Six
lemon drop shots line the center of our table, and we’ve all refreshed our
drinks and have fresh glasses of ice water.
“Ready?”
Emery asks, and looks around at everyone, a hint of a challenge in her eyes.
“Let’s
do it,” Zay says and rubs his hands together, ready to begin.
Emery
beams with delight. “Okay, so we’re going counterclockwise. Rowan goes first,
then Saige, then Zay, then Kinsley, and I’m last. We’ll ask you Truth or Dare.
If you pick truth, we’ll use the questions from the app. If it’s a dare, we’ll
come up with one as a group. Rules though, friends.” She looks pointedly at
each of us. “It has to be safe, but it has to push boundaries.”
The
guys grumble.
“I
refuse to kiss Rowan,” Zay teases.
“You’re
not my type,” Rowan jokes back.
“So,
Ro.” Emery grins at him. “Truth or Dare?”
Rowan
rubs his chin and ponders his two options for a minute. “Truth.”
“I
knew he’d go easy on us,” Kinsley says.
“Hey
hey,” he chides. “Let’s start off nice and slow. Build our way up.”
Emery
taps the app on her phone, and the questions scramble. “Okay,” she says and
chuckles to herself as she reads the question before reading it back to us.
“Have you ever cheated on a boyfriend or girlfriend?”
“Really?”
Rowan raises an unenthused eyebrow. “That’s the question?”
“Yep.”
She turns the phone to face him, and he turns up his nose.
“Yes,”
he answers, sounding bored. “I’ve cheated on both.”
“What!”
Kinsley screams across the table. “You’ve had a boyfriend and a girlfriend?”
“Yes,”
he mumbles and takes a sip of wine. “It was a long time ago.”
She
drops her head back in laughter. “I need to hear more about this.”
I
glance over to where Holt stands with his guest, and we make eye contact again,
sharing a brief but friendly smile before I quickly turn my attention back to
my friends. Emery is smirking at me, which means she caught me looking.
“No,
you will not hear more about this.” Rowan raises his chin in defiance, then
snatches Emery’s phone. “Moving on. Saige, truth or dare?”
I
glance around the table at my friends and, without much thinking, blurt out,
“Dare.”
Oh,
shit. My stomach twists into a giant knot as those words fall from my tongue.
Everyone
begins hooting and hollering, and I can’t help but laugh along with them.
“Remember, safe,” Emery reminds us. “And, friends, let’s be reasonable.”
“Reasonable,”
Kinsley snorts. “Okay, let’s put our heads together, guys.” They lean in to the
center of the small round pub table, and whisper-yell over the tops of empty
drink glasses and finally all sit back in their chairs.
“Bad
idea.” Zay shakes his head and purses his lips. “I don’t like it.”
“Well,
if one of you disagrees, then maybe you should come up with something new,” I
chime in and look at Zay, who looks irritated.
“Not
in this lifetime.” Kinsley giggles. “You ready, Saige?”
I
swallow hard against my dry throat. “No.”
Truth.
Always choose truth. What was I thinking?
“Too
bad.” She grabs a shot off the table. “You are going to go ask Holt Hamilton
out for a drink.”
“What?”
I snap at her. I look around the table like my friends have lost their damn
minds. “I can’t ask him out for drinks. He’ll think it’s a date, and dating a
superior is strictly prohibited per the company handbook. There’s this thing
called ethics in the workplace, people. Have you all lost your minds? Are you
all crazy? Are you trying to get me fired?” They all roar with laughter and my
heart races.
“First
of all,” Kinsley tips her head back and swallows the lemon drop shot, “it’s not
against company policy to date a coworker. You cannot date your direct manager.
Holt is not your direct manager.” She looks pleased, like she just solved a
murder case.
“He
owns the fucking company,” I bark at her. “That pretty much qualifies as my
manager.”
“Pipe
down, little one.” Rowan pats my hand. “It’s just a drink, and purely
innocent.”
I
glower at him. “You said you’d have my back. This is not having my back, Ro.” I
wipe my sweaty hands on my skirt.
“It’s
all in pure fun.” His eyebrows dance at me. “Tell him we dared you if you have
to.”
My
frown deepens. “So I look like a thirteen-year-old? Hi, Mr. Hamilton. My
friends over there dared me to ask you out. Will you have drinks with me? No
thanks.” I cross my arms over my chest in defiance. Then, realizing that I probably
look like I’m actually thirteen, I uncross them.
Zay
chimes in, “I’ll bet one hundred dollars she won’t do it.”
“Chicken,
Saige?” Kinsley kicks me under the table.
“I’m
not a chicken, you assholes,” I grumble. “I’m reasonable. This is not
reasonable. I’d like to keep my job.”
Emery
nudges me. “It’s all in fun, and I am dying to see the look on his face when
you ask him.”
I
glance at Holt, feeling anxiety building in my stomach. Suddenly, he turns in
our general direction to find all of us watching him. His brows pinch together
in a confused look, but he offers us all a polite smile and a little nod of his
head.
Ugh…
“Fine. I’ll do it.” I add my two whiny cents, “This is really stupid, though,
and if I wasn’t already close to being three sheets to the wind, I’d just take
the damn shot.” I fan my face. The heat from the alcohol or the stuffy bar is
getting to me.
“Atta
girl!” Rowan grabs my hand and helps me down from the tall barstool. My knees
wobble, and I press a hand my cheek to cool the flush crawling across my face.
Between my nerves and the alcohol, my stomach is twisting and turning.
“Just
breathe,” Rowan whispers in my ear as he grips my hand tightly. “Just ask him
if he’d be interested in grabbing a drink sometime.”
“And
when he says no?”
“You
just smile and come back to us.”
Zay
clears his throat. “What if he says yes?”
I
turn around to shoot him a death glare.
Emery
answers, “Then just know that she asked out the hottest man alive, and he
accepted. Win-win.” She offers me a reassuring smile.
“Hottest
man alive?” Zay mumbles under his breath and pffts into his glass of beer.
“Yes!”
Emery and Kinsley say simultaneously.
“I
can’t do this,” I say, reaching for my chair. Nerves are getting the better of
me, and my knees are literally knocking together.
"You
can,” Rowan assures me. “Go.”
~ Review ~
This book was everything I have come to expect from a Rebecca Shea novel and more! Holt Hamilton was off the charts, sexy, compassionate, driven. A business man with more than business on his mind after an encounter with Saige.
When dared to ask her ever sexy boss out for drinks life as Saige knows it changes. Returning to the city of Chicago after years away Saige is haunted by her past that she just can't seem to let go. Until Holt.
This story was full of loss and in more than one way. Both Saige and Holt are trying to deal with the past although they are more intertwined than it appears. Their story is one of emotion, healing and love.
I couldn't get enough of these two. Devoured this read in the matter of hours and then wished I could read it again. I have been a fan of Rebecca's work since Unbreakable and I can definitely see the growth in her writing.
Holt and Saige are more than just an office fling...there is more to this relationship. Holt may be holding back in certain aspects but when they engage in normal "couple" activities, the protective walls around his secrets start to crumble. Will Saige find that she has given her heart to another only to have it destroyed all over again?
Don't miss this read! This sexy standalone will have you saying #HOWHOTISHOLT.
~ Rating ~
