Dare Me Tonight

by Phillips, Carly

  Then she took the limo back to the apartment and headed upstairs with a bounce in her step.

  Excited, she decided to call Avery and show her the end results of her day. After dumping all the bags on the bed, she pulled out her phone and Facetimed her half sister, who had, over the years, become one of her closest friends. Maybe all the Dares weren’t BFFs, but the girls had definitely bridged the gap their father had created.

  After the call rang a few times, Avery’s face appeared on the screen. “Hi! How’s New York?” she asked.

  “Amazing. I pampered myself. Look.” Sienna grinned into the camera phone and blew her a kiss, showing off her red lipstick.

  “Oh, gorgeous!” Avery, a video blogger and married to one of the biggest rock stars in the world, Grey Kingston, lead guitarist and songwriter for the band Tangled Royal, knew a good makeover when she saw one. “And I really love your hair so dark. It makes your eyes pop!”

  Sienna rolled her eyes. “I don’t have those violet eyes of yours. Mine are crappy brown.”

  “Hot chocolate colored,” Avery argued. “Now let me see your dress for tonight.”

  Sienna had hung up the outfit before she’d gone out earlier and she’d brought a travel steamer with her just in case the garment wrinkled. From the closet, she pulled out the little black dress that flared out at the waist and held it up in front of her, showing it off for Avery.

  “Ooh, the white piping makes the dress,” Avery said, whistling her approval. “Shoes?”

  “Mom lent me her black Louboutins.” Sienna was more of a down-to-earth girl, but once in a while, dressing up was nice, and her mother’s closet was full of fun, luxurious things. She held up the red-soled shoes.

  “Nice!” Avery exclaimed.

  Sienna and Avery didn’t discuss their moms much, that being the one conversation that remained awkward. No matter how she looked at it, Sienna’s mom, Savannah, had been Robert Dare’s mistress/other woman with another family, while Avery’s mom, Emma, had been in the dark. The good news was that Emma had remarried a nice man the family approved of, and that helped everyone get over the past.

  “Do you know who you’re meeting tonight?” Avery asked.

  Sienna placed the dress and shoes on the bed and faced the phone again. “Ethan Knight, CEO of Knight Time Technology. The company is doing the tech and security for Ian’s new stadium.

  “Have you Googled him?” Avery met her gaze, then disappeared from the screen, leaving it blank, and Sienna knew her sister was already busy on the browser. “Holy shit, he’s hot!” she said, her voice coming through the phone.

  “Show me. I need to know who to look for tonight.”

  Avery screenshotted a photo and sent it over Messenger. As soon as Sienna received the picture, she pulled up the photo and sucked in a startled breath.

  Sienna had expected a stuffy older man who it would be difficult to spend the weekend with and pay attention to, not a sexy, gorgeous guy. Ethan Knight had dark short hair, with a handsome, freshly shaven face. In his suit and tie, he was the epitome of a CEO in charge of everything and everyone around him.

  If not for the fact that she found him hot, she would have said his steely-eyed stare reminded her of Ian’s. Although he was obviously older than her, he was by no means old, and he stirred something very primal in Sienna, something she’d never experienced before.

  “Well?” Avery demanded.

  “He’s so good-looking,” she whispered, unable to tear her gaze from the picture, those blue eyes startling and seemingly focused on her.

  Avery laughed. “Someone is going to have a very good weekend.”

  “Hey, sugar, are you home?” Grey Kingston’s distinct voice sounded from the other room.

  “In the bedroom!” Avery called out. “Okay, my evening’s about to start.” She looked at Sienna. “And you need to get dressed for your date!”

  Feeling herself blush, Sienna shook her head. “It’s not a date! It’s a school event,” she said as much to remind her sister as to cement the fact in her own mind.

  “With a private escort.” Avery glanced over her shoulder as Grey’s familiar face popped onto the screen.

  “Hi, Sienna.”

  “Hey, Grey. We were just hanging up.”

  He grinned. “Always good to see you. But I wouldn’t mind some time with my wife.” He kissed Avery’s cheek, and knowing what probably came next, Sienna called out, “Bye!” and disconnected the call.

  She stared at her clothing, hoping her dress was appropriate for tonight’s event. She hadn’t chosen something stifling and conservative because that wasn’t who she was and the invitation had said semiformal. But she hadn’t picked something overly revealing, either. She wanted to come off suitable for the occasion.

  With that thought in mind, she headed for the bathroom to wash up and dress for the evening, unable to get the image of her host for the night from her mind.

  Chapter Two

  Without bragging, Ethan knew he was a hot commodity at this event. Business owners and CEOs wanted to talk to him, either about his ventures or his investments. It was another reason he hadn’t wanted to come. Handing off the babysitting duty every year was a no-brainer, and for a while, it had been amusing to send Sebastian. Ethan supposed this was Karma paying him back, forcing him to spend the night making small talk with people he had no patience for and watching over a young woman he had nothing in common with.

  Nevertheless, he did his duty. He mingled, speaking to men he’d known for years, introducing himself to their protégés, most of them wide-eyed, nervous potential students dressed in semiformal wear, too conservative even for him. Three-piece suits and handkerchiefs weren’t his thing. He’d grown less stuffy over the last year, the things that mattered to him not as important. Not since they’d been thrown back in his face, the time and effort he’d put into making his marriage work not worth anything in the end.

  Which was also the reason he’d had to do some serious ducking of women CEOs who’d heard of his widowed status and assumed now that a year had gone by since his wife’s untimely death, they could attempt to make a pass at him. He wasn’t interested. Instead he focused on trying to find the young woman he was supposed to meet up with.

  Always prepared, Ethan looked for the blonde beauty with porcelain skin he’d seen during his scoping of Sienna Dare’s social media pages. Yes, he’d checked her out. No, he didn’t regret it. Any school or potential employer would do the same. Just because she was a business associate’s sister didn’t mean he’d slack off in his due diligence.

  During his unsuccessful search of the room, his gaze kept straying to a young woman alone at the bar with jet-black hair in a sexier dress than many of the other women were wearing. His wife had been a blonde, and he hadn’t been intrigued by another female since finding out about her betrayal, yet looking at this appealing woman alerted him to the fact that certain body parts still worked.

  Good to know.

  Didn’t make him interested, but he was glad he wasn’t dead inside. With a frown, he went back to his hunt for his weekend obligation. He’d sent a car to pick up Sienna Dare, knowing how awkward it would be for their first meeting to be alone in the back of a stretch limousine.

  He checked his watch. It was a quarter after the hour, fifteen minutes since this affair had begun.

  Where was she?

  He was a stickler for promptness and this bordered on rude. He strode over to the bar and ordered a club soda, determined to keep his wits about him tonight. No sooner had he leaned forward on one elbow and ordered than he felt the woman’s gaze on his.

  He turned and looked her in the eye. Her skin glowed even under the poor bar lighting, her brown eyes sparkling. The one thing missing tonight was name tags. Someone would have their ass handed to them later, he assumed. But for now he merely met her gaze and glanced away before giving the wrong signals, his body be damned. This wasn’t the right time or place.

  “Excuse me,” she said,
stepping closer.

  Her soft, fragrant perfume went straight to his dick, and he curled his hand around the glass the bartender had handed him.

  “I’m looking for someone and you sort of look like him,” she said.

  He doubted this was a lame pickup attempt, here of all places, so he trusted the question was genuine. “Just who do I look like?” he asked, now curious.

  “My escort for the weekend. Ethan Knight of Knight Time Technology? I did some Googling and the photos had his hair much shorter than yours but you do look similar.” She glanced up at him with an inquiring gaze.

  He blinked in shock. “You’re Sienna–”

  “Sienna Dare,” she said with an engaging smile, the red lipstick enhancing her natural beauty. “I had a feeling I was right! You’re Ethan Knight?” Her light laughter sprinkled above the din of heavy voices surrounding them.

  “I did my research, too, and you had blonde hair in your photos online,” he mused, taking in the differences now. The black hair suited her. She’d been a beautiful blonde, but she was a striking brunette.

  “Surprise!” she said with an easy shrug. “I tend to grow bored and make changes.” Her astute stare swept over him, focusing on his face. “So do you. Your hair is much longer than the one on the KTT website.”

  He admired the fact that she was diligent, looking into who she’d be meeting ahead of time, and he extended his hand.

  She shook it.

  He wasn’t prepared for the tremor of awareness that reverberated up his arm and went straight to his cock. He blinked in shock. Her red lips parted in surprise, letting him know she’d felt the sexual awareness between them, too.

  Worse, as those luscious lips parted, all he wanted was to feel that mouth wrapped around his now raging erection. It’d been a year since he’d wanted sex, let alone one particular woman. Why the hell did it have to be this one? Ian Dare had sent her to Ethan to take care of, not fuck. The man was also the most important client Ethan had had in a long time, and that was saying something because all his clients represented multimillion- and billion-dollar deals.

  Ian had made it a point of mentioning Sienna wasn’t going back to business school later in life, as many tended to do. No, she was just shy of twenty-four, which made her way too young for Ethan. Not to mention the obvious wide-eyed innocence and appreciation of the mundane that was the distinct opposite of his jaded thirty-one years.

  “Mr. Knight?” Her soft voice pulled at him and she reached out, her hand touching his forearm.

  Oh, fuck. “Ethan,” he said on a low growl.

  “Ethan,” she said, clearly not put off by his gruff demeanor. “I said it’s nice to meet you and I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to take care of me this weekend.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said roughly. “I’m sorry I didn’t pick you up from the airport. I had an emergency and couldn’t get away. I figured my sister would take good care of you.” He didn’t want her upset with him and reporting back to her brother that he’d bailed.

  She waved away his concern, his gaze falling on the red nails that matched her lips. Jesus, was everything about her appealing?

  “Honestly it was fine. Ian is a busy executive, too. I’m used to how things work, and I’m good with taking care of myself.”

  He relaxed on that score. Ian wasn’t going to come after him for leaving some frightened girl alone in New York City. This woman knew how to take care of herself.

  “So how are you enjoying your time in Manhattan?” he asked. He didn’t want to hit her up with her school and career plans right away and scare her off. Ian had mentioned she was hesitant about going to graduate school, so he planned to ease into that part of the conversation.

  “I love it!” Her eyes lit up at the question. “Since I had the afternoon free, I took advantage and enjoyed myself.” She blushed and he wondered how she’d kept busy.

  “What did you do with yourself?” He wasn’t usually so talkative, but she was easy to be with.

  “I don’t want you to think I’m shallow. I’m here for a business school weekend,” she murmured, intriguing him.

  “How about if I promise not to judge you?”

  She ducked her head, then said, “I went to Saks and had my makeup done, and your sister recommended her hairstylist and I had a full salon day.”

  He took in her gorgeous, expressive features, the makeup that defined her brown eyes, and the lips he wanted to devour and appreciated the effort she’d made. He would have liked to compliment her but knew how inappropriate anything he said would be, so he remained silent.

  “But I’m not all about the frilly, girly stuff,” she went on to assure him. “I’m honestly interested in your business and what kind of security you’re doing at the stadium. I’d love to know more about why you feel this school is the right place for me and discuss my future,” she said, clearly nervous about the fact that she’d revealed her more frivolous side.

  As a normal rule, he wouldn’t be interested in anything she’d had to say. He’d expected conversation to be forced and stilted, but he had a hunch this woman could discuss nail polish color and he’d be listening and drooling as she spoke.

  He glanced at the open terrace, where people had congregated. “Let’s go outside,” he said, needing some fresh air that might dissipate her scent and its effect on his body.

  “Sure. It’s a beautiful night,” she said, as he gestured for her to walk ahead of him.

  Big mistake, he thought, his stare on her long legs and high heels that he imagined wrapping his hips while he fucked her.

  So he lifted his gaze to her trim waist. She was thinner than the women he usually went for, her body more delicate, and yet that didn’t stop him from imagining the things he could do as he pounded into her.

  Yeah. This was a fucking bad situation. “So tell me about yourself,” he said when they finally reached the balcony and he could breathe in the outside air, free of her scent.

  “I graduated summa cum laude in management and business from Florida State University.”

  She rolled her shoulders as if it were no big deal. He knew for a fact just how hard she’d had to work to accomplish those things.

  “I’m just tired of studying,” she admitted, leaning in as if telling him a secret.

  Too close and her fragrance was back in his nostrils, filling his body, making him harder. “But you have an offer for a full scholarship to attend Columbia’s exclusive Digital Business Strategy program. It’s elite, you know.”

  She blew out a breath from those lips. “I do. Which is why I feel guilty considering turning it down. And I realize that no matter what business you’re in, a big part of any strategy is digital. You want to be able to reach consumers and businesses online where they live and observe their behaviors and figure how to tap into their market.” She sighed. “But I’d rather live it than learn it, if that makes any sense.”

  He admired that she understood things about herself most people struggled to discover. She was also clearly bright, something that everyone in this room could claim, but she was enchanting, as well.

  “On the other hand,” she went on, “if I want to succeed, I need the education.”

  “And do you want to succeed? In digital business strategy or anything like it?”

  A secretive smile pulled at her lips as she placed both hands out and shrugged. “I’m unsure, Mr. Knight–”

  “Ethan.” He let out another little growl, not wanting the formal distance between them.

  “Right. Ethan. Part of me just wants to dive in and just … do.”

  Far be it from him to push her to go to school when she wasn’t sure what her path should be. “One thing I’m certain of, you’ll put one hundred percent into whatever it is you choose to do. I can tell that from this one conversation alone.” She was an excited ball of energy and drive but one without direction, he thought.

  He’d like to direct that enthusiasm, he mused, thinking of her
on her knees in front of him. He shook his head and refocused on the task at hand. Discussing the courses offered at Columbia, doing his job as someone who both funded and hired from this school.

  But all the while, his mind kept drifting to Sienna Dare, not as a potential student or employee, but as the first woman who had interested him sexually in longer than he cared to remember. He had the distinct feeling she would be incredibly difficult to forget, and as the evening came to an end, he found himself reluctant to part from her, something he never could have anticipated.

  It was everything about her, how she went from youthful free spirit to bright businesswoman capable of having a serious conversation about topics that would have most people’s eyes glazing over. The way she spoke, so animated and excitedly, as if everything she said had great importance. She alone had taken him away from the burdens that consumed him day in and day out, making him forget everything but the joy of being with her.

  He’d allowed her the freedom to talk to other trustees, donors, and CEOs who could enlighten her on the program and the benefits of furthering her education here, despite hating every second of her focus being on other people and not him.

  At the moment, another man had captured her attention, an older gentleman who was clearly interested not just in what she had to say about social media marketing strategy, but was also inching nearer to her the longer they talked.

  Ethan might not be much better than this man when it came to noticing Sienna’s charms, but there was no way he was going to let the man monopolize her attention or behave inappropriately on his watch.

  As the guy inched closer and Sienna took a visible step back, Ethan swooped in. “The night’s about over and, Cooper, isn’t your protégé waving, trying to get your attention?” As soon as the man glanced over his shoulder, Ethan hooked his arm into Sienna’s and walked her away.

  “Oh, thank goodness!” she said, laughing. “I thought he would never stop talking. And he was in my personal space and I hate when people don’t get the hint that they’re just standing too close.” She shivered.