If You Dare Read Online Free

It was the first time he’d ever been around her outside of work or an offsite meeting. He knew she had a social life, but he hadn’t been able to wait to see how she’d react to The Shot Spot. And he sincerely doubted she frequented rundown pubs with a bartender named Curly, a fleet of mismatched chairs, and the smell of stale beer permeating the air.
    He’d blown his chance to find out early on. When Lily came onboard at Cameron’s Design, Marcus had foolishly cranked up the charm to ask her out for a drink. In his defense, he’d waited until she’d worked there a few weeks, until he’d noticed how well they’d gotten along. She’d shot him down with a sharp, “I don’t date people I work with,” before tromping that heart-shaped backside down the hallway and leaving him feeling like Merv the Perv…who may or may not have been guilty of stalking his hot coworker for two weeks solid.
    So. He thought he knew what to expect when Lily strode in behind Joanie and Clive Wednesday night, looking out of place in her fitted blazer, her heels sticking to the tacky linoleum. When she’d spotted him, she flipped her strawberry-blond hair over one shoulder and sent him a derisive look down that pert little nose of hers. Marcus had given her a pained smile and made it his evening’s mission to get her hammered.
    He’d seen Lily in control, competitive, and icy. He’d never seen her sloppy and unkempt. The plan was to fill his tab with as many frou-frou girlie drinks like purple hooters or buttery nipples as she could drink. Imagine his surprise when he ordered a tequila shot and Lily held up two fingers.
    “You drink tequila?” he’d asked, unable to hide his shock.
    “No, but we are celebrating, right?” she’d asked, arching a prim brow. Ah, Lily the competitor, alive and well.
    He’d eased her into the shot using old-school salt-and-lime training wheels rather than just chucking it back like he normally did. She’d followed his lead when he licked the salt and sucked the lime. While he’d taken a bit too much pleasure in watching her pink tongue lap the granules from her hand. And when her perfectly glossed lips wrapped around the lime wedge, he’d had a stern talking-to with the parts of him residing south of his belt buckle.
    Pain in the ass , he’d reminded himself, tossing back his second shot. But that thought brought with it reminders of the way her skirt rounded snugly over her perfect butt each time she bent over to take her turn at the pool table.
    Marcus sparred with her all evening, figuring arguing would keep the hound in his pants at bay. But each time he jabbed, she’d had a sassy comeback. He couldn’t help but admire her for it. Like he admired her at work. He’d always known she had talent—no one gave a confident presentation like Lily—but he hadn’t known until that night she could be so much damn fun.
    Clive’s cell phone rang and both men ducked beneath the window’s ledge and out of sight. Clive shrugged an apology and answered with a hushed hello. Marcus gave him a pointed glare before risking peeking into the house again.
    Lily must not have heard the sound, her attention focused on the screen in her lap. And she was drinking—good God—was that wine ?
    He should have made more rules. Limited her to only the most basic provisions like water and bread. And maybe some peanut butter. Protein was important.
    Marcus felt his frown deepen. She’d be a lot harder to spook while pleasantly buzzed on red wine, her stomach full of gourmet food. “I’m screwed,” he grumbled.
    “So am I,” Clive whispered. He waggled his phone. “Gotta go.”
    “Why? Wife gonna ground you if you don’t?” He sent his friend a smug smile.
    Clive shot him a self-assured grin of his own. “Joanie called to tell me she’s drawing a very hot bath, lighting candles, and—”
    “Fine,” Marcus growled under his breath. “Wuss.”
    Clive clapped Marcus’s shoulder. “Let’s go, man. You