My Best Friend's Stepfather #3

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  From Part 2

  Adam’s heart froze. Fuck, this was it. She was going to walk away. The remembered pain of abandonment from last time … the only other time he’d allowed himself to love …

  “Oh, Adam, no.” Ashley’s soft hand rested against his cheek. “I didn’t mean…” She drew in a deep breath. “What I meant was, there’s nothing about this situation that’s easy.” She stroked his cheek. “You are my close friend and what we shared this weekend was amazing—”

  “But?”

  She shook her head. “No buts. I don’t want to end what we have between us.”

  His eyes lit with hope.

  “But I also have to honor the fact that…” She pursed her lips. “Well, I have feelings for Dare.” As she gazed into Adam’s anxious brown eyes, she knew she had to tell him the whole truth. “I think I’m falling in love with him.”

  He drew her hand away from his face. “Fuck, so how is this not ending it with me?”

  She frowned. “Because, Adam, I think I’m in love with you, too.”

  “You think you’re in love with both of us?” Adam’s heart ached as he stared at her. “Me and Dare?” He shook his head. “I don’t believe that. I think what you feel for him is just infatuation, and when that runs its course, you’ll wind up with nothing.”

  She shook her head. “No, you’re wrong. What I feel for you both is deeper than infatuation.” She bit her lip. “This is so difficult.”

  “It doesn’t have to be.” He took both her hands and gazed deep into her eyes. “Just choose me.”

  “It’s not that simple.”

  “It is. You and I have history. A solid friendship, which is a great foundation for a relationship. You know me. Know that together we can make things work. All you know about him is that he’s going to leave. Even if you continue your relationship after that, he lives in New York and you live here. Are you going to give up your job and move there?”

  His gut clenched at the thought. There would be great opportunities for her in New York and Dare could make them happen for her. With his wealth and connections, he could open doors. He could probably call up a friend and have her working at a big magazine within a week, if he wanted. Even if she started as a copy editor or fact checker, she would quickly prove herself capable of being a leading journalist. She was a good worker and a talented writer.

  “I’m not thinking about any of that right now.” She frowned. “But I don’t think I want to go to New York. I don’t want to leave Autumn’s Ridge and all my friends.” She gazed into his eyes, her own blue ones filled with sadness. “Or you.”

  His heart soared. She did care about him. He just had to convince her.

  He pulled her into his arms and captured her lips, all the love and need he felt for her flowing through him, infusing the kiss with persuasive passion.

  Her soft body conformed to his as she returned the kiss, her mouth moving on his, her tongue stroking his.

  Their lips parted and he gazed at her, everything he felt for her shining in his eyes.

  “I love you, Ashley.” He hadn’t said the words yet. But she knew. He knew she did.

  She rested her hand on his cheek. “And I love you, too. But that doesn’t change how I feel about him.” She drew back. “I’m sorry but I need time to think. To figure this whole thing out.”

  “And in the meantime you’ll keep seeing him?” Adam demanded. “Keep fucking him?” Anger simmered through him.

  “Adam…”

  “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.” He shook his head. “I just don’t want to lose you.”

  “I know.” She took his hand and squeezed. “Just give me time. I’ll figure this out.”

  “Just one question, Ash. Does Dare know about us and my feelings for you?”

  She bit her lip. “I told him I’m seeing someone, but he doesn’t know I’m in love with either one of you.”

  Adam nodded. He felt a small sense of satisfaction that he was the first of the two of them she’d told.

  “And does he know who I am?”

  “No, he just knows you’re a friend of mine. There was no reason to elaborate. Why do you ask?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Wait. You had an internship at his company. I’d forgotten about that.”

  When he was at college, studying communications, he’d needed an internship in the fall of his third year so Ashley’s brother had asked Ash to ask Helen to put in a word for him with Dare. Dare had a big company and got him a position writing copy for the marketing department.

  “Do you think he’d remember you?” she asked.

  “It doesn’t really matter, does it?”

  Of course she’d assume he’d only met Dare the one time when they’d talked to discuss what kind of work would complement his studies. She had no idea that Dare had taken a special interest in Adam. Adam was a friend of his stepdaughter’s. Even though Adam and Helen didn’t know each other very well—they were connected only by the fact he was a friend of her friend’s brother—Dare took Helen’s request to help Adam seriously. He’d wanted to ensure Adam was happy in the position and getting the most out of it he could.

  And it was during that fall that Dare had gone through one of the most traumatic times of his life.

  “When are you seeing him next?” Adam asked.

  “In two days.”

  Adam just nodded. It was time he went and paid Dare a visit.

  * * *

  Adam pulled up in front of the gray brick house that he knew Dare was staying in while he was here in Autumn’s Ridge. It wasn’t the same place he’d owned when he used to live here. That had been sold off after the divorce. Apparently, according to Ashley, this was a new place Dare had bought some years later. Dare had business holdings in town, but Adam hadn’t thought Dare made enough trips to town to warrant having a house here, but then Adam didn’t really know much about Dare’s comings and goings.

  All he knew was that Dare had never made a move to contact him.

  And that hurt.

  He got out of the car and walked up the stone path, breathing in the sweet scent of lilacs. Ash loved lilacs. Every time she came here, that fragrance was bound to delight her.

  Once at the entrance, he drew in a deep breath, then rang the doorbell. His stomach tightened as he waited for Dare to open the door.

  How would Dare react to seeing Adam on the other side of the door? What would he say?

  He saw a shadow through the beveled and frosted glass design on the door. He braced himself as the door opened.

  Helen stared at him, her eyes wide. Then she frowned.

  “What are you doing here?” Her acerbic tone grated.

  “I’m here to see Dare.”

  “Well, he’s not in.” Then she slammed the door in his face.

  He stood staring at the door as her shadowy shape disappeared ins
ide the house.

  * * *

  “What the hell was that all about?” Dare asked as Helen marched past. When he’d heard the male voice at the door, asking to see him, he’d put down his newspaper and walked toward the foyer, only to see Helen slam the door.

  “It was no one.”

  Well, that was a lie.

  “Helen, I don’t need you filtering who I see.”

  “Whatever,” she called as she stormed down the hall to her room.

  He opened the front door. Standing on the other side was Adam.

  His gut clenched. God, he didn’t think it would be this hard seeing him again.

  “Hello, Dare.”

  “Adam.”

  “Helen doesn’t seem very happy to see me.”

  Dare gripped the doorknob tighter. “She’ll get over it.”

  “I’m here to talk about Ashley.”

  Dare nodded. “I’m not surprised.”

  “So you do know I’m the other man she’s seeing?”

  “Not the whole time. Just since the other day when she told me she’d been seeing her boss.”

  Adam frowned and Dare could just hear the cogs in his brain turning. Dare hadn’t contacted Adam in all these years since … painful memories tore through him and he gritted his teeth as he pushed them aside … but he’d kept tabs on Adam. He’d wanted to know that he was all right. That his life was going well.

  That he was happy.

  But this mess with Ashley sure put a crimp in that.

  “May I come in?” Adam asked, still standing in the cool evening air, waiting.

  Dare glanced over his shoulder, thinking of Helen brooding in her room. Just waiting to be a pain in the ass if he and Adam came inside to talk.

  He gazed at Adam, really looking at him for the first time since he’d opened the door. God, he looked good. He could see the hint of sculpted muscle through the T-shirt he wore and his arms were well defined. His chestnut brown hair was swept back from his handsome face and his dark brown eyes were still as deep and haunting as Dare remembered.

  And just as full of pain.

  “I think it’s better if we go out somewhere.” And for more reasons than Helen’s probability of being a nuisance. Being alone with Adam would be too painful. And too … tempting. “How about a drink at Wanabee’s?”

  He grabbed his keys from the bowl by the door then stepped outside. “We can take my car if you like.”

  “I’ll meet you there.”

  Whether Adam didn’t want to be in the close quarters of a small car with Dare, or he just didn’t want to come all the way back here afterward to pick up his car, Dare didn’t know, but it was probably just as well. Being that close to Adam would definitely be a strain on him.

  Ten minutes later, Dare parked his car behind Adam’s grey sedan in front of the upscale bar and got out. Adam waited for him at the door then they went inside.

  “A quiet booth,” Dare told the hostess.

  “Of course, sir.” She led them to a booth on a quiet side of the place.

  * * *

  Adam slid into the booth across from Dare. No wonder Ash was so taken by him. His dark, almost black hair was cropped short on the sides but long enough on top to showcase the thick waves. His square jaw was shadowed with coarse whiskers and his smoldering deep blue eyes were even sexier than he remembered. Maybe the extra years had added an even stronger sense of authority behind them.

  “You still like gin and tonic?” Dare asked.

  Adam shook his head. “Heineken,” he told the waitress.

  “Same,” Dare said.

  “So are you going to ask why I left five years ago? And why I never looked you up since then?” Dare asked.

  The waitress approached the table with a round tray holding two green beer bottles and two tall glasses. She placed them on the table, then poured each beer into a glass.

  Once she’d gone, Dare leaned toward Adam. “I never meant to hurt you.”

  At Dare’s words, pain vibrated through every cell of Adam’s being, but he wouldn’t let himself be dragged down that road.

  “I don’t care about that. I’m here to talk about what’s happening between you and Ashley.”

  Adam watched Dare sip from his tall glass. His expression barely changed—the man had almost perfect control over his expression at all times—but Adam had gotten to know Dare better than most people and could see the caution there.

  “My impression was that you know what’s happening with Ash and me. You’re her boss so you know she’s coming to me for research on an article.” He stared at his glass. “I’m the real-life Christian Grey, right?”

  “But you’ve taken it past research with her. You’ve made her your sub. You’re having sex with her.” Adam clenched his teeth at the thought, anger vibrating through him. “You don’t seem to care that she’s going to get hurt.”

  “I’m not beating her, you know?”

  “What?” Adam couldn’t help but think about Ashley bent over, her lovely round ass bare and exposed, then the flat of Dare’s strong hand smacking it. Then the creamy flesh turning pink.

  “Like Christian Grey. I’m not flogging Ashley.”

  “You’ve read the books?” Adam asked in surprise.

  “No. But I saw the movie.” Dare shrugged. “Curiosity.”

  Adam’s lips compressed. “Whatever. That’s not what I’m talking about. You’re going to hurt Ashley when you walk away. But I guess you’ve never cared before, so why start now?”

  “Look, Adam, what happened between you and me—”

  “I said I don’t want to talk about that,” Adam said through gritted teeth.

  “Fine.” Dare sighed. “The point is, I don’t intend to walk away from Ashley.”

  “Then what about me and my feelings?” Adam leaned forward. “I’m in love with her.”

  “And how does she feel about you?”

  “She says she loves me, too.”

  Dare’s eyes narrowed. “If she told you that, and she’s not here breaking up with me, then I bet she also confessed she’s in love with me, too.”

  Adam frowned. “The decent thing for you to do would be to walk away right now.”

  “And hurt Ash exactly the way you’ve been accusing me of?”

  “She’ll get over it.”

  “You mean, she’ll get over you when she chooses me.”

  Adam arched a brow. “You’re very sure of yourself.”

  “Of course. And that’s exactly why she’ll pick me over you. I know you’ve told her you can dominate her just as well as me, but we both know that’s not true.”

  Adam couldn’t deny that. The man had six years on him and ran a huge corporation. He was used to making multimillion-dollar decisions that could make or break whole companies, and people’s lives. He also had a lot more practice being a Dom. If it came down to sheer ability to dominate, Dare would win hands down.

  “Maybe. But Ash and I have friendship. And a deep caring for each other. We could build a long and happy life together.”

  Dare raised an eyebrow. “You’re talking marriage? It’s a little soon to be thinking about that, isn’t it?”

  “Not for me. I know that’s where it’s headed for Ash and me. I know we’ll be able to make it work. Can you say the same?”

  Pain flashed across Dare’s eyes before he could pull down his mask of indifference. Guilt washed through Adam. He knew how sensitive Dare was about his failed marriage. About leaving Helen with that uncaring bitch of a mother. He’d stayed in the marriage longer than he should have, trying to make it work, until Ann had finally pulled the plug. And through it all, Dare had never abandoned Helen, even though she could be a huge pain in the ass, doing almost everything she could to drive him away. To prove that he was just like every other man who had been in her life.

  His expression totally closed, Dare simply stared at Adam with his icy blue eyes.

  “We’ll just have to let Ash decide which of us she wants.�
�

  * * *

  Ashley rang Dare’s doorbell, her nerves frayed. The last time they’d spoken—the day he’d inundated her with flowers and told her he wanted a real relationship with her—they’d agreed to talk again today after she’d had a couple of days to think.

  Dare opened the door and she found herself caught in his intense blue gaze, feeling outside her league. He was older than her, more experienced in life, and in total control of everything around him. The one exception was Helen, but even there it was clear that she behaved that way on Dare’s indulgence.

  He smiled, his eyes glowing, and she felt … filled with sunshine. Like he considered her the most important thing in the world.

  “Ashley,” he said in his deep, smooth as silk baritone voice. “Come in.”

  He took her hand and drew her into the foyer, then closed the door. Before she could say anything she was in his arms gazing up at his heated midnight eyes.

  “I’m so glad you’re here,” he said warmly. “I’ve missed you.”

  She found herself trembling as she saw the need glowing in his eyes and felt it building inside herself, sweeping away the nervousness about their discussion. He lowered his lips to hers and that first brush of flesh on flesh took her breath away. Then the pressure of his mouth increased and his tongue swept over her lips. She opened and he glided inside and stroked. She melted against him, glad for his strong arms around her as her knees threatened to buckle.

  Good God, he’d never kissed her like this before.

  He deepened the kiss and she clung to him, giving over her body to his masterful guidance.

  When his lips parted from hers, she gazed at him, stunned.

  “I thought we were going to talk.”

  He chuckled. “There’s plenty of time for that later. Right now…” He dipped and she felt his arm behind her legs, then he swept her up. The world tilted and she felt herself gliding through the air as he carried her toward the bedroom. “… it’s time for action.”

  A part of her wanted to protest. She shouldn’t let this happen until she’d sorted out her feelings about the two of them. Until she’d chosen.

  But she didn’t want to choose. And Dare’s lips nuzzling her ear as he strode down the hall made it too difficult to think. To resist what she wanted right here. Right now.