Dare to Desire (Dare to Love 2)

“Who’s the guy? Is it serious?” he asked, suddenly back in her personal space.

She felt lightheaded at his nearness, and the desire to throw herself against his hard body was strong. “I’m meeting my foster brother,” she said, only realizing she’d buried herself with the truth.

A shimmer of light returned to his gaze. “Okay, eat light with him, and we’ll go out after.”

She wrinkled her nose in confusion. “What’s with the persistence? I mean, if you were anyone else, I’d think you don’t want to go home and eat alone.” But Alex Dare was never alone.

He looked away and awareness dawned. Could he be lonely? “Alex, what’s going on? Where are all the guys who came in and out of your house at all hours when I was there?” He was the most popular guy she’d ever met, never at a loss for company, male or female, whether in Miami or in Tampa.

“Things changed.” He didn’t turn to meet her gaze.

This wasn’t the cocky Alex she remembered. But she wasn’t letting him off the hook. “Changed how?”

He was silent for so long she didn’t think he’d answer. When he did, he spoke so low she had to strain to hear.

“After the hit, I wasn’t exactly in a good place.”

She knew that firsthand. She bit her lip, refusing to snap back a retort because it just might give him insight into how much he’d hurt her.

He glanced up at her, the knowledge already in his eyes. “I was nasty to my family, my friends. I didn’t want company.”

“You weren’t at your best,” she agreed.

“True.” He grinned, the cockiness back.

For some reason, that reassured her. “And let me guess, not only didn’t you want their help, you didn’t want their pity.”

“Bingo. And after a while, the guys stopped coming by.” He shrugged like it didn’t matter.

Without looking at his expression, she knew better. Knew him better. Scary, considering a few minutes ago she’d thought she didn’t know him that well at all.

She cleared her throat. “What about your siblings? I’m sure they were there for you.”

“They were. They are. But if they think I need them, they’ll smother me.”

She shook her head at how easily he dismissed something so precious. “You’re lucky you have a brother and sister who care.” Speaking of siblings reminded her of her meeting with her foster brother, and she glanced at her watch.

“I don’t want to keep you,” he said, picking up on her cue. He slid off the desk and walked to his own corner of the room, looking more isolated than she liked.

She was torn over what to do. Being with him outside of work was so dangerous to her peace of mind. Most people she found easy to keep out. Not Alex.

“Walk you out?” he asked.

She bit the inside of her cheek, knowing she was going to regret this and unable to not ask it anyway. “Why don’t you come with me? I’m meeting Eric for a quick talk. You and I can go to dinner after.”

A grin spread across his handsome face. “Lying to avoid me?” he asked, amused and confident once more.

Ignoring the question, she bent down and grabbed her purse from her bottom desk drawer.

“This sudden invite, it’s not pity-based right? Just because I confided in you doesn’t mean I—”

“Alex? Shut up and let’s go,” she said, slinging her purse over her shoulder and walking out ahead of him.

They agreed that she would drive and she’d take him back to the stadium later to get his car. He’d been overly agreeable, as if sensing she just needed any little reason to change her mind. He was right. She wanted to run as much as she wanted to go with him. She was too susceptible to him in general when he was the full-of-himself athlete he showed to the world. The more vulnerable man she’d seen glimpses of tonight? He was even more of a risk.

She consoled herself with the notion that she could consider this a business dinner. They could discuss the idea of consulting a public relations firm for their campaign. Alex had been been in meetings most of the day and away from the office, so tonight would be the first chance she had to broach the notion.

“Where are we going?” he asked a while later as she drove to a part of town she normally avoided. But her brother had insisted this was where he wanted to meet.