What the hell had just happened? One minute he was thinking about sex and the next thing he was mentally shopping for rings? Okay, so it had been the best sex he’d ever had, but a ring?
He chuckled, and reached for her hand again. She looked at him questioningly and he kissed the backs of her fingers. Smiled. For a minute there he’d nearly lost his head.
* * *
Benson was awake when they got to the room, but barely. He was still heavily sedated. Dare leant against the small window and watched Carly going over the doctor’s notes on his chart. His mother also watched her, waiting for her verdict that the other doctors hadn’t been feeding her false hope.
‘It all looks good.’ She smiled at his mother. ‘Of course, we won’t know the results of the tumour for a couple of days but he’s responding really well to the post-op meds.’
‘That’s a relief.’ Dare’s mother gripped his grandfather’s hand in hers.
Before Carly could say anything more the door opened and his cousin, Beckett, swaggered in unannounced. Dare had never met him before and he remained completely unmoved as the younger man’s eyes briefly narrowed in on him.
So far Dare had dug up quite a bit on his privileged cousin and he’d found that if stupidity and sleaziness were a crime Beckett would be in jail for life. Perhaps if good looks were a crime he’d be there even longer because even Dare could see that his cousin had been genetically blessed in that department.
‘I came as soon as I heard,’ Beckett gushed.
Dare stared at him. He’d like to know who had told him about Benson’s condition, but kept silent.
‘You must be my aunt Rachel,’ Beckett said, as smooth as a snake gliding over sand. ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you at last.’ He took her hand and kissed the back of it before turning to Dare. ‘And you, cousin Dare.’
Dare folded his arms and tucked his thumbs beneath his armpits. ‘Beckett.’
Beckett acknowledged the rebuff with a small smile and turned to Carly.
‘Carly.’ He said her name on a sigh and Dare’s senses sharpened. ‘It’s good to see you again.’
‘Beckett, how are you?’
‘Better for knowing that my grandfather has survived his operation.’ He smiled down at her, squeezing her shoulder. ‘And for seeing you again. But I am a little miffed at you—’ he pouted ‘—for not letting on about my grandfather’s condition.’
‘It wasn’t my place to mention it,’ Carly said, moving away to replace the clipboard at the end of Benson’s bed. Which was fortunate for his cousin, Dare brooded, because he’d been about to rip his arm from its socket.
When the clipboard wouldn’t catch Dare stepped between the two of them. ‘Here, let me help you, Red,’ he murmured softly.
Beckett ignored him, his gaze lingering on Carly a little longer. ‘And how is he?’
Dare listened while Carly filled his cousin in. Beckett showed genuine concern for his grandfather, but Dare’s hackles were raised. Fortunately his cousin had enough sense to pick up on Dare’s cool regard and didn’t prolong his visit. Which was a good thing. Dare didn’t trust him, and he definitely didn’t like the familiar way he had touched Carly.
His lover.
He pushed away from the windowsill. He wanted nothing more than to take Carly away from here and sweep her into his arms again. He wanted to kiss her long and hard and deep and feel her melt against him. Hear her make those breathy little moans he was rapidly becoming addicted to and smell her woman’s smell. Taste her again. And if some small part of his logical side found that a bit disturbing, well, he would deal with that later.
He slung his arm around his mother’s shoulders and dropped a kiss on her head, asked her how she was. He felt good. Really good. Why deny it?
Carly watched mother and son converse and she knew she’d lied to herself in the car. Somewhere in amongst the arguing and the accusations, the tenderness and the desire, she had fallen in love with him. Completely and stupidly in love with the arrogant, the self-assured Dare James.
The feeling was so different from how she had felt about Daniel that she finally recognised that there was some truth to her father’s assessment that she had fallen for Daniel to help her deal with Liv’s diagnosis. She hadn’t wanted to face that because she’d needed a better reason than that as to why she had let him treat her so badly. It made her feel as if she had a terrible weakness inside herself that would allow any man she became involved with to walk all over her if he pleased.