Dare to Touch (Dare to Love 3)

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.