Delaney’s baby that often, they would like one of us to settle down and have a family.”
Dare knew that what he’d just shared with AJ would get the kid to thinking. He was about to say something else when the buzzer on his desk sounded.
“Yes, McKade, what is it?”
“Ms. Brockman is here to see you.”
Dare was surprised. He hadn’t expected Shelly to drop by, since AJ had ridden his bike over from school. A quick
glance across the room and he could tell by AJ’s features that he was surprised by his mother’s unexpected visit as well. “Send her in, McKade.”
Dare stood as Shelly breezed into his office, dressed in a skirt and a printed blouse. “I hate to drop in like this, but I
received an emergency call from one of my patients living in Stone Mountain and need to go out on a call. Ms. Kate has agreed to take care of AJ, and I have to drop him off at her place on my way out. I thought coming to pick him up
would be okay since his hour is over.”
Dare glanced at the clock on the wall which indicated AJ’s hour had been over ten minutes ago. At some point the kid had stopped watching the clock and so had he.
“Since you’re in a rush, I can save you the time by dropping him off at Ms. Kate’s myself. I was getting ready to leave
anyway.”
Dare then remembered that since tonight was Wednesday night, his parents’ usual routine was to have dinner with
their five sons at Chase’s restaurant before going to prayer meeting at church. He knew his family would love meeting AJ, and since they’d been told of his and Shelly’s strategy about AJ knowing Dare was his father, there was no risk of someone giving anything away.
“And I have another idea,” he said, meeting Shelly’s gaze, trying not to notice how beautiful her eyes were, how
beautiful she was, period. Just being in the same room with her had his mouth watering. She stood in the middle of his office silhouetted by the light coming in through his window
and he thought he hadn’t seen anything that looked this good in a long time.
“What?” she asked, interrupting his thoughts.
“AJ is probably hungry and I was on my way to Chase’s
restaurant where my family is dining tonight. He’s welcome to join us, and I can drop him off at Ms. Kate’s later.”
Shelly nodded. Evidently Dare felt he’d made some
headway with AJ for him to suggest such a thing. She
glanced across the room at AJ who had his eyes glued to his book, pretending not have heard Dare’s comment,
although she knew that he had.
“AJ, Dare has invited you to dine with his family before dropping you off at Ms. Kate’s. All right?”
It seemed AJ stared at her for an endless moment, as if
weighing her words. He then shifted his gaze to Dare, and Shelly felt the sudden clash of two very strong personalities, two strong-willed individuals, two people who were outright stubborn. But then she saw something else, something that met her breath catch and her heart do a flip—two
individuals who, for whatever reason, were silently agreeing to a give a little, at least for this one particular time.
AJ then shifted his gaze back to her. He shrugged. “Whatever.”
Shelly let out a deep sigh. “Okay, then, I’ll see you later.”
She walked across the room to place a kiss on AJ’s
forehead; ignoring the frown he gave her. “Behave yourself tonight,” she admonished.
She turned and smiled at Dare before walking out of his office.
“The only reason I decided to come with you is because I want to meet Thorn Westmoreland. I think he is so cool.” AJ said, and then turned his attention back to the scenery
outside the vehicle’s window.
Instead of using the police cruiser, Dare had decided to drive his truck instead, the Chevy Avalanche he’d
purchased a month ago. He glanced over at AJ when he brought the vehicle to a stop at a traffic light. He couldn’t help but chuckle. “I figured as much, but you won’t be the first kid who tried getting on my good side just to meet Thorn.”
AJ scowled. “I’m not trying to get on your good side,” he mumbled.”
Dare chuckled again. “Oh, sorry. My mistake.”
For the next couple of miles the inside of the vehicle was quiet as Dare navigated through evening traffic with
complete ease.
“So, how was your day at school?” Dare decided to ask
when the vehicle finally came to a complete standstill as he attempted to get on the interstate.
AJ glanced over at him. “It had its moments.”
Dare smiled. “What kind of moments?”
AJ glared. “Why are you asking me all these questions?”
Dare met his gaze. “Because I’m interested.”
AJ’s glare deepened. “Are you interested in me or in my mother? I saw the way you were looking at her.”
Dare decided the kid was too observant, although he was falling in nicely with their plans. “And what way was I looking at her?”
“One of those man-like-woman looks.”
Dare chuckled, never having heard it phased quite that way before. “What do you know about a man-like-woman look?”
“I wasn’t born yesterday.”
“Not for one minute did I think you had been.” After a few moments he glanced back at AJ. “Did you know your mom
used to be my girlfriend some years back?”
“So?”
“So, I thought you should know.”
“Why?”
“Because she was very special to me then.”
When Dare exited off the interstate, AJ spoke. “That was back then. My mother doesn’t need a boyfriend, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
Dare gave his son a smile when he brought the vehicle to a stop at a traffic light. “What I think, AJ, is that you should let your mom make her own decisions about those kinds of
things.”
AJ glared at him. “I don’t like you.”
Dare shrugged and gave his son a smile. “Then I guess that means nothing has changed.” But he knew something had changed. As far as he was concerned, AJ consenting to go to dinner with him to meet his family was a major
breakthrough. And although the kid claimed that Thorn was the only reason he was going, Dare had no problem using his brother to his advantage if that’s what it took. Besides, AJ would soon discover that of all the Westmorelands,
Thorn was the one who was biggest on family ties and
devotion, and if you accepted one Westmoreland, you
basically accepted them all, since they were just that thick.
At that moment Dare’s cell phone rang and he answered it. After a few remarks and nods of his head, he said. “You’re welcome to join us for dinner if you’d like. I know for a fact that everyone would love to see you.” He nodded again and said, “All right. I’ll see you later.
Moments later he glanced over at AJ when they came to a stop in front of Chase’s restaurant. “That was your mother. The emergency wasn’t as bad as she’d thought, and she is on her way back home. I’m to take you there after dinner
instead of to Ms. Kate’s house.
AJ narrowed his eyes at Dare. “Why did you do that?”
“Do what?” Dare asked, lifting a brow.
“Invite her to dinner?”
“Because I figured that like you, she has to eat sometime, and I know that my family would have love seeing her
again.” He hesitated for a few moments, then added. “And I would have liked seeing her again myself. Like I said, your mom used to mean a lot to me a long time ago.”
Their gazes locked for a brief moment, then AJ glared at him and said angrily. “Get over it.”
Dare smiled slightly. “I don’t know if I can.” Before AJ had time to make a comeback, Dare unsnapped his seatbelt. “Come on, it’s time to go inside.”
Shelly pulled onto the interstate, hoping and praying that AJ was on his best behavior. No matter what, she had to
believe that all the lessons in obedience, honor and respect that he’d been taught at an early age were somewhere
buried beneath all that hostility he exhibited at times. But
right now she had to cope with the fact that he was still a
child, a child who was getting older each day and enduring growing pains of the worst kind. But one thing was for
certain, Dare was capable of dealing with it, and for that
she was grateful.
When she thought of Dare, she had no choice but to think of her traitorous body and the way it had responded to him
earlier that day at her house. As she’d told AJ, Dare was
smart. He was also very receptive, and she knew he had
picked up on the fact that she had wanted him. All it had
taken was one mind-blowing kiss and she’d been ready to get naked if he’d asked.
When she came to a traffic light she momentarily closed
her eyes, asking for strength where Dare was concerned. If she allowed him to become a part of her life, she could be asking for potential heartbreak all over again, although she
had to admit the new Dare seemed more settled, less likely to go chasing after some other dream. But whatever the
two of them had once shared was in the past, and she
refused to bring it to the present. She had enough to deal
with in handling AJ without trying to take on his father, too.
She had to continue to make it clear to Dare that it was his son he needed to work on and win over and not her. Their first and foremost concern was AJ, and no matter how hot and bothered she got around Dare, she would not give in again. She had to watch her steps and not put any ideas into Dare’s head. More than anything, she had to stop