Page 7 of Wicked Dares
“So am I.”
“Yes, but…” I search for something to say.
“Worried I’m hideous?” he teases.
“No.” I laugh. “Are you?”
With a flick of his fingers, he casually slips the mask off. And Lord have mercy, I wasn’t ready to see him fully. His facebelongs on the cover of one of those dark romance books Alexis is obsessed with. Beautiful enough to ruin your judgment on sight.
He’s attractive as sin, and I’m taken aback by the untamed beauty of his face. It undoubtedly matches his alluring confidence.
“Am I hideous, Butterfly?”
The air between us thickens, making it harder to pull into my lungs. “No. You are most definitelynothideous. AndButterfly? Is that what I look like to you?”
“You move like one. Attracted me like one, too. Come on. Come with me.”
This is the kind of guy who can get you intoallsorts of trouble you’d never regret, and he’d make you forget—everything.
Forget that you’re trying to be careful.
Forget why you swore off relationships forever.
Forget the reasons you moved across the country for a fresh start.
I forget all of that for a good few seconds, until the warnings of all the things I should remember return to me like death knells ringing in my head.
Say no, say no, say no.
The sound warns.
The gorgeous man stares back at me, waiting for an answer.
Despite the warnings, I would love to say yes. The old me would have gone with him in a heartbeat. This version of me wants to go, too, and explore whatever this is, but it’s best I don’t.
“Yes, shewillgo with you,” Alexis’ voice answers for me in a brisk tone that sounds impossibly loud in my head, even against the music.
I whirl around to face her, my eyes wide. She’s right behind me. I don’t know how long she’s been there, but she’s clearly heard everything.
“What are you doing?” I hiss.
“Excuse me. I’ll just borrow her for a second,” she says to my new gorgeous friend, then grabs my arm and hustles me to the side, leaving him staring after us. “I’m trying to stop you from dying an old maid.”
I roll my eyes at her and frown. “Alexis, please.”
“Don’tAlexisme. That guy is seriously hot. Please do not turn him down.”
“I have to work in?—”
“No. Don’t you dare tell me that.” She raises a finger and shakes her head. “Work is work. Don’t pass on a guy like that for the sake of stupid work.”
“Work aside…” I sigh. “I don’t think I should be around guys at the moment. You know, with everything?—”
She grabs my shoulders. “Stop. Just shut up.”
“But—”
“No. There is nobut. This is why you moved to New York. What happened to your whole ‘seize the moment’ thing? You’re Piper Carson, for crying out loud. You’re all about living. Please just live a little.”
