He leans against the house.
“Is your room comfortable?” he asks knowingly, because he has to know that it is. The politeness between us hurts me, it cuts like a knife and I want to yank it away.
But I can’t.
The more distance between us, the safer I am.
I don’t know how I know it, I just do.
I nod, and Dare smiles as the car glides to a stop in front of us. He opens the door for me, because even though he’s not as nice as me, he has manners.
“Good.”
He slides in next to me, and his fingers wrap around mine. I pull them away.
“Dare… I…” I stare at him, steeling myself, resolving myself. “I need you to not be nice to me.”
His eyes widen, then narrow.
“Why?”
“Because it’ll be easier that way.”
He shakes his head, annoyance in his eyes. “Easier for who? If you want to push me away, I’m not going to make it easy on you, Calla.”
“Is this easy on me?”
By this I mean my life and he knows it. My mother died. My brother died. I’m away from my father, here at Whitley, and I feel in my heart that I can’t trust Dare. He’s hiding something from me.
Dare shakes his head. “No. But there’s no reason to make it harder, Calla. Don’t push me away. Just… don’t. You’re not the only one who is struggling.”
His eyes are so pained, so haunted, so sad.
My eyes feel hot and I blink wetness away, my heart heavy.
“Can you tell me what it is that I don’t know?”
Dare freezes, his hand on his leg.
“No.”
“Then I can’t trust you. You have a secret. And I hate secrets, Dare. You should understand why.”
He clenches his jaw and looks out the window, and I turn the opposite way.
I ignore him, stare out the window at the English countryside as we drive into town.
“How far are we from London?” I call up to Jones.
“About an hour, miss.”
Jones answers, and Dare doesn’t look up from his phone.
“Too far away,” he says without looking at me.
“Why do you say that?” I ask him. He doesn’t bother answering, just stares even more intently at his phone.
“Rude,” I mutter under my breath.
I think I see his lip twitch, but I can’t be certain.
You wanted him to not be so nice.
He’s taking me at my word.
It doesn’t take long to get to the little town, and it takes even less time for Dare to get out of the car and start down the sidewalk, away from the car.
“We’ll be back here in an hour,” he calls over his shoulder to Jones.
How presumptuous.
“Will an hour be sufficient?” Jones asks me in his stiff voice. “I’ll wait longer for you if necessary.”
“I’m sure an hour will be fine,” I assure him. He nods and I head toward the stores, but as I notice Dare duck from the main sidewalk onto an alley, my curiosity is piqued. I change course and follow him.
It’s against my better judgment, but I can’t help myself.
He moves fast, but I keep up.
We wind between buildings on the narrow alleyways, and I almost lose him twice, but manage to keep him in my sights. I watch his wide shoulders sway ahead of me, before he cuts down another side street.
I follow.
The alley grows narrow and dark, the cobblestones rough and uneven. I lose sight of Dare among the shadows, then I trip. As I fumble to steady myself, I suddenly find myself yanked against the wall.
Before I can breathe or scream, Dare’s face materializes in front of me, as thunderous and dark as it is handsome.
“Hunting for something?” he asks bluntly, his voice sharp and low. His hands are on my shoulders, and I realize that I’m firmly pinned to the wall in front of him. He’s not hurting me, he’s just not letting me go.
I’m restrained beneath his palms.
I can feel his hips, I can feel his heat.
I can feel the part of him that makes him a man.
My own cheeks flush from it.
“No,” I begin, then when he raises his eyebrows, I sigh. “Yes.”
“What?” He doesn’t release me.