The Dare (The Bet #3)(34)
Author: Rachel Van Dyken

Since when has linen looked hot on guys?

Oh right. Since Brad Pitt. Sorry, but you’ve just been replaced.

Jace grabbed my hand and kissed it. I tried not to sigh or look as nervous as I felt. Tonight felt more real. Maybe it was because we’d kissed a lot, or maybe it was because he seemed to actually be enjoying spending time with me.

It felt like a date.

Then again, anything would feel like a date after the whole sugarcane incident. I gave him another smile and tucked my excitement into the farthest part of my brain.

"So what restaurant is the mixer at?" Jace asked, "You never told me."

He gripped my hand as we rounded the corner toward Blu.

"Habachi Grill."

Jace put his arm protectively around me as he led me around a couple walking slower than us. And then grabbed my hand again. To him it was effortless.

But I’d never had a guy do that before. I’d seen it all around me. A guy being protective without realizing it. Or walking on the outside of the road so the girl is protected and safe. But experiencing it? Felt amazing. I felt… treasured. Crap. I needed to remember it wasn’t real. He may be attracted to me, he could think I was the best thing since Netflix — but in the end, he wouldn’t be waiting like Mr. Darcy.

"I love Habachi." Jace cleared his throat.

Okay, was it me or were things awkward? Was I overthinking things?

"Beth…" Jace stopped walking and turned me to face him, placing his hands on my shoulders. "I have to tell you something."

"Okay." My throat was seriously starting to close up. He was going to bail. He was going to say he couldn’t do it. He was going to abandon me; I was too boring. I knew I should have kept talking. What was wrong with me? Why couldn’t I be interesting —

His hot mouth pressed against mine as his hands came around my head, pulling me into his kiss, sucking the panic right out of me.

"You look…" He shook his head and let out a string of curses. "Let me try this again." He grabbed my hands and looked down at them as our fingers intertwined. "You look absolutely… stunning."

I couldn’t hide my smile.

Mars could probably see my smile.

And I couldn’t care less.

"Thank you," I said finding my voice.

"No." Jace released my hands and tilted my chin so his lips were a breath away from mine. "Thank you."

"I don’t understand?"

With a wink, he released my chin and grabbed my hand again as we continued walking.

"I love white."

"Okay?"

"And I love wedge heels."

"Aw, you know what wedge heels are. Well done."

He grimaced. "Don’t tell anyone."

"I’ll take it to my grave."

"You wore your hair in kinks."

"Kinks?" I laughed. "You mean in waves?"

He blushed and licked his lips. "Yeah, that’s what I meant."

"Thought so."

Jace shook his head and wrapped his arm around me as the door was held open for us in the restaurant. "We have reservations under Brevik."

"Right this way, Senator." The waitress had dark cropped hair and a piercing in her nose; she looked about twenty years old, and I immediately wanted to trip her for looking at Jace longer than necessary. And how did she know he was a senator? I specifically called him Mr. Brevik not Senator Brevik? Was the guy that famous?

Doubtful, it was Oregon, not California.

Jace held out my chair. There were eight seats around the grill. I’d hoped it would be just me and Jace, but mixer made it sound like we had to mix. Which totally reminded me of college orientation where you run around playing silly games, trying to get to know people in your class. I hated mixer games; I always ended up being the awkward one or, worse yet, the boring one with no boxes checked on Get-to-Know-Me-Bingo.

The restaurant looked really empty. Maybe it wasn’t going to be as packed as I’d thought? Hope died the minute I heard a familiar voice.

"So you guys made it?" Brett slapped Jace on the back and took a seat, leaving Paris to pull out her own chair. Poor soul struggled sitting in it because her spandex dress was so tight her legs wouldn’t lift high enough. A nicer person would have helped.

I smirked.

Not because I wasn’t nice.

But because she wouldn’t take her whoring eyes off of Jace.

"Uh, yeah." Jace put his arm around me and tugged me close. "We thought a little food was necessary to keep going."

Would it kill him to be the smooth politician at least once today? I kicked him in the shin.

"Going?" Brett smirked.

"Like bunnies," I said without thinking. To be fair, I meant the Energizer Bunny, but that wasn’t how it was understood.

Jace had just lifted a glass of water to his lips and started choking.

Brett’s eyes narrowed as he took us both in.

"Good evening." A server approached with a cart of tea. "I’ll be your server today. Your chef will be here momentarily."

"Bunnies, huh?" Brett smirked, ignoring the waitress, and his fiancée as well as the fact that the conversation had taken a downward turn into hell. May as well get comfortable, I didn’t see things improving for at least a few hours.

"Yeah." I gripped Jace’s arm, digging my nails into his skin; he yelped and put his water down.

"But enough about our very satisfying sex life… what have you guys been up to all day?"

"Searching," Brett smirked, "the Internet."

"Aw, shit."

I froze, momentarily thinking I was about to hear Donkey. Instead, my blood ran cold when I realized what Brett must have been searching. He knew it was a ruse. He knew we weren’t together.

Rejection sucked.

I wanted to wallow.

How was it fair that the one guy who’d rejected me when I was in high school now thought I was a lying prostitute? Forget feeling insecure — now all I felt was shame.

"How much does she charge?" Brett asked calmly as he placed a napkin on his lap.

"Excuse me?" I seethed, reaching for a knife to stab him.

"For your services." Brett grinned smugly. "Not that I’m interested, since I really am happily engaged. Besides, I’m not a fan of disease."

Paris pulled out a nail file and began filing like the world was about to end if she didn’t get rid of her chip and a hangnail.

I sighed. "Your definition of happy and mine are two very different things."

"You couldn’t afford her," Jace snarled.

Okay, so not the rescue I was hoping for, but it worked.