When You Dare
Page 67

She pushed back from him a little. “Maybe I should just go to the police.”
A gentle tug on her hair turned her face up to his. “You know that’s not the answer.”
Did she? True, the police would never have looked for her in Tijuana. But if she took extra precautions now to ensure no one else could get to her, then maybe they could—
Dare bent down and kissed her. It was a hard kiss, surprising Molly. She started to pull away, but he lifted her right off her feet and continued to take her mouth until she softened, until she warmed and reciprocated.
Positioning her to sit at the edge of the bar, he stepped between her legs. With his hands braced at either side of her hips, he leaned down to her. “You will not go to the police.”
He looked harsh and possessive. And a little turned-on. It excited her.
“My dad…”
“Was a total prick. You know him, so you can imagine how he reacted without me laying out the details for you. But if you want them, I’ll share every word on our drive into Ohio. For now, though, I want your agreement that you won’t veer off the plan.”
Molly put her hand to his jaw. So many awful possibilities came to her, all of them centering around Dare’s safety. “I don’t want you to get hurt because of me.”
“Christ, woman.”
“You’re not Superman, Dare, and you’re not a psychic. Even if you could dodge bullets, you can’t know about conspiracies or ambushes—”
“From your father, you mean?”
He sounded scornful, discounting the danger. “Or from whoever is after me.” The number of threats out there left her shaken.
“You need to have a little faith.” Scooping one big hand against her backside, he dragged her forward, hard against him. “Do exactly as I say and we’ll both be okay. Understand?”
Her legs were around him, leaving her flush against his hard abdomen. His hand on her bottom kept flexing, feeling her, keeping her close.
Molly nodded. “Okay.”
His expression heated. Slowly, he bent to kiss her again, softer this time. Against her cheek, he breathed, “Soon as we’re done eating, we’ll hit the road.”
“Okay.” She tipped her head back.
He put a gentle love bite to her throat. “And tonight…”
Molly’s heart pounded. “Tonight?”
He touched his tongue to her ear, and whispered, “I’m going to be inside you, and I can’t f**king wait.”
In the next instant, he lifted her off the counter and onto a stool. Before she could catch her breath, Chris peered back in. He looked from Dare to Molly, and seeing them separated, walked on in.
“Glad you two worked that out, because I’m hungry again.”
Through a haze, Molly watched Dare. He acted like nothing had happened, like he hadn’t just made that provocative promise to her. He poured a glass of milk and set it before her, then sat down to eat while he and Chris talked.
In more ways than one, she was out of her league.
She picked up her fork with a shaking hand, and as she dipped her crepe in the dollop of whipped cream, she let out a pent-up breath.
Dare had managed to balance her apprehension about going home with an urgency to get there. Even knowing that he couldn’t feel the same as she did, she wanted to cherish every second with him.
She believed that he’d protect her from threats. It was up to Molly to protect her heart.
AT CLOSE TO SIX THAT evening, Dare pulled down the street to Molly’s apartment building.
He could feel her nervousness growing, but there was no help for it. On the drive, he’d told her about meeting her father, leaving out some of what Bishop had said. Not that it mattered. Molly knew her father, and, as Dare had suspected, she filled in the blanks on her own.
Because she didn’t socialize in her father’s circles, she hadn’t met many of his business cronies. She knew nothing of Warwick or Sagan. Dare told her about the connections because she needed to know. If it turned out that her father was responsible in some way, better that she had the facts early on.
“I just thought of something.” Molly kept one hand clamped on the seat, the other on the dash as she stared out the windshield, looking everywhere as if she expected the same goons to show up and make another play for her.
“Relax, Molly. It’s going to be okay.”
“I know.” She remained alert. “But how are we going to get in? I don’t have any keys with me. I left my purse in the apartment and…” With a groan, she turned her wide-eyed gaze on Dare. “I didn’t even have my door locked, because I thought I’d be going right back in. I didn’t remember that until now.”
“Then it’s probably still unlocked.” Either way, Dare wasn’t concerned about it. He could pick a lock in no time at all, and would, if it proved necessary. “Stop worrying.”
“You keep saying that.” She returned her attention to the area.
Through mirrored, aviator sunglasses, Dare glanced at her and saw her unease. He reached over and put a hand on her slim thigh. “Try trusting me a little, will you?”
“This has nothing to do with trust.”
It had everything to do with trust, but he could feel her trembling, so he let that go for now. “Where do you want me to park?”
She swallowed. “Across the street. If no one stole it, my car should still be over there.”
It didn’t surprise him that Molly had thought ahead. If someone wanted her absence to look uneventful, taking her car would have shored up that ruse. Folks would assume she’d left for a trip.