When You Dare - Lori Foster [97]
Dare moved to block her again. “Go on.”
Uncertain, it took Adrian a few seconds to find his voice. “I found her keys in the kitchen, and, like any good friend, I locked her door.”
“And kept the keys so you could get back in?”
“I…ah…”
“Look,” the blonde suddenly said. “I have nothing to do with whatever’s going on here. I only met the jerk tonight.”
Adrian’s mood went from scared to belligerent. “Shut up, Sally.”
“You shut up!” Flouncing, she went to Adrian and poked him hard in the chest. “You’re a miserable liar. You misrepresented yourself.”
His lip curled. “Yeah, like you were all that discerning anyway?”
Fuming, Sally drew back and slapped him hard enough to unbalance him.
He stumbled, regained his balance and, with a feral growl, reached for Sally.
Before he could touch her, Dare caught his wrist. With only a simple shake of his head, Dare reined him in.
Satisfied, Sally gave her attention back to Molly. “So, can I have my purse? I’d like to get out of here.”
Molly handed it over to her. “I’m sorry about this.”
Dare gave her an incredulous look.
Molly ignored him. It wasn’t Sally’s fault that Adrian had duped her into a possible criminal act. “Do you need to call a cab?”
Sally put her nose in the air. “I have my cell phone with me.”
Fretting, Molly said, “It’s not really all that safe out front.”
But the woman didn’t agree. “It’s not all that safe in here, either, so I’ll take my chances.” After another scathing look at Adrian, who smiled sickly in return, she headed for the door.
Dare stepped in front of her. She stopped short of plowing into his chest and, very slowly, put her head back to look up at him.
Dare didn’t smile. “Are you a smart girl, Sally?”
She cast a quick glance at Molly, but Molly knew better than to interfere.
Seeing no help forthcoming, Sally stared up at Dare. “I like to think so.”
“Good.” Now Dare smiled, but it wasn’t with humor.
In fact, to Molly, it looked outright threatening. Poor Sally. She could only imagine what the girl felt.
“You were never here, Sally. This never happened.” Dare’s eyes narrowed the smallest bit. “You got that?”
Her blond curls bobbed with her fast but uncertain nod. “Absolutely. I went straight from the club to home.”
After a long, assessing look, Dare must have believed her, because he stepped out of her way and even opened the door for her.
Sulking, Adrian watched her leave. When the door shut, he let out a pent-up breath and turned back to Molly. “So.” He tried to brazen it out. “What now?”
“Now you answer some questions.” Dare’s quiet tone did nothing to lessen the implied menace. “And unless I’m satisfied that your biggest transgression is trespassing, I just might take you apart.”
“You’re threatening me?”
Surely that was a redundant question, Molly thought. Adrian wasn’t stupid.
“I’m explaining things to you,” Dare said, “so there won’t be any confusion.”
“Well, your explanation doesn’t help.” A touch of panic raised the octave of Adrian’s complaint. “I still don’t have any idea what the hell is going on.”
Molly took great pleasure in stepping around Dare and confronting Adrian close up. “You want to know why I wasn’t here, Adrian?”
“Uh…yes? I suppose that’s as good a start as any.”
He didn’t sound very sure of himself. But then, he never did. The stark differences between him and Dare were too many to count. Dare stood there, ready to do whatever was necessary to help her get her life straightened out. He had walked into danger for her without hesitation and without fear. All Adrian wanted was a quick escape from possible harm.
One man was a hero, the other a coward.
Shaking her head, Molly pondered aloud, “What did I ever see in you, Adrian?”
Dare snorted. “I was just wondering the same thing.”
That insulted Adrian. “I’m a hell of a good catch!”
“No.” Molly shook her head. “You were just…handy. A convenient companion. Handsome, yes. Educated. But now…now I can’t believe that I was ever so dumb, or so desperate.”
Dare frowned down at her. “You were desperate?”