I dare you...
Riley Kendrick has officially lost her nerve. Since being robbed last year, her spontaneous sidethe fun sidehas been completely MIA. That is, until her new neighbor moves in. Jack Reed, aka Mr. Apartment 4B, is over six feet of hard, sculpted hotness with a dimpled smile...one that suggests that maybe its time for Riley to get in touch with her once-naughty self.
Now the dares have begun. What started in an elevator has quickly escalated to a game of sexy challenges, each more daring than the last. Its exciting, its wicked, and as far as Jacks concerned, its a safe, no-strings fling. But every game has its limits...and Jack is about to discover just how dangerous a dare can get!
Ever kissed a stranger in the dark?
The question hadnt been premeditated. Jack had set out to distract her, not make a move on her. But his good intentions were muddled by the tantalizing mental image of her losing at strip poker.
N-no. The husky catch in her voice was sexy as hell. Ive never done that.
I dare you. The words shimmered in his mind like an incantation. If he said them, would she accept the challenge? Not that he would exploit the situation. Even if he hadnt learned his lesson about getting involved with a woman who lived in the same building, he
The lights came back on, accompanied by the faint hum of electricity. Hed known the two of them were sitting closehed been able to smell the faint scent of raspberry lotion on her skinbut now that they were looking directly into each others eyes, their physical proximity seemed downright intimate.
Her gaze dropped to his mouth...as if she were seriously considering his unspoken dare.
Dear Reader,
One of the joys of writing fiction is creating characters who are different than me. In a game of Truth or Dare, I consistently pick Truth and what few scary movies Ive managed to get through, I watched from behind my hands. Im not the bravest kid on the block.
My heroine Riley Kendrick grew up with a wild streakalthough shes been having trouble accessing her bold nature since being held at gunpoint. She needs help getting past her nightmares and nerves to rediscover the free-spirited Riley who never turned down a dare.
Enter sexy new neighbor Jack Reed, who can see the feisty woman beneath the haunted gaze. Jack makes it his mission to draw Riley back into the light, but as their playful dares take a more intimate turn, theyll both have to decide if theyre brave enough for the ultimate challenge: love.
I hope youll let me know what you think of Jack and Rileys story! Follow me on Twitter (@TanyaMichaels) or like me on Facebook (AuthorTanyaMichaels) to let me know whether youre a daredevil, a rule-follower or somewhere in the middle.
Happy reading!
Tanya
If She Dares
Tanya Michaels
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Extract
Copyright
1
THE OCTOBER RAIN brought with it a nauseating déjà vu, resurrecting thoughts of another autumn night Riley Kendrick would rather forget. Worse, the soggy weather ensured that the parking spots closest to her apartment building had already been taken.
Peering through the windshield at the dark expanse of asphalt, Riley desperately wished the two lights standing sentinel over the parking lot were brighter. Although residents had to punch in a code to raise a mechanical armmanagements way of making sure the public didnt use the lot for free parkingit would be easy enough to duck under the blockade or hop over the short hedges on either side. Anyone could be lurking in the dark, a thought that kept her rooted to her seat.
Get out of the car, paranoid woman.
Maybe she should have stayed home tonight. She was coming up on the one-year anniversary of The Incident, and her nightmares had returned. Lack of sleep was making her jumpy. She wished she were in her apartment now, on the other side of two dead bolts and the security bar. But her youngest sister, a cocktail waitress who had Wednesdays off, had taunted her about being a workaholic shut-in, goading her until Riley took the bait. It was almost as if shed been her old self, the boisterous Kendrick sibling whod never been able to resist a challenge or turn down a dare.
Okay, then. I double-dog dare you to get your ass out of this car.
She hefted her purse onto her shoulder and clutched her keys, keeping her fingers wrapped around the canister of pepper spray that dangled from the chain. Not bothering with the umbrella that was somewhere in the backseat, she locked her car and hurried across the parking lot. After The Incident, shed wanted desperately not to feel like a victim. Shed taken self-defense classes, bought pepper spray. She even owned a Taser, though it seemed unwise to deploy an electric weapon in the rain.
It wasnt in her nature to be a scaredy-cat, but being held at gunpoint in ones own home left scars. Maybe it would be different if the bastard whod robbed her had ever been caught, but knowing he was out there somewhere...
When she woke from bad dreams, it was with his gravelly, two-pack-a-day snarl echoing in her head. Dont turn around, Blondie. You move from this spot, Ill kill you dead. Hell, I might come back and do it anyway.
Shed been facing the wall, praying that his painful grip in her long hair was the only way he hurt her. Two days later shed gone to a salon and had her hair shorn in a funky, bold cut. Within the month, shed put her house on the market. Shed hoped a change in environment, to an apartment where there were potential witnesses and people to hear a cry for help, would allow her to regain her psychological footing. But
Boom. A crack of thunder split the night. In her head, it reverberated like a gunshot. Panic welled, fight-or-flight overtaking logic. Despite the slick pavement and puddled potholes that awaited her in the dark, she broke into a run, trying to suck in more air even as her lungs tightened. The entrance defied logic, seeming to get even farther away.
Just as the door was almost in reach, a man rounded the corner of the building. A choked scream burbled in her throat. Her arm shot upward, trembling fingers locked around the pepper spray.
Whoa! He rocked back, raising both his handseither in an I-come-in-peace gesture or to help shield his face in case she dispensed the spray. Between his protective body language and his Atlanta Falcons hoodie, it was difficult to tell much about his features. I didnt mean to startle you. I was just coming back from the Dumpster. He spoke slowly, his words measured and low, as if he had practice dealing with women on the verge of hysteria. Names Jack Reed. I live here.
Impossible. I know everyone who lives in the building. Though shed never admit it aloud, shed also memorized the makes, models and license plates of all the residents cars. In total, there were twelve apartments, and only one of those was vac
What about the guy who signed a lease on 4-B last week? His tone held a note of gentle humor. About yea tall? I hear hes a good-looking devil, but he inherited dimples that arent very manly.
4-B! 4-B, as in the apartmentacross the hall from hers? Crap. She hadnt seen signs of anyone moving in, but then, shed taken to working all night and sleeping while the sun was up because the dreams werent so bad during the daylight. Plus, with traffic, dinner and a movie, shed been gone almost five hours. For all she knew, shed missed this guy carrying an entire living room suite up the stairs.
He looked strong enough to move furniture, towering over her at about six feet, with broad shoulders and big hands. With the hood shielding his face from the rain, she couldnt tell if he truly possessed dimples, but there was nothing unmanly about his appearance.
Maam, I dont want to make any sudden movements, but shouldnt we both get inside where its dry? He shoved his hood back, and she got her first clear look at him. His jawline and cheekbones were strikingly well defined, his hair and his eyes dark as sin. Jack Reed, he repeated in that same soothing drawl. I can show you my ID and a business card if it would help.
Her stomach churned. Shed wanted to feel strong and capable of defending herself, but now she just felt stupid. What a shame she had two months left on her leasemoving suddenly seemed like a splendid idea. Of course we can go inside.
She gestured for him to proceed, keeping a safe distance between them instead of turning her back on him to unlock the door. The fact that he had a key supported his story that he was a tenant. She planned to see whether he went for the stairwell or the elevator before making her own decision. On the one hand, now that she was crashing from a temporary adrenaline surge, her legs felt too shaky for the stairs. But she didnt want to confine herself in an enclosed elevator with him.
Nor did she want to run into him again after this fiasco of a first impression. What were the odds she could permanently avoid someone who lived directly across from her?
She swallowed. So...you moved in today?
Enough of my stuff that I can sleep here, he said. Im bribing some police buddies with pizza and beer to help with the rest this weekend.
Police? I almost maced a cop?
Forensic artist, technically. Dont feel bad about the pepper sprayno harm done. Besides, it was refreshing. His lips quirked in a slow grin that, under different circumstances, would raise a womans temperature and lower her inhibitions. My last building had a tenant board that welcomed new occupants with a muffin basket. Total cliché. The attempted assault with intent to blind was a nice change of pace.
His kindness only heightened her mortification. The old Riley would have met his playful teasing with some of her own. But at the moment, she couldnt summon a sense of humor about assault. I have to go. Abandoning her plan to wait and see which direction he went, she bolted for the staircase.
Her feet had already cleared the first step when he called after her, I didnt catch your name?
She didnt slow down to offer it. Why bother telling others who she was when, lately, she didnt even know the answer to that herself?
* * *
LEANING AGAINST THE wall just inside his front door, Jack Reed used the tail of his T-shirt to twist the cap off his beer. Tony Lang, head of the auto-theft task force and the only one remaining of three men whod helped Jack today, drank his beer on the sofa. The couch was probably more comfortable than the wall, but after hours of hauling furniture up stairs, Jack lacked the energy to navigate his way through the jumble of boxes. In the weeks leading up to Halloween, regional corn mazes were a popular form of recreation; maybe instead of unpacking, he should just charge admittance to the cardboard labyrinth.
Tony surveyed the progress theyd made with a grunt. Remind me again why you didnt ask Spence Evans to help us? That guy looks like he can bench press cars. He would have saved us some trips.