Nothing But a Dare Read online

  And the worst part was, even through all the humiliation and pain he caused her when Hunter left, he somehow took a piece of her heart with him.

  Too bad she fucking hated him.

  Chapter Three

  Hunter closed his eyes.

  Seeing Abbie again was like a straight punch to the gut. Holy shit. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t kept close tabs on her over the years.

  He had.

  But seeing her in the flesh was something else. He swallowed.

  When Hunter read she’d graduated with honors his heart swelled for her. He knew she was going to make something of herself.

  That was Abbie.

  Abbie was always going to rule the world. He never had any doubt in his mind. He’d seen pictures of her here and there. It was kind of hard not to, considering they both were in the same field. However, those pictures did not do Abbie any justice.

  Those curves.

  That hair.

  Those deep blue eyes.

  There went that punch again.

  Abbie had the silhouette of a goddess, and right now with her blouse wet, and her purple bra on display, it took every ounce of restraint in him to not jump over the table.

  Holy fuck her tits were overflowing her bra.

  That’s when he heard a stifled cough from beside him. At first, Hunter smirked realizing he’d been caught staring, but once he registered what was going on, his fist clenched.

  He wasn’t the only one staring at Abbie’s impressive rack.

  A harsh wave of possessiveness crashed over him. Without even a second thought, Hunter pushed back from the conference table and shrugged out of his jacket.

  He tossed it to Abbie — who was still staring at him in what he could only imagine was disbelief. Right before it smacked her in the face though, she gathered her senses and grabbed it.

  “Put that on,” Hunter growled. “This is a business meeting, not some after-hours red light special. Not everyone wants to see that.”

  That shocked her out of whatever trance she was in. If he thought her eyes showed her disdain before, he was mistaken.

  Right now, Abbie’s eyes looked like they’d spit fire, and they were directed right at him.

  Then, to his shock, Abbie did something he never thought he’d see. She took his jacket and tossed it on the floor. “You’re right, Mr. James,” she spat at him, but in a calm way. “It’s a business meeting. Unfortunately, this morning, I ran into a little mishap, and normally I’d have more time to change and look a little more presentable…” She shrugged nonchalantly. “Shit happens.”

  Abbie sent him an evil smile. “They’re boobs. We’ve all seen them and we’ve all got ‘em. Some are just less impressive than mine.” She gave him an innocent smile. “If it’s too much for you, Mr. James, you are more than welcome to wait in the other room. I’m sure once my shirt has dried, I can go over the details I’ve already acquired for Mr. Jefferson’s proposal.”

  Oh, that was the same look Abbie had given him when they were kids and she’d thought she’d won. Not on your life, Abs.

  Never again.

  Hunter sat back in his seat. “Carry on, Miss Collins. If you’ve seen one tit, you’ve seen them all.”

  Her face hardened.

  Mr. Jefferson laughed bringing Abbie’s attention to him. “I truly apologize for my appearance,” she remarked. “Since we are all adults here and I don’t have another shirt we might as well go for it. Will this be a problem for you, Mr. Jefferson?”

  “Please call me Robert, Ms. Collins, and also let’s make sure never to tell my wife.”

  Abbie smiled sweetly at him, letting out a small laugh. “Deal.” She gave a quick glance to her boss. Hunter could see the plea in her eyes that she hadn’t just sealed her fate at the unemployment line.

  Bill nodded slightly in her direction, giving her the okay.

  Showtime, Abs. Make it good.

  Abbie took a calming breath before she pulled out her laptop, causing Hunter to sit back with a huge grin on his face.

  Human Resources could kiss his ass. He didn’t care what lines he was about to cross. He was here for Abbie, and only Abbie. Now, to think of all the ways he could cross those lines.

  Three hours later and Hunter was fucking impressed. Actually, impressed wasn’t even close to what he was feeling.

  Sure, he knew Abbie was good. She had to be to have gotten to where she was, but this was beyond good. Hell, it would have been the same proposal he would have come up with.

  Abbie had every ‘i’ dotted and every ‘t’ crossed. At this point, he wasn’t sure what help he could be.

  If Robert Jefferson didn’t sign on to WCM Advertising Firm, he’d be a fucking moron.

  “I like where you’re going with this, Ms. Collins,” Jefferson finally spoke up. “I can see where you’ve done your homework.”

  Homework? Fuck Abbie had done more than homework for this. Hunter sat back watching as Abbie stood at the front of the table more poised than he’d ever seen.

  “I’m intrigued,” Jefferson continued.

  Abbie’s face broke out into an inviting smile, while her eyes screamed bring it. “Intrigued is good. Are there any questions I can help answer for you?”

  When Abbie hitched her hip, it was nearly the death of him. Hunter had always been attracted to Abbie, but now, now he was seconds from losing it. It’s like each little defying gesture she made with her body went straight to his dick. Thank fuck his lower half was covered by the table.

  Mr. Jefferson sat back in his chair as his hand caressed his chin. He then looked to him. “Hunter, what do you think?”

  That Abbie did a fantastic fucking job.

  The thought didn’t surprise Hunter, but he knew he couldn’t say it. The moment he agreed with Abbie, his chances of working with her would fly right out the window. And that was not happening — no way in fucking hell.

  Nothing and he meant nothing, was going to stop him from finally getting what he always knew was his.

  Hunter sat back in his chair and surveyed Abbie. When he looked into her eyes, he saw the dare there. The dare to tell Mr. Jefferson it wasn’t a perfect presentation.

  Forgive me…

  Hunter looked her right in the eyes before he shrugged. “It’s decent enough,” he announced calmly.

  Abbie’s mouth dropped open in shock.

  Time to add the nail to the coffin. “It needs work, though.”

  “You think so?” Mr. Jefferson looked at him nodding his head slightly.

  Here goes nothing. Hunter squared his shoulders. “Ms. Collins’ presentation was impressive to say the least; however, there are key elements she’s missing, like some of the domestic dealings.” He tried playing it as cool as he could, as he grasped at straws.

  “This is why I wanted to bring you onto the team. We need a fresh set of eyes. Sometimes we get too complacent,” Bill said clasping him on the shoulder. He then looked back at Mr. Jefferson. “I knew putting Collins and James together would be a perfect match for whatever your needs are, Robert.”

  Hunter turned his head toward Mr. Jefferson. “Give me a week and I’ll present you with something you’d be a fool to turn down.”

  Mr. Jefferson cocked a brow at him. “You sure?”

  Hunter looked at Abbie whose face was red and her eyes narrow. “Surer than I’ve ever been.”

  “All right then.” Mr. Jefferson looked at this watch dismissing any other discussion on the matter. “My flight leaves in a few hours, but keep me posted.” He stood before shaking Bill’s hand. “We’ll be in touch.”

  He then moved to Hunter. “I’m eager to see what you come up with.”

  When Jefferson turned to Abbie, he sent her a warm smile. “I have a feeling you and Hunter working together is exactly what my company needs.”

  Abbie’s lips morphed into a tight smile before she shook his outreached hand. “You won’t be disappointed, sir. You’ll be blown away the next time we meet.”
/>
  “I’m sure I will be. Especially, with Hunter now joining the project.”

  Hunter leaned against the back window as he watched Abbie put on the most professional act he’d ever seen.

  Color him impressed all over again. She could be an actor.

  “Let me walk you out.” Bill waved his hand toward the door as Jefferson left the room leaving him and Abbie.

  Alone.

  Once they were gone, Abbie turned from where she stood staring blankly at where Bill and Jefferson had vacated and focused her eyes on him. He couldn’t help the slow smirk that appeared on his face.

  He only made one step in her direction before Abbie reacted.

  Before Hunter knew it, Abbie was flying through the air ready to bring him down.

  Chapter Four

  Abbie wasn’t sure how she ended up flying through the air, hurdling towards Hunter, but she wasn’t about to question it. If her old childhood antics wanted to come out and play, who was she to fight it?

  Plus, he deserved it.

  “Fuck!” Hunter caught her as they both plummeted to the ground. “What the fuck, Abbie?”

  Throwing caution to the wind and letting her inner child take control Abbie ignored him as she hiked her skirt up around her waist, and pinned Hunter to the ground with her legs. The same way she did when they were kids.

  “Get off me,” Hunter growled.

  “Not on your life.” Abbie maneuvered herself so she could now use her right arm to pin him down at his shoulders. “I should murder you.”

  “You and what army?” he choked out.

  A deep growl escaped her throat. Then to her utter surprise, she was being tossed through the air before landing on her back.

  Shock.

  She was in absolute fucking shock.

  Abbie blinked in surprise, trying to understand the sudden change of events. Hunter had her completely pinned beneath him. And to her absolute horror, her legs were wrapped around his waist.

  What the fuck!

  “Now this I can get used to.” The corner of Hunter’s lips turned up.

  Quickly and with all her might, Abbie pushed Hunter off, realizing he wasn’t trying that hard to keep her there.

  Hunter fell back onto his ankles.

  Abbie watched mortified as Hunter then looked her body up and down. That’s when she realized in her effort to destroy him, her skirt was now up around her waist and her bright pink panties with the little yellow duckies on them eating popcorn were entirely on display and Hunter made absolutely no attempt to look away.

  Fuck this. Young Abbie was coming out to play again. Instantly, she launched herself back at Hunter with a war cry so fierce it should have scared her, causing Hunter to fall flat onto his back.

  “Again? Really?” With absolute ease Hunter flipped Abbie onto her back once again. “Are we gonna do this all day? If we are let me know now ‘cause I just had this shirt dry-cleaned.”

  Abbie clenched her teeth as she used all her might to try and flip them over.

  Sadly, though, she underestimated Hunter’s hold.

  Push… nothing.

  Push again… still nothing.

  “If I pretend to let you flip me will you stop trying to tackle me?” The smug look on his face only infuriated her more.

  “Over my dead body.”

  With absolutely no effort at all, Hunter pinned both her arms above her head with one hand before bringing his other hand to his chin, tapping it lightly. “Although, I do enjoy this view.” He looked between them. “I never knew ducks liked popcorn.”

  As Abbie tried to fight his grip, she realized it was a lost cause. Her head flopped back onto the floor as she closed her eyes. The anger she felt coursed through every inch of her.

  How in the fuck had she ended up here?

  Universe, if you’re listening, please give a sister some insights and enlighten me. ‘Cause right now I’m about to murder Hunter fucking James. Abbie sighed. Maybe if I keep my eyes closed, he’ll go away. Then I can finally try and piece all this mess back together.

  “Are you giving up already? Pity. I thought you had more balls than that, Collins. At least you used too. Apparently, you’ve gone soft. Plus, I was rather fond of this game.”

  Keep your eyes closed, Abs. Do not engage. He will eventually go away and we can pretend this never happened. I repeat, do not engage.

  “Are you ignoring me now? First, you tackle me and now you’re gonna ignore me? Real mature. I guess you never grew up. And here I thought you’d be thrilled to see me.”

  “I must be having a stroke.”

  Hunter barked out a laugh as he through his head back. “Still the same old Abbie.”

  Universe, it’s me, Abbie, again. We just talked, but you ignored me. If you have any ounce of decency in you, can you send down a meteor right now? You know kinda like when the dinosaurs went “poof.” I think I have a dollar in my purse. You can have it.

  However, the moment she felt Hunter’s hands go to her hips, Abbie’s eyes shot open. Quickly she tried to pull away from his touch, but to her surprise, Hunter was gently tugging her skirt back down her legs. Within seconds those little yellow duckies eating popcorn were no longer staring up at her.

  Her eyes shifted from side to side trying to register what he’d done. Okay, what fresh hell was this?

  Hunter popped back onto his feet before once again grabbing ahold of Abbie’s hips effortlessly standing her up. “Up you go.”

  Abbie stared at him, with her mouth open.

  Is this what’s it’s like to have some unbeknownst blood clot go to your brain? Instead of a meteor, Universe, did you kill me? You must really want my dollar.

  Abbie’s eyes followed Hunter as he adjusted his clothes before turning back to her.

  His eyes brightened as he placed that godforsaken smirk on his face that instantly had her fists clenching. “Let’s get started, Abbie.”

  Then, the fucker winked at her.

  Chapter Five

  Abbie stormed into her two-bedroom bungalow with such force the wall shook when she slammed the door behind her.

  “That stupid egotistical pompous mother fucker.” Her fists clenched at her sides as she stomped around. “Stupid fucking Hunter James! The next time I see him I’m going to punch him right in the throat.”

  No matter how hard Abbie tried to calm her rage, her blood still boiled at the situation. How in the hell had her life come to this? Seriously, no please explain this?

  How had she woken up only a few hours ago on one of the most important days of her career, only to be thrown into the goddamn lion’s den like she was a juicy piece of meat and the lion hadn’t eaten in days?

  At least that’s what it felt like.

  It was a complete blindsided fuck you to the face.

  Abbie paced the living room doing everything she could to calm herself.

  After her last wrestling match with Hunter, she said fuck it and left the office. Okay, more like stormed out of the office like a tornado, but whatever. Besides, if Bill wanted to fire her for this, then so be it. Fuck him anyway for pulling this shit on her.

  Actually, she should quit. Yeah, that was exactly what Abbie should do. Fuck all of them.

  There was no way in fucking hell she was working alongside Hunter James.

  Her head spun. She was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact he worked in the same field as her and in a better position. She looked up to the ceiling. “Really, Universe. Really? What have I ever done to you?” she growled as her right eye started to twitch.

  Damn it! Damn it all.

  Abbie knew she couldn’t quit at least not right now. No matter how bad she wanted to. Maybe after she had Jefferson Exports under her belt she could, but until then she was stuck. And hell would freeze over, and pigs would fly out of her ass before she let Hunter take this away from her.

  “Fuck!”

  Abbie closed her eyes as her fists clenched at her sides. They were squeezed so tight
ly she was positive she was about to snap one of her nails. And she didn’t care. If her nails wanted to be sissy and break with a little added pressure, then fine by her.

  Stupid nails anyway.

  She was done. Done with the day. Done with Bill. Done with Hunter fucking James.

  Then out of nowhere, Abbie felt something tiny touch her right leg. She took another deep breath doing her best to let go of what she was feeling, there was no use in taking it out on him. She unclenched her fists. “Rup—”

  Then in pure Rupert fashion, the little jerk decided he was tired of waiting for her to acknowledge him and dug his claws into her leg. Hard.

  Abbie’s eyes snapped closed in pain. “Ouch, you freakin’ asshole. Did you really have to do that?” She looked down at her cat who now sat on his hind legs, licking his paw as if to taste her blood without a care in the freaking world.

  “You’re a shit-head, Rupert. Do you know that?”

  Her cat stood before going into a deep stretch. He then purposely did this weird shimmy to show off his attire.

  Abbie groaned as she rolled her eyes. Rupert might be an asshole, but at least he was a fashionable asshole.

  Right now, Rupert was sporting his turquoise turtleneck with his favorite rhinestone collar that had his name on it.

  Seeing him do another turn, admiring himself, had the corner of Abbie’s mouth lifting. Leave it to Rupert to bring all attention to him and his wardrobe. Abbie couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle. It was one of the things she loved most about having a hairless cat. She got to dress him up in anything she wanted. She was just lucky enough she got a cat that wanted to be a full-on fashionista.

  Rupert did another quick turn as if showing off his outfit from the other side, before going back to Abbie’s legs weaving in-between them.

  She bent at her waist to scratch Rupert’s wrinkly head. “Are you excited your mom’s home early or are you just hankering for some treats?”

  At the word treats Rupert began to purr. “Figures.”

  Abbie rolled her eyes as she walked over to the tray she kept by the window that housed some of Rupert’s belongings. Such as his princess bed that overlooked the backyard, his multiple rhinestone collars, and about one-eighth of his clothes.