Page 105 of Unharmed
Though it wasn’t something I’d attempted before, I knew exactly what this trick was all about. I rolled my eyes at him.
Jeremy laughed and held his hands up in surrender. “Hey, can you blame me?”
Shaking my head, I lifted my hand up to catch the bartender’s attention. “Fresh cherry margarita.”
“You’ve got it.”
While we waited for my drink, Jeremy and I popped handfuls of peanuts into our mouths. There was a strongflirtatious vibe between us, and those few moments were filled with gorgeous winks and playful smiles.
Once I had my drink in hand, I plucked the cherry out, ate the fruit, and held on to the stem. A few seconds later, I’d slid the stem past my parted lips and got to work. Jeremy’s eyes were focused on my mouth as I worked the stem using my teeth and tongue. It took a bit longer than I would have liked, but I eventually pulled the stem out of my mouth and displayed the result—a perfectly tied knot.
“Truth or dare?” I asked, unable to fight the smile.
His eyes remained fixed on the stem for a bit before he lifted his gaze to mine. “You’re something else. I’m going to go with truth this time.”
Nodding, I asked, “Is this how you approach all women in the pub? With a game of Truth or Dare?”
Something changed in his expression. “I’d like to think I was that smooth, but I’m not. Honestly, I saw you and didn’t know how else I could possibly get you to talk to me. I figured being friendly and doing something non-threatening was the way to go. Plus, you didn’t have a lot of people around you, which is a complete mystery, even if it made me more willing to approach you.”
“Why is that a mystery?”
Jeremy shrugged. “I took one look at you and thought you’d already be spoken for. And if not, I imagined you’d have a bunch of your girlfriends here, enjoying a night out with you.”
Interesting.
Also, it was a shame he hadn’t been wrong about me being alone.
I chose not to comment, and instead, I popped more peanuts in my mouth.
“Am I wrong to assume there’s no boyfriend?” he pressed as I chewed.
After I swallowed and took a sip of my drink, I returned, “I didn’t agree to a truth.”
There was no boyfriend, but I wasn’t going to come out and share that. It would only make me look more pitiful. Or, perhaps I wouldn’t necessarily look more pitiful, but I’d certainly feel that way.
Jeremy’s lips twitched. “Truth or dare, Daisy?”
I cocked an eyebrow. “Dare.”
It was becoming obvious to Jeremy by the second that I wasn’t going to be an easy nut to crack. But he truly seemed up to the challenge. We went back and forth for quite a few rounds of the game, Jeremy being far more forthcoming with information while I sought the adventure.
It was fun. I had a great time, and I enjoyed Jeremy’s persistence.
But just as I told myself I was going to do one more dare before answering a truth, it happened.
“Dare.”
“I’m going to regret this, but I have to tell you a truth in order to give you the dare,” he revealed.
I was beyond curious. “What is it?”
There was a moment of hesitation before he shared, “I initially approached you because I wanted to do something nice for my buddy.”
“What?”
“Without making it obvious, he’s the guy at the end of the bar, wearing the dark blue tee.”
I nodded, lifted my drink to my lips, and looked down in that direction to see the guy he’d been referring to. Fortunately, Jeremy’s buddy wasn’t looking in our direction.
