Once Upon a Dare (Risky Business)(10)

There was only one way to do that, and it meant answering the phone.

“Hey.” She did her best to sound casual, despite the fact she’d been dreading this call. And the six that had come before it.

Olivia knew she couldn’t hide forever, but she’d given it her best shot. Problem was, Chloe tended to be relentless when she wanted something, and the odds were good she was going crazy trying to figure out if Olivia had actually gone through with the dare.

“She lives!” Chloe sounded put out by the need to make a seventh phone attempt. Hard to blame her. “I was seriously starting to wonder. I almost alerted the police, you know.”

“You almost alerted the police?” She bit back a laugh. “Because the text message I sent didn’t put your overactive imagination at ease?”

“I’m fine. Call you later.” Chloe’s words dripped with sarcasm. “Not so much. For all I knew the guy had you bound and gagged with one of those strappy little ball things!”

“A ball gag?” Olivia offered and burst out laughing. It was unlikely Chloe would have called the police. On the other hand, she did sound pretty ticked off that Olivia hadn’t answered her phone all day. “I’m sorry I scared you,” she apologized, feeling a twinge of guilt. “I had some errands to run, but I should have called sooner.”

“Damn straight!” Chloe agreed, perking up. “Now you can make it up to me by sharing all the juicy details from last night. And don’t even think about leaving anything out.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” she replied, rolling her eyes.

Walking to the fish bowl on the kitchen counter, she dropped some flakes in for Rufus. Her busy schedule didn’t allow for a four-legged pet, but she didn’t mind. Rufus, the colorful betta fish who shared her apartment, was the perfect roommate. They had such clear relationship parameters. He didn’t talk back, and he wasn’t too needy. And unlike Chloe, he didn’t require intimate details of her sex life.

“Well?” Chloe prompted. “Quit stalling, Liv. Did you do the deed or what?”

“Yes,” she admitted, her cheeks flaming with embarrassment at the admission. God, was she really blushing like a virgin? How ridiculous. She was twenty-eight years old, for crying out loud. She could have guilt-free sex with whomever she wanted, couldn’t she?

“Eeee!” Chloe squealed, piercing her eardrums. “I knew it! I knew it!”

Olivia held the phone at arm’s length, waiting for Chloe to get it out of her system. She loved Chloe like a sister, but at times like this, she was thankful for her status as an only child. If twenty-five year old Chloe behaved this way, she could only imagine what a handful sixteen year old Chloe must’ve been.

“Done now?” she asked, cautiously bringing the phone back to her ear.

“Depends,” Chloe said, sounding like a bipolar chipmunk, all traces of her sullen attitude completely erased. “Are you going to give me the scoop or not?”

“What do you want me to say? That we went back to his hotel and had dirty, kinky sex all night long?”

“Umm, yeah.” Chloe sighed. “Man, he was hot. I bet it was amazing. Why can’t I meet a guy like that?”

“You meet guys like Cole all the time. The one night—”

“Cole?” Chloe asked, cutting her off. “Even his name is sexy! Are you going to see him again? You have to see him again, Liv. He could be the one!”

“No, I really don’t, and he is definitely not the one.”

Was Chloe seriously trying to marry her off to some random bar guy after one night? The sex had been good, but it hadn’t been that good. Or maybe it had been. Either way, it didn’t matter, since she’d never see him again.

“Please don’t tell me you didn’t get his number.”

“Okay, I won’t.”

“Liv! Have I taught you nothing?” Chloe whined. “Seriously, I can’t believe I’m hearing this.”

“Sorry to disappoint you,” she said, unable to believe her ineptitude at dating was Chloe’s biggest problem. “What can I say? I suck at life.”

Chloe grumbled something unintelligible under her breath. “You know, I was really hoping you were going to turn over a new leaf.”

“The kind where I have indiscriminate sex with total strangers?” Olivia asked, laughing in spite of herself.

“Beggars can’t be choosers,” Chloe conceded. “Any sex would be a step in the right direction.”

“I’ll tell you what. We can revisit the topic of my love life when I get that partnership. Until then, dating just isn’t a priority.”





Chapter Five


Olivia nursed her coffee and sifted through emails. Her meeting with Pritchard was just minutes away, and she was too nervous to manage much else that morning. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and imagined her name on the door beside Jonathan’s.

Pritchard, Masterson, & Associates

All of her hard work was about to pay off, proving once and for all she belonged in this world, and not upstate with her parents and their antiquated views on women. She was going to get partner, and nobody could say it had been for any other reason than that she was damn good at her job.

Her work load, which was already out of control, was likely to get even heavier. That meant no more wild nights or one-night stands. Even if Cole had given her the best orgasms of her life. Problem was, she couldn’t stop thinking about him, wondering if she’d made a mistake sneaking out. Which was exactly why she needed to get back on track and put her focus one hundred percent on her work.