Dare to Love (Pride Oregon Book 5)

by Jill Sanders

“Then how do you know it was Reece?”

  “I suppose I don’t, but when she got into the man’s car, she pulled the scarf off and I got just a glimpse of her. Robert came in this morning and showed us pictures of her, asking if we had seen her around.”

  “Did you tell him?”

  “No, I didn’t think about it, until just now.” She shrugged. “Until I saw you. Then I remembered.” She smiled. “I’ll call Robert in the morning. He and Amy went into the city for dinner.” She leaned closer. “It’s their twenty-fifth anniversary.” She chuckled. “I remember when those two were just young things, running around making eyes at each other.” Her smile grew. “Kind of like two other kids I know.”

  He felt himself actually blushing. Grabbing the bag, he started to move away. “Thanks,” he said. “I’ll… keep an eye out for her.”

  “You do that. Oh, and tell Riley I said hi.”

  “Will do,” he called over his shoulder.

  As he climbed the stairs, the rain soaking him again, he wondered if that meant that Reece had moved on? Maybe the two attacks were everything she had. Hoping he was right and that she’d given up on trying to get to him or his brother, he stepped into Riley’s apartment again.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The moment her apartment door shut, she scrambled for her phone and dialed Lilly.

  “Hello?” Her cousin sounded tired.

  “I didn’t wake you, did I?” She tried to control her breathing.

  “No, we were… no.” She heard her cousin scramble and realized that they had probably been doing the same thing she and Carter had just done.

  “Carter is here,” she blurted out.

  “Oh?” Lilly’s tone changed.

  “He’s… we…”

  Her cousin squealed. “So?”

  “Yeah.” She closed her eyes. “Wow.”

  “I’m so happy.” She could hear Lilly moving around.

  “What do I do now?” she asked, feeling her face flush.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean… he went downstairs to get us pie. I made dinner and… I have no idea how to act around him now that… we’ve…”

  “Be yourself,” Lilly broke in. “Nothing has changed. Not really.”

  “Everything has changed,” she said, before taking a drink of her wine. “Everything.”

  “Riley, you’re still you. He’s still him. So you guys have bumped naked…” Riley laughed. “Make this an opportunity to get to know him even more. Mentally, personally, physically.”

  “You’re right.” She sighed. “It still just feels… I don’t know. I sent him away because… he did my laundry.”

  “What?” Lilly laughed.

  “I… my comforter was… because… God, this is embarrassing. I bled and he cared enough to throw it in the wash for me.”

  “Awww.” Lilly sighed. “I knew I liked these two a lot. No matter where and what they came from, they’re good guys.”

  “Yeah,” she agreed. “You were right. He didn’t think he was good enough for me.”

  “What is it about them? Their parents are screwed up—remember, I met their mother—but I can’t imagine what kind of childhood they had to go through to believe that they aren’t good enough.”

  “Yeah.” She sighed. “Have you heard anything more about the attack?”

  “No, but Corey and I briefly talked about postponing the wedding.”

  “What?” She almost dropped the plate she was pulling from the microwave. “You can’t—”

  “We decided not to,” Lilly added in quickly. “But still, I can’t help but wonder… If you were attacked because of all the attention our wedding is causing… I don’t think I could live with myself if something else happened.”

  “It won’t,” she said but she knew that she had no control over the future.

  “No, don’t worry about this anymore. Have fun tonight. Make sure he wears protection.”

  “He is,” she broke in. “I’m not completely nuts.”

  “Good.” Lilly chuckled. “You’re going to have to fill me in on everything tomorrow.”

  “No.” She shook her head. “You didn’t for me.”

  “That’s because you were a virgin. Now I can share things with you, finally.”

  Riley smiled. “God, I had sex.” She almost squealed it. Just then the door opened and a very soaked Carter walked inside.

  Riley hung up the phone without even saying goodbye to Lilly.

  “Hi,” she said but her smile fell away when she noticed the seriousness in his eyes. “What’s wrong?” She rushed towards him, but he had moved to set the grocery bag down on the countertop.

  “Carol, she said that she thought she saw Reece in town last week.”

  “She did?” Her heart skipped at the excitement of knowing it was Reece and the possibility of catching the woman again.

  He moved around the countertop and took her in his arms. “It may or may not have been her. Carol wasn’t sure.”

  “What did she say?”

  “I’ll tell you over dinner. I’m thoroughly starved now.” He kissed her on top of the head, and she wondered why she’d ever worried things would be strange between them.

  After heating up the salmon again, they sat at the table and he filled her in on what Carol had seen.

  “Who do you think she was meeting?” she asked as she finished off her meal.

  He shrugged. “It could be anyone. A new romantic partner or maybe a family member. If I remember correctly, she had a brother.”

  “Yes.” She leaned forward. “He was in the military.”

  His eyes narrowed.

  “Hey, when a woman pulls a gun on you, you find out all you can on the psycho,” Riley explained.

  He chuckled. “Okay, so let’s assume for the moment that it was her brother. Any idea what the guy looks like so we can keep an eye out for him?”

  “Yeah.” She jumped up and rushed over to grab her laptop. “I can do better,” she said as she sat down on the sofa. Carter carried their wine glasses over and set them on the coffee table as he watched her open a folder on her Mac.

  “She removed all her pictures and information on social media shortly after she was locked up, but I saved a bunch of them beforehand.”

  “Smart,” he said.

  “It was actually Lilly’s idea.” She opened the image of Reece and her brother, Nick.

  Carter narrowed his eyes at the image. “Son of a…”

  “What?”

  “That was the man staying in the cabin next to me the other night.”

  “What?” She jumped a little. “At the B and B?”

  “Yeah.”

  She reached over and picked up her cell phone. He flipped through the other images as she called her aunt.

  “Hi, Aunt Meg, I’m sorry it’s late. I need to know who was in Red cabin the same night Carter was in Blue.” She didn’t give her aunt any time to speak.

  “Hi, um, okay, give me a minute.”

  She loved that no one in her family wasted time. They were used to just blurting out what they needed.

  “I’m back,” Megan said a little breathless. “Sorry, I was upstairs, and my computer is downstairs. I’m waiting for it to boot. What’s this all about?”

  “Carter heard from Carol that she saw Reece and a man leaving the parking lot here a few nights ago.”

  “What? Was she sure?”

  “That’s what we’re trying to find out. I showed Carter a picture of Reece and her brother.”

  “The military man?”

  “Yes.” She glanced over at Carter, glad that her aunt hadn’t asked why Carter was at her apartment in the first place. “He says that he saw the same man staying in the cabin when he checked in.”

  “I don’t know if they spent the night,” he jumped in.

  “Hang on, Aunt Megan.” She covered the phone. “What?”

  “I just realized. They never technically said they were staying at the B and B,
and I never saw them go into a cabin.”

  She relayed the information to Megan.

  “My computer is finally up. Gosh, it seems like every time I turn the thing on it needs an hour of updates.”

  “I told you, you need a Mac.”

  “It’s too hard for me to understand. Besides, I’m old and set in my ways.”

  Riley chuckled. “Did you find anything?”

  “There was a couple that stayed in Blue the night before. A Mr. and Mrs. Botto.”

  “Gross, they were posing as a married couple?”

  “No, I remember the Bottos. They were from New England. An older couple.”

  “Was there anyone in their mid-twenties that stayed around that time?”

  “No.” Megan sighed. “Which means they came over here and walked around just to check up on Carter. I’m going to have a serious talk with my security team.”

  “Security team as in… Raco, Ruby, and Bob?” She laughed. Her aunt’s three dogs.

  “Yes, along with my new Glock.”

  Her aunt Megan had always had a gun handy, ever since her ex-husband had escaped from jail and kidnapped her when she was pregnant with Riley’s cousin Matthew.

  “Robert will add the B and B to his security detail.”

  “Tell Carter I’m so sorry they slipped onto the grounds.”

  “I will,” she agreed. “I’m going to shoot over this picture so you and Uncle Todd can keep an eye out for them if they should come back.”

  “Thanks, sweetie. You two be safe…” There was a pause. “How was dinner?”

  She closed her eyes and held in a groan. “How did you find out?”

  “Lilly called Sara, who called me.” Megan added, “For what it’s worth, we all like the boys. Your father… you know how he is. He likes to scare anyone who might have their eyes on his daughter.”

  “Yeah.” She glanced over at Carter, who was watching her carefully. “Thanks, I’ll… talk to you tomorrow.”

  “Okay, be safe. Both of you.”

  “Will do,” she said before hanging up.

  “Well?” Carter asked, eager to know what was going on.

  She quickly relayed what her aunt had said as she emailed a copy of the picture to everyone in her family. Then, just as backup, since they had a family group Facebook page she posted the picture on it with a quick note that she would talk to everyone tomorrow.

  “Hopefully, my phone won’t be ringing anymore tonight.” She set it down. “What do we do now?” She turned to him after setting her laptop aside.

  He moved his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. “How about we watch a movie and have some pie and Oreo ice cream?”

  She smiled. “You got me Oreo ice cream?”

  “Carol said it was your favorite.”

  “It is. God, I love that woman.” She laughed as he came in for another kiss. “I thought this would be… awkward.”

  “What?” he asked, his lips an inch away from hers.

  “This.” She motioned between them. “After… You know, the uncomfortable morning-after type of thing.”

  He chuckled, the sexy sounds causing his entire body to vibrate next to hers. “No, this actually makes things between us less awkward.”

  “It does?” she asked, feeling those little butterflies in her stomach she often got when he looked at her.

  “Yes.” He pulled her closer and covered her lips. “I can now do this anytime I want,” he said before nibbling on her lips. “You taste like spring,” he said softly. “And feel like heaven.”

  “I love looking at you,” she admitted. She wasn’t any good at sex talk. After all, he’d been her first. But she did read a lot of romance books.

  “I like you looking.” His hands were sliding up under his T-shirt, which she still wore. She’d slipped on some panties after cleaning herself up. But she loved the smell of his shirt, even though most of what she could smell was cooked pizza dough. Still, there was a hint of his aftershave and cologne.

  When his fingers brushed her hip and then over her panties, she spread her legs a little giving him access.

  “You’re probably sore,” he said, pulling his hand away.

  “No.” She took his hand and placed it back where it had been. “I’m not. I want you again,” she said softly.

  “I don’t want to hurt you.” His eyes scanned hers.

  “You won’t.” She covered his hand and started moving it to where she wanted. When he started on his own, she reached for his jeans and felt him hard for her.

  “Carter,” she said as his mouth trailed down her neck. “Let’s go to the bedroom.” She motioned towards the large windows that overlooked the small town.

  “Right.” He quickly stood up.

  “I suppose it’s too much to hope to spend the night here.”

  She bit her bottom lip. It wasn’t as if their dinner date news hadn’t already spread throughout all the Jordan women, but the Jordan men didn’t know yet. If he was caught coming down her stairs in the morning, she knew there would be hell to pay.

  “Probably not.” She stood up but wrapped her arms around him. “That doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy ourselves, then have some dessert before you drive home.”

  “Right.” He smiled down at her and then took her hand in his and walked them back to her room.

  Instead of reaching for her light switch, he pulled her close to him and kissed her again as he backed them up until her knees hit the bed again.

  She practically melted as he laid her gently on the bed once more. His hands moved over her, causing her knees to shake. She was thankful she was laying down as he peeled off her panties and his T-shirt. Then, his eyes ran over her, and she was thankful that the glow of the hallway light allowed her to see his emotions clearly as he looked at her.

  Since his jacket had been soaked from his trip downstairs, he’d eaten dinner without, which had given her plenty of time to appreciate his muscles.

  Now, running her hands over him, she appreciated them even more. When she reached for his jeans this time, he let her nudge them off his hips. Taking him in her hand, she watched his eyes close and smiled when a moan escaped his lips.

  “Do you like that?” she asked.

  He nodded quickly. “So much. Too much.”

  She continued to stroke him and moaned herself when his fingers slipped inside her and mimicked her movement. She felt herself building and desperately wanted him inside her again.

  “Do you have another condom?” she asked.

  “Yes.” He reached for his jeans, but she took the package from him, and he held still while she rolled it on him.

  “Like this.” He showed her an easier way. “There.”

  “Does it feel different?” she asked.

  “What?” he asked. “Than without one?” She nodded. “I’ve never gone without. If that’s what you’re worried about?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “It’s just… never mind.” She remembered something that her cousin Sara had mentioned once.

  “I suppose it would feel different than skin on skin,” he said softly. “But for now, this is what we have.” He kissed her again as he slipped slowly inside her, filling her completely as she forgot about everything except him.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Carter practically floated through the next day at work, even though it was extremely busy. The high of having been with Riley carried him through a hard shift on the first official day kids were out of school.

  It was their second summer in Pride after opening Baked, so he knew that the kids tended to hang out in the pizzeria. Since they didn’t have many other places to go in town, he and Corey allowed it. As long as they purchased one pizza and a drink while they were there, they could stay as long as they wanted.

  The way he and his brother thought about it, it was a safe environment and kept the kids from doing stupid shit.

  But it also meant that the place was a whole lot noisier.

  He’d calle
d Robert first thing that morning and relayed what Carol had told him the night before. Robert surprised him by telling him that he’d already talked to Carol that morning and was following up with Megan Jordan to get a copy of the B and B’s register.

  He filled his brother in a little more, since Lilly had already heard through the Jordan grapevine. They’d had a few minutes before opening the doors to chat about it, but since there was nothing else he could do, he kept his mind on work.

  On his first fifteen-minute break, he walked next door to see Riley. She was with a customer, so he walked around the store and looked at a few items he’d been thinking of getting.

  Deciding on an antique chandelier that Lilly had mentioned to him a few days back, he carried it up to the register when she finished checking out the other customer.

  “Hi.” She smiled up at him. “Oh, you’re going to get that?”

  “Yes.” He held it up. “I think it will go great above the bathtub in my master bathroom. What do you think?”

  She walked around the counter and tilted her head slightly as if trying to picture it there herself. “I think it’s perfect.” She smiled after a moment.

  He wanted to kiss her, but he guessed that her cousin was around the store somewhere. And since they hadn’t talked about letting her family officially know about them, he refrained.

  But when she reached up on her toes and laid her lips gently over his, he realized she didn’t care who knew they were seeing one another.

  He wanted to hold her but didn’t want to drop the chandelier in the process, so instead, he let her take what she wanted with the kiss.

  He had figured out earlier that it had been Lilly she’d been on the phone with last night when he’d come back in after getting the pie. He’d been so preoccupied with what Carol had told him, he’d almost forgotten about it.

  “How are things over there?” she asked, stepping away.

  “Busy.” He smiled.

  “Yeah, here too. I guess most of the kids are bored already on the first day of summer. I caught two teenage girls trying to steal some earrings from us.” She moved behind the counter.

  “What did you do?” he asked, setting down the chandelier so he could pull out his wallet and pay.