Dare (9 page)

Dare watched her put a filter in the top, grab a coffee tin from the fridge and fill the machine with four scoops of ground coffee. She might be hell on wheels but he respected her for speaking her mind—and the truth.

Presley and Malone had crossed a line, but he wasn’t about to get into that with her. “Look, you don’t know everything. Let’s just call a truce until I can talk to Olivia. Then things can be explained to you later, as she sees fit.”

Candy whirled back toward him. “If you think for one moment you’re going to waltz in here and continue to hurt her, you’re a bigger idiot than I thought.”

“Listen—” Dare began.

“What’s going on?” A soft voice asked from behind him.

He turned, his gaze landing on another blonde beauty.  She wasn’t as striking as Candy, but she was definitely easy on the eyes. At least she wore a longer t-shirt. He didn’t feel as uncomfortable around this one.

Damn, how many of these friends did Olivia have?  Some of his buddies would die to stand where he was right now.  Maybe if things worked out, he could play matchmaker.

“Who are you?” Blue Eyes demanded as she moved to stand beside Candy.

Unity in numbers. Okay.

Dare shook his head and held out his hand. “Name is Darren, or Dare to my friends.”

She gawked at his hand scornfully. “How about I just call you asshole?”

Oh good, another foul-mouthed best friend who wanted to kick his ass.  “Come on, ladies. I’m just going to wait here for Olivia to wake up. Let’s not do the hostile thing all over again, all right?”

He moved to the living room and sat in the grey La-Z-Boy. He and Olivia had made great use of it the other morning. He could still picture her, legs on each arm and spread out as he feasted on her pussy with his lips and tongue. Her hands had gripped the back of the chair as her hips rocked toward him.  He’d knelt on the floor in front of her, stroking his cock and tasting everything she had to give. She made him lose his mind.

He shifted and brought himself back to the moment and adjusted the front of his jeans. The ladies walked into the room—Candy finally dressed in some sort of baggy pants—and sat on the sofa. She glared at him while the other one peered at him, curious.

“Why are you here?” Blue Eyes asked. “Besides to see Olivia?”

Dare understood her meaning. She wanted to know what he really intended. “I need to talk to her, set things right.”

“Oh, geez, you mean you’re not going to kick her while she’s already down?” Candy snarled.

He shook his head. The woman had serious issues that went far beyond him and Olivia. Her panties were twisted into a knot over some guy; he’d bet money on it.

“I care about her too, all right? Things got out of hand yesterday and I need to talk to her about it.”

“Is she in trouble?” Blue Eyes asked softly, tears filling them.

“What’s your name?” Dare sat forward, feeling a kinship to this woman who cared so much for Olivia.

“Holly.”

“Holly, she isn’t in any trouble. I promise. I just need her to give me a few minutes to explain everything. Things have been worked out, to a certain extent.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Candy demanded and stood, hands on her hips.

“I would rather explain everything to Livvy, all right?  Let’s just say I handled things.”

“Oh, I just bet you did. And now you expect to come by here and pick up where you left off,
Dare
?” she scoffed.

He stood, anger filling him. Damn, she made his blood boil. Who the hell was she to demand anything from him?

“That’s all you were, ya know. Just a dare. We dared her to pick up a man, spend the night with him, and guess what? You were the pitiful man she chose. She really scraped the bottom of the barrel when she found you. Don’t consider yourself lucky or important. You were just a one-night—oh, excuse me—a forty-some hour dare that’s now over. There’s nothing left here for you.”

Dare’s heart thudded and his hands tightened. Cheapening what he had with Olivia really pissed him off. How dare she? It was so much more than she could possibly understand.

“Go to hell. You don’t know jack-shit about my relationship with Olivia.”

“Relationship!” Candy scoffed. “You don’t have a relationship. If you did, if you really knew her, you would never have turned your back on her yesterday. You don’t know her as well as you think you do. You should just go fuck yourself and don’t come back.”

Candy was about an inch away as he scanned her tight face and angry eyes. They breathed heavily, loud enough to fill the room.

He swallowed hard, reining in his temper and took a small step back. With the chair right behind him, it wasn’t much, but he needed space.

He’d never met a pricklier female. He pitied the fool who ever tried to get close to her. But he had to admire her for how ferociously she protected Olivia. He couldn’t find fault in that at all.

“Candy,” Holly intervened. “Ease up. Leave him alone.”

Glad for one small ally, Dare nodded at her, grateful. “Thank you. Let’s just sit and wait for Livvy. Please.”

He held Candy’s gaze until she relented and moved back to the sofa.

“Dare?”

He swung around toward the hallway. Olivia stood at the living room door. Hair tousled, no makeup, dressed in the same black pants suit she wore yesterday—she looked like hell.

His breath hitched, knowing that he’d played a part in her unhappiness. Her eyes were clear, but her confusion was easy to read.

She looked good enough to eat, too. He wanted nothing more than to sweep her up in his arms and feel her lips under his again.

Her shoulders straightened and her jaw clenched.  He took a deep breath, and prepared himself for the storm about to come. He had a feeling Candy would be the least of his worries.

Chapter Seven

Olivia couldn’t believe Dare stood in her living room.

She never expected to see him here again, and hadn’t been sure she even
wanted
to see him. But here he was.

When she’d awakened to the morning light filtering through the open curtains, it took a few minutes to remember how she’d gotten to bed and why she still wore work clothes.

Memories of vodka, Candy and Holly, and melting ice cream came flooding back. Along with thoughts of the day before, and the hurt of Dare thinking her capable of something so devious.

Loud voices quickly hauled her out of her bed and toward the living room. Candy and Dare stood toe-to-toe ready to tear one another apart. She loved Candy for her ferocious friendship. Her heart ached as Dare defended himself.

He was a good man. The regret in his gaze hit her directly in the heart.

With a deep sigh, she turned and moved into the kitchen for a cup of the brewing coffee.

She felt Dare behind her but refused to turn. She couldn’t face him right now. At least, not without a dose of caffeine. She poured some coffee into a mug, added a couple drops of milk that sat on the counter and stirred. She stared out the window, took in the bright blue sky.

Any other day, she’d already be at work.  She sighed then blew on the hot liquid before taking a sip. She closed her eyes and savored the taste. They flew open when she felt Dare’s hands on her shoulders.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, wrapped his arms around her middle and laid his head against hers.

His arms had never felt so good. She wanted to lose herself in him.

She shoved aside her thoughts, straightened and moved back.

“What are you doing here?”  She turned, her fingers clenched around the coffee mug. She was surprised it didn’t shatter in her palm.

“I came to talk to you about yesterday. Everything that happened—”

“Save it. I was there remember?” She grabbed a chair at the table and sat down. With a wave of her hand, she offered him a seat across from her. “Why don’t you tell me what happened after I left? Then you can go.”

“Liv, we’re going to go, okay?”

Her friends stood in the kitchen doorway. Candy looked ready to tear Dare apart, limb from limb. Thankfully, Holly gripped her arm tightly as she passed her a sweater and her purse. “Call me later, okay?”

“Thank you both. Love you.”

Despite Holly’s hold, Candy stopped and glared at Dare. “Tread carefully.” Her gaze shifted to Olivia. “I’ll be calling in an hour. If you don’t answer, I’ll be back. Love you.”

Olivia would have laughed if her heart hadn’t felt so heavy. She was always grateful for her friends. Candy was hard to handle sometimes but her intentions were always in the right place.

After another sip of coffee, she gathered her courage and raised her eyes to Dare. They needed to clear things up. Hopefully it would give her the closure she needed. Her dreams had been filled of him, their lovemaking, and silly thoughts about the future.

She’d asked him to spend the night with her on a dare from her friends. They’d gotten carried away and one night had become more. She needed to come back down to reality and move on. He wasn’t responsible for her feelings; she owned them and wouldn’t blame him.

But she remained hurt that he thought her capable of deception.  Though she was still angry and that they might not have a future together, she didn’t want him to think that way about her.

Their gazes locked. His deep, chocolate brown pupils were wary and betrayed his nervousness. He reached across the table to take her hands, but she dropped them in her lap and sat back.

He clenched his fists and took a deep breath. “Livvy—”

“Don’t call me that,” she whispered.

His lips thinned and he closed his eyes. When he opened them, she saw sorrow and regret. “I’m sorry about yesterday. God, you have no idea. Everything was coming at me a mile a minute and I couldn’t focus.”

“But you believed I could do something as amoral and unethical as betray my employer and tarnish an active investigation? That I’d betray you? That’s even worse!” She gripped the mug tight to keep her hands busy.

“No. No, I don’t believe it. From the start, I never did. As I said, a lot was just coming at me from every direction. As you would have felt, I know. I—”

“You could have given me the benefit of the doubt.” She pointed at him, furious. Her palms hit the table. “Hell, the both of you could. You just believed the evidence. You should know yourself it is sometimes wrong. In few cases the facts lead to the perp but there are circumstances that aren’t as easy as that!” She clenched her fists.

He grabbed her hands and held them to keep from getting hit as she talked. “I should never have let you leave. I should have followed you, or kept you there. Hell, I don’t know. I was wrong. I know that. I
know
.”

The way he emphasized the last bit made her pause. She gazed deep into his eyes, searching for answers.  The caring she saw within the depths touched her deeply.

“What do you mean you know?”

“We know who leaked the video to the DA. We all know it wasn’t you. I knew it, deep down instantly and should never have wavered, but…I’m sorry. Livvy, I’m just so damn sorry.”

Relief filled her. Presley and Malone knew it wasn’t her. Finally. She’d have to talk to Malone Senior, discuss what had happened and what the future held. She wasn’t sure she could continue to work there after being accused. She deserved better.

“Who was it?”

“You won’t believe it. Hell, I can’t believe it. Malone Junior. He was having an affair with
Chelsea
and laid the groundwork for her alibi. She really did kill her mother-in-law. You were right about that.  And Joshua used your phone while you were away from your desk.” Dare shook his head. “The guy should have covered his tracks better. A life of crime isn’t for him, but that’s what he chose. There’s so much more that I could tell you about her crimes, and Joshua’s, but that’s not really what is important right now.”

Olivia gaped at him. The seriousness of his gaze said it was the truth.

Joshua Malone Junior. Dear God, he had everything. His father doted on him, gave him a prestigious position in the firm even though he still had to prove himself. Senior had given his son riches beyond what many people dreamed of. Still, none of it was enough.

That he would throw everything away over a woman made her pity him even though she was angry he had tried to destroy her in the process. But she felt sorry for him for the most part. That he devalued himself that much to throw his life away…well, it was just sad.

Glad to know the truth, she felt the weight on her shoulders lift a little. She stared at Dare, her heart squeezed. While she might repair her relationship with her bosses eventually, the fact remained she could never be with a man who didn’t respect her, believe in her, or stand behind her.

She lifted her cup and drank the last of her coffee. After setting her mug down, she pushed her chair away from the table. It was best to wrap this up with Dare and figure out how to move on. She’d give Presley and Malone a few days before calling them. She hoped to hear from them first, but wanted some time to herself.