Free Dare to Love (Young Adult Romance) by Rosemarie Naramore Page A

of
here.”
    “But they’re serving
refreshments,” she protested.  “And besides, I think I just might join the explorers.”
    My eyes widened in surprise.  “You’re
kidding, right?”
    She shook her head.  “No, I’m
serious.  I really liked it.”
    “You mean you liked him ,”
I said, nodding at Keith. 
    She grinned.  I glanced heavenward
and resumed ushering her out of the room, and out of the station.
    Lieutenant Hudson must have seen us
sneak out, since I heard him call to us from the doorway.  “Laura, our next
meeting is Monday night.  I’ll expect you here, five o’clock sharp.  Think you
can make it, Jennifer?”
    She smiled.  “I’ll be here.”
    “Great!” Lieutenant Hudson said
enthusiastically.  He waved before heading back into the station.
    We were nearly to my car when I heard
footsteps behind us.  Startled, I spun around and found myself face to face
with Dare. 
    “Hey, Laura, where are you going to
so fast?”
    I mumbled an unintelligible response
and was about to climb into my car when I noted with chagrin that Jennifer had
abandoned me and was walking back toward the station.  I saw Keith leaning
against the door frame.  It would take a crow bar to get Jennifer out of there
now. 
    “Jen...”  I called weakly after her.
    “Be right back,” she responded
brightly.
    “What’s up, Laura?” Dare asked me. 
“Why are you leaving?  By the way,” he added, “cool move back there.  You
really surprised the lieutenant.”  He shook his head and chuckled at the
memory.
    “I’m leaving because the meeting’s
over,” I replied coolly.
    “Yeah, but we all usually hang around
awhile to socialize.  Why don’t you come back in?”
    “No thanks,” I said curtly.
    He watched me, his eyes questioning. 
“Is something wrong?”
    “No,” I said too quickly.  I noted
his concerned gaze was riveted on my face.
    “It looks like Jennifer may be
awhile, so you may as well come in,” he said persuasively.
    “I don’t think so.”
    “Are you mad at me, Laura?” he asked
suddenly.
    I hesitated briefly, then said
accusingly, “How interesting that the lieutenant decided to give a
demonstration on self-defense tonight.”
    He shook his head, confused.  “I
don’t get your meaning.” 
    “Oh, you didn’t notice him staring at
me practically the whole time he was talking.”
    “No, I really didn’t.  What are you
getting at?”
    “You told him,” I accused.  “You told
him about me being at the river alone the other day.”
    “I didn’t...”
    “Then who did?” I demanded.
    “You’re being paranoid, Laura,” he
said reasonably.  “I mean, maybe Lieutenant Hudson just decided to talk about
self-defense.  It really isn’t so unusual.”
    I watched him speculatively.  He
looked so sincere, but...  “I don’t think it was a coincidence,” I persisted.
    Dare sighed.  “Well, I don’t know who
would have told him...”  His eyes widened, as understanding apparently dawned. 
The answer hit me at the exact second.
    “Courtney!” we said in unison.  It
had to be her.
    Dare shook his head.  “Yeah, it was
probably Courtney.  Knowing her, she was worried about you.”
    Right.  Courtney—worried about me.  Not
in this lifetime.  Guys could be so naive, I thought.  I did feel guilty for
accusing Dare, however.                      
    “I’m sorry, Dare,” I said sheepishly. 
“I should have thought of Courtney in the first place.”
    “Yeah,” he said in a playfully stern
voice.  “I don’t know if I can ever forgive you.”
    “Well,” I joked, “if you forgive me
for wrongly accusing you, I’ll forgive you for arresting me.” 
    “Okay, sounds fair,” he said with a
grin, and then grabbed my hand.
    “Where are we going?” I asked as I
was whisked away from my car.
    “We’re going to track down the others
and see if they want to go out.  The night’s still young.”
    Back in the conference room,