A Little Dare

he’ll be willing to give us more than one lesson.”

Shelly wondered if AJ would ever stop referring to Dare as

“the sheriff.” But then, to call him Dare was even less

respectful. “All right, do you want pancakes this morning?”

“Yes! With lots and lots of butter!”

She smiled as she stood, wincing in the process. Her sore muscles definitely reminded her of last night. “Not with lots and lots of butter, AJ, but I’ll make sure you get enough.”

Shelly saw Dare the moment she pulled her car into the

parking lot at the sheriff’s office. He walked over to the car and met them. She wasn’t surprised to discover that he’d been waiting for them.

“Are we late?” AJ asked quickly, meeting Dare’s gaze.

Dare smiled at him. “No, Cornelius isn’t here yet, but I

understand he’s on his way. Morris’s mother just dropped him off a few minutes ago. He’s waiting inside.”

He then looked at Shelly, and his smile widened. “And how are you doing this morning, Shelly?”

She returned his smile, thinking about all the things the two of them had done last night while most of College Park

slept. “I’m fine, Dare, what about you?”

“This is the best I’ve felt in years.” He wanted to say ten

years to be exact, but didn’t want AJ to catch on to anything.

Shelly glanced at her watch. “How long will the lessons last today?”

“At least an hour or so. Why? Is there something you need to do?”

Shelly placed an arm around AJ’s shoulders. “Well, I was hoping I’d have enough time to get my nails done in

addition to getting my hair taken care of.”

“Then do it. I’m going over to Thorn’s shop when I leave

here to check out the new bike that he’s building. AJ is

welcome to go with me if he likes and I can bring him home later.”

He shifted his glance from Shelly to AJ. “Would you like to go to Thorn’s shop to see how he puts a motorcycle

together?”

The expression in AJ’s eyes told Dare that he would. “Yes, I’d love to go!” He turned to Shelly. “Can I, Mom?”

Shelly met Dare’s gaze. “Are you sure, Dare? I wouldn’t want to put you out with having to—”

“No, I’d like his company.”

AJ’s eyes widened in surprise. “You would?”

Dare grinned. “Sure, I would. You did a great job with all the chores that I assigned to you this week, and I doubt that

you’ll be playing hooky from school anytime soon, right?”

AJ lowered his head to study his sneakers. “Right.”

“Then that does it. My brothers will be there and I know for a fact they’d like to see you again.”

AJ smiled. “They would?”

“Yes, they would. They said they enjoyed having you at

dinner the other night. Usually on Saturday we all pitch in to give Thorn a hand to make sure any bike he’s building is ready to be delivered on time. The one he’s working on

now is for Sylvester Stallone.”

“Wow!”

Dare laughed at the astonishment he heard in AJ’s voice and the look of awe on his face. What he’d said about his brothers wanting to see AJ again was true. They were

biting at the bit for a chance to spend more time with their nephew.

“Well, I guess that’s settled,” Shelly said, smiling at Dare

and the son he had given her. “I’d better get going if I want to make my hair appointment on time.” She turned to leave.

“Shelly?”

She turned back around. “Yes?”

“I almost forgot to mention that Mom called this morning. She heard from Laney last night. She, Jamal and the baby are coming for a visit in a couple of weeks and will stay for about two months. Then they will be moving to stay at their place in Bowling Green, Kentucky while Laney completes her residency at the hospital there.”

Shelly smiled. When she’d last seen Dare’s baby sister,

Delaney was just about to turn sixteen and the brothers

were having a time keeping the young men away. Now she had graduated from medical school and had landed herself a prince from the Middle East. She was a princess and the mother to a son who would one day grow up to be a king. “That’s wonderful! I can’t wait to see her again.”

Dare grinned. “And she can’t wait to see you, either. Mom told her that you had moved back and she was excited

about it.”

Without having to worry about AJ, Shelly decided to throw in a pedicure after getting her hair and nails done. Upon returning home, she collapsed on the bed and took a nap. The lack of sleep the night before still had her tired. After

waking up, she was about to go outside on the porch and sit in the swing when she heard a knock at the door. She

glanced through the peephole and saw it was Dare and AJ. Both of them had their hands and, faces smeared with what looked like motor oil. She frowned. If they thought they were coming inside her house looking like that, they had another thought coming.

“Go around back,” she instructed, opening the door just a little ways. “I’ll bring you washcloths and a scrub brush to clean up. You can also use the hose.” She then quickly

closed the door.

She met them in the backyard where they were using the hose to wash oil from their hair. It was then that she noticed several oil spots on AJ’s outfit as well. “What on earth

happened?”

“Storm happened,” Dare grumbled, taking the shampoo

and towel she handed him. His frown indicated he wasn’t all that happy about it either. “You know how he likes to play

around? Well, for some reason he decided to fill a water

gun with motor oil, and AJ and I became his victims.”

She shifted her gaze from Dare to AJ. Whereas Dare was not a happy camper because of Storm’s childish antics, it seemed AJ was just the opposite. “Storm is so much fun!” He said, laughing. “He told me all about how he had to save this little old lady from a burning house once.”

Shelly smiled. “Well, I’m glad you enjoyed yourself, but those clothes can stay out here. In fact, we may as well trash them.”

AJ nodded. “Storm said to tell you that he’s going to buy me another outfit and he’ll call to find out when he can take me shopping.”

Shelly crossed her arms over her chest and lifted a brow. “Oh, he did, did he?”

“Yes.”

She shifted her gaze back to Dare. “What are we going to do about that brother of yours?”

Dare shrugged, smiling. “What can I do? I guess we could try marrying him off, except so far there’s not a woman

around who suits his fancy except for Tara, but she’s

Thorn’s challenge.”

A bemused look covered Shelly face. “What?”

“Tara Matthews. She’s Laney’s friend—a doctor who works at the same hospital in Kentucky where Delaney plans to

complete her residency. I’ll explain about her being Thorn’s challenge at another time.”

Shelly nodded, planning to hold him to that. She glanced

down at her watch. “I was about to cook burgers and fries, if

anyone is interested.”

Dare looked pleased. “Only if you let me grill the burgers.”

“And I’ll help,” AJ chimed in, volunteering his services.

Shelly shook her head. “All right, and I’ll cook the fries and make some potato salad and baked beans to go along with it. How does that sound?”

“That sounds great, Mom.”

Shelly nodded, liking the excitement she heard in her son’s voice. “Dare?”

He chuckled. “I agree with AJ. That sounds great.”

Dare remained through dinner. He got a call that he had to take care of, but returned later with Chase and Storm close on his heels. They brought a checkers game, intent on

showing AJ how to play. It was almost eleven before AJ

finally admitted he was too tired to play another game.

Chase and Storm left after AJ went to bed, leaving Dare to follow later after they mentioned they were headed over to Thorn’s place to wake him up to play a game of poker.

An hour or so later, Shelly walked Dare to the door. He had spent some time telling her how Tara Matthews was a feisty

woman that only Thorn could tame and that was why the

brothers referred to her as Thorn’s challenge. “So you think this Tara Matthews has captured the eye of Thorn

Westmoreland?”

Dare chuckled. “Yes, although he doesn’t know it yet, and I feel sorry for Tara when he does.”

Shelly nodded. Moments later she said. “I hope you know your leaving late is giving the neighbors a lot to say.”

He smiled. “Yeah, I heard from McKade that a lot of people around town are questioning my intelligence. They think I haven’t figured out that AJ’s my son.”

Shelly nodded. “Yes, that’s what I’m hearing, too, from Ms. Kate.”

“How do you think AJ is handling things?”

“I don’t think anyone has said anything to him directly, but I know a couple of people have asked him about his father in a roundabout way.”

Dare lifted a brow. “When?”

“A couple of days ago at Kate’s Diner. He goes there every morning on his way to school.”

Dare nodded. “Damn, Shelly, I’m ready to end this farce