won’t be here for a bit. In the time you’re taking to consider it, you could’ve had them off already.” Madison got up from her chair and crossed the large office to close the door.

Madison Evans Dare’s office was located at the Thunder Dome, the Thunder’s corporate offices. She was the reason Leslie was here. She’d given Leslie several story ops since she’d started running the new training program that helped prepare football players for life outside of the game.

Thanks to Madison, Leslie had access to many players, not only from Thunder, but from other professional teams as well.

“Okay.” Leslie quickly tugged down the pantyhose, making sure her skirt covered her bottom and other areas. In her haste, she didn’t realize until they were in her hand that she’d whipped her panties off too. “Oh, God.”

Madison laughed. “Just shove them in your Prada knock-off reporter’s bag. Same guy sells bags?”

“Yeah, he keeps them in the backseat.” Leslie jammed first the pantyhose and then the panties in the bag. She took a deep, calming breath. “There.”

“What’s up with you today? You’re kind of out of sorts.” Madison watched her curiously.

Leslie shook her head. “Nothing. I’m fine.”

“Bullshit. Tell me.” Apparently Madison’s social worker bullshit radar was in full gear.

She sighed. “If I don’t get a great story from Dean Wilson, I’m out of a job.”

Madison pulled a face. “What? Why? You’re a great reporter.”

Leslie smoothed her skirt down and stepped back into her shoes. She winced. She really did need to buy better shoes. “The Miami Star has been sold. The new owner is bringing in his own talent, with the exception of an editor. Ned is leaving, but he’s choosing the new editor to fill his spot. Apparently the new owner trusts Ned to choose someone who will make the change seamless.”

Madison gave a little shrug. “It should be no problem, then. You’re fantastic.”

Leslie tipped her head to the side. “Well, thanks. I like to think so. But I’m up against another reporter for the position.”

Madison’s brows furrowed. “Who?”

“Spencer Baine.” The name tasted bitter in Leslie’s mouth.

Madison rolled her eyes. “Ugh. He’s a bottom dweller. It should be no problem, then. The job is yours.”

“Spencer’s father is friends with Ned. He’s some bigwig real estate mogul. Rumor is that Spencer has a trust fund that he can’t get his grubby hands on until he shows he is a responsible member of society, and can hold down a job. Apparently he burned through a ton of Daddy’s money after graduating from Harvard. Spoiled rich kid stuff.”

Madison squinted. “Why doesn’t he just become a car salesman or something?”

Leslie sat down and slumped in the chair, already feeling defeated. “He fancies himself a journalist. It’s what he went to Harvard for. Anyway, Ned is making this a fair competition. Still, I don’t trust Baine. He’s pond scum. He’ll fight dirty.”

Madison gave a dismissive wave. “Just wow Ned with your work. This story is a good one. And it’s yours. Dean hasn’t spoken to the media since he’s come out of the coma six months ago. He’s been focusing on rehab and he’s bounced back amazingly. But he is not a big fan of reporters. He was in the news pretty steadily before the accident.”

Dean Wilson. He was a player on and off the field. Leslie remembered some news story about him and the wife of a prominent politician a couple of years back.