A Little Dare - Brenda Jackson [16]
Typical man, Shelly thought, but before she could say anything else, Lizzie had returned with their coffee. After taking their order she left, and Shelly smiled and said, “I can’t believe you remembered how I like my coffee after all this time.”
Dare looked at her. His gaze remained steady when he said. “There are some things a man can’t forget about a woman he considered as his, Shelly.”
“Oh,” her voice was slightly shaky, and she decided not to touch that one; mainly because what he said was true. He had considered her as his; she had been his in every way a woman could belong to a man.
She took a deep breath before taking a sip of coffee. Emotions she didn’t want to feel were churning inside her. Dare had hurt her once and she refused to let him do so again. She would definitely take Ms. Mamie’s advice and watch herself around him. She glanced up and noticed Dare watching her. The heat from his gaze made her feel a connection to him, one she didn’t want to feel, but she realized they did have a connection.
Their son.
She cleared her throat, deciding they needed to engage in conversation, something she considered a safe topic. “How is your family doing?”
A warm smile appeared on Dare’s face. “Mom and Dad and all the rest of the Westmoreland clan are fine.”
Shelly took another sip of her coffee then asked. “Is it true what I’ve heard about Delaney? Did she actually finish medical school and marry a sheikh?” she asked. She wondered how that had happened when everyone knew how overprotective the Westmoreland brothers had been of their baby sister.
Dare smiled and the heat in his gaze eased somewhat. “Yeah, it’s true. The one and only time we took our eyes off Laney, she slipped away and hid out in a cabin in the mountains for a little rest and relaxation. While there she met this sheikh from the Middle East. Their marriage took some getting used to, since she up and moved to his country. They have a five-month-old son named Ari.”
“Have you seen him yet?”
Dare’s smile widened. “Yes, the entire family was there for his birth and it was some sort of experience.” A frown appeared on his face when he suddenly thought about what he’d missed out on by not being there when AJ had come into the world. “Tell me about AJ, Shelly. Tell me how things were when he was born.”
Shelly swallowed thickly. So much for thinking she had moved to a safe topic of conversation. She sighed, knowing Dare had a right to what he was asking for. “He was born in the hospital where I worked. My parents were there with me. I didn’t gain much weight while pregnant and that helped make the delivery easier. He wasn’t a big baby, only a little over six pounds, but he was extremely long which accounts for his height. As soon as I saw him I immediately thought he looked like you. And I knew at that moment no matter how we had separated, that my baby was a part of you.”
Shelly hesitated for a few moments and added. “That’s why I gave him your name, Dare. In my mind he didn’t look like a Marcus, which was the name I had intended to give him. To me he looked like an Alisdare Julian. A little Dare.”
Dare didn’t say anything for the longest time, then he said. “Thank you for doing that.”
“You’re welcome.”
Moments later, Dare cleared his throat and asked. “Does he know he was named after his father?”
“Yes. You don’t know how worried I was before arriving at the police station yesterday. I was afraid that you had found out his name, or that he had found out yours. Luckily for me, most people at the station call you Sheriff, and everyone in town still calls you Dare.”
Dare nodded. “Except for my family, few people probably remember my real name is Alisdare since it’s seldom used. I’ve always gone by Dare. If AJ had given me his full name