A Little Dare (9 page)

And
then
as
soon
as
we
were
alone,
you
dropped
the
bomb
on
me.”

She
inhaled
deeply
before
continuing.
“For
six
long
years
I
assumed
that
I
had
a
definite
place
in
your
heart.
I
had

actually
thought
that
I
was
the
most
important
thing
to
you,
but
in
less
than
five
minutes
you
proved
I
was
wrong.
Five
minutes
was
all
it
took
for
you
to
wash
six
years
down
the
drain
when
you
told
me
you
wanted
your
freedom.”

She
stared
down
at
the
hardwood
floor
for
a
moment

before
meeting
his
gaze
again.
“Although
you
didn’t
love
me
anymore,
I
still
wanted
our
child.
I
knew
that
telling
you
about
my
pregnancy
would
cause
you
to
forfeit
your
dream
and
do
what
you
felt
was
the
honorable
thing—spend
the
rest
of
your
life
in
a
marriage
you
didn’t
want.”

She
quickly
averted
her
face
so
he
wouldn’t
see
her
tears.
She
didn’t
want
him
to
know
how
much
he
had
hurt
her
ten
years
ago.
She
didn’t
want
him
to
see
that
the
scars
hadn’t
healed;
she
doubted
they
ever
would.

“Shelly?”

The
tone
that
called
her
name
was
soft,
gentle
and
tender.
So
tender
that
she
glanced
up
at
him,
finding
it
difficult
to

meet
his
dark,
piercing
gaze,
though
she
met
it
anyway.

She
fought
the
tremble
in
her
voice
when
she
said,
“What?”

“That
night,
I
never
said
I
didn’t
love
you,”
he
said,
his
voice

low,
a
near-whisper.
“How
could
you
have
possibly
thought
that?”

She
shook
her
head
sadly
and
turned
more
fully
toward

him,
not
believing
he
had
asked
the
question.
“How
could
I
not
think
it,
Dare?”

Her
response
made
him
raise
a
thick
eyebrow.
Yes,
how
could
she
not
think
it?
He
had
broken
off
with
her
that
night,
never
thinking
she
would
assume
that
he
had
never
loved
her
or
that
she
hadn’t
meant
everything
to
him.
Now
he

could
see
how
she
could
have
felt
that
way.

He
inhaled
deeply
and
rubbed
a
hand
over
his
face,

wondering
how
he
could
explain
things
to
her
when
he
really
didn’t
understand
himself.
He
knew
he
had
to
try
anyway.
“It
seems
I
handled
things
very
poorly
that
night,”
he
said.

Shelly
chuckled
softly
and
shrugged
her
shoulders.
“It

depends
on
what
you
mean
by
poorly.
I
think
that
you

accomplished
what
you
set
out
to
do,
Dare.
You
got
rid
of
a
girlfriend
who
stood
between
you
and
your
career
plans.”

“That
wasn’t
it,
Shelly.”

“Then
tell
me
what
was
it,”
she
said,
trying
to
hold
on
to
the
anger
she
was
beginning
to
feel
all
over
again.

For
a
few
moments
he
didn’t
say
anything,
then
he
spoke.
“I
loved
you,
Shelly,
and
the
magnitude
of
what
I
felt
for
you

began
to
frighten
me
because
I
knew
what
you
and

everyone
else
expected
of
me.
But
a
part
of
me
knew
that
although
I
loved
you,
I
wasn’t
ready
to
take
the
big
step
and
settle
down
with
the
responsibility
of
a
wife.
I
also
knew

there
was
no
way
I
could
ask
you
to
wait
for
me
any
longer.
We
had
already
dated
six
years
and
everyone—my
family,
your
family
and
this
whole
damn
town—expected
us
to
get
married.
It
was
time.
We
had
both
finished
college
and
I

had
served
a
sufficient
amount
of
time
in
the
marines,
and
you
were
about
to
embark
on
a
career
in
nursing.
There

was
no
way
I
could
ask
you
to
wait
around
and
twiddle
your
thumbs
while
I
worked
as
an
agent.
It
wouldn’t
have
been
fair.
You
deserved
more.
You
deserved
better.
So
I
thought
the
best
thing
to
do
was
to
give
you
your
freedom.”

Shelly
dipped
her
chin,
no
longer
able
to
look
into
his
eyes.
Moments
later
she
lifted
her
gaze
to
meet
his.
“So,
I’m
not
the
only
one
who
made
a
decision
about
us
that
night.”

Dare
inhaled
deeply,
realizing
she
was
right.
Just
as
she’d
done,
he
had
made
a
decision
about
them.
A
few
moments
later
he
said.
“I
wish
I
had
handled
things
differently,
Shelly.
Although
I
loved
you,
I
wasn’t
ready
to
become
the
husband
I
knew
you
wanted.”

“Yet
you
want
me
to
believe
you
would
have
been
ready
to
become
a
father?”
she
asked
softly,
trying
to
make
him
see
reason.
“All
I
knew
after
that
night
was
that
the
man
I
loved
no
longer
wanted
me,
and
that
his
dream
wasn’t
a
future