Double Dare by Rhonda Nelson Page B

felt
this remarkable attraction. It wouldn’t be because she and Sam
lacked the courage to make the decision that would ultimately
result in their making love.
    Lonely and morose, Lou signaled for the
waiter and ordered a decadent dessert.
    “ Mind if I join
you?”
    Startled, Lou glanced up…into his familiar
gray eyes. Her heart galloped in her chest. Sam wore a white knit
shirt open at the throat and khaki shorts that hugged his trim
hips. He was tall and lean and tanned and one hundred percent
handsome. His hair lay in soft, slightly damp waves slicked back
from his forehead. He looked…delicious.
    Desire parched her mouth. “N-not at all.”
    Sam seated himself across from her, then
looked around. A slightly crooked grin curled his lips, signally he
felt a bit awkward despite how close they’d become. What was he so
nervous about? Lou wondered. What make him so uncomfortable?
    Then it hit her.
    Dinner.
    Sweet heavens! He’d joined her for dinner.
Just her luck she’d already moved on to dessert.
    “ Would you like me to ask
for a menu? Lou asked, resisting the urge to squirm in
delight.
    Sam shook his head and glanced at her plate.
He frowned. “Was something wrong with your shrimp?”
“No, nothing. I just wasn’t in the mood for it.” She smiled. “Would
you like to try it? I’ve ordered dessert.”
    He quirked a brow. “You’re not going to eat
that?”
    When Lou shook her head, Same surprised her
by dragging her plate over in front of him. Then surprised her even
further by using her fork. How utterly intimate, she though as a
flush of pleasure warmed her. They’d gone from not being able to
share an evening meal to appropriating utensils? Sam’s gaze met
hers as his sinful mouth closed around the fork.
    “ Something wrong?” he asked,
completely oblivious to the fact that he’d done something so…so
couplelike.
    With a secret grin, Lou shook her head. “Not
at all.” She gestured to the plate. “Do you like it?”
    Sam swallowed, then looked about for
something to drink.
    He spied hers.
    Lips trembling, Lou accommodatingly slid her
glass across the table.
    Sam smiled his thanks and lifted the drink to
his lips. “It’s great.”
    Lou started to speak, but stopped when her
chocolate Volcano was placed before her. Mounds of ooey-gooey
chocolate sauce covered a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and a
sinfully rich-looking brownie. Sam’s eyes lit up and pause
midbite.
    “ That looks good,” he
commented lightly.
    “ It certainly does,” Lou
agreed, staring at the confection as though she’d never seen
chocolate before.
    From the look on his face, neither had
Sam.
    She imagined those Fudgy-Nutty cakes she’d
watched him consume throughout this adventure paled in comparison
to this particular morsel.
    Lou took up her spoon and enthusiastically
began to eat her dessert. My word, this had to be the best dessert
she’d ever eaten in her life! The combination of flavors and
textures were wonderful, simply hedonistic. She groaned in
pleasure, and at that particular moment, she happened to glance at
Sam.
    His shrimp sat, untouched.
    Oh, for pity’s sake, she thought with a spurt
of irritation. Obviously all these years he’d forgone dinners with
a female had affected him, Lou concluded, because it appears Sam
had no notion of proper table etiquette. She’d been happy for him
to have the shrimp. Hell, she’d been finished with it. But this
chocolate orgasm was something else entirely—Lou wanted it all for
herself.
    But…that would be stingy, so Lou reluctantly
moved her bowl to the middle of the table. “Grab a spoon and try a
bite,” she told him grudgingly.
    Sam didn’t even pretend to hesitate. “Wow,”
he mumbled around a mouthful of chocolate. “This is good.”
    Yes, indeed, Lou silently concurred as she
watched Sam bogart the rest of her dessert.
    So. He’d come down here to eat dinner with
her—and had eaten her dinner and dessert instead. To top it off,
she wouldn’t