A Little Dare (55 page)

Delaney
beamed.
“Sure.
His
name
is
Ari
Terek
Yasir.”
She
leaned
down
and
uncovered
her
son
for
AJ
to
see.
The

baby
glanced
at
AJ
and
smiled.
AJ
smiled
back,
and
so

did
everyone
else
standing
around
them
at
the
airport.

Delaney
looked
over
at
her
mother,
in
whose
eyes
tears
of
happiness
shone
at
seeing
her
two
grandsons
together

getting
acquainted.

Suddenly
Prince
Jamal
Ari
Yasir
cleared
his
throat.

Everyone
had
become
misty-eyed
and
silent,
and
he

decided
to
put
the
spark
and
excitement
back
into
the

welcome
gathering.
This
was
the
family
he
had
come
to

love,
thanks
to
his
wife
who
he
truly
cherished.
His
dark

eyes
shone
with
amusement
as
he
addressed
the
one

brother
who
he
hadn’t
completely
won
over
yet.
“So,
Thorn,
are
you
still
being
a
thorn
in
everyone’s
side
these
days?”
he
asked
smiling.

Twelve

S
helly
smiled
as
she
looked
at
the
young
woman
sitting
in
the
chair
across
from
her
on
the
patio
at
Dare’s
parents’
home.
The
last
time
she
had
seen
Delaney
Westmoreland
she’d
been
a
teenager,
a
few
months
shy
of
her
sixteenth
birthday,
a
rebellious,
feisty
opponent
who’d
been
trying
to
stand
up
to
her
five
overprotective
and
oftentimes

overbearing
brothers.

Now
she
was
a
self-assured,
confident
young
woman,
a

medical
doctor,
mother
to
a
beautiful
baby
boy
and
wife
to
a
gorgeous
sheikh
from
a
country
in
the
Middle
East
called
Tahran.
And
from
the
looks
the
prince
was
constantly
giving
his
wife,
there
was
no
doubt
in
her
mind
that
Delaney
was
also
a
woman
well
loved
and
desired.

And,
Shelly
thought
further,
Delaney
was
breathtakingly

stunning.
Even
all
those
years
back
there
had
never
been
any
doubt
in
Shelly’s
mind
that
Delaney
would
grow
up
to

become
a
beauty.
She
was
sure
there
hadn’t
been
any

doubt
in
the
brothers’
minds
of
that
as
well,
which
was

probably
the
reason
they
had
tried
keeping
such
a
tight
rein
on
her.
But
clearly
they
had
not
been
a
match
for
Prince

Jamal
Ari
Yasir.

Delaney
and
Shelly
were
alone
on
the
patio.
Mrs.

Westmoreland
was
inside,
singing
Ari
to
sleep,
and
AJ
had

gone
with
his
father
and
grandfather
to
the
store
to
buy

more
charcoal.
The
brothers
and
Jamal
had
taken
a
quick
run
to
Thorn’s
shop
for
Jamal
to
take
a
look
at
Thorn’s

latest
beauty
of
a
bike.

“I’m
glad
you
returned,
Shelly,
to
bring
AJ
home
to
Dare

and
to
us.
I
don’t
think
you
know
how
happy
you’ve
made

my
parents.
They
thought
Ari
was
their
only
grandchild
and
were
fretting
over
the
fact
they
wouldn’t
be
able
to
see
him
as
often
as
they
wanted
to.
I
felt
awful
about
that,
but
knew
my
place
was
with
Jamal,
which
meant
living
in
his
country
the
majority
of
the
time.
One
good
thing
is
that
as
long
as

his
father
is
king,
we
have
the
luxury
of
traveling
as
much
as
we
want.
But
things
will
change
once
Jamal
becomes
king.”

When
Shelly
nodded,
she
continued.
“We
hope
that
won’t
happen
for
a
while.
His
father
is
in
excellent
health
and
has
no
plans
to
turn
things
over
to
Jamal
just
yet.”

After
a
long
moment
of
silence,
Shelly
said,
“I
want
to

apologize
for
leaving
the
way
I
did
ten
years
ago,
Delaney,
and
for
not
staying
in
touch.”

Delaney’s
eyes
shone
in
understanding.
“Trust
me,
we
all
understood
your
need
to
put
distance
between
you
and
Dare.
Everyone
got
on
his
case
after
you
left,
and
for
a

while
there
was
friction
between
him
and
my
brothers.”

Shelly
nodded.
Dare
had
told
her
as
much.

“Mom
explained
the
situation
to
me
about
AJ,”
Delaney

added,
breaking
into
Shelly’s
thoughts.
“She
told
me
how
you
and
Dare
have
decided
to
let
him
be
the
one
to
tell

Dare
the
truth.
What’s
the
latest
on
that?
Is
he
softening
any
toward
Dare?
As
someone
just
arriving
on
the
scene,
I’d

say
they
seem
to
be
getting
along
just
fine.”

Shelly
nodded,
remembering
AJ’s
intense
dislike
of
Dare
in
the
beginning.
“I
think
he’s
discovered
Dare
isn’t
the

mean
cop
that
he
thought
he
was,
and
yes,
he
is
definitely
softening.
He
even
told
me
this
morning
that
he
plans
to
tell
Dare
that
he’s
his
father.”

A
huge
smile
touched
Delaney’s
features.
“When?”

“Now,
that
I
don’t
know.
From
what
I
gather
he’ll
tell
Dare

when
they
get
a
private
moment
and
when
he
feels
the
time
is
right.
He’s
battling
his
fear
that
Dare
may
not
want
him

because
of
the
way
he
behaved
in
the
beginning.”

Delaney
shook
her
head.
“There’s
no
way
Dare
would
not
want
his
son.”

“Yes,
I
know,
but
AJ
has
to
realize
that
for
himself.”

Delaney
nodded,
knowing
Shelly
was
right.

AJ
stood
next
to
Dare
in
the
supermarket
line.
He
watched