Free I Dare You by Desiree Holt

Chapter One
    Shannon Gregory tossed her keys and her purse on the hall table, kicked off her very uncomfortable shoes and wondered if her week could possibly get any crappier.
    The new junior partner at her law firm was turning out to be the bitch of the world, starting the week by copping a case Shannon had been babysitting for weeks. Then her secretary had quit without notice and thank you so much for that touch of professionalism. Tonight she’d come out of the office to find a flat tire on her car and roadside service backed up the wazoo.
    But now, well after eight o’clock, the final blow landed. She’d come home to find a note from Mike taped to the door— Took my stuff, key in usual place .
    Ah yes, Mr. Macho Michael Houston, who had simply walked out of her life rather than discuss what was really wrong between them. It wouldn’t have taken much time, either. She could sum it all up in one short word—sex! Or lack of it.
    “ You’d think people who’d been together for six months could have a conversation about sex,” she muttered to herself as she crumpled the note in her fist and picked up the key laying next to her purse. What a jerk. What an asshole. What an egotistical prick.
    Damn him anyway.
    Okay, so she hadn’t been the most knowledgeable person in bed when they met.
    Unlike a lot of her friends, she hadn’t played bed roulette and become the sophisticate of eroticism. She’d just never been able to do it. When Mike came into her life, for the first time she wanted to be open to things, but her inbred hang-ups kept getting in the way.
    She tried to tell him she really wanted to learn about the things she’d never done.
    Wanted to spice things up a little. But she’d made it come out all wrong, made it sound 5
    Desiree Holt
    as if they were things she didn’t want to do and he’d clammed up. Somewhere in the whole mess they’d sent each other mixed signals and suddenly there was this gigantic wall between them that grew taller and taller until he just stopped calling altogether.
    Stopped showing up. Nothing but silence until the note tonight.
    She checked every place he’d kept his things—clothes, books, CDs. All gone. And the asshole hadn’t even had the decency to do this face-to-face.
    Stomping into her bedroom, Shannon yanked off her business clothes and tugged on shorts and a t-shirt.
    Maybe Cock Robin will have a message for me tonight.
    A tiny thrill skated through her at the thought. Cock Robin. Her new almost-lover.
    The man on the computer. Some people might think the name too obvious, or completely tacky. For some reason she found it cute and appealing. Maybe it was her tacky sense of humor.
    Her pulse ratcheted up with anticipation and liquid seeped from her already-throbbing cunt. Just the thought of him turned her on and she dragged her hand over the crotch of her shorts, feeling her shaved labia beneath the fabric. Why couldn’t she have gotten to this point with Mike? Or did she just feel safer because the man couldn’t see her? Couldn’t see inside her.
    She still couldn’t believe she was doing this. Had been for almost a month. Restless and frustrated, seeking answers she couldn’t seem to get from Mike, she’d started surfing the web. Looking for places she’d heard about where people could discuss their sexual problems and hang-ups. Discover how to enhance their sex lives. Before long the computer was calling to her like a siren, so much so that even the nights when Mike was there, after he fell asleep, she’d sneak downstairs and log on to the chat rooms.
    Maybe she’d hoped to find a solution before everything went completely to hell.
    Shannon was flabbergasted at many of the things she’d found online. Things she was sure her friend Marti knew about. Maybe things everyone knew about. Except her.
    6
    I Dare You
    Daringly she’d even logged on to a couple of chat rooms, laughingly choosing Misty as her chat-room identification. She was about as far from a