Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 94512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
She groaned out loud.
“Are you okay?” Kelly asked.
Liza nodded. “Yeah.” Just more confused than she’d been before and even more wary, if such a thing were possible.
“Do you want to go into town and take care of your errands?” Kelly offered, letting her off the hook and ending any personal conversation—at least for now.
These Barron women were as pushy as the men. And Liza liked them just as much as she liked one Barron brother in particular.
* * *
Dare promised himself he’d give Liza space. She was clearly angry, and he understood her reasons. He’d been an ass. And the scary thing was he couldn’t say he wouldn’t do it again. Brian McKnight flipped every known switch he had inside him and some he didn’t know he’d had. The rest of the morning dragged on, and when Nash called to see if he wanted to grab a late lunch at the Family Restaurant, Dare was only too happy for the break.
He pulled up to the family-owned restaurant on the edge of town. The place had been around longer than most in Serendipity, and that was saying something, but each generation had kept the place up and added modern touches.
Dare walked inside and waved to Macy Donovan, the daytime hostess, as he found Nash already waiting in a booth in the back.
“What’s up, big brother?” Dare asked.
Nash raised an eyebrow. “You’re asking me that? I heard you had some excitement this morning.”
“You can’t go a couple of hours without talking to your wife?” Dare asked, hoping to deflect the subject.
Nash treated him to a smirk. “You’re one to talk, considering you practically moved into Liza’s over the weekend. How’s that going for you, by the way?”
Before Nash could answer, Gina, their server, strode over. Middle-aged, happily married, and with a heart of gold, the woman knew every customer by name and order. “The usual, boys?” she asked them.
“Thanks, Gina.”
Dare nodded, his stomach rumbling. “Tell Tony I’m starving and to add extra fries.”
The redhead grinned. “Will do. Be back in a few minutes with your drinks.” She walked off, pausing to check on other tables before disappearing in the back.
“So?” Nash asked.
“How the hell could I fall for the one woman in this town whose baggage is tied up with mine?” Dare asked, giving in and talking to his sibling.
He and Nash had always been close, even when circumstances dictated they shouldn’t be. Even when Nash found out why Dare hadn’t gone to live with the Rossmans—thereby allowing the brothers to be split up—he’d eventually come around. Because from the beginning, they were a team.
Nash burst out laughing. “I’m the one who married our half sister’s sister. And you’re asking me about shared baggage?”
Dare shook his head and laughed. “I guess you’ve got a point. Which means you’d know the answer?”
With a groan, Nash leaned back in his seat, his arm across the back of the booth. “The hell if I know. You learn to accept what you can’t change, I guess. If it’s not just sex and she means enough to you…time will tell.”
“Who the hell knows if I’ve got time. I manage to piss her off as much as I…Never mind,” he said with a shake of his head.
He’d been about to say turn her on but thought better of it and shook his head. Was it just sex with Liza?
“Hey, the wives are having a meeting at Ethan’s pool on Saturday to talk about the fundraiser,” Nash said, preventing Dare from answering his own silent question. “Want to join your brothers while we hang out and ogle them in their bikinis?”
Fundraiser business, which Dare took to mean would include Liza. In a bikini. He broke into a sweat. “Yeah. I’ll be there.”
Nash grinned. “I thought so.”
Dare’s cell phone rang, and a glance told him it was Sam. “What’s up?” he asked, answering on the second ring.
“Someone cut the brake line on Liza’s car. She didn’t lose control by accident,” Sam said.
Gina chose that moment to show up with their meals. “I’m sorry, but I’ll take mine to go,” he said to the server. “I’ll be right there,” he told Sam.
“Meet me at Mason’s.”
Dare disconnected the call. “Sorry.”
Nash waved him away, unconcerned as he dug into his food.
By the time Dare arrived at Mason’s, Liza was already there with Sam. She’d changed out of her business suit and now wore a pair of frayed cut-off shorts, a tank top, and flip-flops on her feet. She looked sexy as ever, but she had a fragility to her that Dare had never noticed before he’d slept with her.
Gotten close to her.
Come to understand how many different things in her life pulled at her. How many people in her life let her down. And now he’d become one more person who’d done the same.