A Little Dare (69 page)

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Authors: Brenda Jackson

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

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“Do
you
have
to
ask?”
he
rasped,
his
voice
low
and
teasing
against
her
lips.

“No,
I
don’t,”
she
replied
in
breathless
anticipation.

She
trembled
as
Dare
began
inflaming
her
body
the
same
way
he
had
inflamed
her
heart.
They
had
endured
a
lot,
but
through
it
all
their
love
had
survived
and
for
the
first
time

since
returning
to
College
Park,
she
felt
she
had
finally

come
home.

Epilogue

A
month
later

S
helly
couldn’t
help
but
notice
the
frown
on
the
Dare’s
face.
It
was
a
frown
directed
at
Storm,
who
had
just
kissed
her
on
the
lips.

“I
thought
I
warned
you
about
doing
that,
Storm,”
Dare
said
in
a
very
irritated
tone
of
voice.

“But
I
can
get
away
with
it
today
because
she’s
the
bride
and
any
well-wisher
can
kiss
a
bride
on
her
wedding
day.”

Dare
raised
a
brow.
“Are
you
also
willing
to
kiss
the
groom?”

Now
it
was
Storm
who
frowned.
“Kiss
you?
Hell
no!”

Dare
smiled.
“Then
I
suggest
you
keep
your
lips
off
the

bride,”
he
said,
bringing
Shelly
closer
to
his
side.
“And

there’s
enough
single
women
here
for
you
to
kiss
so
go
try
your
lips
on
someone
else.”

Storm
chuckled.
“The
only
other
woman
I’d
want
to
kiss
is
Tara
and
I’m
not
crazy
enough
to
try
it.
You’re
all
talk,
but
Thorn
really
would
kill
me.”

Shelly
chuckled
at
Storm’s
comment
as
her
gaze
went
to

the
woman
the
brothers
had
labeled
Thorn’s
challenge,

Tara
Matthews.
She
was
standing
across
the
room
talking
to
Delaney.
Shelly
thought
that
Tara
was
strikingly
beautiful
in
an
awe-inspiring,
simply
breathtaking
way,
and
she

couldn’t
help
noticing
that
most
of
the
men
at
the
reception,
both
young
and
old,
were
finding
it
hard
to
keep
their
eyes
off
her.
Every
man
except
for
Thorn.
He
was
merely

standing
alone
on
the
other
side
of
the
room
looking
bored.

“How
can
the
two
of
you
think
that
Thorn
is
interested
in
Tara
when
he
hasn’t
said
anything
to
her
at
all,
other
than
giving
her
a
courtesy
nod?
And
he’s
not
paying
her
any
attention.”

Dare
chuckled.
“Oh,
don’t
let
that
nonchalant
look
fool
you.
He’s
paying
her
plenty
of
attention,
right
down
to
her

painted
toenails.
He’s
just
doing
a
good
job
of
pretending
not
to.”

“Yeah,”
Storm
chimed
in,
grinning.
“And
he’s
been
brooding
ever
since
Delaney
mentioned
at
breakfast
this
morning

that
Tara
is
moving
to
Atlanta
to
finish
up
her
residency
at
a
hospital
here.
The
fact
that
she’ll
be
in
such
close
proximity
has
Thorn
sweating.
The
heat
is
on
and
he
doesn’t
like
it
at
all.”

A
short
while
later
Dare
and
Shelly
had
a
talk
with
their
son.

“It’s
almost
time
for
us
to
leave
for
our
cruise,
AJ.
We
want
you
on
your
best
behavior
with
Grandma
and
Grandpa

Westmoreland.”

“All
right.”
AJ
looked
at
his
father
with
bright
eyes.
“Dad,
Uncle
Chase
and
Uncle
Storm
said
all
of
us
are
going
fishing
when
you
get
back.”

Dare
smiled.
He
had
news
for
his
brothers.
If
they
thought
for
one
minute
that
he
would
prefer
spending
a
weekend
with
them
rather
than
somewhere
in
bed
with
his
wife,
they
had
another
thought
coming.
“Oh,
they
did,
did
they?”

“Yes.”

He
nodded
as
he
glanced
over
at
his
brothers
who
were

talking
to
Tara—all
of
them
except
for
Thorn.
He
also
noted
the
Westmoreland
cousins—brothers
Jared,
Durango,

Spencer,
Ian
and
Reggie—were
standing
in
the
group
as
well.
The
only
one
missing
was
Quade,
and
because
of
his
covert
activities
for
the
government,
there
was
no
telling

where
that
particular
Westmoreland
was
or
what
he
was

doing
at
any
given
moment.
“We’ll
talk
about
it
when
I
get
back,”
Dare
said
absently
to
AJ,
wondering
at
the
same

time
just
where
Thorn
had
gone
off
to.
Although
he
didn’t

see
him,
he
would
bet
any
amount
of
money
that
he
was

somewhere
close
by
with
his
eyes
on
Tara.

Dare
shrugged.
He
was
glad
Tara
was
Thorn’s
challenge

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