Dare to Love by Carly Phillips

garment on. It fell below her knees. She folded her skirt, tucking it beneath her arm.
    She walked through the hallway, passing two closed doors, extra bedrooms, she assumed, and entered the main great-room area. She walked toward the sound of Ian’s muffled voice and found him by the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the ocean.
    He stood with one hand high on the window. Navy track pants rode low on his waist, and no shirt covered his incredible body, giving her a good look at his muscular back and arms.
    She bit back a sigh at the sight.
    Or maybe she didn’t suppress it so well, because he turned around, and his steely gaze locked on hers. “Just take care of it,” he bit out to whoever was on the other end and disconnected the call.
    When he faced her, his expression softened. “Hungry?” he asked.
    She swallowed hard. “You don’t have to feed me. But I do need you to take me back to my car. It’s at the stadium, remember?”
    Ian remembered. He also recognized a retreat when he saw one. Normally that was his job. He didn’t like that she was so eager to escape.
    Not when reality would give her reasons soon enough. Before that happened, he needed to lure her back from wherever she’d gone to emotionally protect herself.
    “That’s not an answer,” he said. “I asked if you were hungry.”
    Her stomach answered for her, and a rosy flush stained her cheeks.
    He laughed. “I thought so.”
    He wrapped an arm around her waist and led her to the kitchen, all the while, aware of her curves beneath his shirt and the fact that she wasn’t wearing a bra. He knew because he’d placed her clothes in a bag for her to take home later.
    “Come. Breakfast is waiting.”
    She eyed him warily, as if she suddenly didn’t know what to make of him.
    He felt the same way. Most women he slept with clung to him, hoping he’d find something about them that would make him interested longer. He often suspected it was his money that had them so enthralled, because he certainly didn’t treat them to his charming personality the morning after, or feed them breakfast.
    With subtle pressure on her back, he led her to the kitchen, where breakfast had been delivered while she finished in the bathroom. “Sit.”
    She chose a chair and settled into a seat, studying the spread of food laid out before them.
    “I wasn’t sure what you liked,” he said. “I figured since one of the benefits of living here involves full room service, you might as well take your pick.”
    “Thank you.” She picked up a bagel and spread cream cheese over it, ignoring the fruit.
    He grinned. “A carb girl.”
    “I worked up an appetite.” The blush returned. “I can eat it on the way to the stadium if you have things to do.”
    He slid his chair closer to her, gratified when her color heightened even more and her breath caught in her throat. He didn’t want to be alone in feeling like he couldn’t get enough of her.
    Still, she was suddenly skittish, and he wanted to know why. “In a rush to get away?” he asked her.
    “No, it’s just…I don’t know…I don’t do this.” She glanced away and took a large bite of her bagel.
    “Define this .”
    She chewed and swallowed. “I don’t usually have sex with a guy outside of a relationship.”
    Now they were getting somewhere. “And?” He needed her to continue with no suggestions from him. He wanted her unvarnished take on what this thing between them was. Because he was still working it out himself.
    Without meeting his gaze, she took another bagel bite, chewed, swallowed, and followed it with a long sip of orange juice.
    He waited.
    “Alex said you go from woman to woman,” she finally admitted.
    He clenched his jaw, wanting to kill his half brother for offering any kind of take on his life. The other man didn’t know him. At all.
    “That’s been my MO,” he admitted to her.
    She placed her unfinished bagel on the plate. “Well, I appreciate your honesty. Can we go now?”
    He