Dare to Touch (2 page)

But that didn’t mean he was opening a vein for the man either. “I don’t owe you an explanation.”

“The hell you don’t. That’s my sister you’re playing with.”

Dylan blew out a long breath. “Who said I’m playing?”

Ian inclined his head, acknowledging Dylan’s words. He cleared his throat. “My sister is tough on the outside, but she’s … more fragile inside,” he said, clearly considering his words carefully.

“Your point?” Dylan asked the other man, not wanting information about Olivia from anyone but her.

“Don’t play with her head or her heart.”

Dylan inclined his head. “I don’t intend to.”

Ian eyed him through his infamous narrowed gaze, assessing him, causing Dylan to straighten his shoulders and meet his stare head on.

“We good?” Ian finally asked.

“Sure thing.” He and Ian had known one another for a long time.

They’d both attended the University of Florida, and Ian had given him a job. They’d run into each other again a few years after graduation. Dylan owed the man, but that didn’t mean he had to put what he wanted on hold. Ian would deal with whatever happened. He had no choice, because Dylan wasn’t backing down. He was going after Olivia.

*     *     *

The Monday after her party, Olivia grabbed her coffee from the break room and settled into her office at the stadium. She loved her job. Growing up, she’d always wanted to hang with her older brothers, Ian and Scott, both of whom loved football. Although Scott was now a police officer, he never missed a home Thunder game. And since their father’s brother, Paul, owned the team, Olivia had been exposed to the sport early. And often.

When Uncle Paul had left the country to travel with his partner, he’d turned the presidency over to Ian, who he’d groomed for the position. Olivia had graduated college knowing she wanted a position in the front offices. She’d started in PR and moved to travel, learning all she could before being promoted to executive director last year. She loved her job, loved that she worked with some of her family members, and appreciated the players’ dedication to the sport and the team and how hard they worked. Coming into work was never a hardship. She considered herself lucky.

Her birthday party had merely reinforced the fact that she was surrounded by people she loved. She’d spent yesterday going through presents and anally finishing her thank-you notes for each gift. Her sister, Avery, also her apartment-mate, had made fun of her, but at least she didn’t have those still on her to-do list.

She settled into her chair and reached into her bag for her eyeglasses. She didn’t wear them often, but she’d had a headache today and opted not to use her contacts. But instead of the case, she ended up with the gift box from Dylan in her hand.

She ran her fingers over the velvet covering. Knowing what was inside, her stomach flipped over. This wasn’t just a walk-into-a-store-and-pick-out-the-easiest-present kind of gift. This was well thought out and chosen with her in mind. She couldn’t bring herself to wear it, and she couldn’t stand to leave it home either.

She snapped open the box and looked down at the necklace. The delicate gold pendant of the sun with a sparkling diamond in the center twinkled up at her. Because he called her
sunshine
.

She’d thought it was a lighthearted nickname, not something with more meaning. Even if every time she heard it, her heart fluttered inside her chest. Olivia had no problem admitting she was attracted to Dylan. She was just wary of smooth-talking guys. Oh hell, she was wary of most men—and for what she thought was good reason. Hello, Daddy, she thought with frustration. Frustration aimed at herself as well as him because Olivia accepted things as they were. She might be the peacemaker who’d convinced her siblings to, at least outwardly, forgive the father who’d betrayed them, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have her own issues and internal scars.

As for Dylan, he was a contradiction. From a rough part of Miami, he’d still managed to attend the University of Florida on scholarship. She didn’t know much about his past, as he didn’t discuss it. She respected that. After all, they weren’t friends, they were colleagues. Even if he wanted to be more.

He possessed an edge, one that was apparent even when he wore a suit and juggled the schedules of dozens of players and team management. It was that edge that appealed to her. She liked the guy who’d taken control and dragged her across the room, then kissed her senseless. She was drawn to the man who called her sunshine and gave her this gorgeous necklace. It showcased a softer side of him, and that was the side that scared her. Because she could fall for a man like Dylan. So hard. Which meant she’d be open and vulnerable … and experience told her that kind of pain didn’t go away easily. She preferred dating men with whom she didn’t have a chance of getting in too deep.

She placed the delicate necklace into the box and snapped it closed just as a knock sounded at the door.

She dropped the box onto the desk. “Come in.”

The door swung open and Dylan strode in. Speak of the devil, she thought.

Today was casual, no meetings, meaning he wore a pair of black slacks and a white collared shirt open at the neck, revealing a sprinkling of his dark—mouthwatering—hair. His sleeves were rolled up, and she found that even his forearms were muscular and sexy.

“Morning, sunshine.” He treated her to a heart-stopping smile.

She swallowed hard. “Good morning.”

“Got a minute?” he asked.

She nodded.

He shut the door behind him. “You look sexy in those glasses.”

With shaking hands, she pulled them off, suddenly self-conscious.

“You’re sexy without them too.” He started toward her desk, where his gift sat front and center.

It was too much to hope he wouldn’t notice.

The big grin on his face told her she was out of luck.

He sat on the corner of her desk and folded his arms across his chest. “So?” he asked, his knowing gaze on the incriminating box.

Better to face it head on, she decided. “Thank you, Dylan. It’s beautiful.”

“But you’re not wearing it.” His lips turned down, and she suddenly felt awful and didn’t want to disappoint him or hurt his feelings.

“I was just about to put it on.”

His gaze held hers for more than a few seconds before he picked up the velvet box and took out the necklace. “Turn,” he said in a gruff voice.

She stood and pivoted around. He stepped up behind her, his body heat already testing her resolve.

“Hair.”

She tilted her head forward and raised her long hair off her neck, allowing him to slide the necklace in place and engage the small hook. Instead of him moving away, she suddenly sensed him closer.

His breath fanned her neck, warm air causing a wave of arousal to nearly knock her off her feet.

“What are you—” She couldn’t continue, not when his lips skimmed her neck, and her words morphed into more of a moan. His mouth was warm, and he lingered, inhaling her where she stood. Her nipples puckered beneath the silk of her tank, and she grabbed on to the desk for support.

“Do you want to know why I gave this to you? Why I call you sunshine?” His words vibrated against her skin, but he didn’t give her a chance to reply. “It’s because when I come in to work every morning, seeing you lights up my day.”

Oh God. “That’s—”

“Corny but true.” He grasped her shoulders to keep her steady and rimmed her outer ear with his tongue.

He lit a fuse that ran straight to her core. Suddenly that was all she was aware of, the pulsing of her sex, her damp panties, and her heavy breasts, all three achy and needing his touch more than her next breath.

She wanted to turn, throw herself into his arms, and kiss him for all she was worth. Wrap her legs around his waist and—

A quick knock and her door opened wide. Riley, her sister-in-law, strode in, speaking as she walked. “I wanted to talk to you about—Oh!” She came to a halt. Took in Olivia and Dylan, and a big smile crossed her face. “Looks like I’m interrupting,” she said but made no move to leave.

Olivia tried to step away, but Dylan’s hands on her arms held her tight.

“Dylan and I were just—umm… I mean, Dylan came to discuss the trip to Arizona for the Pro Bowl, didn’t you?” she asked on a rush, grasping for a business-related reason for him to be in her office. Not that anything would explain how close they stood or how his lips had been on her neck…

Dylan merely looked amused. “Apparently, yes. I’m here to talk about the trip.” He stepped away, but his hand dropped, skimming Olivia’s lower back. “We can pick this discussion up at lunch,” he said.

“Lunch?” she asked, parroting his words because her entire body was still tingling, unable to process what had just happened between them. What would have happened if Riley hadn’t barged in?

It wasn’t much. It was everything. Shit.

“Lunch,” he stated. “I’ll come get you at noon.” He turned to her and winked.

She ignored that in favor of his overbearing push to make plans she hadn’t agreed to. “Don’t I get a say?” she asked. “What if I already have plans?”

Ignoring Riley’s amused grin, Dylan met her gaze. “I gave you a say for the last couple of months. I decided that it’s my turn. See you at noon.” His fingers glided over her hand as he walked out. “Nice to see you, Riley,” he said, disappearing out the door.

“What
was
that? And while you’re at it, what was with the caveman routine, dragging you across the room and into the hallway at your party?” Riley, her brother Ian’s wife, the team’s assistant travel secretary, and Olivia’s close friend, settled into the most comfortable extra seat in the office. Her brown curls hung down her back, her eyes glinting with amusement as she waited for an answer.

Olivia eased back into her chair behind her desk; her awareness of everything around her was heightened. Hell, she was trembling.

“I don’t know. We’ve always flirted, but I thought I made it clear I wasn’t going to mix business with … anything else.” She didn’t want to use the word pleasure right now. She didn’t think her over-stimulated hormones could take it.

“Didn’t seem like he was listening.”

She reached for the pendant around her neck. “He gave me this for my birthday.”

Riley rose and leaned in for a good look. “That’s gorgeous. Obviously, he’s not taking no for an answer. Are you still planning on resisting? And I have to ask, why? He’s a great guy and not hard on the eyes either … but don’t tell your brother I said that.” She grinned because they both knew how proprietary Ian could be.

Olivia groaned. “I can’t resist him. I don’t want to. But he’s so intense. Like, all or nothing, and I honestly don’t know if I’m ready for that.”

“You could keep spending nights home with your TV or you could go out with a guy who obviously worships you.
Really
difficult choice.”

“Oh, that’s rich coming from how hard you fought Ian when he went after you.”

Riley rubbed her hands together. “Ian scared me because he’s so … dominant. And you know about my father.”

Riley’s father had been an abusive, controlling bastard. She’d had good reason to be wary of Ian and his dominating personality. Not that he’d ever hurt her. Worship her was more like it. He’d won her over, but not before she’d almost lost him first.

“I know, but—”

“Just hear me out, okay?” Riley asked.

Because Olivia knew her friend was coming from a good place, she nodded.

“I mistakenly thought trusting Ian would cost me my self-esteem and independence. But you don’t have those issues.”

“No, but I do have serious trust issues of my own, and you know why.”

“Yeah. Your father and his other family. You know I’m well aware of both sides of that issue.” Riley was best friends with her half brother, Alex.

“So I get why you’re wary, but you ought to give Dylan a chance to prove he’s one of the good guys.”

Olivia forced a smile. There was more to it than just her father. Although she had to admit, he’d been the first man to shatter her faith and continued to do so. She’d thought the sun rose and set on Robert Dare and believed she was his princess, just like he’d always claimed. Problem was, he’d said it when he’d come home from his varied and extended business trips, arms loaded with gifts. And she’d been too young and naïve to know that those presents let him assuage his guilt because he had a mistress and other kids on the side. Kids he gave more time and more of himself to than he ever had to Olivia and her siblings.

Then came Olivia’s huge college mistake that merely reinforced the fact that she found it difficult to believe what any man she was involved with claimed.

“Look, I’m sure Dylan is a good guy.” A sexy man with dark hair she wanted to run her fingers through and lips she wanted to taste again, Olivia thought.

Riley shrugged. “So go into it with your eyes open. Hot, sweaty sex can be very fulfilling. You don’t need to worry about things like relationships and being hurt if you don’t invest your heart.” Riley met her gaze. “Right?”

A slow smile curled Olivia’s mouth. Maybe she
should
stop over-thinking things. Dylan wasn’t asking for her hand in marriage, God forbid. Then she’d have to dig into her deepest fears and darkest pain. He was just asking for lunch. And probably more, but that kind of more she could handle.

Olivia nodded, finally getting her head in the correct frame of mind to deal with Dylan Rhodes.

Chapter Two