Dare to Hold (Dare to Love 4)

She watched the palm trees and scenery as he drove. She’d already told him where she lived when she’d explained how she’d ended up in the hospital a little over a month ago. She just couldn’t believe he remembered. All too soon, they reached their destination. He pulled into a parking spot at her apartment complex.

He put the truck in park, cut the engine, and turned to face her. “You talk to me because you know that you can trust me.”

Point proven. He remembered what she’d said at least five minutes ago.

“But I hardly know you.”

“Instinct.”

She shook her head at that. “Mine’s failed me many times before.” And miserably, at that, she thought.

“Not this time.” He let himself out of the truck and started to walk around to her side.

Realizing his intent, she opened the door and hopped out just as he reached her. He shut the door behind her. “Let’s go.”

“I can see myself up.”

“You could. But since I took you home, I’ll get you safely to your door.”

He slid a hand to the small of her back, and she felt his heated palm through the fabric of her top. Goose bumps prickled along her skin.

She lived in a first-floor apartment, and they reached her door. He turned her around to face him. “Your friends want you to have one last fling? Is that what you want too?”

She hadn’t given a fling any thought. Not until Scott said the word, a husky bent to his voice and determined intent behind his words. “I don’t want sex with some random stranger.”

She glanced up and found herself pinned by his stare. His lips lifted in a sexy grin. “I’m not a stranger.”

She opened then closed her mouth as she processed his words and the meaning behind them. He wasn’t a stranger. Not really. He knew more about her than most people, and her best friends could vouch for him.

She ran her tongue over her dry lips. His darkening gaze deliberately followed the movement, and her body responded, nipples puckering beneath the cotton of her shirt. He wanted a fling. Sex. With her.

And she wanted him, every rock-hard inch of his toned, muscled body. Had from the very first moment she’d seen him, and every time since. She’d evaded him, certain that was the right thing to do for herself and for her baby, because she had new standards and rules she had to follow for her own sanity and for her future. But this thing between them wasn’t going away. If anything, it was becoming more intense, growing more heated, and she couldn’t deny it or walk away from hi

m again.

“I’m not interested in a relationship,” she reminded him.

He inclined his head. “And I’m not asking for one. Not even asking for a date this time.”

“Just a fling?” she repeated, thinking he had to be kidding. Just like she’d thought he was kidding when he’d asked her out before. Because what would a hot, good-looking man like Scott Dare want with a woman who’d gotten herself knocked up and then pushed around by her ex-boyfriend?

Even when she’d realized Scott was serious about dating, she couldn’t accept. Because she could so easily see herself repeating old patterns with him. Falling hard and fast. Giving in. Losing herself. And now there was more at stake than just Meg.

But this time, Scott was offering something she could handle. A night with a beginning and an end, no expectations. No disturbing her resolution to stand on her own. To be a better mother than her own had been, no revolving door of men. No man, period. Just a hot night and a memory to keep her warm when she was alone.

“One night.” He reached out and rubbed his thumb across her lower lip.

His touch made her tremble, and her nipples tightened into hardened points, and the intensity in his gorgeous eyes had need building even stronger inside her.

“Is that what you want too?” he asked again, his gaze hot on hers.

His distinctive scent, a hint of musk she associated with Scott alone, filled her nostrils. Her stomach fluttered, and the desire to wrap herself around him and take what he offered built until it was a tangible thing, living and breathing inside her tightly strung body.

She nodded, unable to speak. Her throat had grown too dry.

“I need you to say it.”

Say what? She didn’t remember his question. Only the thought of letting him into her apartment … into her body filled her mind and her senses.