If You Dare by Jessica Lemmon Read Free Book Online

her fingertips, of his whiskey-colored gaze meeting her wide-eyed stare. Of the supercharged air between them zapping like a live electric wire.
    She snatched her hand away, hoping her shaking voice wouldn’t clue him in to her now-stuttering heart. “And speak slower. It might sound odd to your ears, but speaking calmly will put your audience at ease.” She intentionally slowed and softened her words. “And you’ll be more relaxed, too.”
    She waited for him to argue or make fun, but he only blinked and watched her in the yellowish lantern light. “Thanks. That’s helpful.”
    Being the recipient of his gratitude was new territory. She shook off the urge to blush…and decided to lighten the mood with a subject change. “What are you worried about, anyway? We’re not going anywhere if we don’t find my car keys.”
    But the mention of their predicament made the smile on her face turn sickly. She had searched the bedding and bags surrounding them while Marcus chowed down on her food, but she’d found no sign of her missing keychain. It was like it had vanished into thin air.
    “Just picture the audience in their underwear,” she said as she riffled again through her purse she’d hurriedly retrieved from outside.
    “Will you be in the audience, Lil?” She snapped her head up to find Marcus leaning an elbow on one knee, a wry and damn sexy smile on his face. “Because if you’re in your underwear, I don’t think that’s going to help me focus on my speech.”
    Her pulse raced against her throat and she had to work extra hard to be offended. “I mean…” She had to shut her eyes to recalibrate her brain. “What I meant was it’s easier to give a speech if you focus on talking to the people you know. Joanie or Clive…or me.” She returned to digging through her bag, reconsidering. “Or not me. Someone you like.”
    “I like you.”
    She twisted her lips to one side in a show of doubt.
    “What?” He gave her a bemused smile. “I do.”
    “Oh, okay.” She tossed her handbag aside. “That explains the plastic spiders you’ve been hiding in my desk since we made this bet. Let’s see, one in my paperclips, one on top of my monitor…one on the glass of my scanner.”
    “I heard you scream from the other side of the building.” He grinned, still inordinately pleased with himself.
    She shook her head. Always the prankster, he was a lot like having a bratty brother around. He dragged a hand through his cropped hair and chuckled, the flash of his white teeth offsetting the dark shadow of his jaw. Heat flushed her neck.
    Maybe “brother” was a poor choice of word.
    “I’m not exactly on your top-ten list, either,” he mumbled, leaning back on his forearms. The air-filled bed shifted, and Lily steadied herself with her hands. “Can’t even get you to act like my date at a company dinner without adding it to the stakes of a bet.”
    Despite the easy smile on his face, he sounded almost hurt.
    “I— It’s not that.” What was his angle, anyway? Why would he care if the stuffy redhead from work turned him down? His black book was likely thicker than both testaments of the King James Bible. “You’re the one who made it part of the bet rather than ask me outright.”
    He pushed himself up and studied her intently. For a half second, she forgot to breathe. She wasn’t sure what gave him the sudden allure. The casual way he wore his hair, the mischievous spark in his dark eyes, or the way the lantern lit his face, making him look like a boy and a man at the same time.
    “I asked you out before. You said you didn’t date your coworkers.”
    True. “I don’t…but that was before…before I knew you.”
    He watched her for a few long, sweaty seconds.
    She tried not to fidget.
    “Would you have said yes if I had asked you?”
    “You mean if you asked…” She licked her dry lips. “Just…asked?”
    “Yes.”
    “No.”
    He blew out a laugh.
    “I respect our working relationship too