A Little Dare - Brenda Jackson [40]
At first she’d almost jerked at the cool feel of his hand, then she’d relaxed when his hand just rested on her thigh without moving. But then, moments later, she had almost gasped when his hand moved to settle firmly between her legs. And amidst all conversations going on around them, as the brothers tried to bring her up to date on what had been going on in their lives over the past ten years, no one seemed to have noticed that one of Dare’s hands was missing from the table while he gently stroked her slowly back and forth through the material of her shorts. He’d tried getting her zipper down, a zipper that, thanks to the way she was sitting, wouldn’t budge.
Thinking that she had to do something, anything to stop this madness, she leaned forward and placed her elbows on the table and cupped her face in her hands as she tried to ignore the multitude of sensations flowing through her. She glanced around wondering if any of the brothers had any idea what Dare was up to, but from the way they were talking and eating, it seemed they had more on their minds than Dare not keeping his hands to himself.
“We want you to know that we’ll do everything we can to help you with AJ, Shelly.”
Shelly nodded at Stone’s offer and then felt her cheeks grow warmer when another one of Dare’s fingers wiggled its way inside her shorts. “I appreciate that, Stone.”
“He’s my responsibility,” Dare spoke up and glanced at his brothers, keeping a straight face, not giving away just what sidebar activities he was engaged in.
“Yeah, but he belongs to us, too,” Thorn said. “He’s a Westmoreland, and I think that you did a wonderful job with him, Shelly, considering the fact that you’ve been a single parent for the past ten years. He’s going through growing pains now, but once he sees that he has a family who cares deeply for him, he’ll be just fine.”
She nodded. She had to believe that as well. “Thanks, Thorn.”
“Well, although I truly enjoyed all your company, it’s time for me to get back to the station,” Dare said, finally removing his hand from between her legs. When he stood she glanced up at him knowing that regardless of whether it was a dark, cozy corner on her porch at night or in a restaurant filled with people in broad day light, Dare Westmoreland did just what he pleased, and it seemed that nothing pleased him more than touching her.
“So, what did you do next, Sheriff?”
Dare shook his head. When AJ had shown up after school, he had brought Morris and Cornelius with him and explained that the two had wanted to tag along. Dare had made it clear that if they had come to keep AJ company then they might as well help him with the work, and he had just the project for the three of them.
He had taken them to the basement where the police youth athletic league’s equipment was stored, with instructions that they bring order to the place. That past year a number of balls, gloves and bats had been donated by one of the local sports stores.
Deciding to stay and help as well to supervise, he had not been prepared for the multitude of questions that Morris and Cornelius were asking him. AJ didn’t ask him anything, but Dare knew he was listening to everything that was being said.
“That’s why it pays to be observant,” Dare said, unloading another box. “It’s always a clue when one guy goes inside and the other stays out in the car with the motor running. They had no idea I was with law enforcement. I pretended to finish filling my tank up with gas, and out of the corner of my eye I could see the man inside acting strangely and I knew without a doubt that a robbery was about to take place.”
“Wow! Then what did you do?” Morris asked, with big, bright eyes.
“Although I worked for the Bureau, we had an unspoken agreement with the local authorities to make them aware of certain things and that’s what I did. Pretending to be checking out a map, I used my cell phone to alert the local police of