A Little Dare

them with the tip of his tongue.

He swallowed to get his bearings when he felt his body

began responding to just being in the same room with her. He then admitted what he’d known for years. Shelly

Brockman would always be the beginning and the end of his most blatant desires and a part of him could not believe she was back in College Park after being gone for so long.

Shelly felt the intensity of Dare’s gaze and struggled to keep her emotions in check, but he was so disturbingly

gorgeous that she found it hard to do so. Wearing his blue uniform, he still had that look that left a woman’s mind

whirling and her body overheated.

He had changed a lot from the young man she had fallen in love with years ago. He was taller, bigger and more

muscular. The few lines he had developed in the corners of his eyes, and the firmness of his jaw made his face more angular, his coffee-colored features stark and disturbingly handsome and still a pleasure to look at.

She noted there were certain things about him that had

remained the same. The shape of his mouth was still a total turn-on, and he still had those sexy dimples he used to flash at her so often. Then there were those dark eyes—deep,

penetrating—that at one time had had the ability to read her mind by just looking at her. How else had he known when

she’d wanted him to make love to her without her having to utter a single word?

Suddenly Shelly felt nervous, panicky when she

remembered the reason she had moved back to town. But there was no way she could tell Dare that he was AJ’s

father—at least not today. She needed time to pull herself together. Seeing him again had derailed her senses,

making it impossible for her to think straight. The only thing she wanted was to get AJ and leave.

“I came for my son, Dare,” she finally found her voice to say,

and even to her own ears it sounded wispy.

Dare let out a deep breath. It seemed she wanted to get

right down to business and not dwell on the past. He had no intention of letting her do that, mainly because of what they had once meant to each other. “It’s been a long time,

Shelly. How have you been?” he asked raspily, failing to

keep his own voice casual. He found the scent of her

perfume just as sexy and enticing as the rest of her.

“I’ve been fine, Dare. How about you?”

“Same here.”

She nodded. “Now may I see my son?”

Her insistence on keeping things non-personal was

beginning to annoy the hell out of him. His eyes narrowed and his gaze zeroed in on her mouth; bad timing on his

part. She nervously swiped her bottom lip with her tongue, causing his body to react immediately. He remembered

that tongue and some of the things he had taught her to do with it. He dragged air into his lungs when he felt his

muscles tense. “Aren’t you going to ask why he’s here?” he asked, his voice sounding tight, just as tight as his entire

body felt.

She shrugged. “I assumed that since the school called and said he didn’t show up today, one of your officers had

picked him up for playing hooky.”

“No, that’s not it,” he said, thinking that was a reasonable assumption to make. “I’m the one who picked him up, but he was doing something a bit more serious than playing hooky.”

Shelly’s eyes widened in alarm. “What?”

“I caught him throwing rocks at passing motorists on Old

National Highway. Do you know what could have happened had a driver swerved to avoid getting hit?”

Shelly swallowed as she nodded. “Yes.” The first thought that came to her mind was that AJ was in need of serious punishment, but she’d tried punishing him in the past and it hadn’t seemed to work.

“I’m sorry about this, Dare,” she apologized, not knowing what else to say. “We moved to town a few weeks ago and it hasn’t been easy for him. He needs time to adjust.”

Dare snorted. “From the way he acted in my office earlier today, I think what he needs is an attitude adjustment as well as a lesson in respect and manners. Whose kid is he anyway?”

Shelly straightened her spine. The mother in her took offense at his words. She admitted she had spoiled AJ somewhat, but still, considering the fact that she was a single parent doing the best she could, she didn’t need

Dare of all people being so critical. “He’s my child.”

Dare stared at her wondering if she really expected him to believe that. There was no way the kid could be hers, since in his estimation of the kid’s age, she was a student in

college and his steady girl about the same time the boy

was born. “I mean who does he really belong to since I

know you didn’t have a baby twelve or thirteen years ago, Shelly.”

Her gaze turned glacial. “He is mine, Dare. I gave birth to him ten years ago. He just looks older than he really is

because of his height.” Shelly watched Dare’s gaze

sharpen and darken, then his brows pulled together in a deep, furious frown.

“What the hell do you mean you gave birth to him?” he

asked, a shocked look on his face and a tone of voice that bordered on anger and total disbelief.

She met his glare with one of her own. “I meant just what I said. Now may I see him?” She made a move to leave

Dare’s office but he caught her arm.

“Are you saying that he was born after you left here?”

“Yes.”

Dare released her. His features had suddenly turned to

stone, and the gaze that focused on hers was filled with hurt

and pain. “It didn’t take you long to find someone in California to take my place after we broke up, did it?”

His words were like a sharp, painful slap to Shelly’s face. He thought that she had given birth to someone else’s

child! How could he think that when she had loved him so much? She was suddenly filled with extreme anger. “Why does it matter to you what I did after I left here, Dare, when you decided after six long years that you wanted a career with the FBI more than you wanted me?”

Dare closed his eyes, remembering that night and what he had said to her, words he had later come to regret. He

slowly reopened his eyes and looked at her. She appeared just as stricken now as she had then. He doubted he would ever forget the deep look of hurt on her face that night he

had told her that he wanted to break up with her to pursue a career with the FBI.

“Shelly, I…”

“No, Dare. I think we’ve said enough, too much in fact. Just let me get my son and go home.”

Dare inhaled deeply. It was too late for whatever he wanted to say to her. Whatever had once been between them was over and done with. Turning, he slowly walked back over to his desk. “There’s some paperwork that needs to be

completed before you can take him with you. Since he

refused to provide us with any information, we couldn’t do it earlier.”

He read the question that suddenly flashed in her gaze and said. “And no, this will not be a part of any permanent

record, although I think it won’t be such a bad idea for him to come back every day this week after school for an hour to do additional chores, especially since he mentioned he’s not into any after-school activity. The light tasks I’ll be

assigning to him will work off some of that rebellious energy he has.”

He met her gaze. “However, if this happens again, Shelly, he’ll be faced with having to perform hours of community

service as well as getting slapped with a juvenile delinquent record. Is that understood?”

She nodded, feeling much appreciative. Had he wanted to, Dare could have handled things a lot more severely. What AJ had done was a serious offense. “Yes, I understand, and I want to thank you.”

She sighed deeply. It seemed fate would not be forcing her hand today after all. She had a little more time before

having to tell Dare the truth.

Dare sat down at his desk with a form in front of him and a pen in his hand. “Now then, what’s his name?”

Shelly swallowed deeply. “AJ Brockman.”

“I need his real name.”

She couldn’t open her mouth to get the words out. It

seemed fate wouldn’t be as gracious as she’d thought after all.

Dare was looking down at the papers in front of him,

however, the pause went on so long he glanced up and looked at her. He had known Shelly long enough to know when she was nervous about something. His eyes

narrowed as he wondered what her problem was.

“What’s his real name, Shelly?” he repeated.

He watched as she looked away briefly. Returning her gaze she stared straight into his eyes and without blinking said. “Alisdare Julian Brockman.”

Two

A ir suddenly washed from Dare’s lung as if someone had cut off the oxygen supply in the room and he couldn’t

breathe. Everything started spinning around him and he

held on to his desk with a tight grip. However, that didn’t work since his hands were shaking worse than a volcano about to explode. In fact his entire body shook with the

force of the one question that immediately torpedoed

through his brain. Why would she name her son after him? Unless ..

He met her gaze and saw the look of guilt in her eyes and knew. Yet he had to have it confirmed. He stood on non- steady legs and crossed the room to stand in front of

Shelly. He grasped her elbow and brought her closer to him, so close he could see the dark irises of her eyes.