HazardsDare by Frances Stockton Page A

him?”
    “Gave him a big tip,” he said.
    “And an autograph, I bet. Folks around here might be used to
men like you and Gabriel Krystiyan being here, but it has to be cool to run
into someone who makes headlines.”
    “Gabriel Krystiyan?” Gabriel was a babe magnet. He
constantly had women around, sometimes two or three at a time. “You met him
already?”
    “Not personally, no. Jaxon mentioned him. I’d love to see a
magic show.”
    “I’ll take you tomorrow night if you’d like.”
    “I would love that.” Avery lifted a dome lid off one plate.
“Burgers and fries, excellent, I’m starving.”
    “Keep my plate warm for a few minutes. I’m going to take a
turn in the bathroom and clean up before eating.”
    “Okay, I’ll wait for you.” Politely, Avery set the dome back
over the plate.
    “You’re hungry. Eat if you’d like.”
    “Not without you, it wouldn’t be right.” She moved the cart
across the room to the kitchenette. “If anything cools off, we’ve a microwave.”
    She scooped up one of the Cokes, popped the lid and sipped
right from the can. Hazard hurried to the bathroom. If she was going to wait,
he intended to make it fast.
     
    Avery waited until Hazard closed the bathroom door before
collapsing into the nearest chair. Incredibly, she didn’t think he’d noticed
her trembling.
    It wasn’t that she was nervous any longer. Oh no. Their bout
of oral sex on each other still had her heart racing and her legs were all
wobbly. How she’d managed to walk around the room and remain upright was beyond
her knowledge.
    For once, she was glad her mother insisted she take dance
lessons. She’d absolutely hated ballet, hated the plié , pirouettes , pase de valse and trying to go on pointe . But she’d given it a go
because her mom urged her to at least try to learn grace and balance.
    She’d achieved all but pointe . She simply couldn’t
take the pressure and didn’t have the heart of a ballerina. She’d even tried
other types of dance, tap and jazz, but she’d preferred hanging out at the
barns and visiting the horses than being in dance studios.
    Wanting something to do, she walked over to the food tray.
The domes were still warm. She heard the shower run briefly, followed by
splashes at the sink and the crinkle of plastic wrap.
    The hotel supplied basic toiletries, including toothbrushes.
He must have claimed one of the brushes. That was incredibly considerate,
especially since he’d done the most decadent thing she’d ever experienced,
anilingus.
    Mercy be to the person who figured out that little maneuver
could be so pleasurable. And thank goodness she’d never dared let Timothy try
such a thing. For reasons she didn’t want to concentrate on, Hazard doing that
to her had been incredibly exciting and intimate.
    Tempted to sneak a French fry from one of the platters, she
kept her fingers to herself and sipped on her soda. Better to cool off than get
overheated again too soon.
    They could make it through a meal without jumping on each
other. Sure they could.
    Hazard opened the door, startling her. “How was the shower?”
she asked to cover the way she’d swung around as if she hadn’t known he was
there. Her saving grace was that she didn’t spill any soda.
    “Real nice,” he said, watching her set the cold can down on
the food cart. “Didn’t linger, but maybe I’ll coax you into taking a longer one
later.”
    “Uh, no,” she refused.
    “Why not?” he asked, coming toward her wearing nothing but a
towel and making her drool a little.
    “My hair, it took over two hours to achieve this look.
There’s no way I’m letting it go wild tonight. As it is, the humidity in the
shower alone would make it go frizzy.”
    “Thought this week was all about going wild.” Hazard filled
out a towel better than any mortal man should be able to do. He was all defined
strength and steel, with not an ounce of body fat. “You took a shower before.
How’d you keep it