Dare to Love by user (read dune TXT) 📗

“I beg to differ, Mr. Dalton. She might have dallied with you, but Lucille has since come to her senses and has agreed to marry Alex Sheldon. They’re off right now planning their wedding.”

Jake crossed his arms. He didn’t believe Raymond Fairchild for one minute. “Uh huh. Just tell Lucy I came by.”

Waste of time. Her father wouldn’t deliver the message. Jake knew that. “On second

thought, never mind. I’ll call her tomorrow.”

Fairchild just smiled, his grin slimy as a snake’s. “They’re at La Chateau on Market Street if you’d like to check it out for yourself. Good night, Mr. Dalton.” Lucy’s father closed the door. Jake turned on his heel and went back to his truck, having no intention of checking out the restaurant where Lucy was allegedly having

dinner with Alex. But he found himself jumping on the freeway and doing just that,

pulling into an empty spot on the street right in front of the restaurant. Trendy, modern,

with glass windows that showed everything going on inside.

As luck would have it, he spotted Lucy and Alex with the best seat in the house, right

next to the front window. Drinking wine and having dinner. Smiling. Talking together.

They made a nice couple. Jake’s stomach tightened.

Alex picked up Lucy’s hand and pressed his lips to it. Lucy’s lips parted, her eyes wide. With pleasure, maybe?

Jake didn’t need to see more than that. He pulled away from the curb, realizing he’d

been all wrong about Lucy. He might have thrown her out of his trailer today, but it

didn’t take her long to run back into Alex’s arms.

Hell, maybe that’s why she’d brought him lunch today—to sit down and break things

off with him. Publicly, at his place of work so he wouldn’t cause a scene.

Yeah, he was an idiot. Just because you slept with a woman didn’t mean she cared

about you. Just because you might be falling in love with her didn’t mean she returned

your feelings.

He had a lot of things to learn about the rich folk.

He should have never taken that walk on the other side of the tracks. He knew where

he belonged.

From now on, he’d stay there.

The three hours Lucy had spent in Alex’s company were the longest in her entire life. When he’d picked up her hand and kissed it at the restaurant, she thought she might

lose her dinner. Really, his attempts at seduction were revolting and something out of a

nonfiction book on how to seduce women—blatantly obvious.

She’d sat there, utterly appalled for a few seconds while he pressed his mouth to her

hand, then slid his tongue out—yes, he actually licked her. Ew. Shocked, she’d been

momentarily stunned and unable to move or utter a word, afraid she’d either scream at

him or burst out laughing. She’d finally recovered enough to jerk her hand away and

wipe the back of it with the napkin in her lap. When he’d followed up with his best

attempt at a smoldering, seductive, look, she’d snorted and masked it by faking a cough.

The rest of the evening had pretty much gone downhill. Alex had reiterated what a

great “match” they’d make together, using words like “partnership” and “merger” until

she finally rolled her eyes and told him point blank that she wasn’t the least bit interested

in him, romantically or otherwise. Then she’d stared out her window the entire ride

home, refusing to let Alex walk her to the door. She’d practically run to her front door

and hurried inside, locked the deadbolt behind her and peeked out the peephole to be

certain Alex wouldn’t try to come inside.

Hopefully she’d made her feelings more than clear to him.

“Where’s Alex?”

Lucy jumped and let out a squeal at her father’s voice right behind her. She pivoted

and placed her hands on her hips.

“Good Lord, Father. You scared me. Quit lurking.”

“I wanted to see how your date went.”

She brushed past him and went into the library, sliding onto one of the leather chairs

so she could kick off her shoes. “It wasn’t a date. And it was horrible. Alex is a pompous

moron. Spending any time alone with him is torture. I don’t like him, have nothing in

common with him, and if you try to foist him on me again I’ll move out. Is that clear?”

Her father glared at her. “Really, Lucille. You’ve hardly given Alex a chance.” Lucy sighed and leaned forward, wishing she could make her father see reality. “I don’t have feelings for Alex.”

Raymond snorted. “What do feelings have to do with anything? You two are a good

match on paper.”

She rolled her eyes. “I want someone to love, Father. How difficult is that to comprehend?”

“Love means you’re not thinking with your head. Who do you want, Lucille? That rough construction worker Jake Dalton?”

Yes. “I want someone to love me. I want a relationship based on emotions, not balance sheets.”

“Love is messy.”

“Love is perfect.” It was like talking to the wall. He’d never understand.

“He was here tonight, you know.”

Lucy’s head shot up. “Who was here tonight? Jake?”

“Yes. I set him straight though.”

Dread dropped her stomach to her feet. She gripped the edge of the chair. “What did

you do?”

“I told him you had finally come to your senses and decided to marry Alex, of course. Which is what I thought was going to happen tonight.” She sank back into the chair. “Oh, Father. How could you do that? I’m not at all interested in Alex.”

Her father tsked. She really hated when he did that.

“I only want what’s best for you, Lucille.”

Anger made her shoot to her feet. “No, you want what’s best for you. You aren’t thinking of me at all. You never do. You don’t care about me and what I want. You don’t

think about me being happy. You think about the firm. You always have.”

“You’re being ridiculous, Lucille.”

“Am I? When did you become so heartless? Was it after Mother died, or have you always been this way?”

Anger mottled her father’s face. “Do not speak to me that way. Who is it that you think you want? That lowlife Jake Dalton?”

“He isn’t a lowlife. He’s built a solid