Chapter 1
Eliza Collins
“Ladies, I’m bored.” Jade tossed back the last of her tequila shot and slammed the glass on our high-top. “Let’s play a game.”
“Please, not Truth or Dare again,” Riley groaned, stirring her vodka cranberry with a thin black straw. “Last time I ended up with my number on the bathroom wall.”
Taylor shrugged. “I don’t know, I got three dates out of that.”
“And they were all disasters,” Zoe reminded her, then turned to me. “Liza’s been quiet. What does our resident good girl think?”
Five pairs of eyes turned to me. I hadn’t told them about losing my job yet—or about finding Jake’s late-night texts to his “work wife” Amber. Two weeks of fake-it-till-you-make-it had gotten me nowhere. So tonight? Three gin and tonics deep, I was in fuck it mode.
“Actually,” I said, the buzz of alcohol filling me with liquid courage, “I think a game sounds fun.”
Jade’s eyebrows shot up, her lips curving into a smile. “Well, well. Who are you and what have you done with Eliza Collins?”
I forced a smile and lifted a shoulder, taking another long drink.
“I’ve got a better game than Truth or Dare,” Paige said, leaning forward conspiratorially. ”Bet or Dare. You either complete the dare and win the money or pass on the dare and add money to the pot.”
“I’m in,” Jade said immediately.
“How much money are we talking?” I asked, thinking of my rapidly dwindling bank account. Rent was due in a week, and without my job at Richards & Klein...
“We’ll start small,” Paige said. “First dare is worth ten bucks.”
I did a quick mental calculation. I had about $1,600 to my name. Maybe a little reckless distraction was exactly what I needed. Perhaps I could even win a little money and buy myself more time.
“Fine,” I said. “I’m in too.”
“Liza Collins is living dangerously tonight!” Taylor laughed, raising her martini. “To bad decisions!”
“To bad decisions,” we echoed, clinking glasses.
The first few rounds were harmless enough. Riley had to ask the bartender for his underwear size. Jade had to eat a lime wedge, peel and all. Taylor chickened out of approaching the group of businessmen by the door and lost forty bucks. The alcohol flowed, the stakes got higher, and somehow, we ended up here:
“Fifteen hundred dollars in the pot,” Jade said, her eyes gleaming. “Kiss a total stranger. Tongue optional, but it has to last at least ten seconds.”
“No way,” Taylor said, “That’s insane!”
“Scared?” Jade taunted.
“It’s a lot of money,” Zoe said, looking concerned.
“I don’t think—” Riley began.
“I’ll do it,” I heard myself say, the words tumbling out before I could stop them. Yes, it was crazy. Yes, I was desperate. Yes, I was drunk. But $1500? That would give me another month, maybe even two, to find a new job. I’d be an idiot to turn that down.
Everyone froze.
“Seriously?” Taylor asked.
I stood up, smoothing down my black dress. “Fifteen hundred. I pick anyone in this bar?”
Jade nodded slowly, looking slightly stunned that I’d accepted. “Anyone. But we choose the general direction.” She scanned the room dramatically, then pointed to the far corner. “Those guys. The ones who look like they own the place.”
I followed her gaze to a group of men in the back. Even from here, they radiated a "don’t approach unless invited" energy: dark suits, serious expressions, expensive watches.
The businessmen by the door would have been easier.
“Fine,” I said, my heart hammering. “Wish me luck.”
As I walked across the bar, weaving between tables and ignoring curious glances, I felt strangely calm. What was the worst that could happen? Rejection? After everything else this month, that would barely register.
The group noticed me before I reached them—five men, all attractive in that dangerous way that usually sent me running in the opposite direction. The tallest one, with dark hair and a friendly face, smiled as I approached.
“Can we help you?” he asked.
I took a deep breath. “This is going to sound strange, but I need to kiss one of you on a dare. I—” I gestured vaguely behind me, “—have a substantial amount of money riding on this.”
The tall man’s smile widened. “Well, I’m Ray, and I’d be happy to—”
“I’ll take care of this.”
The voice came from behind Ray, deep and commanding. The group parted instantly, and I found myself face-to-face with the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen. Dark eyes that seemed to look straight through me, olive skin, and black hair with just a hint of curl. His suit was immaculate, clearly custom-made, and he carried himself with the kind of confidence that couldn’t be faked.
“Boss, I don’t mind—” Ray began.
“It’s fine, Ray.” Those dark eyes never left mine. “I’m Mateo.”
“Liza,” I managed to say, suddenly very aware of how ridiculous this whole situation was. “Look, this is just a stupid dare, so—”
“Your friends are watching,” he said, stepping closer. “How much are you going to win?”
“Fifteen hundred dollars.”
Something flickered in his eyes—amusement, maybe? “That’s a lot for a kiss.”
“I’ve had a bad month.”
His lips curved slightly, not quite a smile. “Then let’s make it worth your while.”
Before I could respond, his hand slid around to the small of my back, pulling me against him. His other hand came up to cup my face, thumb brushing gently across my cheekbone. The tenderness of the gesture caught me off guard, making me forget where we were, why I was doing this.
Then he kissed me.
I’d been kissed before—good kisses, bad kisses, forgettable kisses. This wasn’t any of those. This was a kiss that started slow and deliberate, his lips warm and surprisingly soft against mine. Then it changed, deepened, as his hand on my back pressed me closer. I felt myself responding, my hands moving to his shoulders, then sliding up to the nape of his neck.
I completely forgot about the ten-second minimum. Forgot about my friends watching. Forgot about everything except the feel of him against me, the taste of expensive whiskey on his tongue, the slight roughness of stubble against my skin.
When he finally pulled back, I was breathless, my lips tingling. For a moment, neither of us spoke, and I had the strange sensation that something irrevocable had just happened.
“Did you get what you needed?” he asked, his voice lower than before.
It took me a second to remember the dare. “I... yes. Thank you.”
He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, the gesture oddly intimate. “Any time, Liza.”
The way he said my name sent a shiver down my spine. I stepped back, suddenly needing space, air, distance from the intensity of whatever had just happened.
“I should get back,” I said, gesturing vaguely toward my friends, who I could feel staring even without looking.
Mateo nodded. “I’ll see you around.”
It wasn’t a question, but a statement of fact. As I turned to walk away, I heard Ray say, “Well, that was unexpected.”
My legs felt unsteady as I made my way back to our table, where five slack-jawed faces greeted me.
“Holy. Shit.” Taylor was the first to speak.
“That,” Jade said, “was not just a kiss. That was practically foreplay.”
“Who is he?” Zoe demanded.
I shook my head, still dazed. “His name’s Mateo. That’s all I know.”
“Well, whatever else he is,” Paige said, pulling out her wallet, “he just made you fifteen hundred dollars richer.”
As the girls counted out the cash, I glanced back toward the VIP section. Mateo was watching me, his expression unreadable. He raised his glass slightly in my direction before turning back to his companions.
I had no way of knowing then that I’d just kissed the most dangerous man in the city. Or that he had decided, in those few seconds, that I was his.
