Dare to Tempt - Carly Phillips Page 0,1

glanced at Austin. “You wouldn’t let her fuck me over, right?”

Austin rolled his eyes. “We’re all on your side. Though I will say Bri’s plan is a little … unorthodox.”

Before either could elaborate, the doorbell rang. Damon raised his eyebrows. “Who is that?”

“I’ve got it,” Bri said and rushed to the front of the house to let the unknown visitor in.

Damon waited, and seconds later, Bri strode back into the room with his biggest nightmare by her side. Evie Wolfe, Quinn’s best friend, a licensed PI, and a woman Damon hadn’t been able to get out of his head since the day they’d met, walked in.

Evie wasn’t anything like the typical female he was used to. No red-soled stilettos or designer handbags for her. A pair of scuffed leather boots and ripped jeans that fit her like a glove, along with a black leather jacket she rarely removed, were her normal attire. And damned if it wasn’t sexy.

“Hi, Damon.” She eyed him with an amused grin.

“Evie.”

They’d met the first time at Dare Nation. She’d come off an all-night watch and strode in to meet Quinn for lunch wearing a similar outfit, jeans that hugged her ass, a long-sleeve tight top that showed off her full breasts and ample cleavage, her face makeup free and her mouth sassy.

Damon had been sitting outside Austin’s office while he was on a phone call, taken one look at the woman with the gorgeous dark hair hanging loose around her shoulders, not his usual type, yet he’d been drooling. Not literally.

“Staring at something?” she’d asked him with snark.

He’d held up his hands. “Just admiring the view.”

Austin had walked out of his office at that moment and smacked him in the head with the papers in his hand. From that day on, they’d gotten under each other’s skin. He didn’t know what it was about her, but he was more comfortable across the room and not close enough to smell her musky perfume.

“Well, who wants to hear the plan?” Bri asked.

He folded his hands across his chest and glared at his sister, who was enjoying her moment way too much. “Go on.”

“You tested positive for PEDs and you think you were set up,” Evie said.

“I know I was set up,” he said through clenched teeth.

Evie nodded. “And you need to know who did it, how, and why.”

“Which is why I need a private investigator.”

She grinned. “One who can stay by your side and get into places a regular PI can’t. Places a girlfriend can go.” She sidled up to him, rubbing her leather-clad arm against his bare one, and damned if his body didn’t respond, his cock perking up.

Then her words registered. “Oh, hell no.” He didn’t date women, for real or pretend.

He fucked them and sent them on their way. And he didn’t think he had a shot in hell of anyone believing he was together with Evie and her leather-clad body. Despite what his dick wanted, something he’d yet to understand.

“Damon, think about it. You need someone who can evaluate the people in your life.”

“In case you forgot, the suspension means I can’t do much with anyone on the team,” he reminded her.

“Yes, but they can’t stop you from running into someone in a public place.” She put quotation marks around the words she’d emphasized. “So, if there’s anyone you want to meet, he can subtly arrange it. This is exactly what we wanted,” Bri said with excitement in her voice. “And most importantly, I trust her.”

Evie checked him with her hip. “Come on. How can it hurt? Unless you’re afraid of me?”

He gritted his teeth. “Of course I’m not afraid of you. I just don’t think we’re … compatible or that it’ll look real,” he said, scanning from her scuffed boots to her windblown hair, ignoring the fact that he thought she was gorgeous in an understated and quite unique way.

She stepped in front of him and braced her hands on her hips. A flush of red stained her cheeks.

“Embarrassed to be seen with me?” she asked, telling him he’d been right. He’d hit a nerve. “Because I promise you I can dress up and play a role as well as any one of those cleat chasers you and your buddies hang out with,” she assured him.

From across the room, Austin glared. Because Evie was Quinn’s best friend? Or because Damon was being stubborn about a plan Austin had faith in? Probably a combination of both.

“Tell you what,” Austin said. “Let’s go to