Lindsay smiled and closed her eyes as Brooke led her to the box and guided her hand in among the ribbon-tied scrolls Lindsay had assembled in the wee hours of the morning. She groped briefly, aiming for the right corner, where the coffee date scrolls should be. “Got one.”
Cheering, the crowd craned forward eagerly. Lindsay held the scroll teasingly aloft. “Anyone want to know what it says?”
The resulting roar made her laugh. She unrolled the paper, prepared for the familiar words.
They weren’t there.
She read, read again, read a third time, her laughter choking into dread. Oh no.
Her arms dropped. She looked up at her half sisters, each wearing a knowing grin, though Brooke’s was slightly anxious.
They were onto her. They knew she planted the scrolls. Somehow they’d gotten to the box and had changed them to much bawdier dares, similar to the one clenched in her hand.
“Read it!” someone shouted.
“Look at her face. It must be good,” added another voice.
Lindsay forced a smile, afraid she was either going to cry or throw up or both. She brought the paper up again with shaking hands and read out loud.
“Seduce the man you’re most attracted to. Tonight.”
LINDSAY SAT WITH HER HALF SISTERS in her favorite part of Chassy, a curtained small room off the main bar lined with banquettes on the sides and with four tiny tables in the center. The main attraction was a fireplace on the outer wall. At this time of year when cold reigned supreme outdoors no matter how ready the inhabitants were for spring, the room was cozy, intimate and relatively quiet. Especially now near closing when the music had been downshifted and the volume pulled back. Only a few stragglers remained at the bar.
The last of the Martinis and Bikinis club had departed ten minutes earlier. Brooke had called a private powwow before her sisters left.
“Lindsay, I just wanted you to know that all of us know exactly how you’re feeling right now.”
“Amen.” Joey nodded vigorously. “When I pulled the slip saying I had to reveal my deepest darkest secret to Sebastian…”
“And when I found out I had to strip in public…” Brooke shuddered comically.
“And when I found out I had to have sex in a forbidden place…” Katie’s attempt at looking horrified failed as her features turned dreamy and distant.
“Katie, stay with us here.” Brooke snapped her fingers in front of her sister’s face, then focused again on Lindsay. “The point is we’ve each lived the same stomach-curling—”
“Head-throbbing—”
“Teeth-clenching—”
“—dread that you are.” Brooke grinned. “Any of this sounding familiar?”
Lindsay released her jaw and put a hand to her throbbing head, acutely aware of her stomach’s distress. “Yes.”
“So we’re here to tell you that it’s all going to be okay.”
Lindsay nodded. Right. Everything was going to be okay. Everything always was okay if you were a Winfield. She knew firsthand that wanting things to be okay did not always make them okay. Yet she was the reason her half sisters all had to do those frightening and difficult dares. She’d played the bold matchmaker the same way they were doing now. And there was no way she could let them down not playing by the same rules they’d played by.
She just couldn’t bear it if Denver turned her down. Or worse, if he let her seduce him and then disappeared, or let her seduce him and took over her life. Or—
“Right now you’re going over every possible thing that could go wrong, aren’t you?”
Lindsay laughed unwillingly and nodded at Katie.
“Oh, I was soooo there.”
“I don’t think anything will go wrong. We all saw the way he was looking at you. He’ll jump at the chance to, um, get to know you better.”
The sisters burst out laughing at Brooke’s careful wording.
“What guy wouldn’t?” Joey’s playful words froze Lindsay’s smile. Right. She’d experienced too many guys that would. This time she wanted…
Wait. She wanted to be more than that to Denver? She knew where that led. When she fell for a guy she lost herself, let him run all over her, control her, then he’d leave and break her heart. Only Ty had stayed, but his control had become more and more extreme until it became dangerous.
No feelings could enter into this seduction. The only way she’d survive would be to stay as icily detached as possible. Then if Denver rejected her, whether before or after, it wouldn’t hurt. She’d stay untouched. She had to make sure that sex between them didn’t matter.
Even better, what if the sex really didn’t matter? The dare hadn’t mentioned Denver by name. The sisters assumed, but what if…
“I was thinking…”
“Yes?” Her half sisters leaned eagerly forward.
Lindsay’s mind spun. Would it be a mistake or simply the lesser of two evils? “You know, Justin is actually hotter than Denver. I’ve always thought he was—”
“Oh right.”
“Pleez.”
“Don’t even try.”
She made a face. Okay, so Winfields were too smart to be fooled that easily. The dare had said the man she was most attracted to. Denver might as well be a magnet tuned in for her polarity.
“Lindsay?” Her personal magnet appeared at the curtained doorway and Lindsay’s heart pounded so painfully she nearly winced. “Hey, Brooke, Joey, Katie.”
“Hi-i-i, Den-ver.” The three made his name come out like a singsong grade school chant.
He grinned. “Did you have a good time tonight?”
“Oh yes.” Brooke got up and sent her sisters significant looks. “We had a great time, didn’t we.”
“A most excellent time. Lindsay will have to tell you all about it.” Katie got up. “Because we’re going home now.”
“Yes, we are. We had tons o’ fun.” Joey blinked demurely at Denver. “But not as much fun as you are go—”
“Thanks for staying.” Lindsay sent Joey a murderous look she knew would make her most outspoken sister laugh. The three women hugged Lindsay with their usual warmth. She managed to hug back, feeling as if she were saying final farewells before her trip to the gallows.
“Relax and have fun,” Brooke whispered. “I think he really cares about you.”
She nodded dumbly. That concept scared her the most. Cared about her how? As a friend? Little sister? Or more…
All of it scared her. Looking back on her life, on the emotional and physical abuse, the fear running away from the only home she’d known, the stupid things she’d done in fast succession after that, all of which had gone horribly wrong, the terror of exposure from Gina for Ty’s death…all that, and she didn’t think she’d ever felt quite this frightened in her life.
Denver waved at the trio and turned back to Lindsay. The firelight flickered over his face making him look strong and dangerous. The room felt suddenly hot and way too small. “Seems like everything went great tonight.”
“Yes. Yes. Amazingly well.” Her voice sounded high and slightly panicked. She suddenly felt as if she had too many hands, and no place to put them. “Thanks for your help.”
“It’s