The Perfect Ingredient (Dare Valley) by Ava Miles Page B

Jane had outted them, she had the freedom to play in public, and while it wasn’t something she usually did, she felt the urge to battle the hand of fate and see how she could play the cards she was dealt.
    Anything to get her mind off Terrance.

Chapter 7
     
    Election day spirits were high, and early exit polling indicated Matt was winning in a landslide. Even his election consultant from Denver, a brooding, serious man, was smiling when Elizabeth arrived at the restaurant for the party.
    She’d purposely arrived late since Jane had texted her to say she and Matt were having a celebratory dinner alone. If that wasn’t code for election-win sex, Elizabeth didn’t know what was.
    Her one-shoulder gold Armani dress had been purposefully selected to tantalize Terrance, who would undoubtedly be making the rounds. He had been in charge of the food at all of Rhett’s formal parties at The Peacock, and he’d always come out to mingle midway through the evening, once everything was under control in the kitchen. He would share a bourbon with Rhett and Mac before angling his way through the crowd—being stopped by woman after woman and his buddies—until he reached her. Then he would sweep his eyes down from the top of her dress to the tips of her high heels and pretty much lick his chops, knowing he was going to peel her out of that dress in short order.
    Tonight the only peeling he was going to do was for the potatoes in the leek potato patties he was serving oozing with goat cheese. But he was going to look. And she was going to torture him.
    As much as she tried to tell herself to ignore him and play it safe, she couldn’t. He was here, and she had to push back at him like he was pushing at her.
    Even though she had no idea where that would lead.
    Okay, that was a lie. The greedy, lust-filled goddess inside her wanted him in her bed. The scared woman who’d run from him wanted to give him another chance to show her that he could be her non-violent Prince Charming.
    Maybe the two sides could compromise, and she and Terrance could have a sex-only agreement while he was in town?
    When she caught sight of him already mingling with the crowd at the party, her heart leaped into her throat, and she knew it was impossible. No man had ever opened her up to so much emotion, good and bad. He’d taught her the difference between sex and making love without even meaning to. The intimacy between them had been there from the start, like it had been ordained.
    No, there would never be anything no-strings with Terrance.
    Darn it all.
    His head turned then, as if sensing her, and those bottle-green eyes seemed to glow like sea glass on a moonlit beach as they made that seductive trek down her body. But instead of excusing himself from talking to Jill and her husband, Brian, and coming to her, he returned his attention to their conversation.
    “Girl, you need a drink,” Natalie said, snagging her arm. “If you don’t stop staring at Terrance, I’m afraid he might haul you over his shoulder and carry you upstairs to a hotel room.”
    Her belly fluttered at the thought.
    “I’m not after him, by the way,” Natalie added, shoving a glass of white wine into her hand from a nearby waiter’s tray. “He’s gorgeous and interesting and tantalizing, but I’m done with chest-beating alphas.”
    Now that got Elizabeth’s attention. “Why?”
    “Carpet burns. On my butt and my heart.”
    Elizabeth laughed. “Jane said I would like you, and she was right. I’m sorry I acted like a bitch the other day.”
    Natalie led the way to High Stakes’ curvy bar past the fire wall, which always dazzled her senses, and signaled the bartender for a Manhattan. “Please. You were acting like a bitch to him. I was just in the way. I told him to stop trying to make you jealous when we went into the kitchen.”
    Her wine went down the wrong pipe, and Natalie had to pound her back. “Really?” she finally choked out.
    “Really. Come on. The guests