Dare to Love (The Dare 4)

“I loved them. When I saw them—”

“You smiled so wide, so bright you looked angelic.”

She thought about his words. She processed them and then it hit her.

“You were there watching me? You got me the flowers?” she asked, her eyes welling up with tears.

“I couldn’t approach you, talk to you then. I was still trying to work things out with myself, and waiting for Warner to get back from a business trip. Taylor said we needed to make a move and let you know how we felt about you. I didn’t think twice.”

“Oh God, Kurt, that’s so beautiful of you.”

She kissed him and then she hugged him tight.

She pulled back and smiled at Taylor.

“I was so fucking pissed off about those flowers. I tried hunting down your secret admirer but came up empty handed. Thanks to the big guy threatening everyone to keep his secret.”

She chuckled.

“You were acting funny,” she added.

“Baby, I was just wondering why you didn’t buy those flowers yourself? You obviously loved them,” Kurt asked her.

“Well, to be honest, after living on the streets and struggling to make ends meet and get a meal or two a day, I learned to not be foolish and to shop wisely. I only buy the things I really need. I’ve conditioned myself to be careful because there’s always that fear that I could lose my job, get sick, get hurt where I can’t work, and then I would be left with nothing.”

Warner caressed her arm.

“That’s going to change now, baby. You deserve the best of everything. We want to give you all the things you’ve ever wanted.”

She smiled at Warner and reached up to touch his cheek.

She shook her head.

“I don’t need a bunch of things, Warner. What I truly, honestly need is your love, your embraces, each of you so I feel protected and safe. I need to know that we’re a team and that we can talk things through and learn to accept all our qualities.”

“You got it, baby. It’s our pleasure to watch over you, protect you, and love you,” Taylor told her.

She smiled.

“Kurt, I’m glad you saw me in the supermarket and thought enough of me to want to make me smile. It means more than you know. Everything the three of you have done for me and how you’ve made me feel is so damn special, nothing will ever compare to it. So thank you,” she said and then she reached for a piece of bacon and began to eat. They watched over her, smiling and sitting in quiet, just being content and maybe even thinking like Mercedes was. That she could get really used to this. To going to bed at night and into her three lovers’ arms and then waking up in the morning having breakfast, talking, living lives together and then doing it all over again. Oh yeah, she could get real used to being their woman.

Chapter 8

“I don’t know if I like this idea,” Warner told Mercedes as she got out of the shower and walked into the bedroom to get dressed.

“What’s there not to like? It’s the Grand Opening of the addition at Spencer’s. I want to be there for Marlena and the guys. Besides, you and Kurt will be there and Taylor will get there after work. Plus the other guys are around, too,” she said as she dropped the towel and began to step into a pair of black thong panties.

“We’ll be working and trying to run security there. I’m not comfortable not having myself, Kurt, or Taylor right next to you at all times,” Warner told her as he absorbed her body and how truly sexy and beautiful she was.

She looked at him with those hazel eyes and a defiant expression she had lately. It seemed to him that his brothers had truly helped her with self-confidence. She didn’t shy away more often than not and she stood her ground. He had to smile. It had been a month since the failed abduction and there were no signs of getting closer to the men responsible.

“It’s not the same, having other men watch over you when you’re our responsibility.”

She walked closer to him and ran her palms along his dress shirt as if flattening out wrinkles.

“I love you, Warner. It’s been a month. I can’t live in fear or stop from participating in activities because those men could be out there looking. Then they win, and I’ve lost,” she said to him.

He hadn’t told her about the website and about the money men were bidding on her. He and his friends doing the investigation thought that men would lose interest and stop bidding, thinking it was fake, but then Slick noticed a date. Next week’s date as the final night for bidding. They could already know where she was by now, and that scared him.