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

The kind who would keep her safe.

Over what looked like an old knife injury on his shoulder, she rested her hand. “You’re a very perceptive man. It’s true that Natalie is not known for her patience.”

Dare smiled. “I like her, even if her timing sucks.” Holding her chin, he brushed his thumb along her jaw. “She’s different from you, but I also see similarities. It’s there in the dark brown eyes and the shape of your mouth.”

“And big boobs.”

His smile twitched into a grin. “I guess I noticed that, too.”

“Dare.” Molly put her forehead to his. She wasn’t sure how to say it, so she decided to simply spit it out. “Just because we slept together doesn’t change anything.”

“Wrong. For me it changes everything. And before we get into this too much, you might as well know that I’m firm on this. No way in hell will I take money from you.”

Molly couldn’t believe that he’d changed the rules on her without telling her. “That’s not fair.”

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 here. Got it?”

He looked very put out with the enormity of that task. “I’ll try.”

Trying wasn’t good enough. “Just man up and do it.” He gave Molly one stern frown and said in a tone that brooked no argument, “Stay put.”

She folded her arms and glared right back at him. “I’m not stupid.”

Meaning he was? But he saw the fear in her eyes and knew she was scared for him.

Fuck.

He went out the door anyway, saying to Jett, “Lock this behind me.” Face pale, Molly stepped back, her lips rolled in, her body tensed. The door shut and Dare heard the lock click into place.

Guilt punched at his heart.

But for Christ’s sake, he couldn’t falter every time Molly bit her lips. He knew what he was doing, and if she trusted him at all, she wouldn’t be worried.

It would have helped if he could put Molly from his mind, but that was like asking himself not to breathe. Since the day he’d met her, she’d occupied his thoughts in a severely distracting way.

As he’d told her to do, he was learning to live with it. Now … he almost liked it. Having her at the forefront of his mind was becoming a comfortable thing.

He liked having her there.

Going down the steps two at a time, Dare ensured the hallways and foyer were empty. Given it was the middle of the night, not another soul was in sight.

Peeking out the front door, he saw the van at the corner, idling.

Waiting.

As Jett had said, the vehicle was in shadow, hidden from the streetlamp and the bright moon.

In a few hours, the sun would be up and people would be coming and going.

Were they hoping to catch Molly? Or maybe just to verify her presence in the apartment?

He needed to get closer. Maybe he could ID the men, or overhear something important.

Dare pulled back to think. If he went out through the front door, he’d be seen. Damn it, he should have investigated the entire building. He knew better than to go into a structure blind. But his concentration had been on Molly.

Mostly on getting her under him. Damn.

Dare glanced around the foyer. Almost every old building had a basement, so he searched for the right door—and found it. Luckily, it opened in silence. The dank basement with its concrete floors and walls smelled like mildew and held a thick chill.

He wasn’t about to turn on lights, but the moon shining through a window guided him. Covered in webs and dead bugs, the rusted lock on the wobbly frame offered no real protection. The narrow window barely afforded enough room for him to hoist himself up and out. The casing scraped his spine, and his face met dry, brittle weeds outside.