"What did you talk to Johnny about on Saturday morning?" she asked immediately. That conversation after the “hot peach” incident, as she had coined it in her mind, had nagged at her for a week.
Theo looked uncomfortable for a minute, as if he was still debating playing along.
"You have to answer. That's how you play the game."
Theo sighed. “It's not a secret. You're going to find out, anyway."
"Find out what?".
Theo looked out over the tree line to the lake in the distance. “I asked Johnny to fix your car and to send me the bill.”
"What?" she asked, unable to hide her astonishment. "Why did you do that?"
"I wanted to know you were safe," he said simply.
It hit her square in the chest, making her blink at the stab of unfamiliar emotion. "I'll pay you back," she blurted out. The scoreboard tipped even more in Theo’s direction and her breath got short and tight in her chest.
He shook his head slowly. “I don't want you to pay me back. You might as well know I took your credit card statements and the loan letter from the debt collection agency and paid them off too.”
“What? I was going to pay them. You can take it out of my paycheck,” she said almost desperately.
"I don't want to do that either. Consider it payment for the work you’re doing with the gala if you need to. None of that work is in your job description. Or take it how I intended it, as a gift. You give gifts all the time. Please accept mine.” The way he looked at her made her heart pound in her ears. A little sad. A little rueful. Raw.
“I’ll pay you back so we’re even,” she whispered. It was too much money, too much emotion, too foreign to have someone look out for her like this.
The scoreboard had always been skewed in his favor, leaving her off balance. She had spent her entire adult life pretending that she had things under control, only tocome to this moment and realize Theo saw right through her.
Theo shook his head slowly. “It was never a competition. We’ve always been on the same team.” There was no judgment there, only a soft understanding that made her feel suddenly as dizzy as if she had a fear of heights instead of him.
She had nothing under control at all. She handled the feelings welling up inside of her like she always did. “My turn,” she said, almost angrily. Defiantly. “I choose dare.”
"Pick the truth." Theo countered. That cool, assessing look she remembered so well was back, along with the eyebrow. She bristled.
"Why? Eager to get at more of my deep dark secrets? I'm an open book."
"You're far from an open book," he said. "What is Johnny to you?" he asked abruptly.
The question caught her fully off guard, and she sat back as if he had shoved her off. "Does it matter?" she finally asked.
"It matters," Theo insisted. “You said you don’t do relationships, but I can see there’s something there, or there was. What is it?”
"That's too bad," she said flippantly. "I choose dare. So, what is it, Theo? What's your big bad dare?"
Theo didn't hesitate. “A swim in the lake."
She was almost disappointed. If you grew up in New York, swimming in one of the many lakes was a favorite summer pastime. “That's pretty tame, Mr. Mayor. Are you sure you can't think of something bigger?”
Theo smirked. “Naked. Right now.Let’s go, Red Hot.”
"Here are the rules,"Amber announced as soon as Theo’s car rolled to a stop in a secluded corner of the beach parking lot. There were only a handful of cars parked along the far end. Most of the town was still at the carnival waiting for the fireworks to begin, but it was still a risk.
Theo hesitated and considered cautioning Amber or even taking back the silly dare, but Amber was almost humming with the energy of his challenge. She was already kicking off her sandals.
"There are no rules. This is my dare.” Theo said. He leaned back in his seat and watched her with hooded eyes. Despite the dark interior of his car, her skin glowed in the lamplight. Her dress displayed the delicate lines of her collarbones and the top swells of her breasts. If he looked hard enough, he could imagine how fast the pulse in her neck was beating. It would match his.
“Of course there are. I’m an expert skinny-dipper, boss,” she scoffed. He didn’t miss the emphasis she put onboss. She was putting distance between them. The irony of her taking her clothing off to put distance between them wasn’t lost on him. But he was a patient man, and he knew what he wanted was worth the wait.
“Rule number one: you have to count to ten in the car to give me a head start.” She paused, her eyes glittering with mischief. Her excitement was palpable in the small car.
