When You Dare - Lori Foster [54]
How dare the man play golf anyway? Wasn’t he worried about Molly? Or was it just that he had business responsibilities? Dare well knew the value of cultivating connections; could this be Bishop’s purpose today? Maybe he was putting on a good front to hide the personal troubles in his own family.
The emotional involvement of this assignment was different for Dare. Usually he hunted for the truth with detached resolve. He did a good job because that’s what he was paid to do.
Now, for Molly, he wanted to ferret out the truth because keeping her safe mattered to him personally.
Last night… God almighty, he’d wanted her. He still wanted her. Being away from her hadn’t changed that.
But last night she’d needed something altogether different from him. She hadn’t even noticed his boner, or the heat pouring off him. She’d held on to him like a lifeline, and…he’d liked it. He liked her.
It didn’t matter how hard the circumstances might be on him; until Molly got through this, until she regained some control over her life, he would continue to do what he could for her. If that meant holding her every damn night, then so be it.
He would damn well keep his hands to himself.
Until she was ready.
Dare was thinking of her eventual readiness when Bishop finally emerged from the club. Though he’d been out in the sun for hours, his well-groomed, silver-tipped hair looked like it had just been styled. Aviator sunglasses hid his eyes, but not his smile as he chatted up another, taller man. They laughed together, and Bishop clapped the other fellow on the shoulder as a farewell. The friend veered off in a different direction, leaving Bishop alone, waiting on the valet.
Fuck it.
Before the valet noticed him, Dare got out of his car and looked over the roof. “Bishop Alexander?”
Molly’s father looked up.
Predatory anticipation filled Dare. “Got a minute?”
Taking off his glasses, Bishop stared toward Dare. “Do I know you?”
Dare didn’t move from his relaxed position outside the driver’s side of his SUV. “We haven’t formally met, but your daughter has told me about you.”
Bishop went still, but only for a second. A calculated expression reshaped his features, and he slunk closer with caution. “Which daughter would that be?”
Of course the bastard felt safe. They were in front of an exclusive club where only members were allowed. Bishop wouldn’t realize that Dare went where he wanted, when he wanted. Getting past the gate had been child’s play for a man of his means.
For Bishop, his money and social influence were his strength. But Dare didn’t give a shit about any of that.
“The daughter who’s been missing.”
In an instant, Bishop’s jaw firmed, and he surged forward with the confidence of a man used to power and prestige. “What do you know of that?”
So he realized Molly had been missing. Interesting. “I found Molly, and I thought you might be interested in the…details.”
That did it. After waving off the approaching valet, Bishop moved to confront Dare. Voice lowered and infused with suspicion, he said, “I don’t know what this is about, but if you think to blackmail me, I can tell you that it won’t work. You won’t get a single cent from me.”
It took all of Dare’s resolve not to plant his fist in Bishop’s face. Feigning a boredom he didn’t feel, Dare said, “Does that mean you’re not curious about where she was, or how she got there?”
On uncertain ground, Bishop flexed his fingers while trying to gauge his opponent. Finally, after smoothing his already smooth hair, he tweaked the collar of his golf shirt and played blasé. “I assumed she was off on another research trip.”
“Yeah?” Arms relaxed, stance negligent, Dare smiled. “And you thought I’d blackmail you over that?”
“What else?” All decorum fled as he said, “Thanks to her absurd vocation, Molly gets herself into preposterous situations.”
“Like what? Being kidnapped?”
“Kidnapped?” For only a moment, Bishop rocked back in shock before realizing how