Page 12 of Sexy Dare (The Sexy 1)

Faith let out a breathy groan. “She’s out with the flu. I’ve been holding things down here alone, but like I said, people aren’t coming in. I think they’re avoiding me because of the graffiti and damage.” She frowned, appearing more angry than scared, for which he was grateful.

He took her soft hand in his and looked her over, inspecting her body, from her feet in pink Chucks, up her legs, past her apron, over her abundant and tempting breasts, to her hair piled on top of her head. “You look fine,” he muttered to himself, relieved.

She blinked in clear disbelief. “Now that’s a good way to turn a lady’s head. You look fine,” she said in a damned good imitation of him.

He shook his head and grinned. “I meant, you appear unharmed and you look fucking fantastic.” And she did. The messy bun and hot pink tee shirt with her store logo hugging her curves suited her.

She laughed. “Now you’re just sugarcoating the truth.”

“And you’re trying to avoid discussing what happened here.” He pulled her over to the nearest table and held out a chair. “Sit and talk to me.”

She narrowed her gaze as she lowered herself into the chair. “I came in early on Sunday and found … this.” She gestured to the window, her expression alternatively sad, then furious.

He slid his chair closer to hers before settling in. “Do you think it’s related to the slashed tire?”

“I have no idea,” she said, as her entire expression suddenly shut down.

It hadn’t been his imagination, either. One minute she’d been engaged in the conversation; the next she’d closed herself off to him.

From the minute he’d laid eyes on her, he’d marked her as special. He still wouldn’t let himself think of her as his. She was right in saying they barely knew each other. But if she thought he was going to let her get away with deflecting about something as important as her safety, she was about to learn that Jason Dare didn’t screw around when it came to people he cared about. And she’d just been added to that short list.

Chapter Three

Jason understood when to tread carefully, so he studied the suddenly panicked look on Faith’s face and decided to tackle things from another direction.

“Okay you obviously don’t trust me … yet. So let’s start this way. I’m going to get your business back up and running.” He’d prove to her she could believe in him and he wouldn’t let her down.

She frowned, shaking her head. “I called everyone in the area and some beyond. People are booked up.”

He raised an eyebrow at the challenge and pulled out his cell, dialing one of his contractors who’d done work at Club TEN29 and who owed him a favor.

“Sam? It’s Jason Dare.”

“Hey, man. How are you?” Sam Fremont asked.

“I’m okay. You? How are Lisa and that princess of yours?” he asked of the man’s daughter.

“Doing well. The doctors say just two treatments left,” he said, his relief obvious in his voice.

“Good! Listen, I’m sorry for the short notice, but I have a friend with an issue.” He went on to explain about Faith’s graffiti and the glass on the door. “How soon can you get someone out here to fix both?”

Sam had access to glass cutters, window cleaners, and anything else Faith might need.

“I’ll come over myself to assess the situation and handle what I can. What I can’t, I’ll call in reinforcements to fix. Be there in an hour. Just text me the address.”

“Great. I owe you one. I’ll be here to meet you in an hour,” he repeated for Faith’s benefit, whose eyes opened wide.

“How did you do that?” she asked, as he typed her address and store name into his phone for Sam.

He didn’t find it easy to talk about this, but it was a step toward building trust, and if he was going to keep her safe, he needed to understand what she was up against. It was more than neighborhood kids. That much he knew.

He cleared his throat and looked into her pretty green eyes. “Sam’s daughter was diagnosed with childhood leukemia and he panicked. He was a freaking mess.”

“I can’t even imagine,” she said, her heart in her voice.

“Well, my sister lived through it when she was young. She had a bone marrow transplant.” The necessity had led Jason’s two-timing father to reveal to his wife that he needed to have his full siblings tested to see if they were a match. Their lives had all blown up at the time.

“Jason, I’m so sorry.” Faith reached out and held his hand. “How is she?”

“Fine now. Healthy. A mom.” He grinned at that. “But I got her in touch with Sam and his wife, Lisa. She talked them through the process, kept them calm, reassured them when she could.” He shrugged. “Sam feels like he owes me.”

---