Dare to Love by Carly Phillips Page B

asked that tells me it is,” she said in a cool voice.
    He met her gaze. “Miami Thunder President, Ian Dare, and his latest fling. What are the odds this one makes it beyond the weekend?”
    “Wonderful,” she muttered.
    He refused to lose her over something he couldn’t control. “It only matters what goes on between us, and we’ve already had this conversation. You don’t need to worry.”
    “It’s not me I’m worried about,” she said, her expression panic-stricken. “I need to call Alex.”
    Of course she did. Somehow he managed to stop the words from coming out of his mouth. “Use my phone,” he said.
    When she hesitated, he said, “It’s faster than waiting for my car to be brought around.”
    She swallowed hard. “Thanks.” She dialed and waited for the other man to answer.
    Ian knew he ought to give her privacy, but he couldn’t bring himself to walk out. He didn’t like being in the dark, and when it came to Riley and Alex, he wasn’t just the one being blacked out, he was entirely on the outside looking in. The thought turned his stomach.
    “Hi, it’s me,” she said.
    “Dammit, Riley—I’ve been calling you all night. Then I wake up this morning to that photo of you and Ian?”
    Ian stood close enough to Riley that Alex’s voice carried from the other end, and he clenched his hands at his sides.
    “I was waiting until you came home from your trip to tell you in person.” She glanced at Ian and turned away. “He offered me a job with the Thunder.”
    “And he’s fucking you at the same time?” Alex yelled.
    “It’s not like that!” she shot right back.
    Except it was exactly like that, Ian thought, and they both knew it.
    “You’re home from LA, right?” she asked.
    Whatever his answer, he’d lowered his voice, and Ian could no longer hear.
    “Okay then. I’ll see you this afternoon. In the meantime, calm down.” Silence followed, then, “Love you too. Bye.”
    Resisting the urge to punch something, Ian waited for her to turn back toward him. When she did, she appeared much more subdued than he’d have liked.
    “He hates me that much?” Ian asked her.
    She shook her head. “No matter what he said, it’s not all about you. It’s about me and Alex. And me keeping this from him for the last week.”
    “You said he’s your family.”
    She looked up at him, eyes wide and glassy. “He is. Alex and my stepmom. They’re all I have.”
    Ian wanted to be included in that short list. It didn’t matter how little he really knew her, what he did know had only convinced him she was special. The right person for him in an otherwise empty personal life. Other than family, who he’d do anything for, he hadn’t had anyone he’d felt so strongly for—ever. Losing her before they ever got started wasn’t an option.
    “What about your parents?”
    She swallowed hard. “My mom died when I was sixteen. And my father…I don’t have a relationship with him, and I don’t discuss him. Ever.”
    Ian accepted that declaration. For now.
    “Can you take me to get my car?” she asked.
    “Sure.” The morning had imploded in a way he’d never expected, and he saw no way of salvaging things.
    Until she made her peace with Alex, no amount of coaxing by Ian would make things better. Which made Ian’s overture to his half siblings tomorrow night that much more important.

SEVEN
    R iley stripped out of her clothes and stepped into the shower, eager to wash away the stress of the day. But all the hot water in the world couldn’t erase the knowledge that Alex wasn’t pleased about her relationship with Ian. To say he hated it would be an understatement. He wouldn’t stand in her way, but he couldn’t say he was happy. He didn’t trust his half brother, and she understood why.
    From the time they were kids and Alex had found out he had an older brother, he’d been eager to get to know him. Someone to have his back, instead of him having to have theirs, as he did with his siblings.