When You Dare - Lori Foster [113]
He half smiled. “I never told you I was fair.” He smoothed a long hank of her hair, letting the back of his hand move over her breast. Voice dropping, he said, “But you’ll learn to live with it.”
Learn to live with it? Did he mean…long-term? Or was that just a figure of speech?
She didn’t quite have the nerve to ask him yet. “I don’t want to be indebted to you, at least not any more than I already am.”
“There’s no debt. I’m here because I want to be.”
What could she say to that?
His thumb touched her bottom lip. “Relax and accept it, honey. My mind’s made up. Actually, it was made up even before the sex, so don’t feel guilty about that, okay?”
Emotion choked her. “Since meeting you, you’ve made me feel a lot of things. But not guilt. Not even when I kicked you in the nose.”
He smiled. “Glad to hear it. So, what do you say we go check on your sister? I can almost picture her with her ear to the door.”
Through the door, Natalie said, “Damn right. Now bring my sister back out here.”
JETT RETURNED WITH the pizza soon after Molly finished sharing details with Natalie. The more Molly told her, the more distressed Natalie had gotten. She was literally sick with upset when Jett walked in. But as soon as she saw him, she hurried to mask her expression.
Similar to Molly, Natalie had a lot of pride. He liked that.
As he’d told Molly, he liked her. She was like Molly, but also different.
Natalie’s honest reactions left Dare confident that, as Molly had insisted, her sister would never act to harm her.
That left only Jett for him to wonder about right now. Not that he really suspected Jett, but he refused to take any chances with Molly’s safety.
With reluctance, Natalie had admitted that while she and Jett had known each other for close to a year, and had even shared a physical relationship, they’d only recently realized that they were in love.
The quick change in relationship could be construed as an attempt to ingratiate himself with Natalie’s family—namely to get information about Molly.
It seemed more unlikely than otherwise, but still, Dare was all set to get answers out of Jett when he opened the front door and let him in.
That is, until Jett strode in without a word, set the food on the table and, with admirable stealth, peered out the curtains to the street below.
“What’s going on?” Natalie asked, alarmed. “What are you doing?”
Jett took in both women with calculated purpose. “I don’t suppose you two would let the men talk in private for just a minute, would you?”
Dare snorted. He already knew what Molly would say before she started objecting.
He held up a hand to silence the women. Sadly, that didn’t work. He supposed that he’d have to get used to Molly not following his every order, verbal or otherwise.
While the women continued protesting, Dare walked over to the window and did his own surveillance. He saw nothing.
Quietly, Jett said, “It’s just out of view, opposite side of the street, less than a block up. But does an old white van mean anything to you?” Molly gasped.
Dropping the curtain, Dare took in her expression with sharp-eyed concern. He said to Jett, “Rusted?”
“It’s dark out, but I believe so.” Jett looked grim. “I could see the driver and a passenger, but the back windows are painted.”
Molly reached for a chair and dropped into it. Seeing her like this enraged Dare.
“I only really noticed them because the van is running, but they have the headlights off. They’re watching the building.”
Dare could barely credit that anyone would be that dumb. If her father had sent someone after her again, he must be desperate.
Anxious to check it out for himself, he headed for the front door.
“Dare, wait!” Molly bolted from the seat to chase after him. “It…it couldn’t be the same people as before.”
No reason to worry her more. “Probably not.” Dare gave a hard smile and opened the door. “Don’t worry.”
“Damn it, Dare!” Panicked, Molly charged after him. “Let’s just call the police.”
At the same time, Jett asked, “Need any help?”
Sighing with impatience, Dare said to Jett, “Yeah. Keep her in