A Little Dare (40 page)

Read A Little Dare Online

Authors: Brenda Jackson

Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #General, #Contemporary, #Arts&Photography

BOOK: A Little Dare
8.4Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

AJ
nodded
as
he
slowly
walked
out
of
the
room
and

headed
for
the
kitchen.
Shelly
knew
she
had
given
him
something
to
think
about.

“Is
it
true?”
Morris
asked
excitedly
the
moment
AJ
got
off
his
bike
at
Ms.
Kate’s
Diner.

AJ
raised
a
brow.
“Is
what
true?”

It
was
Cornelius
who
answered,
his
wide,
blue
eyes

expressive.
“That
you
had
dinner
with
the
sheriff
and
his
family
last
night?”

AJ
shrugged,
wondering
how
they
knew
that.
“Yeah,
so
what
about
it?”

“We
think
it’s
cool,
that’s
what
about
it.
The
sheriff
is
the

bomb.
He
makes
sure
everyone
in
this
town
is
safe
at
night.
My
mom
and
dad
say
so,”
Cornelius
responded
without

wasting
any
time.

AJ
and
the
two
boys
opened
the
door
and
walked
into
the
diner.
“How
did
you
know
I
had
dinner
with
the
sheriff?”
he
asked
as
they
walked
up
to
the
counter
where
cartons
of
chocolate
milk
had
been
placed
for
them.

“Mr.
and
Mrs.
Turner
saw
all
of
you
and
called
my

grandmother
who
then
called
my
mom
and
dad.
Everyone
was
wondering
who
you
were
and
I
told
my
mom
that
you
were
a
kid
who
got
in
trouble
and
had
to
report
to
the

sheriff’s
office
after
school
every
day.
They
thought
you

were
a
family
member
or
something,
but
I
told
them
you
weren’t.”

AJ
nodded.
“My
mom
had
to
go
to
work
unexpectedly
last
night
and
the
sheriff
offered
to
take
me
to
dinner
with
him
since
I
hadn’t
eaten.”

“Wow!
That
was
real
nice
of
him,
wasn’t
it?”

AJ
hadn’t
really
thought
about
it
being
an
act
of
kindness
and
said,
“Yeah,
I
guess
so.”

“Do
you
think
he’ll
mind
if
we
go
with
you
to
his
office
after
school?”
Morris
asked
excitedly.

AJ
scrunched
his
face,
thinking.
“I
guess
not,
but
he
might
put
you
to
work.”

Morris
shrugged.
“That’s
all
right
if
he
does.
I
just
want
him
to
tell
us
about
the
time
he
was
an
FBI
agent
and
did
that
undercover
stuff
to
catch
the
bad
guys.”

AJ
nodded.
He
didn’t
want
to
admit
it,
but
he
wouldn’t
mind
hearing
about
that
himself.
He
smiled
when
the
nice
lady
behind
the
counter
handed
them
each
a
donut
to
go
along
with
their
milk.

Shelly’s
hands
tightened
on
the
steering
wheel
after
she

brought
her
car
to
a
stop
next
to
the
police
cruiser
marked
Sheriff.
She’d
had
no
idea
Dare
would
be
joining
his

brothers
for
lunch.
How
would
she
manage
a
straight
face
around
him
and
not
let
anyone
know
they
had
spent
close
to
an
hour
in
a
darkened
area
of
her
porch
last
night
doing

something
deliriously
naughty?

She
opened
the
car
door
and
took
a
deep
breath,
thinking
that
the
things
Dare
had
done
to
her
had
turned
her
inside
out
and
whetted
her
appetite.
To
put
it
more
bluntly,
sixteen
hours
later
she
was
still
aroused.
After
having
gone
without
sex
for
so
long
she
now
felt
downright
hungry.
In
fact

starving
was
a
better
word
to
use.
Would
Dare
look
at
her
and
detect
her
sexually-excited
state?
If
anyone
could,
it

would
be
Dare,
a
man
who’d
once
known
her
better
than
she’d
known
herself.

And
to
think
she’d
even
admitted
to
him
that
she
hadn’t
slept
with
another
soul
since
their
breakup
ten
years
ago.
Now
that
he
knew,
she
had
to
keep
her
head
on
straight
and
keep
Dare’s
focus
on
AJ
and
not
her.

With
a
deep
sigh
she
opened
the
door
and
went
inside.

She
paused
and
watched
all
five
men
stand
the
moment
she
entered
the
restaurant.
They
must
have
seen
her
drive

up
and
were
ready
to
greet
her.
Tears
burned
the
back
of
her
eyes.
It
had
been
too
long.
When
she’d
been
Dare’s

girlfriend,
the
brothers
had
claimed
her
as
an
honorary

sister,
and
since
she’d
been
an
only
child,
she’d
held
that
attachment
very
dear.
One
of
the
hardest
things
about

leaving
College
Park
had
been
knowing
that
in
addition
to
leaving
Dare
she’d
also
left
behind
a
family
she
had
grown
very
close
to.

As
she
looked
at
them
now,
she
began
to
smile.
They

stood
in
a
line
as
if
awaiting
royalty
and
she
walked
up
to
them,
one
by
one.
“Thorn,”
she
said
to
the
one
closest
to

Dare
in
age.
She
gladly
accepted
the
kiss
he
boldly
placed
on
her
lips
and
the
hug
he
fondly
gave
her.

“Ten
years
is
a
long
time
to
be
gone,
Shelly,”
he
said
with
a
serious
expression
on
his
face.
“Don’t
try
it
again.”

She
couldn’t
help
but
smile
upon
seeing
that
he
was
bossy
as
ever.
“I
won’t,
Thorn.”

She
then
moved
to
Stone,
the
first
Westmoreland
she
had
come
to
know;
the
one
who
had
introduced
her
to
Dare.
Without
saying
a
word
she
reached
for
him,
hugging
him
tightly.
After
they
released
each
other,
he
placed
a
kiss
on
her
lips
as
well.

“I’m
so
proud
of
your
accomplishments,
Stone,”
she
said
smiling
through
her
tears.
“And
I
buy
every
book
you
write.”

Other books

Gentle Rogue by Johanna Lindsey
Lincoln Hospital (Trauma #1) by Cassia Brightmore
Reasonable Doubt by Williams, Whitney Gracia
Refiner's Fire by Mark Helprin
It'll Come Back... by Richardson, Lisa
The Dark One: Dark Knight by Kathryn le Veque