Dare Me Again

by Alexander, Shelly

  “There’s a clause in your contract that stipulates the firm doesn’t have to pay back your buy-in if there’s evidence of negligence.”

  Elliott nearly choked. The buy-in the firm required for new partners had drained his life savings.

  “Taking an indefinite leave of absence could definitely qualify as negligence. I don’t want to see that happen to the best protégé who’s ever crossed the threshold of this firm. So get your ass back here in a month. No later.” The line went dead.

  Elliott stared at the phone.

  When he finally climbed into his Jeep and fired it up, the phone rang again. Excellent. Probably Mick calling back to tell him it had been a cruel joke. He answered it without looking at the number. “Yeeel-low.”

  Charley let out an exaggerated sigh. “I was making the morning deliveries to the food truck in town, and your girlfriend showed up.”

  “If you didn’t make such killer pastries and coffee, I’d hang up on you.” He backed up the Jeep.

  “I am the best pastry chef in the world, aren’t I?” She didn’t wait for him to respond. “I’m on my way back to the resort, and it’s starting to rain.”

  He threw the gearshift into drive and headed toward the garage. “So?”

  “So, Ms. Tate wouldn’t ride back with me. She jogged into town with her dog and was still sitting on a bench across from the market when I left. Just thought you should know, in case you want to pick her up.”

  Underneath Charley’s I protect my family at all costs attitude, she was a soft marshmallow with a big heart.

  “She’s a grown-ass woman who doesn’t want my help.” She’d told him so. Several times. “I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

  “If the weather kicks up into a full-blown storm, they’ll shut down the shuttle until it blows over, and she’ll have to walk back in the wind and rain. I wouldn’t want your dog trainer to come down with pneumonia before the event even starts,” Charley said like a mother hen.

  “I’ll take care of her.” His eyes slid shut. “I’ll take care of giving her a ride,” he corrected.

  “Mmmm-hmmmm.” The sarcasm in Charley’s voice practically dripped through the phone.

  “Whatever.” He ended the call. Instead of taking the road that led to the garage, he veered left and headed to the resort exit.

  At least he’d already discovered that losing his partnership along with his life savings was the one thing that could go wrong with his not-so-perfect plan.

  Scratch that.

  He thought of Rebel sitting on a bench in the rain, flowing red locks of hair sticking to her neck, long eyelashes starred with wetness.

  He’d discovered two things that could go wrong and screw up his life for good.

  He set his jaw with determination.

  His brothers could suck it, because their childish dare for him to take charge of the camp was back on. He’d keep his contact with Rebel all about work and do a kick-ass job with the event, set the resort’s off-season income up nicely by landing Down Home Dog Food as a repeat sponsor, and show his brothers who was really boss, all at once.

  Not a bad day at the office, all things considered.

  He could leave the island feeling good about his contribution to the resort. Nothing he could do would fully repay the debt he owed his family. Not even close. But since he couldn’t bring back his mother, maybe it would help assuage some of his shame over causing her death.

  Because twenty years was a long time to carry around guilt.

  Chapter Six

  #MEANTTOBE

  With three cups of coffee down, Rebel had only seven more to go. Even with the weather getting worse, it was going to take a lot of caffeine for her to muster enough nerve to get off the bench across from Morgan’s Market & Produce, cross the street, and step inside the store.

  She gave Rem the signal to lie down under the bench so he’d be sheltered from the thundershowers.

  Coming face-to-face with the family her mother had devastated would be hard enough. Keeping the secret as a scared teenage girl because her mother begged her to, because her mother stood a better chance of survival if she wasn’t in prison, was something Rebel couldn’t run from anymore. She had to face them. See if there was a way to help, even if telling them everything wasn’t an option.

  Maybe coming back to the island was providence. Karma. Payback.

  Or all of the above.

  She sipped her fourth cup of fresh coffee and crossed her legs. Every now and again, Danny Morgan got close enough to the store window for her to glimpse his unnatural gait and his twisted facial features brought on by a traumatic brain injury. She kicked her foot back and forth at a rapid clip. Consuming so much coffee probably wasn’t the best idea without a public restroom nearby and a two-mile hike back to the resort ahead of her.

  Another crack of thunder made her jump, and the drizzle that already had her soaking wet and shivering turned to pouring rain. Still, she didn’t move off the bench. Instead, she pulled her hood farther over her forehead and kept staring at the market.

  “Rebel?” a familiar brusque voice said from the sidewalk behind her.

  She clamped her eyes shut. Elliott was the last person she wanted to see her sitting in the rain, staring at the market like a lunatic stalker.

  “Rebel, is everything okay?” His tone grew gentle, telling her she hadn’t misread the impression she was making. When his footsteps shuffled around to the front of the bench, Rem whined and shot out from under his makeshift shelter.

  She forced her eyes open to find Rem brushing against Elliott’s side. The hood of the dark-green rain slicker framed his handsome face and turned the color of his eyes to emeralds.

  “I’m fine. Why?” She tried to sound business-as-usual, but her stare trekked back to the store window. It was almost magnetic, snagging her attention and not letting go.

  His wrinkled brow and worried look said he wasn’t buying it. “Well, you’re sitting in the rain without an umbrella or rain slicker.” He scanned the empty coffee cups scattered next to her on the bench. “Apparently, with enough caffeine running through your system to power the entire island.”

  When his gaze followed hers to the front of the market and his worried expression grew even more troubled, she knew she’d made a serious mistake. “I just wanted to get reacquainted with the island.” She stood and gathered up her trash.

  “What’s up with the market?” His gaze shifted from her to the store and back again.

  “Nothing!” she blurted far too quickly and dropped the trash, scattering it across the sidewalk.

  Rem was back at her side in a flash.

  “Okaaaay.” Elliott bent to help her pick up the mess.

  She snatched up a cup and two lids, only to drop them again.

  His strong, warm hand closed around her wrist as she reached for the trash again. “Sit.”

  The fact that he’d snapped at her for giving him the exact same command when he’d nicked his finger wasn’t lost on her. As a reminder, she gave him an exaggerated glare.

  “Please sit.” His fingers didn’t loosen against her wrist, and he guided her to the bench. Then he picked up the trash, walked to a nearby garbage can, and tossed it in.

  She let the cup hover at her lips as she took small sips. “Sorry I’m late for work. Buddy needed exercise, and I took a run. I didn’t plan to be gone so long, but I saw Charley, and her coffee is delicious, so I guess I got carried away and kept ordering more from that cute little food truck of hers, and . . .” Rebel couldn’t stop gushing because Elliott’s expression told her he was suspicious. “I decided to wait out the storm here.”

  “By sitting outside instead of ducking into one of the stores?”

  He had her there. Sip, sip, sip.

  He sat down next to her on the bench and braced both elbows on his knees. “How long have you been here?”

  She had no idea. Time had slipped away from her once she’d seen Danny Morgan. “Not long.” That sounded stupi
d even to her. Anyone could look at her and tell she’d been outside much longer than she should’ve. She took another long sip to keep from spewing more nonsense.

  He took off his weatherproof jacket and draped it around her shoulders. “Want to tell me what’s going on?”

  “Thank you.” She snuggled into the jacket. “What makes you think something’s going on? I lost track of time, that’s all.”

  He laced his fingers and didn’t seem to mind that he was getting drenched. “You only ramble when you’re upset.”

  “Pffst,” she huffed with the wave of a hand. “I ramble sometimes. I can be a rambler.”

  Good God. Lightning should go ahead and strike her down just to put her out of her misery.

  He leaned back on the bench and studied her. His hair and clothes were already soaked. It was so unfair that it only made him look sexier, while she probably looked like a drowned rat.

  She chewed the corner of her mouth.

  Finally, he shook his head. “You’re too smart to be a rambler unless something’s wrong. So what is it? Maybe I can help.”

  At that moment, she’d like nothing more than to unburden herself. Tell him everything. But she couldn’t. If it got out that she hadn’t come forward with information about a crime, her professional reputation would be ruined. How could she repay her mother’s debt to society if no one trusted her or wanted her help?

  How unfair would it be to place that burden on his shoulders too? No, she’d left him once in order to protect him. Telling him now would be selfish.

  A movement from the market window caught her attention. Danny stood inside attaching sale flyers to the glass that could be read from the street. He dropped the sheets of paper, and they fluttered to the ground. He got down on his hands and knees to pick them up. When he pulled himself to a stand, he glanced through the window and waved to Elliott.

  Elliott returned the greeting, and Danny’s wave sped like an excited child. Then he disappeared. The door opened and out he stepped, pulling on a raincoat with a compact umbrella in his hand. He looked both ways, then loped across the street.

  “Hi, Elliott!” Danny said, his speech slower than the average person’s. He threw his arms around Elliott.

  “Hey, Dan.” Elliott hugged him back.

  “I, I br . . . brought you an uuuumbrella.” Danny held it out but dropped it because of the tremor in his hand. “Preeeetty dog. Can I peeeet him?”

  Rebel nodded. Technically, it was poor protocol to allow someone to pet a service dog while they were working, but how could she say no when someone wanted to show her dog affection? Especially this someone.

  He bent down and gave Rem a scratch.

  “Thanks, man.” Elliott opened the umbrella and handed it to Rebel. “I’ll get it back to you soon.”

  When she didn’t take it, he stared at her.

  She couldn’t peel her eyes from Danny. “Um.” She chewed her lip harder. “Hello, Danny.”

  “It’s Dan,” he said sternly. “I’m noooot a liiiiittle boy.” Rem moved to his side and leaned, which prompted Dan to pet him more.

  “Dan, she didn’t mean anything.” Elliott stepped closer to hold the umbrella over her, and she realized she still hadn’t taken it from him.

  She put a hand over his and lifted it higher so he was protected from the rain too. “I’m sorry, Dan.” For so many things. “I haven’t seen you since you were a kid, and everyone used to call you Danny back then.”

  “I’m noooot a kid.”

  Rem moved in closer to Dan.

  “She knows that, Dan. She’s been gone from the island for a long time, that’s all. Do you remember Rebel Tate?” Elliott shifted under the umbrella, closing the small space between her and him. Their shoulders brushed, and his warmth wrapped around her.

  Suddenly, she wanted to throw herself into his arms and get lost. But if she hadn’t been convinced of her unworthiness before, looking at Dan Morgan’s distorted face and awkward stance persuaded her otherwise.

  Dan shook his head adamantly.

  “That’s okay,” she said. “I didn’t expect many folks around here to remember me.”

  “I liiiiike dogs.” He ran both hands over Rem’s ears and scratched his neck. “I dooooon’t have one.”

  “His name is . . .” She resisted the urge to bite her nails. “Buddy. His name is Buddy. I’ll bring him back to visit you sometime.” Rebel couldn’t change the past, but she might be able to make a difference in Dan’s future. “Would you like a dog of your own?”

  “Suuure!” Dan said.

  “How about talking to your parents about it first? If they say yes, I might already have a good match for you.” She turned to Elliott. “Can we go? There’s something I need to do.”

  They said their goodbyes and walked to Elliott’s Jeep, which was parked along the curb past the food truck. When they were inside, he turned up the heat and made a U-turn on Marina Boulevard.

  “Take me to the ferry terminal.”

  He stomped on the brake. “Why?”

  If she hadn’t had on a seat belt, she’d have flown into the dash. She grabbed the bar above her door. “Good Lord, do you really think I’d bolt so quickly?”

  Apparently he did, if his raised brows were any indication.

  Rem stuck his head through the front seats and nudged her shoulder, then Elliott’s.

  “Fine.” She settled back against the seat. “I suppose I deserve that. There’s something at the terminal I need to pick up.” With any luck, it would have a positive impact on Dan Morgan’s life.

  Elliott punched the gas, and they headed out of town. With a hand slung over the steering wheel, he said, “Why wouldn’t you expect people to remember you? You grew up here.”

  “There’s not much to remember. I spent most of my life trying not to bring attention to myself. If people noticed me and associated me with my mom, they usually whispered something hateful behind their hands.” She wrapped both arms around herself and tried to rub out the cold. “I guess I liked staying in the background, so why would anyone remember me?”

  “Because you’re quite unforgettable.” His voice was almost a whisper.

  Her breath caught in her throat, and she pressed a hand to her chest. She wanted to reach out and brush the wet waves of hair off his forehead. Tell him he was the unforgettable one because of how much kindness and compassion he’d just shown Dan. Just shown her. Elliott had looked out for her the same way in high school. That tenderhearted boy who often stayed hidden inside a determined and strong-willed shell was still there. He’d grown into a man who shouldn’t have given her a second thought.

  He propped an elbow against his door and rubbed his temple like he’d said too much.

  The squeak of windshield wipers and the splash of water as they rumbled through mud puddles were the only sounds that cut the uncomfortable silence. Even without saying a word, his presence was so larger-than-life that it filled the cab and pressed her against the door.

  Ten minutes later, the rain had slowed to a sprinkle as they pulled to a stop in front of the open-air terminal.

  “I’ll be right back,” Rebel said.

  Elliott threw the gearshift into park and killed the engine. “Not a chance. I’m coming with.” He got out and jogged around to Rebel’s side. He opened her door. “Until this camp is over, I can’t risk you disappearing again with Old Lady McGill’s help.”

  Ouch.

  When he put it like that, the truth hurt worse than usual.

  Rebel tilted her head. “You’re the one who’s bailing this time.”

  “Change of plans. I’m sticking with the event.” He swiped his arm in a downward arc to usher her out of the car.

  “Why? You were so adamant about handing it off.”

  “I have an investment to protect here at the resort,” he said.

  “Your investment is the same today as it was yesterday,” she countered.

  A muscle in his jaw tensed. Finally, he said, “Yesterd
ay you seemed to be concerned about the consequences of me not being involved in the camp.”

  Touché. He was still evading her question, though.

  She should know. She was the queen of evading sensitive questions.

  Could it be that a seed of forgiveness might be starting to sprout in his heart? His big heart that was encased in a hard, muscled, drool-worthy chest.

  “My brothers dared me to take the lead on this event. You know I could never resist an opportunity to show them I’m superior in every way.”

  Oh. Right. She remembered the tight-knit Remington brothers and all their sibling rivalries. She climbed out of the Jeep, called for Rem to follow, and headed straight for the ticket booth.

  Bogart darted out from behind the booth and hopped over to Rem. They greeted each other like pals.

  Rebel knelt and gave the handicapped dog a thorough scratch around his neck.

  A wrinkle appeared between Elliott’s eyes. “He’s missing a leg.”

  “Really?” Rebel smarted off. Paybacks were hell, after all. “I hadn’t noticed. Good catch.”

  Elliott gave her a stony stare.

  Which she ignored.

  She waved to Mabel, who put down her deck of cards and opened the window. “Need ferry tickets?” Her eyes twinkled with mischief.

  “I’m here about Bogart.” Rebel led Rem to the booth and leaned an elbow against the ticket counter. Bogart followed. “Any chance you’ll let me take him and train him as a service dog? I know someone who might be a good match for him.”

  “I thought you’d never ask, hon. When you arrived and said you were a professional dog trainer, I knew it was meant to be. Knew you’d come back for him because you need each other.” Mabel’s glittering eyes trekked to Elliott. “The best ones are usually wounded, either on the inside or the outside, and they’re always worth the effort.”

  Rebel couldn’t stop her eyes from flying wide. Then she cut them at Elliott.

  His Adam’s apple bobbed, and the ropy muscles in his neck flexed as he swallowed. His granite stance said he hadn’t missed Mabel’s insinuation. And didn’t like it. Not a bit.

  Rebel’s grip tightened around the leash until her nails dug into her palm. The ride back to the resort was going to be eternal.