Dare to Touch (Dare to Love 3)

“How was the flight? Did you give in to Dylan and let him make you a member of the Mile-High Club?” her sister asked.

Olivia glanced at the man in question and took a discreet step away. God forbid he overheard her loud-mouthed sister or read the look of desire on her face at the very thought of what Avery had suggested. “Don’t you have something better to do than to bug me?” she asked, unable not to laugh.

Her sister sighed loudly into the telephone for effect. “Come on. You’re already doing it. Now you’re in a luxury hotel with hot tubs and swimming pools and all the amenities. It’s like … kismet. Fate. At the very least, it’s—”

“Business.” Olivia stated the obvious.

“I was going to say romantic.”

That too. But she wasn’t going to give her sister the satisfaction of agreeing.

“Next!” The man at the front desk signaled for Olivia to step forward.

“I have to go check in,” Olivia said, relieved to be able to disconnect with Avery and the topic of conversation.

“Okay, but remember what the shrink said. You can’t let your past define your future.”

The shrink she’d seen once, when the depth of her grief and despair had been overwhelming. She hadn’t returned because talking about losing the baby she’d finally wrapped her head around wanting seemed futile. Reliving the experience in that sterile office had been too hard. The reality had been painful enough, and she lived with it still.

“Gotta go, Avery,” she said as she stepped forward.

“Let loose! Have fun! At least have more sex!” her sister called out in a rush just as Olivia ended the call.

“Anything important?” Dylan asked, a grin on his handsome face.

“No. Just Avery being Avery.”

They stepped up to the desk.

“How can I help you?” the dark-haired clerk asked.

She leaned on the counter and met his smile with one of her own. “I’m Olivia Dare.”

Dylan eased in beside her. “Dylan Rhodes.” He leaned close and his arm brushed hers.

Electricity shot up her skin.

“So are you two here on vacation?” the clerk asked. “Honeymoon maybe?”

Dylan grasped Olivia’s hand and held it tightly on the counter. Warmth pervaded her system, and she tried unsuccessfully to pull free.

“Unfortunately I haven’t been successful in convincing her to marry me, but I’m not giving up.” He turned to Olivia and treated her to a panty-melting grin. The darned fantasy took hold.

She drew a deep breath, shot him a warning look, and yanked harder, freeing herself from his grip. “He’s kidding. We’re here on business.”

The clerk glanced back and forth between them, obviously confused. “What were the last names again?” he asked.

“Dare and Rhodes,” Dylan said first. “With the Miami Thunder. Corporate reservation,” he said, now all business. “And we’re checking in our players. The whole reservation is under the Miami Thunder organization.”

The other man looked down and began tapping his keyboard. “Ah, yes. I have five suites reserved on the same floor.”

“You mean six. Six suites,” Olivia said.

“Bigsby, Sanders, Flynn, Maddox, and Rhodes,” he said, reading the names off the monitor.

“Maddox is already here, yes?”

The clerk did some more typing and nodded. “Yes. He checked in earlier.”