When You Dare. Lori Foster

couldn’t help wanting her, either.

      Though she obviously didn’t know it, Molly was a sexy mix of innocence, courage, independence and honesty. The combo hit him on a gut level. It had been a hell of a long time since a woman had really gotten to him. He’d made a point of not letting them.

      But with Molly, she got under his skin without even trying.

      Maybe that was it—that she wasn’t trying. She was just herself, an appealing, wounded woman determined to confront her own personal reality head-on.

      Whatever the cause, he had to remember all that she’d suffered so that he didn’t rush her into anything.

      Beyond that, he didn’t want to set himself up, either.

      She stirred again, and since the plane would soon be landing, Dare woke her.

      “Feel better?”

      His voice must have reached her, because she went still but didn’t open her eyes. Breathing deep and slow, caught in the enchantment between wakefulness and slumber, she smiled and curled closer.

      Warmed by her trust, Dare bent and kissed the bridge of her nose, and then scowled over the impulsive move. He had to back off. “Wake up, woman.” He jostled her a little. “I’d like to get to my house before midnight.”

      “Midnight?” Blinking heavy-lidded eyes, she half sat up, took in her surroundings and self-consciously smoothed her hair. “It’ll be that late?”

      Damn but she looked sweet all sleepy like this. “Depends on how long it takes them to land and let us off the plane. Then we have an hour’s drive.”

      Her stomach rumbled, and she ducked her head. “I’ve been asleep awhile.”

      Meaning she was hungry, too? “I want to make good time, but I plan to get some fast food to eat on the fly.”

      “Sounds good …” Face going pink, she suddenly remembered that she was still in his lap. She eased over into her own seat. “Whatever you want to do is fine.”

      With a dry tone, Dare teased, “Really?”

      Nodding, she fastened her seat belt around her. “I’m sorry I conked out like that.” She cast him a sideways look. “You should have woken me or at least told me to get in my own seat.”

      “I didn’t mind.” In fact, he’d enjoyed it. But now he needed to stretch his legs and tend to other needs. They only had a few minutes before the plane would begin its landing. “I’ll be right back.”

      He went to the lavatory to relieve himself and freshen up. Cold water on his face did nothing to clarify his jumbled thoughts. Soon he’d have Molly ensconced in his home, where he’d never even brought a woman for dinner, much less invited her to stay.

      Running a hand over his face, Dare imagined how it might be with Molly there, how she’d react to his girls and Chris…. “Fuck.” Stewing over it in the tiny airplane john wouldn’t help, and he wasn’t a man who believed in stewing anyway. He was a proactive person. If he didn’t like something, he changed it.

      With Molly, he’d just have to wait and see.

      He returned to find her looking in desperate need herself. “Go ahead. But make it quick, okay?” He waited in the aisle for her as she dashed out of her seat, and while she was gone, he poured her a juice over ice and located some mixed nuts for them both.

      She was buckled back in her seat a minute later, grateful for the juice and snack, and less than half an hour after that, a shuttle dropped them off in the long-term parking area, and Dare, with a close eye on his surroundings, loaded her into his SUV.

      What his girls would think of her, he couldn’t imagine. He knew damn good and well how Chris would feel, though: territorial and antagonistic. But then that’s how Chris usually felt about everything. Dare considered those some of his finer qualities.