Truth or Dare Read Online Free PDF Page A

an ass! Can I have one?”
    Appeased, Maggie lifted the tray and offered Ava first pick.
    Of course her
friends
could have a cookie.
    Back in the living room, Maggie paused beside the TV, waiting until she had everyone’s attention.
    Tyler’s mouth tipped to one side, those hard eyes slamming down on her with the special blend of judgment, irritation, and amusement that got under her skin like nothing she’d ever encountered before. Only then he noticed the cookies. His eyes darkened, his nostrils flared, and—geez, was that a shudder?
    Hello, power position.
    “So guys, I know how much you like the chocolate chip, but when I was at the little gourmet market yesterday, I saw they had those big, plump raisins in stock again,” she said, offering a tantalizing glimpse of her bounty. “So I hope you don’t mind I made Aunt Nora’s Oatmeal Raisin recipe instead.”
    A chorus of needy masculine groans rose around her as Maggie circulated through the room, making a production of pointing out the biggest cookies, the thickest. The ones with the nicest golden brown at the edges. Shamelessly, she worked every compliment to the max while ever aware of Apartment Three tracking her movements with the vigilance of a starved man.
    When only one guest remained unserved, and the rest of the room was splitting their attention between the game and the cookies even guys took a minute or more to finish, Maggie made a slow, deliberate pass in front of Ty, keeping carefully out of reach as she went by.
    Crossing to the sideboard in front of the window, she set the tray down. Arranged the remaining cookies as a prickly awareness chased up her spine, alerting her to the close proximity of the unwelcome one.
The infiltrator.
    “Those cookies look pretty good, Apartment Two.”
    Damn straight they do.
“Mmph.”
    She turned where she stood, using her body as a shield as she faced the antagonistic jerk who’d been her best bickermate since the day he moved in, in June. Hands stuffed in the front pockets of his faded blues, those broad shoulders hunched forward in a way that somehow made them look even bigger than when he stood straight, he ducked his head and shot her with a look from beneath some seriously thick lashes, flashing what she regretfully had to admit was a pretty spectacular smile at her. And sure enough, it even came with a dimple accompaniment.
    She’d bet that smile had gotten Apartment Three a lot of things he shouldn’t have had.
    Her cookies weren’t going to be one of them.
    “Don’t even think about it.”
    “Come on, Two. You’re not a grudge holder.” He stepped closer, dropping his voice to a midnight whisper. “Let me have one.”
    Maggie studied the nails of her right hand. “As it happens, Three, I
am
a grudge holder. I’m also a scorekeeper. And a gloating, ungracious winner. Just so there’s no misunderstanding.”
    He rubbed an open hand over his mouth and jaw, those calculating eyes shifting between her and the cookies.
    “Sizing up my raisins? Trying to decide if they’re worth the work?”
    “Hell, it was like the soundtrack to a porno in here the way all these guys were grunting and groaning over them. They’re worth it. Eye on the prize is all.”
    He could bite her prize. “I wouldn’t get my hopes up.”
    Another assessing look, this one holding long enough it caused a sort of nervous stir in her belly. Not helping his cookie plight at all.
    “Don’t you think it’s time we called a truce,
Maggie
? We’re neighbors.” Another step, and he was working the bare edge of her personal space. Crowding her with his eyes and words and a body that really ought to have an additional eighteen inches of distance between it and hers. Only rather than stepping back, Tyler pushed the violation further. Bracing one hand on the table beside her, he leaned closer so there was no choice but to look up, up—
oh God
—into that waiting,
I’ve-got-a-reason-to-be-cocky
smile directed down at her. Their