Nyght's Eve (5 page)

Carly tilted her head as she studied the
drawing, then looked up and smiled. “Thanks!”

Dare scrambled back a step as she lifted her
arms to him. Christ, did the kid want a hug or something? Nope. Not going to
happen. He had trouble peeling her off of him once already. Instead, he reached
out and awkwardly patted her on the head. “Ah...okay then. I gotta go now.”

He turned toward the door and made a quick
escape, exiting the clinic almost at a run. When he got outside he took a deep
breath. Kids and puppies. He was surrounded in this place and needed to get
back to the sanctuary of the boarding house. But first for his run. He’d only
taken a few steps when he heard a noise behind him. Spinning around, he barely
held back a scowl as he saw Nate had followed him outside. “Need something, kid?”

“I...ah...I was just wondering how long
you’re planning on staying here.” Nate stuck his hands in his pockets and
looked as decidedly uncomfortable as Dare felt.

“I’m not sure yet.”

Nate opened his mouth to speak, then seemed
to hesitate. “Okay, well, I guess I’ll see you around. Thanks for taking care
of Carly.”

“No problem.” Dare could tell that Nate had
wanted to say something else, but had held back. Feeling like an asshole, Dare tried
for a friendly smile as he said, “I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around here or at
the gym. Maybe we can spar sometime.”

That perked Nate up. “Great! See ya around.”

With that, the teen hurried off, leaving Dare
to make his way to the path surrounding the large pond. Now that there were no
other distractions in sight, Dare took the time to stretch out in peace. Really
it had been his own fault. No one had made him volunteer today. He had enjoyed
himself, but there was only so much socializing he could take at the moment.

The sound of laughter had him looking back
toward the center, and he saw Nate, Shane, Miles and Carly were playing with
two little dogs out in the yard. Carly looked over and waved her hand
vigorously at him. Dare lifted his own hand in response, then let out a curse
as she got up from where she had been sitting on the ground.

Kids
and puppies.

Feeling like a coward, Dare turned away and
ran as if the devil was on his heels.

Chapter Three

Oh,
wow...

Evie tried to pay attention to what her accountant
was saying to her, but she knew she was failing miserably. Instead, her rapt
attention was fixated on the man running around the pond at a brisk pace. Dr.
Daryk Nyght—or Dare as he had told her to call him—was a fine specimen of a
man.

The golden skin of his bare chest glistened
with sweat in the sunlight, emphasizing his spectacular physique that she
wouldn’t have thought typical of a doctor. Sure, he had been in the Army, but
Dare was
cut
. Even from a distance,
she could see the definition of his abs and the contours of thick, corded
muscles over his body.

Just the sight was enough to make her drool.

Evie had been in her office in a meeting with
her accountant when her cell phone had started pinging repeatedly with incoming
text messages. Although she knew it was rude, Evie checked the messages in case
it was information about a rescue or some other urgent matter that needed her
immediate attention. But when she had checked her text messages, she saw it was
from one of her friends who worked on staff telling her to get her ass outside
so they could watch DH run. After meeting him, Evie’s friend Amelia had nicknamed
Dare “Dr. Hottie” privately, but after a few hours of him being at the rescue
center, the nickname had spread to every female in the building. Evie couldn’t
help but agree.

Dare was smoking hot.

He had shaved since the first time she had
seen him. When she had met him at the boarding house he had reminded her of a
dark, brooding grizzly of a man, with half his face covered in a beard and his
eyes flashing with impatience and fatigue. But earlier today she had been
blindsided when she’d seen him helping out around the center. At first, she
hadn’t recognized Dare. Seeing a tall, devastatingly handsome, muscular man working
with her cousin Hunter had made her curious, but that had turned to shock as
she realized who the man really was.

Getting some sleep had certainly done wonders
for him.

Over the past couple of days she had begun to
worry about Dare. It wasn’t unusual for someone staying at the boarding house
to keep to themselves, but Hammer had also expressed worry about his friend
when he and Kali had stopped by the cookout yesterday, making Evie even more
concerned.

There had been no sign of life from Dare for
days since he had arrived. Hunter had assured her that Dare was fine, telling
her that their guest had been eating at some point, as was evident by the
missing food. Hearing that had allowed her to relax...a little. Because he was
one of her cousin’s best friends, Evie felt personally responsible for Dare
while he was staying with them. It might not seem that way to others, but Evie
always felt a small amount of responsibility for everyone around her. It didn’t
matter if they were guests at the boarding house, staff and volunteers at the
rescue center, or the animals she rescued.

It was in her nature to care for others—especially
those who were hurting—and she had to struggle against the urge to check on him.
When she’d met Dare, he had struck her as a man fighting some sort of inner
demon, and she was glad that he could rest and relax in the sanctuary she had
created for that very purpose.

Evie felt a slight nudge against her leg and
reached down to absently stroke the head of one of her four personal dogs that
were usually with her wherever she went. She loved her dogs more than anything.
Lancelot and Gawain were German Shepherds, while Percival and Galahad were
Belgian Malinois. Both were strong, noble breeds, and were perfect for the
search and rescue team they were all a part of. As always, all four dogs seemed
to pick up on her mood, and Percival let out a plaintive whine at her
inattention.

“Evie, are you okay? Is something wrong?”

Evie’s attention snapped back to the man
standing in front of her, and she pasted a polite smile on her face. “I’m fine,
Andrew. I just have a lot on my mind.”

“Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? You
can tell me all about it.”

She barely held back a sigh. This wasn’t the
first time he had asked, even though she always turned down his offers. She had
been friends with Andrew Carson since they were children. As an accountant, he
was great, but as anything more...it just wasn’t there. Still, he persisted in
pursuing her. He was a nice man, but she wanted more than nice. She wanted
someone who understood her. She wanted passion, and Andrew couldn’t give that
to her.

 
“Thank
you for the offer, but I’m working tonight.”

Andrew frowned at her. “Honestly, Evie. You
work far too much. All day you give yourself to this place. You deserve to take
some time off for yourself.”

It wasn’t the first time Andrew had said as
much to her, and he wasn’t the only one to think it either. What people didn’t
seem to understand was that it wasn’t just a job for her. It was a labor of
love. Evie kept the smile on her face through strength of will. Nothing
bothered her more than the patronizing tone of someone who didn’t understand
what she did.

The Beaumont Rescue Center had been her dream
from an early age, and her family money had allowed her to build that dream
into a reality. She enjoyed her work, and it gave her a sense of pride to take
care of the dogs within her care, but the truth was they gave back so much more
to her than she could ever give to them. It was difficult to put into words
exactly what she felt seeing some poor, abused animal flourish into a happy,
healthy dog. Every time she found one of her dogs a new home with someone it
was like witnessing a miracle.

She’d learned quickly after the center had
opened its doors that dating wasn’t easy. What she did wasn’t a normal nine to
five job, and men didn’t like the dedication she gave the center. On top of
that, Evie was also part of a search and rescue unit that took turns being on
call with other teams in the area in case there was an emergency. All in all,
it kept her very busy, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“My SR unit is on call tonight. I like to
stick close to home when the unit is on standby.”

Andrew’s frown grew more pronounced. “You
really do need to learn to delegate more. Can’t someone else cover for you?”

Patience tested to the point of breaking,
Evie lost her smile and eyed him coolly now. “No, I can’t, nor do I want to.”

“I’m sorry, Evie. You know I just worry about
you.” Andrew barely held back a wince as if he realized that he had screwed up,
but the damage was already done. He tried to take her hand, only to have her
pull back out of reach. His face paled slightly as one of her dogs let out a
little warning growl.

Placing a calming hand on her dog’s head, she
took pity on Andrew and said, “Thank you for coming by today, Andrew. I’ll get
you that paperwork as soon as I can.”

Dismissed, he said goodbye then hurried off
in the direction of his car, turning back as if to make sure her dogs weren’t
following him. Unable to help herself, she bent down and pressed a kiss between
Gawain’s eyes.

“Shame on you, Winnie. You know you aren’t
supposed to growl at our guests, even if they are annoying.” She let out a
laugh as he licked her face in response to her gentle reprimand.

“I’d say your little buddies there didn’t
like the suit.”

Evie’s head turned and she found herself
staring up into Dare’s dark-gray eyes. “The suit?”

“Him.” Dare gestured toward the car speeding
down the road, heading away from them, but Evie was distracted by the sight of
his muscular body as he moved. His shirt was thrown over one shoulder, giving
her a view of his perfect body as he used it to swipe at the sweat on his brow.
Good god, the man was built. He had a light dusting of dark hair on his chest that
somehow made him even more appealing, and a tribal tattoo covering his left
shoulder. When he raised his arm, his thick muscles flexed, highlighting a
wicked looking barbed wire tattoo wrapped around his right bicep. She wanted to
reach out and touch it. Hell, she wanted to reach out and pet his slick, golden
skin like he was one of her animals.
 

It just wasn’t fair for a man to be so damn
good looking after a run. Breakers seemed to have more than their share of hard-bodied
males, but Evie had never really gone for the strong, macho guys. Someone like
Andrew had always been more her type, but Dare just looked so...delicious.

 
Evie
found herself comparing him to the man who had just left. While Andrew was a
classically handsome man, he had nothing compared to the raw sex appeal of
Dare. Andrew had a trim build, with hair almost the same shade of blond as her
own. Dare’s hair was black as midnight and he had a body of a fighter. It was
an intriguing contrast to the studious dedication she knew he must have to be a
doctor.

She blinked as she realized that he had
spoken again, but she had no idea what he said. “Wh—what?”

A slow smile spread across his handsome face
and she felt lightheaded.

Damn
it. Focus!

Taking a deep breath as she cleared her mind,
she met his knowing gaze despite her embarrassment at being caught all but
ogling him. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”

“Thanks. For the food.”

“Oh, it was nothing.”

He shook his head slowly, not breaking eye
contact with her. “Naw. It was appreciated, considering I barely had enough
energy to make it to the kitchen, let alone cook myself something.”

She smiled at him, relaxing a little. “I’m
just glad to see you got some sleep. I stopped by Kali’s bakery again this
morning when I was running some errands and was going to drop off a few things
at the boarding house, but—”

“What things? Pie? Did you get pie?”

Startled by the vehemence in his tone, she lifted
a brow. “Yes, I noticed that was the first to go.”

Dare’s face darkened considerably. “That
wasn’t me.”

Evie let out a laugh. “Ah, I see. Hunter got
to it before you did. He does have a thing for Kali’s pie.”

“He’s a damn pie thief,” Dare muttered as he
looked down at the four dogs wandering around his legs. Evie laughed and felt
something inside her shift as he reached down to rub one of her dogs’ heads. He
did so with a firm rub and scratch that sent Lancelot’s tail wagging with glee.
Evie gave a subtle nod and hand gesture to the dogs, and the others immediately
started to vie for his attention.

It had pleased her to see him at the center
today, and watching him had given her a little insight into his character.
Whenever she observed people working with her animals, she could tell things
about an individual’s personality. Were they kind and patient, or temperamental
and prone to complaining? Dare seemed to be at ease with whatever situation he
was in. She’d been told by several people how he had treated a little girl’s
skinned knee with the utmost care, and she’d witnessed little Carly’s exuberant
expression when she had waved to him outside the center.