Dare to Take (Dare to Love 6)

“Can I get you anything?” Avery asked.

“No. I just really appreciate everything you did for me, sending Tyler down and being here now.” She reached out and squeezed Avery’s hand.

“Do you think I’d leave you stranded?” Avery blinked back tears. “I’m just glad you’re okay. Now, I brought a bag, and I can stay tonight and even the night after, but I’m leaving in two days, and we’re going to have to make sure you’re taken care of.” Avery not-so-subtly looked Tyler in the eye.

He coughed, unprepared for what she was insinuating—that he continue to look out for Ella and the fact that Avery would be okay with it.

“No!” Ella pushed herself up on the sofa. “You go home to Gre

y and pack for your trip. You’ve been looking forward to traveling with him for this new recording session, and nothing is going to ruin it. I’m a big girl, and I’ve been taking care of myself for a while now. I’ll be fine.”

Avery turned on her full-fledged pout. “Well, you know I’m not going to let you fall back into ultra-independent mode. Not when you’ve been through so much. What if you don’t feel well in the middle of the night, or you get dizzy? Tyler, tell her I’m right.”

“He’ll do no such thing,” Ella said before Tyler could get a word in between the two bickering women. “The doctor released me from the hospital, so he must have been sure it was safe.”

“He released you into Tyler’s care. You said yourself they wouldn’t let you leave alone.”

“The danger period has passed.” She shot Tyler a pleading look.

“What if I promise to come by after work tomorrow and check on her?” he heard himself suggesting to his sister. Giving himself the opening he needed to see Ella again.

Avery sighed. “Well, if that’s all I’ll get out of you two stubborn people, I’ll take it. But I’m calling to check on you before bedtime. And as soon as I wake up in the morning.”

“Deal,” Ella said quickly, obviously before Avery changed her mind and insisted on a full-time babysitter again.

She gave Tyler a grateful look, piercing him with those doe eyes, and he didn’t want to leave.

Instead, knowing it was smarter, he straightened, preparing to head out. “Can I get you anything before I go?” he asked.

She shook her head. “You’ve done so much. More than anyone’s done for me before.”

This wasn’t the first time, on the island and again now, that she’d alluded to the fact that she was used to being on her own. He came from a big family where people stepped up for each other. When he was younger, he’d always had his siblings and his parents around him, his mother as a constant presence, his father as a larger-than-life icon until that idolization had been blown to smithereens.

When Tyler had taken off to be on his own, it was by choice. He couldn’t imagine being alone out of necessity, and his gut told him that was what had happened to Ella. He was aware of vague details about her past, that her mother had died when she was young, her father had remarried, she’d given bone marrow to her stepmom, and her father was now in prison. Beyond that, there was little he knew about her personal life.

Now he wanted to delve deeper, but Tyler promised himself he’d take the time to be very sure of himself, of her … of them, before stepping up in a way that’d hurt Ella more than she’d already been hurt.

Sex, he knew how to handle, and there was no doubt he meant to sweet-talk his way into her bed. She wanted him as much as he did her. But even if he didn’t understand all the reasons why, he knew he needed to be more careful with her heart.

Chapter Four

Ella was exhausted, and though she wanted nothing more than to take a long, hot shower and crawl into bed, she understood she needed to talk to Avery first. Her friend had gone above and beyond for her, she always had.

“So, now that Tyler’s gone, want to tell me what’s up with you two?” Avery asked as she headed for the kitchen and then poured them both a glass of orange juice.

“Where did that come from? My refrigerator was empty when I left,” Ella said, accepting the glass and taking a refreshing sip.

“I know you like to empty out when you leave, so I stopped by the grocery store on the way here today.”

Ella shook her head, the tears she kept trying to hold back returning again. She sniffed and dabbed at her eyes with her free hand. “You’re too good to me.”

“And that’s your problem. You really believe that.”

“I have good reason,” Ella muttered, but she really didn’t want to get into deep conversation. “I love you, I’m grateful, and if I don’t get some sleep, I’m going to pass out on you anyway. So would you be insulted if I—”

“Ask me to leave?” Avery asked with a grin. “Of course not. But I mean it when I say I’m going to be checking up on you.”

“You’re the sister I never had.” Ella pulled her friend into a tight hug.