Lori Foster - Men of Honour - Ready, Set, Jett / When You Dare / Trace of Fever / Savor the Danger / A Perfect Storm / What Chris Wants / Bare It All

“Private?”

“Yeah, I don’t …” He glanced at the blonde again, and now she looked back, her brows starting to bunch together. “I like to keep my personal life freed up.”

“You’re not making any sense,” Dare told him. “Just spit it out, will you?”

Showing some backbone, Adrian glared at him. “It’s never good policy to take a one-night stand into your home. Everyone knows that.”

The blonde said, “One-night stand?”

Molly’s brain froze up at that awful thought. “You were coming here to have sex? In my apartment?” Her stomach recoiled and she yelled, “In my bed?”

With a shrug, Adrian said, “Yeah.”

Molly launched herself at him, but Dare caught her with an arm around her waist. Adrian scrambled out of the chair and got behind it.

“You son of a bitch!”

Dare chuckled.

That infuriated Molly enough that she brought her elbow back hard into Dare’s ribs. He stopped laughing but didn’t loosen his hold on her.

“Settle down.”

“I will, after I kill him.”

Truly alarmed again, Adrian excused his behavior by saying, “I thought you were gone!”

“And you thought I’d never come back, you jackass? Is that it?” She redoubled her effort to get to him, which only caused Dare to lift her off her feet. “Are you the one responsible for this? Are you?”

“Easy,” Dare cautioned.

His hold wasn’t painful, but Molly knew she only looked foolish flailing around, trying to free herself when that wouldn’t happen.

She couldn’t really imagine Adrian orchestrating a kidnapping and transport over the border, but at the moment, she wanted it to be him. “Put me down,” she told Dare.

He did, immediately. But he kept his arm around her and even gave her a warning squeeze.

Breathing hard, Molly said to Dare, “Do your thing, whatever it is, because I want him out of here, the sooner the better.”

Dare released her and stepped in front of her to speak to Adrian. “You felt comfortable coming into her home, assuming she wouldn’t be back to catch you at it. Why?”

“Molly never leaves without telling her sister. Since Natalie didn’t know anything about it, I assumed she’d gone off to find herself or something. I called her cell but didn’t get an answer.” He shrugged. “If she was here, she would have picked up.”

Dare crossed his arms. “How’d you get in?”

“The first night I dropped by, the door was unlocked.”

Incredulous, Molly peered around Dare and repeated, “The first time?”

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?”

She couldn’t explain to Dare. Not here, not now. He was so independent, so capable and secure in his ability, he would never understand a woman’s need to find the right man, to secure her future happiness, to have babies and a family and love everlasting.

Molly knew that she’d always wanted more than Adrian. Not better looking or richer, but someone with real honor, someone faithful and brave and … everything that was Dare.

But in thirty years, she hadn’t met that person. She’d met others like Adrian. Some better-looking but not as settled. Some kinder but without means of support. She sighed.

Dare watched her, so she hedged by asking, “You don’t think Adrian is handsome?”

Distaste narrowed his eyes. “Now you’re just fucking with me.”

The laugh surprised her; in the middle of so much turmoil, Dare could still do that for her.