you’re ready, you can tell me.”
“But …”
“For my sake, let’s give you some time to come to grips with everything. Okay?”
She didn’t know herself right now, so maybe he was right. Besides, she didn’t have the sexual savvy to insist. “Okay.”
She closed her eyes and, with Dare’s hand stroking over her back, gradually faded into a deep, untroubled sleep.
EVEN WHEN THE PILOT’S voice broke over the speaker system announcing the weather forecast for their landing, which was thankfully clear and dry, Molly slept.
Hours ago, they had landed to refuel, and she’d slept through it. Dare glanced at his watch. He would have eaten on the plane if he could have without waking her. Now it was well past dinnertime and they still had an hour to drive after they left the airport. A drive-through burger would have to do, because he wasn’t stopping, wasn’t taking any chances with her at all. He’d feel better about things once he had her secured on his grounds.
While she’d been utterly lax in his arms, he’d studied every inch of her, all the while sorting through what he knew of her, and what he didn’t. That she’d survived amazed him. How she’d survived was the kicker. She had plenty of backbone, and so much bravado that he couldn’t help but admire her.
Seemed he 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.
CHAPTER SIX
IT WAS NEARING eleven o’clock when Dare pulled down the long drive to his home. Molly had been mostly quiet during the ride, except to thank him for the feast of a hamburger, fries and milk shake.
One thing about Molly: she was still putting the food away. If she always ate like this, she had to have one hell of a fast metabolism to stay so petite. At a little over five and a half feet tall, she had curves aplenty, but in all the right places. Her limbs were slim, and she had a tiny waist. When he’d held her, he knew she weighed next to nothing. She might have lost weight in her nine days of captivity, but it couldn’t have been too substantial or she wouldn’t have physically recovered so quickly.
So … was she always stacked? Did she maintain that figure even while hiding it from most? She wasn’t a flaunter—he knew that right off. With women, you could always tell which ones liked to be front and center, using their bodies to draw attention.
Molly didn’t lack confidence, but it had little to do with her figure and a lot to do with her intelligence.
As he neared their destination, she listened to his CD collection and brooded. She was a survivor, so likely she’d put her brain to the task of going over a variety of scenarios in an attempt to be prepared. A futile effort, but Dare wouldn’t tell her so.
She was so involved in her own thoughts that Dare knew she didn’t realize they were almost home.
By deliberate means, his place was set way back in the woods, hidden by tall evergreens and a variety of hardwoods, with a narrow road that climbed up to the main gate. The way the road twisted and turned in and around trees helped to hide it.
He’d planned it that way.
Headlights shone on the impressive and ornate iron fencing that enclosed the front of his property.
