Read A Little Dare Online

Authors: Brenda Jackson

Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #General, #Contemporary, #Arts&Photography

A Little Dare (53 page)

BOOK: A Little Dare
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everyone
knew
Dare
Westmoreland
was
a
staunch

bachelor.
But
there
were
others
who
truly
felt
he
was
worthy
of
another
chance,
and
they
tried
convincing
her
that
if

anyone
could
change
Dare’s
bachelor
status,
she
could.

What
she
couldn’t
tell
them
was
that
she
was
not
interested
in
changing
Dare’s
bachelor
status.
Although
she
had

detected
some
changes
in
him,
she
could
not
forget
that
at
one
time
he
had
been
a
man
driven
to
reach
out
for
dreams
that
had
not
included
her.
And
she
could
never
let
herself

become
vulnerable
to
that
type
of
pain
again.
For
six
years
she
had
believed
she
was
the
most
important
thing
in

Dare’s
life,
and
to
find
out
that
she
hadn’t
been
had
nearly
destroyed
her.
She
had
enough
common
sense
to
know

that
what
she
and
Dare
were
sharing
in
the
backyard
at

night
was
not
based
on
emotional
but
on
physical
needs,

and
as
long
as
she
was
able
to
continue
to
know
the

difference,
she
would
be
all
right.

She
pulled
herself
up
in
bed
when
she
heard
the
knock
on
her
bedroom
door.
“Come
in,
AJ.”

It
was
early
still,
an
hour
before
daybreak,
but
she
knew
he
was
excited.
Today
was
the
day
that
Dare’s
sister
Delaney
and
her
family
were
arriving
from
the
Middle
East.
The

Westmoreland
brothers
were
ecstatic
and
had
talked
about
their
one
and
only
sister
so
much
over
the
past
two
weeks
that
AJ
had
gotten
caught
up
in
their
excitement;
after
all,

the
woman
was
his
aunt,
although
he
assumed
Delaney

didn’t
know
it.

He
opened
the
door
and
stood
just
within
the
shadows
of
the
light
coming
in
from
the
hallway.
Again,
Shelly
couldn’t
help
but
notice
just
how
much
he
looked
like
Dare.
No

wonder
the
town
was
buzzing.
“What
is
it,
AJ?”

He
shrugged.
“I
wanted
to
talk
to
you
about
something,
Mom.”

She
nodded
and
scooted
over
in
bed,
but
he
went
and
sat
in
the
chair.
Evidently,
he
thought
he
was
past
the
age
to
get
into
his
mother’s
bed.
Shelly’s
heart
caught.
Her
son
was
becoming
a
young
man
and
with
his
budding
maturity
came
a
lot
of
issues
that
Dare
would
be
there
to
help
her
with.
Not
only
Dare
but
the
entire
Westmoreland
family.

He
remained
silent
for
a
few
minutes,
then
he
spoke.
“I’ve
decided
to
tell
the
sheriff
I’m
his
son.”

Shelly’s
heart
did
a
flip,
and
she
swallowed
slowly.
“When
did
you
decide
that?”

“Yesterday.”

“And
what
made
you
change
your
mind?”

“I’ve
been
watching
him,
Mom.
I
was
in
Kate’s
Diner
one
morning
last
week
when
he
came
in,
but
he
didn’t
see
me
at
first.
When
he
walked
in,
all
the
people
there
acted
like

they
were
glad
to
see
him,
and
he
knew
all
their
names
and
asked
them
how
they
were
doing.
Then
it
hit
me
that
he

really
wasn’t
a
bad
cop
or
a
mean
cop
at
all.
No
one
would
like
him
if
he
was,
and
everybody
likes
him,
Mom.”

Shelly
blinked
away
the
tears
from
her
eyes.
AJ
was
right.
Everyone
liked
Dare
and
thought
well
of
him.
AJ
had
had
to
discover
that
on
his
own,
and
it
seemed
that
he
had.
“Yes,
everyone
likes
Dare.
He’s
a
good
sheriff
and
he’s
fair,
AJ.”

“Most
of
the
kids
at
school
thinks
he’s
the
bomb
and
feel
that
I’m
lucky
because
you’re
his
girlfriend.”

Shelly
made
a
surprised
face.
“The
kids
at
your
school
think
I’m
his
girlfriend?”

AJ
nodded.
“Well,
aren’t
you?”

Shelly
smiled
slightly.
She
didn’t
want
to
give
him
hope
that
things
would
work
out
between
her
and
Dare,
and
that
once
he
admitted
to
being
Dare’s
son
they
would
miraculously

become
a
loving
family.
“No,
AJ,
although
we’re
close,

Dare
and
I
are
nothing
more
than
good
friends.
We
always
have
been
and
always
will
be.”

“But
he
wants
you
for
his
girlfriend,
I
can
tell.
Everyone
can
tell
and
they’re
all
talking
about
it,
as
well
as
the
fact
they
think
I’m
his
son,
although
they
don’t
want
me
to
hear
that
part,
but
I
do.
The
sheriff
spends
a
lot
of
time
with
us
and
takes
us
places
with
him.
The
kids
at
school
say
their

BOOK: A Little Dare
11.9Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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