The Dare (The Bet 3)

I'd watched her hands glide over the paper.

I'd watched her delicate fingers as they held the color blue.

I'd watched when her face lit up from the praise the little girl gave her.

And then I'd ruined it by scowling when the little girl gave her a high five, and I'd been left out.

Irritation pierced me in the chest. And I was ready to lose my damn mind over it. Every time I tried to imagine a reason for me to be upset that Beth wasn't giving me attention, the more upset with myself I became.

I probably should have apologized for my bluntness, but things were better that way. She needed to know it had been a one-time thing. Yeah, she was beautiful, but that didn't mean I was ready to hand my balls to her on a silver platter.

Been there done that. Never again.

So what if that made me insensitive? I had my job. I loved my job, and I intended to do anything to keep it.

I turned on my phone and looked down at the screen.

Rick: Call as soon as you land.

I texted him back instead, knowing I didn't want to be that annoying guy who started talking loudly when everyone was trying to grab his bag and make it down the narrow aisle.

Me: Landed. Can't talk. Everything okay?

Rick: Define okay.

Me: Did the problem go away?

Rick: If the problem you're referring to is an attractive thirty year old that works for the company whose bill you just rejected because you said it wasn't soundly written, then yeah. Sure. Peachy.

Me: What?!

Rick: Like I said, call me when you have time. We need to make this go away. Approval ratings can drop overnight. Good news? People think you're getting married, and the news is loving it. So stay put.

Cursing, I put the phone back in my pocket and rubbed my temples.

"Bad news?" Beth blinked her green eyes innocently.

"Thanks to you, yes." I was trapped. I couldn't leave, and if I stayed, I stayed next to Beth, and the longer I was in her presence, the more I wanted to attack her — in a totally sexually pent-up frustrated way. One where there was biting and fighting and—"

"Me?" Her eyebrows shot up.

I tried to look pissed instead of aroused.

"Any chance I can pay you an obscene amount of money to kick me in the balls on national television and say you're mentally insane?"

Beth's eyes narrowed into tiny slits. "Tell you what, I'll kick you in the balls for free. As for the rest of it, go screw yourself."

"Ha," I said dryly. "Chemist's got some personality after all." I was being an ass. I knew I was being an ass, but I was pissed. I'd specifically asked her if she had a past. I'd specifically asked about any sort of drama in her past and she hadn't even thought to tell me she worked for GreenCom? Technically, it had been my fault. I hadn't looked at her work history, just her title. And honestly it didn't matter that much. I was more upset over the fact that I could smell her damn perfume, and it was choking the bachelor out of me.

"You're an ass," she hissed, pushing past me and walking down the aisle. By then, people had basically vacated the plan.

With a curse, I got up and walked slowly down the aisle.

I'd been drugged by an eighty-six-year-old woman.

Couldn't remember my one-night stand.

Had been accused of sleeping with a prostitute.