When You Dare - Lori Foster [42]
“Don’t know yet.” And he didn’t want to think about it too much. He preferred to play it by ear, and take it one day at a time. He got out what he’d need to sauté the chicken and steam the vegetables. “Depends on how things go.”
“What does that mean?”
He looked up from his chore. “I’m going to take her back to her place, be with her when she sees family and then judge my next step.”
“So if things go well and you can wrap it up quick, maybe you won’t be bringing her back with you?”
“I didn’t say—”
Molly cleared her throat and both men looked up. She’d combed her wet hair straight back and dressed in one of the big shirts—with a bra beneath—and the jeans. Her bare feet poked out from under the denim. Dare straightened.
Chris stepped around him and held out a chair at the long granite bar. “Coffee or juice?”
Glancing away from Dare’s penetrating stare, she said, “Juice would be great. Thank you.” She visually explored the island gourmet kitchen with stone countertops and lots of stainless steel. It opened into a family room and the morning room, where they ate breakfast. “Every room is more amazing than the next.”
Dare said nothing. The second she’d entered, he again felt her tension.
The dogs came to investigate, sniffed her feet and dropped down beside her. Hell, Dare thought, even they felt protective, so why would he expect himself to be any different?
Maybe because he knew it wasn’t just protectiveness that he felt.
“I’ll have food ready in twenty minutes.”
“Sounds great. What can I do to help?”
“You can tell me why your readers could be suspects. And then we’ll go from there.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
“READERS?” CHRIS DID a double take. What the hell did he mean by readers? Molly wrote? Like…what?
“She’s an author,” Dare told him as he began preparing the food. “One of her books is being made into a movie with Ryan Reynolds as the lead.”
Chris’s jaw loosened. Why did Dare just keep dropping bombshells on him? He’d already found her interesting, in part because Dare had brought her here, which was an aberration of the major kind.
But this was something altogether different.
“You’re shittin’ me.”
“Nice language, asshole.”
Chris waved that off. It wasn’t like Dare was any better. Hell, neither of them was used to having a female around the place—not counting Tai and Sargie, who didn’t care what language they heard as long as they got treats and plenty of attention.
As a genuine movie buff, Chris felt suitably impressed. But then, he’d already been impressed with her before that. Somehow, Molly didn’t fit his vision of the creative sort. She wasn’t…glamorous enough. And she seemed far too grounded, instead of artistic.
But hell, she’d just been rescued from kidnappers who had battered her pretty badly. Maybe under better circumstances she had more savoir faire.
As he considered it, he realized that Molly didn’t fit any stereotype familiar to him. Most people in her situation would be either demanding of attention or withdrawn and fearful. Not Molly. Perhaps she was different with Dare, in private.
But in his presence, she wasn’t intrusive, needy or whiney. In fact, she tried hard not to inconvenience them in any way.
Chris shook his head. He knew Dare expected him to resent female intrusion, and before Molly, he would have. He protected his position, and he always had Dare’s back.
With Molly, there was no threat—not of the type he’d always guarded against.
If anything, he fell in line with Dare, sharing the need to keep her safe and help her feel secure.
“Ryan is a possible lead,” Molly corrected. “We’re waiting for confirmation….” She looked oddly chagrined, then downcast. “Well, actually, it might have already been confirmed or denied, but I haven’t had access to a phone or computer or anything.”
“Soon,” Dare told her.
“God, this sucks. I have no idea what’s going on with my career. But I was so focused on…”
“Surviving?” Chris supplied.
“Well, yeah. I was surviving, and so caught up in…in just holding it together that I…” She trailed off with a groan.
“You’re