tiniest compression of his lips before he spoke. “I guess it can be that simple.”
But it’s usually not, was the unspoken ending to his sentence and she was starting to think he wasn’t talking about Natalie and her lab partner any more than she was.
“What kind of dare would you choose for me?”
He frowned, not the reaction she’d hoped for. “That’s easy. I’d dare you to tell me what you’re doing right now.”
She gave him a sultry smile to hide her uneasiness. “Right now? Talking to you.”
He didn’t smile back. “Okay.”
What had she expected? That a perceptive guy like Denver wouldn’t think it was odd when her entire personality changed in the course of an hour?
Damn it. She wanted this whole night back to do over. She could catch her half sisters in the act of swapping dare slips and instead have been able to send Tanya home with a stomach full of butterflies over what she’d have to do the next day when her science guy showed up to work.
Still…she had to get this done. Get the seduction over with and get back to life as usual, if God would grant her that luxury after what she was about to perpetrate. “So…Denver.”
“So…Lindsay.”
“Don’t you think it’s time you and I did something…” She pulled at the hem of her shirt until it came off over her head. She made herself appear relaxed again, wearing only a black cotton camisole. “…about what’s between us?”
He froze, one, two, three seconds, then his eyes wandered over her bare arms, down over her breasts, half exposed by the low thin material, and back up to her face. The tension was so thick that she shuddered when he put his drink down on her coffee table. Which left his hands free. Didn’t it.
Would he take the lead now? Take her hard and fast, then say thanks, babe, it was great, and let’s do it again sometime and good night?
A girl could only hope…
He didn’t. He clasped his hands behind his head and leaned against the back of the couch, eyes narrowed. If this was a movie, he’d be about to say, “make my day.”
“Is that a no?”
He shook his head, his gaze pinning her so that she had to force herself not to squirm guiltily. Not a no. Which meant it was a yes?
She didn’t know whether she felt relief or not.
“Mmm, good.” She put her hand on the iron of his thigh and started a slow path toward where it counted, getting more and more jittery when he just sat there, staring at her.
Okay. Fine. Whatever he was into, she’d make it work. She’d probably encountered just about every kind of guy out there along the tortured, unhappy path she’d chosen to walk before Ty’s death, and done just about everything there was to do at least once. He couldn’t surprise her.
She let her hand linger near his fly and was rewarded with instant swelling between his legs. To her surprise, she reacted nearly as strongly, arousal starting a low burn between hers.
Down, girl. Keep it under control.
“You like this?”
“Yes.” The syllable was curt; he still hadn’t moved otherwise. But as long as he wasn’t objecting…
“How about this?” Her palm moved over the long, narrow bulge in his jeans. She took in a sharp breath, unprepared for her own reaction, though she’d anticipated his. Stroking him gently up and down, she leaned forward, dipping one shoulder so her strap would slide off and her hair would make a solid curtain behind her profile.
His hips moved up slightly; his breathing became audible. Her arousal matched his pace, maybe because it had been a long time for her. She unsnapped his jeans, drew the zipper down more hurriedly than she’d intended, dipped her hand in to savor his warmth and his hardness through his black cotton briefs.
“Lindsay.” His voice was husky.
“Mmm?” She bent down and kissed his erection, her lips lingering.
“Why are you doing this?”
She tugged his jeans down, reached for the waistband of his briefs and pulled them down to expose him. He was beautiful. Thick and long and tipped faintly pink. Her hunger grew. “Because I want you. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”
“I have figured it out. What I haven’t figured out is why tonight.”
“You know a better time?” She pressed her face against his length, inhaled his scent, then opened her mouth and slid it along his erection aiming for the tip to take him fully into her—
He grabbed her shoulders and had her half lying across the back of the couch under him so quickly that she couldn’t control her terror reaction, and heard herself make the choked cry she hadn’t had to let out in a long time.
“Where is this coming from, Lindsay?”
She swallowed the thickness in her throat, telling herself over and over that this was Denver, this was different, he was emotional not dangerous, confused not enraged until the urge to plead for mercy left her and she could feel as impassive as she was struggling to appear. “What are you talking about?”
“Months, Lindsay. Months of dancing around this, avoiding me, shutting me out, and now suddenly you’re all hot to give me a blow job? What the hell happened?”
“I thought…you’d like it.”
“Geezus, Lindsay. Of course I’d like it. I’m a guy. But I think we skipped a few parts of this equation. Like spending time together first—you wouldn’t even come swimming with me. Like talking about something other than work. Or…” His voice dropped lower; he fixed his gaze on her mouth. “…like kissing.”
No. Not kissing. Not sweetness. Not affection. No feeling. She made another desperate sound and threw herself to the opposite end of the couch, arms crossed around her chest.
“What the—” He held his hands up, surrendering.
She closed her eyes. Maybe she could have messed this up more, but she didn’t think so. Why couldn’t he just let her show him a good time? Why did he have to make this about anything except screwing her so she could fulfill her dare?
“I’m sorry.” She sat up ramrod straight, the way she had refused to do during adolescence for her furious mom. “This was not a good idea. I knew it wasn’t, but I—”
“Lindsay.” His voice was slow, gentle, talking nicey-nice to the completely insane woman. She didn’t blame him. “Let’s get back to our whiskey. Back to talking. Back to normal. Tomorrow you can come swimming with me after work or I’ll come up here again or I’ll take you to lunch one day before work. Maybe a lot of days, maybe one or two late night dinners and we’ll see what happens. Let this go more naturally and a lot slower.”
She bit her lip. How the hell was she supposed to tell him that was the last thing she wanted to do?
Or…maybe next to last. Or maybe…
It couldn’t happen. He was talking relationship and all she could handle in her life right now was sex. If it wasn’t for the dare, she wouldn’t even choose to handle that.
“I’m sorry, Denver. It’s not like that. I was just looking to get laid and I thought you were too. You were nice enough to help me bring the boxes up here, you were looking really good, I was horny and I thought maybe you’d be up for it. But the whole sweetheart dating, kissing thing? No. Sorry. Not a good plan. Not for me.”
She finished, pretty pleased with herself. Guys understood the need to get laid. He’d get it. She’d be off the hook and they could get back to—
“Why not?”
Her