I Dare You, King Read online

  I Dare You, King

  Sophie Stern

  Published by Sophie Stern, 2019.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  I DARE YOU, KING

  First edition. September 22, 2019.

  Copyright © 2019 Sophie Stern.

  Written by Sophie Stern.

  Also by Sophie Stern

  Alien Chaos

  Destroyed

  Guarded

  Saved

  Anchored

  Starboard

  Battleship

  All Aboard

  Abandon Ship

  Below Deck

  Crossing the Line

  Anchored: Books 1-3

  Anchored: Books 4-6

  Club Kitten Dancers

  Move

  Dragon Isle

  My Lord and Dragon

  The Dragon Fighter

  A Dragon's Bite

  Lost to the Dragon

  Beware of Dragons

  Cowboy Dragon

  Dark Heart of the Dragon

  Once Upon a Dragon

  Catching the Dragon

  Dragon Isle (Collection: Books 1-3)

  Dragon Isle (Collection: Books 4-6)

  Dragon Isle (Collection: Books 7-9)

  Good Boys and Millionaires

  Good Boys and Millionaires 1

  Good Boys and Millionaires 2

  Honeypot Babies

  The Polar Bear's Baby

  The Jaguar's Baby

  The Tiger's Baby

  Honeypot Darlings

  The Bear's Virgin Darling

  The Bear's Virgin Mate

  The Bear's Virgin Bride

  Office Gentlemen

  Ben From Accounting

  Polar Bears of the Air Force

  Staff Sergeant Polar Bear

  Master Sergeant Polar Bear

  Airman Polar Bear

  Senior Airman Polar Bear

  Red

  Red: Into the Dark

  Red: Through the Dark

  Red: Beyond the Dark

  Shifters at Law

  Wolf Case

  Bearly Legal

  Tiger Clause

  Sergeant Bear

  Dragon Law

  The Fablestone Clan

  Dragon's Oath

  Dragon's Breath

  Dragon's Darling

  Dragon's Whisper

  Dragon's Magic

  The Hidden Planet

  Vanquished

  Outlaw

  Conquered

  The Wolfe City Pack

  The Wolf's Darling

  The Wolf's Mate

  The Wolf's Bride

  Standalone

  Saucy Devil

  Billionaire on Top

  Jurassic Submissive

  The Editor

  Alien Beast

  Snow White and the Wolves

  Kissing the Billionaire

  Wild

  Alien Dragon

  The Royal Her

  Be My Tiger

  Alien Monster

  The Paralegal

  Roses in the Dark

  Honeypot Babies Omnibus Edition

  Honeypot Darlings: Omnibus Edition

  Red: The Complete Trilogy

  First Shift

  The Swan's Mate

  Eternity: A Vampire Romance

  The Feisty Librarian

  Polar Bears of the Air Force

  Wild Goose Chase

  Star Princess

  The Virgin and the Lumberjacks

  Resting Bear Face

  I Dare You, King

  Contents

  I Dare You, King

  1 Rose

  2 Rose

  3 Parker

  4 Rose

  5 Parker

  6 Rose

  7 Parker

  8 Rose

  9 Rose

  10 Parker

  11 Rose

  12 Parker

  13 Rose

  Epilogue Rose

  Author

  Chapter One

  I Dare You, King

  Sophie Stern

  Three little words that hold so much meaning.

  I.

  Dare.

  You.

  Who knew we would take them so far?

  Who knew we would actually play?

  Who knew what the consequences would be?

  1––––––––Rose

  “I don’t think you realize what you’re getting into,” Stephanie says, reaching for her glass of wine. Yes, she drinks wine out of a glass. Trust me: I think it’s crazy, too. I think a lot of things about Stephanie are crazy. She’s got wild, frizzy hair. She’s got a sneaky black cat who is always getting into mischief. She’s always going on incredible adventures and last-minute trips. Yeah, I think a lot of things about Steph are crazy.

  Then again, what do I know?

  I’m just the computer geek.

  I’m just the nerd with the glasses.

  I’m just the girl who agreed to go out and seduce someone: not just anyone, though. Nope. I couldn’t make things that simple. I’ve agreed to go seduce someone very specific, someone very wonderful, someone very, very handsome. I’m going to go after the guy I’ve had a crush on for the last three years.

  That’s who I am.

  Oh, and I’m just the one drinking the wine straight from the bottle. It’s probably a bad idea. It’s certainly not the way I think you’re supposed to drink wine. Not on an ordinary day, anyhow. This is no ordinary day, though, and I think I deserve this wine. I certainly want it. Sometimes wanting should be more than enough of a reason.

  “I think I understand the terms of a dare,” I tell her. It’s not like I’ve never played this game before. I am a grown woman, after all. Truth or Dare is kind of a childhood staple when you’re a girl growing up in a small town. It’s how we spent summer afternoons in middle school and it’s how we passed the weekends in high school. Yeah, Stephanie and I were both a little wild when it came to dishing out – and accepting – dares.

  I hadn’t planned on playing tonight. That wasn’t really what “girl’s night” was supposed to be about, but the game had come up, and so we’d played. And now I have a dare. Not only do I have a dare, but I have a dare to go after a guy I’ve been craving for just about forever.

  “You can back out if you want,” Stephanie repeats. Her voice is getting nasally. She’s drinking too much, or maybe she’s drinking too slowly. I can’t tell anymore.

  She’d have to fucking shoot me before I’d back out of a dare and we both know it. I’ve been best friends with Stephanie since we were ten years old and both the new, awkward kids in town. She knows everything about me and if there’s one thing she knows for certain, it’s that I don’t back down. I don’t give up. I don’t quit.

  It’s why I’m so good at my job and so good at being a friend and so fucking shitty at being a girlfriend.

  I don’t like to end relationships because I don’t like to quit.

  Unfortunately, this isn’t always a positive thing.

  The idea that you should never surrender is great if you like to play sports or video games or you have serious goals for your life. It’s less okay if you like to date guys who live with their mothers or who don’t actually have jobs. It’s less okay if you date people who are jerks. It’s less okay if your idea of the perfect relationship is a boyfriend who actually wants to hang out with your friends. Or, you know, a boyfriend who actually likes you.

  Fuck,
my standards suck when it comes to dating.

  I’m very much on the “less okay” end of the spectrum when it comes to not giving up, but then again, that’s the entire reason Stephanie came up with this dare. She wants to push me. She wants me to believe in myself, and I think she wants to see me go all out for something. Dream big. That’s what she always tells me. Well, this is my chance, isn’t it?

  Believe it or not, we weren’t just sitting around playing Truth or Dare like a couple of high school kids, even though we may as well have been. Nope. Steph and I were day drinking and I made the mistake of complaining about work. Then she said what she always says.

  “What about Parker?”

  And that’s always the question, isn’t it?

  What about him?

  What about Parker King?

  “Parker is so beyond out-of-my-league that it’s stupid to even fantasize about him.”

  “Stop doubting yourself. You’re hot and we both know it. He’d be lucky to have you. You’re a catch.”

  A catch?

  I would never call myself a catch. I’m a little too plump and a little too trusting and a little too naïve. I can create a list of my own fault in ten-seconds flat, but Stephanie doesn’t see any of that. She really is a good friend. She’s always believed in me, even when I was too scared to believe in myself. Maybe that’s one of the reasons we’ve been buddies for all of this time. She’s always there to catch me when I fall: always and without question or hesitation.

  Now I’m wine-drunk with Stephanie and I’m actually, honestly considering going after Parker.

  Why?

  Because of a dare.

  That’s all it takes.

  One dare is what I need to get me out of my comfort zone. It’s what I need to push myself forward. It’s what I need to just go for it.

  I sip the wine.

  “Okay,” I say. “The dare.”

  “It’s simple,” she says. “Seduce him.”

  “Time limit?”

  She shrugs.

  “What’s reasonable?” Stephanie raises an eyebrow.

  “You think I’ll chicken out,” I say. “Just because I haven’t dated in awhile doesn’t mean I’m afraid.”

  “Awhile? Honey, I haven’t been on a date in two weeks. It’s been awhile. You? You’re practically a virgin.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with being a virgin.”

  “No, but there’s something wrong with being afraid to get out there and go for it.”

  “So, how much time are we talking here? A month?” That seems like a good amount of time. A month seems like more than enough time to make some moves on Parker. Besides, I know his schedule better than anyone else and I happen to know just how swamped he is this week. Between meetings and planning committees and charity events, it’s a wonder the man even has time to sleep, much less date.

  “One week,” Stephanie says.

  “A week?” I screech. My wine sloshes in my glass and gets dangerously close to the edge, but doesn’t slip out onto the carpet. Good. That’s one headache I don’t need.

  “A week.”

  “Three weeks.”

  “Fine,” she sighs. “Two weeks, but come on, Rose. You can’t put it off, okay? Giving you a lot of time is just...it’s just letting you delay the inevitable.”

  “I don’t think anything about this situation is inevitable.”

  “He likes you.”

  “You’re nuts.”

  “He’s hot.”

  “There’s more to him than that.” I blush. “That’s not...that’s not why I like him.”

  She gives me a disbelieving look and waits for me to say more. The thing about Parker is that he’s not just a good-looking guy. He’s not just some rich-boy with daddy issues who likes to drink and party. He’s not just some playboy with a mansion. He’s not any of those things. He’s not who people think he is.

  He’s more than that.

  People get the wrong idea about him. I don’t know if it’s his own fault or if the tabloids are to blame. I really have no clue. All I know is that with him, there’s more than meets the eye. He’s much more than just a surface-level kind of person. He’s incredible. He’s everything.

  And he’s my boss.

  “He’s kind,” I say.

  “And hot.”

  “He’s generous.”

  “And hot.”

  “He’s caring.”

  “And hot,” Stephanie says in a sing-song voice.

  “And hot,” I finally sigh, sipping my drink. Why deny the obvious? As the resident do-everything girl at AeroKing, sometimes referred to as a “personal assistant,” I spend a lot of time working closely with the big-wig at the office, whether it be getting him coffee or working on contracts. You’d think that the CEO of one of the biggest engineering companies in the world would be able to get by without someone to fix his tie or remind him what someone’s name is, but the truth is that Parker King takes up a lot of my time.

  And I don’t exactly mind.

  No one in their right mind would be upset that Parker King bosses them around.

  He really is hot as hell.

  The worst part is that he knows it.

  He’s cocky and arrogant and driven, but I love all of those things. I like the way he makes his company flow smoothly. I like the way everything feels right when he’s around. I like all of those things.

  And I shouldn’t.

  “He’s eye candy,” she says. “I’m a little surprised you haven’t tried to date him before. You see him every day.”

  He’s easy on the eyes, to be sure, but he’s more than that. Parker has a tender heart and a deep soul. I get the feeling he puts on this playboy act to keep people from getting too close to him. Not that he’s much of a playboy, but he doesn’t do long-term relationships anymore and the media has a field day anytime they photograph him with a woman. Maybe that’s why I haven’t tried to pursue anything with him. At least, that’s part of it.

  The truth is that he’s been hurt before. It’s obvious. Even if it wasn’t apparent from his behavior, he’s in the public spotlight constantly and there are some things you just can’t keep from the press. His breakup from Janine was completely publicized and completely horrible, at least for him.

  “He’s got a past,” I say, sipping the wine. I reach for the bottle and start to pour myself more. “And he’s still kind of...I don’t know...”

  “Rebounding?”

  “A little.”

  “I mean, he had an insane breakup.”

  “What was that girl’s name? Janine?”

  “Yep.”

  “What exactly happened between them, anyway?”

  “His best friend, Mike, happened.”

  “Ouch.”

  “Yeah. One day they were golfing buddies and the next, Mike was in bed with Janine.”

  “That’s rough.”

  “Sometimes I think he misses Mike more than he misses her,” I say.

  “So, he’s got unresolved issues.”

  “On some level, but I mean, don’t we all?”

  “Not me,” Stephanie winks, and she reaches for a chip. We really went all out with girl’s night tonight: we’ve got two more bottles of wine, pizza, crackers, cheese, and spicy chips that are so hot they’ll practically burn your tongue.

  “I guess part of the reason I haven’t pursued anything with Parker is that I really like him as a person. He’s genuine. He’s nice. He’s strong and sweet and completely tender.”

  “You sound like you’re in love already.”

  “He’s brash, too.”

  “And arrogant.”

  “He can be an asshole.”

  She raises an eyebrow.

  “Strong words.”

  “They’re honest words.”

  “So,” Stephanie adjusts her position on the couch. She leans back and looks at me, calculating. “You were fine being just friends, huh?”

  “Totally fine.”

 
; “Liar,” she laughs. “Girl, I know you better than you know yourself, and I know that you’ve been pining for him for ages. All I’m doing is giving you permission.”

  “Permission for what?”

  “Permission to go for it, Rose. Permission to let loose and live a little. You don’t have to be a good girl all of the time, you know.”

  I know.

  At least, I like to pretend that I know.

  I don’t want to admit that Stephanie is right, but the reality is that she is. She’s totally right. She knows that despite my carefully practiced words, I’ve had a thing for Parker for a long time.

  It just never seemed like the right time to go for it.

  And I never really thought I was his type of girl, either.

  “It’s the beard, isn’t it?” Stephanie grabs some popcorn before daintily sipping her wine again. “You can’t resist beards.”

  “He does have a nice beard.”

  I’ll be the first to admit that Parker doesn’t look like your typical CEO. He doesn’t look boring or plain or dull. He doesn’t have a stupid haircut or a smile that looks like he’s thinking up ways to murder you.

  He’s very collected, very controlled.

  “It’s because he was in the military,” I say. I’m not sure why I’m divulging this. It’s not really a secret, but I rarely share anything Parker tells me with Stephanie. “He couldn’t have a beard for six years. Now he has a fancy one.”

  “I didn’t know he was in the military,” she comments.

  “Did you think he was always a CEO?”

  “Well, yeah.” She shrugs. “It’s hard to imagine him doing anything else, honestly.”

  “His dad wanted him to run the company from Day One.”

  Pressured him to.

  Planned for him to.

  His dad didn’t like taking no for an answer.

  “Parker wanted to serve first, though. He did six years, got his degree, and then took over the company. Ten years later and he’s made it greater than his father could have ever imagined.”

  Parker is dedicated, driven.

  He’s strong.

  He’s so fucking fine that every time I masturbate, he’s all I can think of. I’m tired of him being the one I think of. I’m tired of him being the one I can’t get out of my head.