Right then, I made the mistake of swiveling my head just in time to see Chris whisper in his date’s ear and grab her ass at the same time he was looking at me over her shoulder, giving me his bedroom eyes.
Fuckthat guy.
What an asshole.
That’s when a deep, burly voice spoke up. “I dare you.”
I whipped around to see that Dawson, the hot, hunky mountain man, had approached me while I’d been looking at Chris. “Y-you dareme?”
He nodded, with a sly glint in his eye. “Yeah. I dare you, Amy. You wear a shirt like that into a bar like this, it’s almost a requirement that you prove your cowgirl status for us all.”
“Oh,” I blushed. “I’m not really a cowgirl. I just borrowed the boots from a friend.”
Dee butted in, eyes wandering up and down his gorgeous torso. “Hi. I’m the friend who owns the boots. I’m Dee. And it’sreallynice to meet you. If she doesn’t want to ride the bull, I’d be willing to take a turn.”
Dawson didn’t take his eyes off me. “Nice to meet you, Dee. So what do you say, Amy? You going to get up there and give the bar a show? I tell you what, girl. I double-dog dare you.”
I burst out laughing. That was a line from one of my favorite movies, A Christmas Story. I had no doubt that boys in playgrounds across the country had uttered that phrase thousands of times. Usually right before one of them got in serious trouble.
“Sorry, Dawson,” I told him. “I’m not the adventurous type.”
His eyes were steady on me, and I couldn’t look away this time.
His dark, dreamy eyes told me stories about mountain sunshine, and cool streams, wind gusting wildly through the woods, and that feeling of utter freedom I used to have as a child.
He took a step closer and whispered in my ear. “Are you going to make me say it?”
“Say what?” I asked breathlessly.
He chuckled, and the scent of wood smoke and spice drifted off of him, filling me with the intoxicating smell of Dawson. “Itriple-dog dare you. Plus, I think you’ve got alotof adventure in you.”
I felt myself getting swayed by this sexy mountain man.
My ex was completely forgotten as I stared up into Dawson’s eyes.
And I was just tipsy enough that I did the most uncharacteristic thing in the world. I tipped up onto my toes and got as close to his ear as I could, which meant I whispered into his thick chest, “Time for this cowgirl to ride something hard and fast.”
He grunted out a laugh. “That’sthe spirit.”
Then I pranced confidently over to the bull before remembering I hadnoidea what I was doing.
Dawson followed me to the bull and rumbled, “Just go slow and easy hon. Set it to level one. That’s the beginner’s setting. And don’t forget the seat belt.”
Now that I was up close, I was getting cold feet.
Maybe this was a bad idea.
I straddled the bull and tried to make sense of the dial in front of me.
I started to get off again, but his strong hands landed on my waist, keeping me on the bull. “You got this, girl. I have faith in you.”
I lost myself in his dreamy eyes again, clutching at the edge of his flannel shirt. “I bet you could talk a girl right out of her boots.”
He chuckled. “Nowthere’san idea.”
As I reached out and twisted the dial to see what happened, he said, “Now hold on a second, hon. Seatbelt first! And you’ve got the dial turned way too high.”
But by that time, it was too late. The thing had already started bucking.
