Dare to Love by user (read dune TXT) 📗

“No.”

Desire flamed hot in his eyes. “You sure?”

No, she wasn’t. She was dying to know. “Yes, I’m sure.”

“Too bad. You ready to go?”

Since she couldn’t indulge her fantasy about licking lips and Jake in this crowded, family style restaurant, she supposed she was ready to leave.

She had never enjoyed a meal so much in her life. No one paid attention to where her

napkin sat in her lap, or for that matter if she even had a napkin there. No one raised an

eyebrow at the occasional slurp of her soft drink, and no one told her to take her elbows

off the table. In fact, she was fairly certain it was a requirement here.

She probably could have burped and not a single soul would have batted an eyelash.

The thought was appalling, yet made her want to giggle.

All in all, the evening hadn’t been as bad as she’d anticipated. Granted, they hadn’t

talked much, but at least she’d survived it. And she hadn’t had to make up some lame

excuse to cancel out on him. Now he’d take her home, and that would be that.

Except he didn’t. They drove a few miles down the road and Jake pulled into a gravel parking lot. The only building was a shack emblazoned with the name Murphy’s.

A bar. A tiny little bar no bigger than a one room house.

She glanced at him and he smiled, turning off the ignition. “How about a beer?” Beer. Now that was something she hadn’t had much of in her life. “Okay.” There were only a handful of cars in the parking lot. Several neon signs blinked on and off in the window. Jake grasped the handle of the paint scarred wooden door and held

it open for her.

It was completely dark inside, with the exception of a few lights over the bar and single pool table in the middle of the room. A few men sat at the bar watching a baseball

game on television, and another two men were playing pool. Everyone turned to look as

they walked in.

She was the only woman in the place. And these guys looked like they hadn’t seen a

female in years.

“They won’t bite,” he whispered into her ear and propelled her forward with his hand

on the small of her back. “Unless you ask them to.” She shivered, whether from that suggestion or the feel of his palm on her back she

wasn’t sure. Either way, she felt comforted by Jake’s presence. He seemed like the kind

of man who could handle himself in a place like this.

He led her to a table in the back of the small room and left to get them drinks.

Lucy

sat ramrod straight in the hard wooden chair, her hands clasped on the table.

Strains of

soft oldies music played from the jukebox, and apparently her appearance in the place

wore off quickly, because the men ignored her.

Jake returned with two bottles of beer. She sipped the cool liquid, sighing at a long

forgotten pleasure. She hadn’t had a beer since college.

“Not quite the elegance you’re used to, is it?” he asked, arching a brow.

Was this some kind of test? A challenge? She shrugged in response. “It’s fine.” He laughed and she bristled, knowing he was having some sort of fun at her expense.

So she wasn’t used to eating at barbecue joints and having drinks in a one room bar. That

didn’t make her a snob.

“Are you having fun?” she asked.

“It’s fine,” he mimicked.

She let out a huff, knowing she should never have agreed to this date. It was obvious

they had nothing in common. She glanced at the clock on the wall above the bar, counting down the minutes until Jake would take her home.

“Why did your dad tell me you had a fiancé?”

The question threw her off kilter, and she found herself unable to answer.

“That’s okay, you don’t have to talk about it. Your fiancé has nothing to worry about

from me. I promise I won’t touch you.”

“I don’t have a fiancé,” she answered, twirling her finger over the condensation on

the beer bottle. And what did he mean he wouldn’t touch her? Was she repugnant? They

had seemed to make a connection in the restaurant. She had felt sparks, just as she did at

the construction site this morning. Had she been wrong?

“I see. Well, no I don’t see, actually. He thinks you have a fiancé, but you don’t?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Fine.”

She looked up at the sound of his clipped tone. Oh, man was he beautiful. Not gorgeous in a male model kind of way. His nose was wide and a touch crooked, and he

looked like he needed a shave. Wisps of dark hair fell over his forehead, making her want

to sweep them back with her hand. He was rugged. All male. Loaded with testosterone.

Not a pretty boy, not refined, not impeccably tailored. Just a fine looking man. A real

man. The kind of man who could literally sweep a woman off her feet. The kind of man a

woman would want to grab by the shirt and kiss. Hard.

She felt flutters of arousal at the thought of what she’d like to do with Jake.

Time to change the subject before her fantasies got out of hand.

“My father wants me to get married,” she blurted, then immediately winced. Now why on earth had she said that?

“Why?” He took a long swallow of his beer and leaned back in the chair.

Oh, why not give him something else to make fun of? “He thinks I’m getting older and it’s time I settle down.”

He offered a wry smile. “You’re hardly reaching retirement age. I think you’ve got a

few good years left on the old biological clock, don’t you?”

“I’d like to think so.”

“Is that the only reason he wants you to get married?” How much should she tell him? Jake was a stranger and had made it perfectly clear

that he was no more interested in