A Little Dare (24 page)

all
my
fault.
I
thought
I
was
making
all
the
right
decisions
for
all
the
right
reasons
and
now
it
seems
I
caused
more
harm
than
good.”

Dare
lay
in
bed,
his
entire
body
tense.
He
could
no
longer
hold
back
the
anger
he
felt
for
Shelly,
even
knowing
he
had
made
a
couple
of
mistakes
himself
in
handling
things
ten

years
ago.
Had
he
not
chosen
a
career
over
her
then,

things
would
have
worked
out
a
whole
lot
differently.
So,
in
reality,
he
was
just
as
much
to
blame
as
Shelly,
but
together
they
had
a
chance
to
make
things
work
to
save
their
son.

“Things
are
going
to
work
out
in
the
end,
Shell,
you’ll
see.
You’ve
done
your
part
tonight,
now
let
me
handle
things

from
here.
It
might
take
months,
but
in
the
end
I
believe
that
AJ
will
accept
me
as
his
father.
In
my
heart
I
believe
that

one
day
he’ll
want
me
to
know
the
truth.”

Shelly
nodded,
hearing
the
confidence
in
Dare’s
voice
and
hoping
he
was
right.
“So
now
we
move
to
the
second

phase
of
your
plan?”

“Now
we
move
to
the
second
phase
of
our
plan.”

The
next
morning,
after
AJ
had
left
for
school,
a
gentle

knock
on
the
door
alerted
Shelly
that
she
had
a
visitor.

Today
was
her
day
off
and
she
had
spent
the
last
half
hour
or
so
on
the
computer
paying
her
bills
on-line,
and
was
just

about
to
walk
into
the
kitchen
for
a
cup
of
coffee.

Crossing
the
living
room
she
glanced
out
of
the
peephole.
Her
breath
caught.
Dare
was
standing
on
her
porch,
and

his
tall,
muscular
frame
was
silhouetted
by
the
mid-morning
sunlight
that
was
shining
brightly
behind
him.
He
looked

gorgeous;
his
uniform,
which
showcased
his
solid
chest,

firm
stomach
and
strong
flanks,
made
him
look
even
more
so.

She
shivered
as
everything
about
her
that
was
woman

jolted
upward
from
the
soles
of
her
feet,
to
settle
in
an
area
between
her
legs.
She
inhaled
and
commanded
her
body
not
to
go
there.
Whatever
had
been
between
her
and
Dare
had
ended
ten
years
ago,
and
now
was
not
the
time
for
her
body
to
go
horny
on
her.
She’d
done
without
sex
for
this

long,
and
she
could
continue
to
go
without
it
for
a
while

longer.
But
damn
if
Dare
Westmoreland
didn’t
rattle
and
stir
up
those
urges
she’d
kept
dormant
for
ten
years.
She

couldn’t
for
the
life
of
her
forget
how
it
had
felt
to
run
her

hands
over
his
chest,
indulging
in
the
crisp
feel
of
his
chair
and
the
masculine
texture
of
his
skin.

She
closed
her
eyes
and
took
a
deep
breath
at
the
memory
of
his
firm
stomach
rubbing
against
her
own
and
the
feel
of
his
calloused
palm
touching
her
intimately
on
the
sensitive
areas
of
her
body.
She
remembered
him
awakening
within
her
a
passion
that
had
almost
startled
her.

His
second
knock
made
her
regain
her
mental
balance,

and
warning
signals
against
opening
the
door
suddenly

went
off
in
her
head
as
she
opened
her
eyes.
A
silent
voice
reminded
her
that
although
she
might
want
to,
there
was
no
way
to
put
as
much
distance
between
herself
and
Dare
as
she’d
like.
No
matter
how
much
being
around
him
got
to

her,
their
main
concern
was
their
son.

Inhaling
deeply,
she
slowly
opened
the
door
and
met
his

gaze.
Once
again
she
felt
every
sexual
instinct
she

possessed
spring
to
life.
“Dare,
what
are
you
doing
here?”
she
asked,
pausing
afterwards
to
take
a
deep,
steadying
breath.

He
smiled,
that
enticingly
sexy
smile
that
always
made
her
want
to
go
to
the
nearest
bed
and
get
it
on
with
him.
There
was
no
way
she
couldn’t
see
him
and
not
think
of
crawling
into
bed
next
to
him
amidst
rumpled
sheets
while
he

reached
out
and
took
her
into
his
arms
and…

“I
tried
calling
you
at
the
agency
where
you
worked
and
they
told
me
you
were
off
today,”
he
said
as
he
leaned
in
her

doorway,
breaking
into
her
wayward
thoughts
and
sending
her
already
sex-crazed
mind
into
turmoil.
Why
did
he
still

look
so
good
after
ten
years?
And
why
on
earth
was
her

body
responding
to
the
sheer
essence
of
him
this
way?
But
then
she
and
Dare
always
had
had
an
abundant
amount
of
overzealous
hormones
and
it
seemed
that
ten
years
hadn’t
done
a
thing
to
change
that.