Dare to Love by user (read dune TXT) 📗

“I see.” She smelled setup. She slanted a glance at her father, who beamed a smile

like he was the father of the bride and today was her wedding day.

In your dreams, Daddy.

“We were just finishing up, Lucille,” her father said. “I was hoping you’d come home in time.”

Lucy arched a brow. “In time for what?”

“To go out to dinner with me,” Alex said.

Setup. She knew it. “I’m exhausted, Alex. It’s been a really long day.” Alex took her hand and slid it in the crook of his arm. “Nonsense. A nice quiet dinner at an out-of-the-way place, a glass of wine to relax you, and I’ll have you home in

a couple hours. It’s only seven thirty.”

Dammit. Why couldn’t she be bitchy and just tell him she didn’t like him, that she’d

rather eat dinner with the servants than share a meal at a fancy restaurant with him? The

servants were better company, and infinitely more fun to talk to.

Because she was terrible at saying no. And her father knew it, because he had that

knowing smile on his face that said he’d already won.

Besides, what else would she do tonight? Eat with her father, who would no doubt

lecture her? Or she could spend the evening in her room moping about Jake and feeling

sorry for herself.

At least spending a couple hours with Alex would take her mind off her own problems. Alex was famous for talking about himself. He’d keep her thoughts occupied

by steering the conversation around to all things Alex. And she’d be utterly bored to

exhaustion and could then come home and fall into a coma.

Perfect.

“Uh, sure. Why not? But we have to make an early evening of it. I have to be in court first thing in the morning.”

“Of course.” Alex was already leading her toward the door. “Good night, Ray.”

“Good night, Alex, Lucille. You two have fun and don’t worry about staying out too

late. I’ll be fine here.”

Oh, sure. He was fine when she went out with Alex, but near dying whenever she was with Jake. Honestly. The man was as transparent as tape.

Alex drove them into the city, one of the newer restaurants serving California food,

which meant high-priced meals, very little food on the plate. Lucy would have preferred a

cheeseburger. Or maybe barbecue.

Don’t think of Jake. Though it was difficult not to, considering Alex droned on and on with talk of himself, his job, his successes, his new car, the house he was buying.

He ordered the very best wine on the menu, the highest price food, then presumed to

order her dinner like she was some blithering idiot who couldn’t read the menu and

decide for herself. Before she could complain about that, he launched into the case he’d

won today as if he were the best attorney in the city. He never bothered to ask about her

day, her week, her month, anything about her life or how she was doing.

Did everything have to be about him? He could be at the table by himself—or with

anyone, frankly—and it wouldn’t matter. The man was completely narcissistic and a

pretentious snob. She had nothing in common with him, and the thought of ever marrying

a man like Alex nauseated her.

Being with Alex made her miserable.

Surely somewhere out there was the right guy for her.

No, that wasn’t quite right. She had already met the right guy for her. Sitting here having to endure this miserable night with Alex cemented that fact.

She missed Jake. Jake was the right guy for her, dammit.

Where had she gone wrong? It sucked when you cared about someone and they didn’t return your feelings.

She counted the hours until this farce of an evening with Alex was over.

Tomorrow,

she was going to make an attempt to talk to Jake again. She was an attorney, a fighter. A

Fairchild never gave up that easy, especially when it really counted.

She hadn’t been mistaken about her feelings for Jake. Or for his. So he’d had a bad

day. She’d made too much of his mood and let her own feelings of inadequacy guide her.

She wasn’t ready to give up yet.

Jake pulled up in front of Lucy’s house, knowing this wasn’t going to be easy. She was either going to answer the door, and he was going to have to explain his behavior

earlier today, or her father was going to answer the door.

Neither situation was going to be pleasant.

He walked up and rang the doorbell. Time to man up and face the consequences.

He’d acted like an ass earlier today. Worse than an ass. So he had a million things on his

mind, so several things hadn’t gone his way. So he’d been in a bad mood.

His lady had showed up with lunch. He should have dropped everything and paid attention to her. He should have had the decency to at least be grateful.

Instead, he’d been surly, ungracious, and all but slammed the door in her face.

What the hell had been wrong with him, anyway?

Fear, that’s what it was. She’d showed up at his trailer, beautiful, smiling, and the first thing he thought was…she was his.

He wanted Lucy in his life, and not just today. He could see having lunch with her every damn day for the rest of his life. And breakfast. And dinner.

Frankly, that had scared the hell out of him.

Yeah, he’d had a bad morning, but that didn’t excuse his actions. He’d deliberately

pushed her away because she scared him. His feelings for her scared him. She’d been

beautiful, bright and smiling like a woman in love, and she’d scared the shit out of him.

So he’d acted like an asshole.

She should slam the door right in his face. He’d been so rude to her today. It was unforgiveable.

Unfortunately, Lucy didn’t open the front door. Raymond Fairchild arched a brow and offered up a distasteful expression.

“Mr. Dalton.”

“Mr. Fairchild. Is Lucy home?”

“As a matter of fact, she is not. She’s out for the evening with her fiancé.”

“Excuse me?”

“She went out with Alex tonight.”

Not this again. “They’re not