The group burst into laughter again, and Magdalen said, “Remember the rules, folks—truth or dare, Charlie, it’s time to state the penalty!”

Charlie turned to Marina, “Truth or dare?”

Marina, only somewhat acquainted with Estelle and not wanting to reveal too much at her first gathering, pondered for a moment before declaring, “Dare!”

Charlie seemed to have predicted Marina would choose a dare, showing no surprise, and without a second thought, he said, “Easy peasy. Since you and Carson both lost at cards, how about a kiss?”

Carson immediately protested, “No way, that’s off the table. Let’s do something else—take a shot, do some push-ups, anything more challenging. I’m game!”

Charlie’s lazy smile spread across his face, “Who’s calling the shots here, you or me? No changes, it’s settled!”

Magdalen chimed in, “No chickening out, we all want to see this. Get on with it!”

Emily and Estelle eagerly watched the commotion, while Josiah and the others egged them on,

“Mr. Foster, don’t tell me you can’t take a loss!”

“Exactly, you’ve never been this squeamish before!”

for Pete’s sake. Kiss

blushed as he bargained, “Anything else goes. How about this—when the waiter comes in with the drinks,

they were both in the

that’s a bit much. Your fiancée’s right here, you dare kiss someone else? If you

don’t you ask

others’ comments, Carson remained

grabbed the collar of Carson’s white sweater, pulled him down, and

beautiful face loomed large before him, their lips met, and Carson’s eyes widened

was stunned, then burst into

the back of

ignoring the teasing laughter around them, he gave

was

laughter, surprised to see the usually suave Mr.

up even

and once again Carson ‘set off the

exchanged glances, smiling subtly, “No objections, right? Then let’s stick to the

to interject, “I’m not choosing

The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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