Free Dare to Touch by Carly Phillips Page A

something, and I want you to hear me.”
    Uh oh. She curled her leg beneath her.
    “It’s about Meg.”
    She swallowed hard, her mouth dry. “You don’t owe me an explanation.” While pretending to sleep, before she’d actually dozed off, she’d done some thinking. She might be jealous of this ex-girlfriend, she’d be lying if she didn’t admit to that, but she and Dylan had merely slept together. They didn’t owe each other anything. This was a fun affair, and she had to treat it as such.
    “It’s okay. Once again, I owe you an apology.” She hoped to stay any long descriptions of his relationship with the woman. “I don’t have any right to question your friendships.”
    “You don’t?”
    She shook her head. “No. I mean we’re having an affair. Sex, fun, and now some sunshine added in. It’s all good.”
    He narrowed his gaze. “Oh really?”
    “Yes. I’m going to have to watch that tendency of mine to forget my place.”
    “Your place.” He sounded as if she’d lost her mind, so she rushed to explain.
    She nodded again. “We’re not in a relationship, so it won’t happen again.” She held up her hand. “I promise.”
    He shook his head. “Did you hit your head in your sleep? Is my shoulder that hard?”
    “What are you talking about?”
    “I’m thinking you must have amnesia. Because I distinctly remember telling you we’re going to see where this thing takes us. That’s more than an affair in my book.”
    Panic immediately set in. She felt too much for this man in a very short time. She’d been that route before. Young, careless, and suddenly pregnant, while her boyfriend was carrying on behind her back and she ignored the signs.
    Because she’d wanted to mean something to someone so badly. She’d wanted the man in her life to love her and give her the security that had been ripped away from her when her father’s other family had been revealed. She and Avery were no longer his special princesses; they shared that role with Samantha and Sienna, his other daughters. The children who didn’t get guilt-induced gifts, they got him , his presence at school events and holidays, not work-related excuses.
    So she’d put her hopes on her first serious boyfriend, and not only had he cheated on her but when she’d told him she was pregnant, he’d reacted as if she’d managed the feat alone. An immaculate conception. He’d wanted nothing to do with her or the baby.
    “Olivia, are you okay?” Dylan waved a hand in front of her face. “You’re pale and you aren’t answering me.”
    She blinked and resettled herself in the present. “I’m okay. Sorry. I just…” She searched for a plausible explanation for her mental lapse and decided on the truth. “I have baggage, Dylan. It’s not obvious and not a lot of people know about it, but I think the notion of you being in contact with your ex put me back in that place.”
    He nodded, his dark eyes wide and understanding. “We already established the fact that there are things I don’t know. And I wouldn’t push you. You’ll tell me when you’re ready.”
    She ran her tongue over her dry lips. “So you’re a patient man.”
    He tugged on her braid. “In some ways and about some things, yes.” Pulling her braid, he brought her face within millimeters of his. “And in other ways, about other things, not so much.”
    He licked at her lips, and she melted into him.
    “There you go. Just go with the flow. The rest will work itself out, okay?”
    “I’m working on it,” she promised him as much as herself.
    He parted his lips for a delicious kiss, one that made her forget every insecurity and issue that had been running through her brain. Until a catcall-like whistle interrupted them.
    Dylan turned, and they both glanced up to see Marcus standing there with a grin on his face, making a thumbs-up sign with one hand.
    “Busted,” the tight end said with a grin.
    Olivia felt herself blush, knowing their secret was out. She