The Dare (The Bet 3)

"A real six days. No strings attached. Six-day vacation with food, drinks, fun, and…" I felt heat rising to my cheeks, "just six days. Six days of being a normal girl in a normal relationship with a normal guy." If the normal guy happened to look like you could break boulders off his abs.

"Stop saying six." Jace swore. "It sounds like sex, and I just watched you take off your shirt."

I felt my cheeks heat.

"And it makes me want to slam you against the wall and rip it from your body, so when you ask for six days, know that you're asking for a real six days. I'm not going to keep my hands to myself."

"Fine." My lower lip trembled. "I just want to be romanced."

"You want the fairytale," he said in a low voice.

"Yeah. I do."

"I can do six days," Jace whispered. "Just don't hate me on day seven, because I will walk away."

I snorted. "Easy, Jace. You aren't that irresistible. It's a risk worth taking. I want to put Boring Beth away for a while." Besides, he'd walked away before. What's one more time?

"Beth." Jace sighed. "You're not boring. Look maybe this isn't—"

A whistle sounded, and then Dr. Z opened the door. "Ready?"

Jace held out his hand to shake mine. I touched it, feeling the sizzle all the way down to my toes.

"Ready."

Chapter Twelve

"This ship captain, did you pay him to curse the senator?"

"Of course not!" Grandma shook her head. "No money exchanged hands."

The agent took a long sip of coffee.

"However," Grandma paused, "there are other ways for payment."

The agent choked. "Ma'am, prostitution is illegal."

"I would never sell my body." Grandma shook her head vehemently "Besides, the captain's already tasted the goods. Past lover, you understand. He was only too happy to… aid me in my quest."

"Your quest for love?" The agent's eyebrows narrowed.

"Yes. Let's call it that. It has a certain ring to it!"

Jace

I'd just made a deal with the devil. I'd signed the contract in blood, and now all I had to do was live through the next six days. The good news? I could save my career. And Beth was right. She was the answer. I'd send a text to Rick as soon as I could.

As for giving her six days of a fairytale? I imagined it would be like babysitting, more or less. Lavish her with gifts, feed her, give her enormous amounts of wine, and wait for her to fall asleep at night. Okay, so maybe if I wanted to get arrested, it would be like babysitting. I just needed to keep her happy, repeat for six days, and home free. How hard could it be? To woo a woman? I wooed people on a twenty-four-seven basis. Then again, most people I wooed weren't ones I'd been pining for since I'd gone to my first dance.

The other issue would be that damn curse. I wasn't an idiot. I didn't believe in curses, but the man had been right. Thirty-two minutes ago we'd gotten to the island. And for thirty-two minutes, I'd done nothing but stare at Beth's mouth, watched her hands as she gripped her silverware, and closed my eyes when the breeze carried her scent into my personal space.

Shit.

Six days.

Less than a week.

I could do anything for a week.