Page 79 of Sweet Hate
I should stay away from him and his wickedly tempting games.
I’m literally standing in the ashes of a bakery that needs me to keep myself in check and leave him to finish the job. Anything else could delay putting everything in jeopardy. The repairs are already going to be a massive drain on Grams’s finances, especially with her refusing to accept my money.
So why are his searching blue eyes pinning me to the spot?
And why is my heart racing from the look on his face right now?
I need to back away. Far away, preferably no longer within touching distance.
“Truth or dare?”
Oh no, no, no. Iknowhow that goes. Those words seem to have the uncanny ability to make me throw caution to the wind and go wild.
Wild is exactly what I don’t need to be right now.
“Shouldn’t we be getting to work?” I squeak out, my voice betraying my nerves as I slide my coffee onto the nearest table before my shaky hands spill it all over the floor.
“We will, but first, truth or dare?” his lips kick up in a wicked smirk that sends my heart rate soaring into the stratosphere at this point.
Dammit, no.
Don’t do it, Haven Blake.
“Dare.” I blurt it out before I can stop myself, slamming my hands over my mouth as if that will stop it after the fact.
That horse has well and truly bolted now, girl.
I’m an absolute idiot. I should have saidtruth. When he undoubtedly asked if I enjoyed last night, I could’ve turned around and said that it was fun before walking away. It wouldn’t be a lie, but there would be no real risk of me jumping his bones either.
We’ve all seen where dare leads.
The man is a walking, talking sexy devil just daring me to break every rule in the damn book.
He sets his own coffee down and tips my chin back up to look at him. That wicked smirk has widened into a sinful-looking grin, making him look infinitely hotter than before. No easy feat considering he’s flippin’ gorgeous on a bad day.
His thumb strokes my cheek while his smoldering eyes search mine for a beat, before his hand falls away and he says the words I both so desperately want and dread to hear.
“I dare you to kiss me.”
I stop breathing and back up a few steps, chewing my lip in silence. Axel doesn’t move, leaving the ball in my court.
Warring indecision courses through me. Horny Haven isready to go all in, bakery be damned, but this bitch got us into trouble in the first place.
Sensible Haven knows this is a bad move. An unbelievably bad move.
I can explain yesterday's kiss easily enough. I was rescuing him from a viper in the bar, so that was a justifiable course of action.
Last night was, erm, a tiny error in judgment. A momentary lapse after a few drinks and that mind-blowing kiss. Easily done right?
Doing this today, sober, and without a phone to hide behind is wildly different.
Infinitely more dangerous.
I try to calm the butterflies warring inside me while I study him. He’s not quite as chill as his lazy grin makes out. On closer inspection, I can see how stiffly he’s holding himself. His hands are in his pockets but his arms are rigid and tense, the veins visible as they snake around his forearms. There’s a nerve ticking in his jaw too, anxious energy thrumming off him in waves. All of it contradicts his casual pose.
Bollocks, in all our years of friendship, I’m not sure I remember ever seeing him even remotely nervous. Nothing phased him,ever.
There’s no way I’m going to be able to deny Axel if the dare is enough to make him react like this.
