by Taryn Quinn
Funny how I could know him so well, and not know him at all. I slid a hand over my still very flat belly. I seemed to be able to figure him out better than my own self.
Great grammar there, Teach.
But it was true.
If anyone asked me six months ago if I’d have had two different men in my life within the span of a month, I’d have told them they were certifiable. Heck, if it hadn’t been for Tommy’s grandmother’s funeral, I’d never have done…that with him.
I didn’t want him back.
I was much happier since he’d flaked out of my life.
And now I could be ruining something great. Or not.
I jammed my fingers into my hair. If I thought about this situation any more, I was going to go out of my mind. Add in the whispers and sly glances from the teachers at school—oh, and couldn’t forget about the parents.
Yep.
I was ready to pin an S to my sweaters. Or maybe on the soles of my boots? Would that be better, so they could see it coming and going? Who needed Louboutins when you could have that kind of red on your soles?
And now I was being ridiculous.
I sat down to pull on my knee-high boots. I couldn’t dress up to run around after first graders, but I could look as good as possible tonight. So I’d pulled out my fawn-colored boots and my favorite corduroy skirt with matching tights.
My usual bird legs had filled out a little, giving me a hint of curves I didn’t usually have. And maybe the snap on my skirt was a little tighter than it used to be, but I couldn’t think about that. I wasn’t due for ages.
I’d even found the nerve to make an appointment with Ally’s doctor. Next Friday, I’d know a little bit more about what I was working with. And after tonight, I’d know for sure if I was doing all of this alone or…
I shook my head. I couldn’t think about that. We were just going to talk tonight.
As usual, I was getting way ahead of myself.
I jumped at the trill of my buzzer. “Get a hold of yourself, Kelsey.” Was my skirt too short? I tugged at the back. Had my ass actually grown too?
When the buzzer went off again, I rushed over to the security panel near my door. “I’ll be right down.”
“I can come up. And you should ask who it is first, Kel.” Dare’s gruff voice made my stomach flip. I shut my eyes and sagged against the wall. And him coming upstairs wasn’t a good idea anyway. We usually just yelled at each other and then got naked.
We needed to have a grown-up conversation and that required us going out in public. At least that was the game plan I was going with.
“Uh, right. Yeah, I’ll remember that. I’ll um…be right down.”
I grabbed my leather bag and jacket that matched my boots. It felt nice to be an adult and maybe I’d overdone it a little, but my life consisted of a teacher bag in rainbow colors to hide stains and paint. I didn’t have a reason to impress much, and I really wanted him to think I was pretty, dammit.
Not that it mattered. We’d done the deed while I was sweaty after moving, for God’s sake. He’d even…
I wasn’t going to think about what he’d done.
Especially between my thighs. Until I’d been screaming like a lunatic.
I squeezed my legs together and prayed I could tamp down the flood of out of control hormones that were making me increasingly more crazy. I wasn’t sure if the usual ones or the pregnancy ones were to blame.
Had it already been happening after Tommy?
I hung my head. Instead of the sweet flip of exhilaration I got from Dare, now I was twisting with unease. I didn’t want it to be Tommy’s. Not at all.
I huffed out a breath and straightened my shoulders. Nope, I couldn’t think like that. I’d know more after my appointment. And after tonight. Maybe.
Hopefully.
I locked up and rushed down the steps. He was standing at the bottom of the stairs, his startling blue eyes focused on me like two lasers.
“Oh, hi.”
He rubbed his hand over the top of his head. “Macy let me in.”
“That’s fine.” I glanced down at him and my stomach did a slow roll. He was wearing dark-washed jeans and a blue plaid shirt tucked in with a navy sport coat. He’d dressed up for me. “You cut your hair.”
He cleared his throat. “Wes needed a cut, so that means me too.”
“It looks good. You look nice.” I stopped on the second to last stair, which meant I was a little taller than him with the heels on my boots. I was so damn gangly and tall, it was nice to be with someone who was taller than me so I could wear something other than flats.
Well, except now.
But he didn’t move away. He didn’t make room for me. He tipped his chin up so we were eye-to-eye. “You’re so goddamn beautiful.”
I blinked. “I…thanks.”
He reached for my hand and pulled me down the last steps. “I thought we’d go to The Cove.”
My eyebrows shot up. “That’s expensive.” I hadn’t been in town long, but there were only a few fancy places within the actual Crescent Cove limits.
His eyes narrowed.
“Not that you can’t afford it, just wow.”
He lifted a shoulder. “You deserve better than a burger at The Spinning Wheel or a blue plate special at the diner.”
“I do?”
He crowded closer to me, touching his forehead to mine. “You do.” Then he stepped back, but he didn’t release my hand.
I trailed behind him, a little drunk on this new side of Dare. If I couldn’t have a glass of wine, I’d take this feeling every day. Whew.
Instead of his usual truck, he led me to a matte black car that looked as if it has been modified into something between a sports car and a beast of a car out of the show Supernatural. He lunged forward before I could grab the handle and opened the door for me. I murmured a thank you and slid inside. It smelled of leather and something else. Dare didn’t usually wear cologne, but there was something different about him tonight.
He got in on the driver’s side and while it seemed huge from the outside, the inside shrank when he sat next to me. There were two bucket seats, but they were one huge unit inside the car with a monster shifter on the floor.
“I thought you had a truck.”
Dare grinned. “Buckle up, Kel.”
“So many things I don’t know.” I thought I’d said it under my breath, but his grin kicked up a notch, making him look younger and sweeter. And somehow more dangerous.
Maybe we needed to turn down the heat.
Were these tights too hot?
He gunned the engine and the vibration of it curled through me and came up out of my chest with a little moan. Well, that was unexpected.
“I used to be a race car driver. We found this old Boss abandoned at one of the tracks we used to use for practice. I hauled it in and rebuilt it over the years.” He shifted and eased onto Main Street.
It was dusk and a few people turned their heads to watch us pull away. Suddenly, I felt like I was going out with someone my dad wouldn’t exactly approve of. Why that made me inordinately happy, I wasn’t going to dissect.
“Race…wow.” I turned my body toward him, leaning against the huge door. “Like NASCAR?”
He nodded. “My brother and I chased up from pit crews to drivers. Was a bitch—er, sorry.”
I shrugged. “I like adult conversations after listening to six-year-olds all day. Especially the bad words.” Especially when he said them. There was something about his rumbly voice that made everything come alive inside of me. Like his voice was rusty from disuse.
He turned onto the lake road. “Our reservations aren’t for an hour. Okay with a drive and to talk?”
I swallowed. The talking part was the hardest part. I had so much I wanted to tell him, and so much I was afraid to explain. How the hell did I get into this situation? This was more like something my little sister Rylee would do. She was the impetuous wild child. I was the good girl. The boring,
responsible one.
Oh, right. My stupid vagina was responsible for all of this. Never having a man who knew what he was doing down there had left me susceptible to Dare’s particular brand of excitement. One-night stand with a nine-month side effect.
Hopefully, his side effect.
The thought of a baby growing inside of me was already freaking me out, but the mere idea that it could be Tommy’s…
Ugh. What a damn mess.
Dare’s fingers tightened on the wheel and I realized I hadn’t responded to him. “Yes. Talking is good.”
He blew out a slow breath. “Okay, good.”
“Why did you give up racing?”
“You know that’s not what we should be talking about.”
I swallowed. “I know. I just…well, I want to get to know you a bit. We kinda skipped that part.”
“Does it matter?”
The blunt question made me straighten in my seat. “I want it to. I want this to be more than just…this.” I covered my middle with my hand. “Unless you don’t—”
“I do.” His voice was harsh. “Kel, I’m…” He trailed off, his knuckles white on the steering wheel. “I suck at this.”
A bubble of a laugh escaped my chest. “Like I’m any better? You get near me and I just want to climb on you. It’s so crazy. I never had that problem before. My past boyfriends haven’t exactly been like you.” I twisted the ring on my forefinger as I took in the streaks of pink and purple along the lake.
“What? Blue collar?”
I whipped my head around. “What? No. I mean, It’s not like I dated rich guys, Dare. I’m a regular girl—a teacher, for Pete’s sake. I’m not sure why you’re always saying things like that.” I reached over to grip his upper arm. It was flexed tight, the muscles under his sports coat unforgiving. I swallowed. I remembered every inch of his arms when he leaned over me. “I don’t care what you do.”
He finally relaxed under my touch. “Not all women feel the same way. Plenty want to have a little fun with a mechanic, but any more than that, not so much.” He shrugged.
I let my hand slide away. Evidently, we both came with a bit of baggage. I’m not sure why that relaxed me a little, but it did.
“Let me ask the hard question then.”
I clutched my hands in my lap. “Who’s the other guy?”
“Yeah.”
His voice was low and gruff in that way that made me want to do anything else but talk about this. But it wasn’t fair to ignore it. Even if I wanted to do just that. Because Tommy Larson was not the man I wanted to think about right now. Especially with a man as virile and exciting as Dare right next to me. The veritable bad boy complete with a car that made my thighs vibrate.
But that wasn’t the important part. That wasn’t what would make a good future for my baby. And even without knowing all the meaningless details I could rattle off about Tommy, Dare was still a far better man. The way he took care of his son, took care of everyone—including me. Those were the things that really mattered.
If I didn’t have Dare in my life, I’d be okay. Not perfect, but I could do this.
I just didn’t want to.
We drove in silence for a few minutes. The sun finally truly disappeared and the night was so clear. I felt like I could reach up and actually touch the stars. I wasn’t exactly a city girl, but my hometown seemed so different from Crescent Cove.
I was still staring out the window when I started talking. “Tommy is a good guy at heart. I can’t say I hate him or anything. He didn’t exactly treat me badly. I just don’t think he cared enough to make me a priority in any way.”
“Hate to break it to you, but that’s a shitty guy.”
I turned to him. The dim lights of his dashboard made his face seem even more angular and dangerous. I shivered and he instantly reached for the dials on his heater. “No, I’m good.”
He nodded and his hand went back to his shifter.
“It took some time for me to get there, but I agree. We broke up awhile ago. Then his Granny Flo died. I actually liked her a lot and when I went to the funeral, one thing led to another. It was stupid. I knew that right after I did it, but we were both sad and there was a bottle of wine.” I sighed. “He left the next morning and sent me a text that he had to go find himself.”
“What a fucking asshole.”
I laughed. Maybe it was part sob, but I blinked away the tears.
“Tell me you’re not crying over that dirtbag.”
“No. Definitely not.” Dare’s answer was a grunt which made me laugh even more. “It was just the impetus to me getting up the courage to go out on my own. When the full-time job came up at the Academy, I wanted to make a fresh start. Last year, I’d just been filling in while one of the teachers was on maternity leave.”
So many babies. No more drinking the water in Crescent Cove—check.
“Ah. That makes sense. I knew you were friends with Sage already.”
I nodded. “I really loved it here. I was going to keep commuting until I found a place I liked that was a bit closer, but when Tommy up and left after the night we spent together, I impulsively decided to move to Crescent Cove. And you know the rest.”
“You moved here without a damn bed.”
My cheeks heated. “You didn’t seem to mind that first night.”
“Of course I didn’t. A hot girl gives me a look like that and I’m all in.”
“I did not.”
“Darlin’, you were eating me alive with your eyes.”
“I was lusting after the very delicious pizza you brought.”
“Right.”
I totally hadn’t been. Each time we’d been together lived in my head like a technicolor blockbuster movie with all the good sex parts on a loop. Only in my head they didn’t cut to black. I got all the dirty parts too.
That’s called porn, Kelsey.
Only porn was way less exciting than what Dare had done to me. But was that all we were? Friction and a baby? A baby that might not even be his. What the hell kind of package was I for a guy like him?
Dare pulled back into town, the quiet darkness of the lake replaced by the soft glow from the reconditioned gas lights that lined the streets. He turned up the winding lane that led to The Cove. The restaurant was right on the lake with a breathtaking view of the still water.
He parked and came around to open my door.
The wind had kicked up, reminding us that fall was in full effect. October in upstate New York was a strange mix of hot and cold. The minute the sun went down, the temperature followed suit. He helped me out and closed my door, then caged me against his car.
“Just one more thing before we go inside.”
“What?”
He traced the side of his thumb along the couple of curls I’d managed to bend my stick straight hair into. “That day of the baby shower? When we were arguing in the bathroom.”
“Where you ordered me to take the tests?”
A muscle jumped in his jaw as he gritted his teeth. “Not my finest hour, but I needed to know, Kel.”
“I know,” I whispered.
“Did you contact this Tommy guy?”
“No.” I frowned up at him. “Why would I?”
He blew out a breath. “I did something that might make you mad.”
“Why?” I drew out the word. Where was he going with this? “I’m not with him. I don’t want him. I thought you got that.”
“Well, while you were in the can—er, the bathroom, he texted you. I was freaking out already and then there’s this dude texting you that he wanted to meet up. I believe repeat performance was mentioned.”
“Oh.” My stomach flipped. “Oh, God. Dare, I wouldn’t have. I swear.”
“I know. I know that now, but I just reacted. I had no right, but I wanted the right. I was so fucked up about it all and I was standing out there and you might…” He growled. “I deleted the text.”
I frowned. “From my phone?”
“Yea
h.”
“Oh.” I blinked. My whole body shouldn’t have warmed up as if he’d given me a bundle of roses. But maybe from Dare this was about the same.
Flags probably should’ve been going up like mad. He’d gone into my phone and deleted a text from my ex. Instead, all I wanted was to understand.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because you’re mine, dammit. I wasn’t sharing you with some dickhead that put a winky face in a text looking for a damn booty call. Now that I know just how much of a douchebag he is, I’m glad—”
I lifted onto my toes and closed my mouth over his. He slid his arms around me and hauled me close. The kiss was sweeter than his hold. As if he was holding back. I didn’t really want gentle.
I wanted all of Dare, but right then, it felt too good to stop.
Finally, he pulled away. “So, you’re not mad then?”
“I should be. And if you do anything like that again, I’ll…do something.”
That little smirk came out again. “Oh, yeah? Like what?”
“I don’t know, but it won’t be good.”
He hooked his arm around my neck and urged me forward with a kiss to my temple. “I’m willing to risk it.”
I elbowed him in the gut. “Excuse me?”
“No, I won’t go into your phone. But I am kind of curious what your version of vengeance is.”
“You shouldn’t be.”
“I’m a little masochistic it seems.” He dropped his arm and twisted our fingers together as he drew me up the stairs to The Cove. “Hungry?”
I smiled. “Starving.”
And not just for food.
Sixteen
My heart raced as we walked through the restaurant. It was just past the dinner rush and moving into the quiet murmurs of cocktail-fueled pickups. I’d arranged for a table toward the back by the window. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing, but Kelsey wasn’t just a fling.
Not anymore.
Sitting in the car with her had been far more normal than I’d expected. No shouting and accusations, no epic levels of drama. I’d been braced for them. Nothing had ever been easy with Katherine, or with a lot of the women in my past.