Free Dare to Submit by Carly Phillips Page A

they’d all just shared. Wasn’t that what friends did? Family? How had she become a part of all this so quickly?
    “I think we should get back to Isabelle’s arrest,” Decklan said, his understanding gaze on Amanda’s face. He obviously picked up on her discomfort, and he didn’t look too thrilled with his brother himself. She appreciated how he’d turned the conversation away from the too-personal sharing of information.
    “It all worked out okay,” Isabelle said. “Decklan brought me an apology gift.”
    Amanda raised an eyebrow. “He did?”
    “Tums,” the other woman said with a grin.
    “Suck-up,” Gabe muttered with a roll of his eyes.
    Obviously it was an inside joke, but it served to show her how close this family was, and unexpected warmth curled in her belly. So opposite of the dysfunction she’d grown up with. In her family, the differences of opinion weren’t fun or treated like jokes. Instead, barbs were thrown by her mother at every turn.
    At that thought, her phone rang. “Excuse me,” she said, pulling her cell from her purse and glancing down. “God, it’s like she has ESP or something.” Amanda hit ignore on her mother’s call.
    “Everything okay?” Decklan asked.
    She nodded. “Just my mother. It can wait.”
    He narrowed his gaze but said nothing.
    “So, Isabelle, will you find out the sex of the baby?” Amanda asked, desperate to keep the focus off of herself.
    Isabelle immediately reached for Gabe’s hand. “I think I want to know. That way I can plan the nursery and layette.” Her voice pitched in excitement.
    And for the first time ever, a feeling of extreme longing overtook Amanda.

NINE
    A manda and Decklan didn’t talk about his family, but he seemed content after the breakfast. His brother and wife left, and they spent the rest of the rainy day watching movies on Netflix and just hanging out like a normal couple. Which scared her, because she enjoyed their time together so much, going home would be difficult this time.
    He didn’t bring up the subject of her leaving, and neither did she. Instead, they ordered in dinner and enjoyed one another in bed. He cuffed her to the headboard, his dark blue gaze hot on hers, as he brought her to orgasm after orgasm before filling her body with his. Prior to Decklan, she’d been satisfied with meaningless encounters, but they connected on a deep, intimate level. One that’d grown stronger after she’d met and spent time with his family.
    As the sunlight streamed through his bedroom window, Amanda studied his handsome face, memorizing each feature. She wished she had better answers to what she wanted. Needed. Instead, she had him for a little while longer.
    She leaned close, about to brush a kiss over his lips and wake him up, when, without warning, he came awake with a yell, jerking into an upright position.
    “Are you okay?” she asked, reaching for him. He withdrew, lying back down but not touching her.
    “Yeah. I was dreaming.” He grew silent, obviously remembering.
    “Can you talk about it?” Would he?
    Decklan stared into the face of the woman who’d made him feel again. She waited patiently, her beautiful face watching him, staring at him, thoughtfully. Expectantly.
    He didn’t owe her anything, least of all an explanation, yet he found himself starting to speak. “I was dreaming about the night my parents died.” He hadn’t had this dream in years. It had begun when he was nineteen and had suddenly found himself dealing with shocking and profound loss.
    “They were killed driving home from Gabe’s college graduation. We’d all taken separate cars because I wanted to go out with my friends. Lucy wanted to ride in the front, so she came with me, and Gabe stayed at school to hang with his friends one last time.” Decklan swallowed, but his throat was dry.
    The memory assaulting him hurt his chest, impacting his breathing. “If I hadn’t wanted to go out, we’d have been in the same car. An