AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Dare rubbed the back of his neck, where a steady pain had begun to throb. It drove him nuts that she made excuses for her screwed-up brother. Hell, he knew what it was like to have a troubled family member, but not once had Dare made excuses for Ethan. Then again, that immovable attitude had kept him estranged from his brother when he could have been working toward reconciliation. Good thing he and eventually their middle sibling, Nash, had come around. The difference was, Ethan had changed and made an effort to fix the past. Brian McKnight showed no remorse, and Liza didn’t seem to care.
Dare groaned. It shouldn’t bother him because it wasn’t his problem. But she was a bright, educated woman. A talented architect. She had to know right from wrong, yet she consistently bailed out a man who, brother or not, she ought to have wiped her hands of a long time ago. Brian needed to be held accountable for his actions.
And Dare wanted Liza in his bed.
He jerked his head, wondering wherethatthought had come from. He’d never denied his attraction to her, at least not to himself. He’d always wanted her, even though he knew she was out of his league. But that hadn’t been on his mind at the moment. Or maybe it had been. He’d been waiting for her arrival, his entire body on alert.
The scary truth was Dare almost looked forward to the times McKnight got hauled in because it gave him a chance to see her. Scarier, he’d cut school all those years ago and gone to that damned party because it had been at her house, and he’d had the chance to see the girl of his teenage dreams. But Liza hadn’t been home that day, and Dare’s life had been forever altered by the events of that afternoon.
More than a decade had passed, one in which he’d seen major growth, both in his personal and professional lives and in his feelings for Liza. Before, she’d been a teenage crush, someone he’d thought of and, yeah, jerked off to. But now? He’d grown up, and each time he met up with her, she got to him on a level no other woman ever had.
He saw Liza as a woman who could bring him out of the darkness he hid inside him and into the light. He shook his head hard because wasn’t that a nice dream. One that would never happen. Though he liked to think of Liza as an angel, that wasn’t her at all. She enabled her brother, thereby condoning his behavior—allof his behavior, the past included, which made her no better than his brother. Or Dare, no matter how hard he tried to be a better man.
Yet that didn’t stop Dare from wanting her, and damned if the yearning wasn’t more than just physical. He was curious about who she was and what made her tick. Why the last time she’d been at the station late at night, she’d been wearing high black boots with killer heels covering legs encased in tight denim, her long hair cascading in sexy curls down her back. A far cry from the ladylike outfit she wore today. Of course he was equally attracted to her no matter what she had on.
Not that it mattered.
Because despite everything, she’d never once looked at him as more than a pain-in-the-ass cop she had to deal with whenever her brother found himself in trouble.
He glanced at his watch and exhaled in relief. He was officially off duty. Dare grabbed his keys and rose from his seat.
“Heading home?” Sam asked.
Marsden was a few years older than Dare and a darned good friend.
“Yeah. Shift’s over,” he said.
“Sure you don’t want to wait?” Sam asked, eyeing him curiously.
“For what?” Dare asked.
Sam let out a whoop of laughter. “You really want to play dumb? Fine. Don’t you want to wait until Ms. McKnight’s brother is released? She’s waiting for him in the outer hall.”
Dare clenched his jaw, which didn’t help his building headache. “And why would I want to do that?” Yeah, he was playing dumb. Why the hell would he want to admit to his feelings and set himself up to be the butt of Sam’s jokes?
“Because I see how you look at her, man. Only a blind fool could miss it.” Sam leaned against the desk, eyeing Dare with way too much humor.
Okay, no need to admit it. Apparently, Dare wore his feelings on his uniform. Fucking swell.
“Then I suppose you’ve also seen how she doesn’t return the sentiment?”
“Jeez, you men are dumb!” This from Cara Hartley, another cop and good friend. The three tended to pull the same shifts and hang out together when they were off duty.
“Where’d you come from?” Dare asked.
Cara laughed, her dark ponytail flipping over her shoulder. “I’m stealthy. I walked over while you two were talking about Liza McKnight. But you’re still both dumb.”
Dare shook his head and stifled a groan. “I really don’t want to know what you’re thinking.”
“Yeah, you do.” Cara deliberately bumped her hip against his. “You think she doesn’t notice you. I’m here to tell you you’re wrong.”
He blinked in surprise.
Sam’s grin was so wide Dare was surprised his face didn’t split. Dare didn’t need the two of them on his case about a woman.
“The thing is, every time you talk to Liza, you judge her for bailing out her brother. So tell me why she should think you’re hot for her. Not to mention why should she want to bother with you.”
Dare reached for the back of his neck once more, the muscle spasms getting worse. “Can we not talk about this?”
