Karma (12 page)

“Didn’t I warn you not to look at me like that?” he asked.

She licked her dry lips, words eluding her.

He reached out and ran his thumb over her bottom lip, the simple touch sending currents of electricity to strategic body parts. She couldn’t pretend to be immune to him even if she wanted to.

She didn’t.

“What if I can’t?” she asked on a whisper. Something about this man caused her to ignore every warning bell in her head.

“Baby, you already know the answer to that.”

She supposed she did. “Dare?” she asked softly.

He eased in closer to her. “Yeah?”

She swallowed hard. They were so close. In her bed. She was in her barely there tank and shorts. He, she realized, was still in a T-shirt and jeans.

Waiting for her to speak.

“Kiss me,” she said, opting for the simple request.

He groaned and eased himself over her, careful not to jostle her head. The big bad cop could be so gentle when he wanted to be, she thought, as his lips closed over hers.

His kiss was feather light and soft, starting at one side of her mouth, kissing her, licking at her lips, tasting her slowly, reverently as if she would shatter. If he kept up this
sensual assault, she just might. The light nibbles with his teeth, the soft sweeps of his tongue, and the oh-so-tender caress of his thumb over her cheek were devastating to her senses.

He clearly didn’t want to overwhelm her, was taking his time, being careful, and that care did more to break down her defenses than anything else might have. When he slid his tongue over the seam of her lips, her entire body trembled with desire, and then finally he slid his tongue past her lips to take possession.

And possess her he did. His tongue gliding over every part of her, each sweep taking her deeper and deeper into a web of longing that took her beyond thought, beyond reason. He kissed like he did everything else, with confidence and determination, sweeping her along with him.

She shook beneath him, needing him in every sense of the word. Needing to touch him, she slid her hands beneath his shirt, placing her palms over his heated flesh, feeling his taut muscles against her hand. He was hard and firm, just as she’d imagined. And all the while, he slid his lips back and forth over hers, letting her know with each kiss, each touch, how much he wanted her.

Clearly as much as she wanted him. Caution and rational thought fled as she scraped her nails over his flesh, moving upward to graze his nipples. He shuddered, letting out a low groan before breaking away, flipping over onto his back, one arm over his eyes.

They’d gotten carried away and she was grateful he’d been thinking when she obviously hadn’t. She backed off too, and as she caught her breath, she became aware of the steady pounding in her head.

She heard a moan and realized the sound came from her.

He rolled to face her once more. “Are you okay?”

She didn’t know what to say and remained silent.

“How is your head?” he asked, his breathing ragged.

Hers was too. “Hurts,” she admitted.

“Which is exactly why I stopped. If we’d done anything more, you’d be hating me.” He lifted himself up and leaned over for a long, gentle kiss.

One she couldn’t and didn’t want to resist. Fun and temporary, she reminded herself. The fun part would come when she was feeling better. The temporary wasn’t something she wanted to dwell on. It merely had to linger in the back of her mind.

“Trust me, this isn’t over, only delayed,” he said, breaking the kiss.

“Promise?” She didn’t know what had gotten into her.

He brought out a cheeky, playful side she hadn’t known she possessed. Even in pain, she had to admit it felt good to just smile with someone.

“Oh, yeah.” His sizzling stare promised her more to come when she was better. “Now I’m getting up to bring you a quick bite to eat and your medicine.”

“I’d like to try and get away with Advil only today.”

“Only if you swear to take the heavy stuff if the ibuprofen doesn’t work.”

She raised her hand in the air. “Promise.”

Before he could stand, her phone rang and he glanced over at the nightstand. “Do you want me to get it?”

“If you don’t mind.”

He picked up the receiver. “Hello?” he asked, and as he listened to the caller, his features darkened. “She’s not up to taking calls.”

“Who is it?” she asked him.

He held up a hand. “Look, Montana, if she wanted to talk, she’d have picked up the phone. She’s doing better but still in a lot of pain.”

Liza winced, remembering yesterday’s awkward incident.

“Yeah, I’ll tell her you called,” Dare muttered. He hung up the phone and glanced at Liza. “I suppose you got that?”

She shut her eyes and sighed. “I asked him to meet me at the fair because he’s new in town. I thought I’d introduce
him to some people.” She bit her lower lip. “When we got there, I realized he thought it was a date.”

Dare’s dark glare almost had Liza retreating to the edge of the bed. There was something almost proprietary in that look, but she refused to let herself read too much into it. Because if she did, and Dare was getting possessive over her, she’d have to end things sooner rather than later.

And she hadn’t gotten nearly enough of him to walk away just yet.

By Sunday night, Liza was well enough for Dare to leave, and by Monday morning she was able to go to work. She didn’t make it to the office on time, but she blamed being late on a lack of sleep more than her head injury. She didn’t like the reason. Since Dare left after dinner on Sunday, she’d been restless and found herself tossing and turning until well after midnight.

She arrived at the office at 10:00
A.M.
Monday to find that her employees were all waiting and worried about her. It warmed her to know they cared and she had to admit they all seemed genuinely concerned. She hadn’t returned any phone calls over the weekend, which probably contributed to their worry. Luckily Jeff was out at a job site, which let Liza put off any awkwardness until another time.

After reassuring everyone that she was fine, Liza holed up in her office, where the first thing she did was make a list of people she needed to contact and thank.

Dare being at the top. It still overwhelmed her, how he’d stayed by her side. Sure they had chemistry, but nobody
stepped up the way he had for eventual sex. No, Dare was a good man and for some reason that scared her even more than her abusive ex-boyfriend, Tim. Good men would eventually come to expect more and she didn’t have it to give. Then again, he didn’t seem to be pushing or asking for much of anything.

Live in the moment,
she ordered herself. That’s what she did best.

So she’d have to find a way to thank Dare, and then she added Nash and Kelly to the list. A few minutes later, she’d received a phone call from Faith, who insisted she come to the house for dinner tonight—because, after all, why should she have to worry about cooking and food after working a full day? Unable to say no, Liza wrote down Faith and Ethan Barron as well. Dare’s family really pulled together for him and again she couldn’t help wondering why they’d put themselves out for her.

Family and friends are supposed to help each other
, Dare had said. But they were his family. His friends. She was merely an injured outsider.

“Admit it, you’re not used to people caring, period.” She shut her eyes against the pain that thought caused, but it was the truth.

It was also the reason she hadn’t returned her parents’ phone call. They didn’t care how she was holding up—they only wanted to make sure she took care of Brian. If they cared so much, she often wondered why they hadn’t just stayed in town and handled him themselves, but the answer was obvious. He might be their favorite, but that didn’t mean they still weren’t the same two selfish people they’d always been. Why take responsibility when they had Liza to do it for them?

She rubbed her hands over her forehead, wondering if the pounding in her temples was due more to stress than the injury she’d sustained to the back of her head.

A knock sounded on her door. “Come in,” she called, grateful for the distraction from her thoughts.

The door opened and Liza caught sight of a big spray of flowers, carried in by Bianca. “Someone has a delivery,” she said with a smile, and placed the pretty arrangement down on Liza’s desk. “Who are they from?”

Liza hadn’t a clue. “Let’s find out.” She looked at the flowers and surrounding tissue paper, searching for a small envelope or clue to who’d sent it. “No card. How odd.”

“Maybe whoever sent them just assumes you’ll know who they’re from?” Bianca said, wriggling her eyebrows for emphasis. “Like a certain police officer who was extremely possessive over you the other day.”

Liza shivered at Bianca’s choice of words. She’d had enough of possessive men to last her a lifetime. “What do you mean he was possessive?”

“You don’t remember Jeff trying to get near you after you were hurt? Officer Barron wasn’t letting anyone close. Especially another man.” Bianca let out what sounded like a dreamy sigh. “I wish a hot guy would get all alpha over me like that.”

Liza shook her head, immediately regretting the motion. “I don’t remember much of what happened right after,” she said.

But she did recall Dare’s dark look when Jeff had called her home the other day. She’d thought his actions were protective, not possessive. Still, she’d never thought Tim’s jealousy over her college friends, women and men both, would have led where it had. No, she didn’t think Dare was anything like Tim, but the reminder put her on edge.

Since she didn’t intend to go down memory lane with Bianca, she deflected with a joke. “Trust me, you wouldn’t have wanted the hit in the head that inspired Dare to come to my rescue.”

“Good point,” Bianca said, her eyes narrowing with worry. “Are you sure you’re up to being back?”

“I’m fine,” Liza assured her.

“Good. So are you going to call Officer Barron and thank him?” Bianca asked, settling into the chair across from the desk and staring at Liza.

“I will when I’m alone,” she said pointedly. Yet she was unable to suppress a grin at Bianca’s eagerness to watch her call Dare.

“Fine.” Bianca raised her hands in defeat. “Don’t let me live vicariously through you. I’ll just have to find my romance in a good book or something.”

She let out an exaggerated sigh and Liza rolled her eyes. “This from the woman who has a date almost every weekend?”

Bianca grinned, then rose and let herself out.

Alone at last, Liza placed her hand on the phone, knowing she should call Dare yet feeling awkward anyway.

Before she could gather her courage, another knock sounded at the door. “Come in,” she called out again.

This time her visitor wasn’t as welcome. “Brian.”

“I’m so sorry,” he said. “I didn’t even know I hit you until Mom and Dad called me the next day. I can’t believe someone would rat me out to them.”

Liza set her jaw, which didn’t help the pounding in her head. “Is any of that supposed to make me feel better?”

He ran a shaking hand through his hair. “I’ll stop drinking, I promise.”

Moisture filled her eyes but she held back tears. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Bri. But if you want to do something for me—”

“Anything,” he said, sounding sincere. His hazel eyes bore into hers.

“Get help.”

“Except that.”

Pain exploded inside her head. “For heaven’s sake, why not? You can’t stop drinking without support and therapy!”

“No damned outsider can begin to understand!” he said, the pain and distress on his face all too real.

“Maybe not, but there are other people just like you who can. I have the name of group counselors. Treatment centers. Any way you want to do this, I’m here for you,” she pleaded, already reaching into her desk drawer where she kept the ever-growing stack of information for her brother.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she prayed he’d listen.

“I don’t need help,” he said through gritted teeth. “I can do this alone.”

His words both disappointed and angered her. “Because you’ve done such a bang-up job so far?” she shouted at him, immediately wincing from the pain.

Brian ducked his head, not meeting her gaze. “I haven’t really tried yet. Just give me another chance, Liza Lou.”

Liza didn’t answer and Brian walked out, his shoulders slumped in defeat. She released her hands that she’d clenched into tight fists and slumped back in her seat.

What a mess his life had become and somehow he was dragging her down with him. Knowing she’d just exhausted whatever reserves she’d had, Liza headed home to take a painkiller and crawl into bed. Hopefully she’d be better in time to join Faith and her husband for dinner.

“Stop pacing. Liza said she’s coming. She’ll be here. In the meantime you’re making me dizzy,” Ethan muttered.

Dare paused in his lap around his brother’s family room. “Her assistant said she left work early. She didn’t even make it till lunch.” Which concerned him.

“And that’s why inviting her for dinner was a good idea. So she doesn’t have to worry about making it herself,” Faith said. “Ethan’s right. You need to relax.”

“Otherwise you’ll scare her off by moving in permanently to take care of her,” Ethan said wryly.

Dare gave him the finger.

But when Liza was twenty minutes late and didn’t answer her cell or home phone, neither Ethan or Faith argued when Dare drove over to her house to check on her.

Her car was in the driveway and his gut told him she was home, but when he rang the doorbell, nobody answered. He called her from his cell and when she still didn’t pick up, he began banging on the door.

Finally, Liza answered. “Dare!” She looked surprised but not unhappy to see him and stepped back, motioning for him to enter.

“Are you okay?”

“I am. Really.”

He scanned his gaze over her from head to toe, and though she looked like she’d just woken up, she seemed okay.

“Did Faith send you because I was late for dinner?”

He wasn’t about to admit he’d been pacing for the last forty minutes. “She was worried.”