Fearless (Pier 70 #2) (23 page)

Twenty-Eight

Monday, June 6
th

Pier 70 Marina

The trip back home was decidedly less stressful than the trip to the ship, that was for sure. In fact, it had been rather pleasant. Dare had been on the same flight as everyone else, which meant he got a few extra hours to spend with Noah before they went their separate ways in the real world.

Even though he was going to be busy with the marina, covering it with Roan until Cam returned from his honeymoon, Dare was glad to be back. Although he hadn’t seen Noah since their plane had touched down in Austin yesterday afternoon, he’d heard from him. They’d traded texts and even had a conversation last night that had resulted in phone sex, something Dare now was quite fond of. Especially when it came to phone sex with Noah. The man had a dirty mouth on him.

Now, as he stood behind the counter waiting for Roan to make his appearance for the day, Dare continued to glance at his phone. He felt stupid for being overeager to hear from Noah, but he couldn’t help it. Their last couple of days on the ship had been mind-blowing. The only thing he had wanted to do was get Noah naked and beneath him again and again. And now it was all he could think about.

Except, last night on the phone, Noah had mentioned taking Dare on a date. According to him, it seemed to be the logical next step since they’d agreed to take things slow. Not that Dare thought fucking like rabbits was taking things slow, but apparently Noah wanted to do this the right way.

Naked was the right way, if you asked him.

Looking up, Dare noticed Roan coming around the corner and heading toward the door. Since Roan lived in the other upstairs apartment, he didn’t have far to go to get to work.

He took in Roan’s disheveled appearance. If Dare was right, Roan had just rolled out of bed.

The door opened and Dare waited for the chime to sound. When it did, Roan squeaked, damn near hitting the ceiling when he jumped, glancing back at the door as though it had bitten him in the ass.

“What the fuck was that?” Roan asked, glaring at him.

“It’s the new chime,” he said proudly. He’d set out to adjust the timing, as they’d done on numerous occasions, but when that hadn’t worked, Dare had opted to add a few features. Personally, he was quite fond of it. “I couldn’t fix the timing, but the new sound’s cool, huh?”

“No, it’s not,” Roan grumbled. “Change it back.”

Dare snorted, but it wasn’t that he hadn’t expected it. The sound of a dog growling ferociously probably wasn’t the best way to welcome customers to the marina, but it was still funny as shit.

Reaching for the controller he’d placed under the counter, Dare hit a button.

“That better?”

Roan rolled his eyes. “No.”

Okay, so monkeys were apparently out, too. This guy was a party pooper.

“How ’bout this?” He hit the button again.

“Dare!”

Laughing, he changed it from the hyenas to the boring chirp it had been originally. Still, he had no intention of removing the new sounds, so at least he had options for the future.

“Why do you look like you’re hungover?” Dare questioned, stepping out of the way when Roan reached for the coffeepot.

“Because I’ve been up half the damn night,” he rumbled in response.

“Your sister?” Dare knew that Roan’s sister was going through a rough patch. She was an addict, and she’d relapsed at least five times in the past year. Roan was spending a lot of time trying to get her into a rehab that would keep her for longer than a week. Apparently her freak-outs were frequent and disturbing to the other patients. Since she refused not to act belligerent, they were having a hard time finding a place that would keep her. Dare didn’t envy the man at all. Not for the first time, he was grateful that he was an only child.

“We got any appointments today?”

Okay, so apparently Roan wasn’t going to go into the details.

“Just one,” he told Roan, glancing at the calendar. “Tomorrow it picks back up, though.”

Good thing Cam would be back by the weekend, because they’d be busy for sure by then. With summer temperatures officially in effect, the lake was going to be hopping.

“When’s Lulu coming back?” Roan inquired.

“Tim’s gonna drop her off this afternoon.”

Roan nodded.

He gave Roan a minute to sip his coffee before he continued. “Oh, and I’ve gotta slip out at lunch.”

Roan’s eyebrow lifted. “Hot date with the firefighter?”

He wished. “No. I promised Grams I’d stop by when I got back. It was too late to do that last night.”

“Gotcha. I can watch the place while you’re out.”

“Keith called earlier,” Dare noted. “Said he’d be happy to help in the office if we need him.” It wasn’t unusual for Cam’s brother-in-law to offer to help, but they usually didn’t need to take him up on his offer.

“If the week picks up, we might.” Roan glanced toward the back door. “You seen Teague yet today?”

“Nope.” And Dare wasn’t sure he would. Something weird was going on with that kid. Ever since the night of the wedding, Teague had been acting strangely. Granted, he was always standoffish toward Hudson, but this seemed different for whatever reason.

“I’ll text him. I’m gonna go talk to Hudson.”

Dare nodded, watching the parking lot as a truck pulled in and two guys climbed out.

Looked like they had their first customers of the day.

Although he still had a week off, Noah had woken early that morning, geared up and ready to do something. He didn’t really care what. Since his calendar was clear—he’d pushed all appointments for his roofing business to next week—he had nothing to do and he wasn’t used to that.

So, the first thing he did was clean his already spotless apartment from top to bottom. He hoped to convince Dare to come over, so he used that as his excuse. Truth was, it wouldn’t have mattered. He would’ve cleaned it anyway, but seeing Dare again was definitely good incentive.

By the time he was finished doing that, it was after noon, and Noah found himself picking up his phone and checking to make sure it was working. He did that at least a couple dozen times before he realized he was becoming obsessed. Seriously, he was thirty-eight years old, damn it. Far too old to be watching his phone, waiting for a call or a text or … something. He knew how to use the damn thing.

His phone rang and he damn near fell over. He glanced at the screen to see that it was his mother. For a brief moment, he contemplated letting it go to voice mail.

Okay, fine. He couldn’t do that to his mother, so he hit the button to take the call.

“Hello?”

“How was your trip?”

Noah smiled, crossing the room to the balcony doors and stepping outside. It was just like his mother to forego pleasantries.

“It was good.” He got the sense she already knew that, though. “You heard from Milly yet?”

“Oh, yes. She called last night to let us know how everything went. She sent a million pictures. The wedding looked beautiful. You were so handsome standing up there.”

Yeah, yeah, yeah. His concern wasn’t about the pictures. Noah wondered how much Milly had shared about the trip. He hoped like hell she hadn’t mentioned anything about…

“I heard Dare Davis was there. Was he in the pictures, too? Which one is he?”

Well, there went that hope.

Before he got the chance to answer her, she rattled on. “Was it good to see him after all these years? Did the two of you get to talk?”

Oh, yeah. They had talked. And then some. Not that he would tell his mother that. “We did.”

“You know better than to answer your mother with two words. I asked at least five questions.”

Noah chuckled. “I didn’t know which one to answer.”

“All of them.”

Smiling, Noah said, “Then you’ll have to repeat them.”

“I’m looking at one of the pictures now. Which one is he?”

Noah explained which one was Dare.

“Oh. He’s handsome. What color are his eyes?”

“Hazel.” Shit. As soon as he blurted out the word, he realized his mother had baited him.

She chuckled, confirming his suspicion. “Yes. Hazel. So you talked? And?”

“And what?” He wasn’t sure what his mother was fishing for.

“Are the two of you … you know?”

“No, I don’t know.” Noah hated playing this game with his mother. She had good intentions, but he always felt pressured by her when it came to relationships. He wasn’t sure why that was, because she’d always been supportive of him, ever since he was sixteen years old and had come out to his parents. According to her, she wanted him to settle down. For years she had mentioned his age and how one day he would wish he’d taken a chance on love.

“Noah Jeremiah Pearson.”

When all three names were used, he knew he was in for it. “It’s all good, Mom. We saw each other. We talked. And yes, before you ask, I’m hoping to see him again.”

Much to his surprise, his mother didn’t respond immediately.

“Mom?”

“I just want you to be careful,” she said softly. “I know it’s been a long time, but I remember how you felt about that boy.”

Noah chuckled, trying to keep it to himself. Dare definitely wasn’t a boy anymore.

“I will,” he assured her. “I promise.”

“Okay then. I wanted to call and tell you to come to dinner next Friday night.”

“I’ll have to check my schedule at the station.” Because he’d taken off for two weeks, he wasn’t sure what days he would be on. Technically, he was supposed to be back to work on Friday.

“If not Friday, then Saturday.”

“Yes, ma’am.” It wasn’t often that his mother asked for something, and when she did, it was only for him to stop by and visit. He wouldn’t let her down.

“Glad you had a good trip and glad you’re back home safe and sound. Larry said to thank you for going along with Milly.”

“Sure thing.”

With that, his mother said good-bye and Noah hung up the phone.

Now it was time to do what he’d been putting off all morning.

Pulling up his text app, Noah found Dare’s number, which he had saved during their flight back to Texas.

He typed out a message:
Hey. What are you up to?

He deleted it and stared at the blank screen.

He typed again:
You alive?

Nope, he deleted that, too.

Just checking in. Wanted to see how you are.

His thumb was getting tired from hitting the delete button.

Shit.

This wasn’t that damn difficult.

Can I take you out on a date?

Staring at the screen, Noah contemplated deleting the message but forced his finger to hit send instead. He had to break the ice. Seriously, they had talked on the phone last night. Hell, they’d had sex on the phone last night and it had been good. They hadn’t left things weird between them, so what his issue was today, he didn’t know.

Returning to the kitchen, Noah set the phone on the counter.

He picked it up and checked to make sure the text had gone.

It had.

He set it down again.

He picked it back up and checked his signal. Every once in a while, he got no reception in his apartment.

Nope, reception was fine.

He put the phone down again and decided to take a shower. At least he wouldn’t be tempted to pick it up again.

For at least ten minutes.

Twenty-Nine

After spending nearly two hours with Grams, eating lunch and talking about the cruise, Dare knew he needed to get back to the marina. It wasn’t easy telling his favorite person in the whole wide world that, though. And every time he saw her, the way her face lit up like it was Christmas, Dare found it just as difficult as the last time.

Then again, Grams had been the one and only consistent person in his life since he was three years old. After his drug-addicted mother had given birth to him, then attempted to be a mom for the first few years, she’d finally given up and pawned him off on Grams. Without a second thought, Dare’s grandmother had taken him in and raised him as her own. He’d been one of the lucky ones. Since he didn’t have a father—technically he did, but his mother didn’t know who he was—Dare hadn’t had anyone else to look after him. Grams had been his savior.

Even if she’d always been a tad bit kooky. The years hadn’t lessened her wackiness any, either.

After he cleaned up the kitchen, Dare excused himself to go to the bathroom. His grandmother had plied him with sweet tea since he’d gotten there, and his bladder was about to explode. No way could he drive the five minutes it took to get to the marina like this.

When he returned to the kitchen a few minutes later, he heard Grams on the phone. He peeked in, saw that she was talking to someone, and decided to give her a little privacy.

“Noah Pearson, huh? That name sounds awfully familiar.”

Dare stuck his head around the wall again and…

Oh, hell. Grams was on the phone.
His
phone.

“Grams? What are you doing?”

She held up her finger as though her talking to Noah on his phone was the most rational thing in the world. Then again, for her, it might’ve been. Since she was getting on up there in age, her wild and free spirit had gotten a little wilder and a little freer, it seemed.

“Grams? That’s my phone.”

She pulled the phone from her ear briefly. “I know it is. But you didn’t answer it, so I did. Now give me a minute.”

She sounded exasperated by the interruption, which amused him. Taking a step back, Dare stared at her in awe. He couldn’t hold back his laugh.

“How do you know Dare?” she asked, once again speaking into the phone.

Since he couldn’t hear Noah’s response, Dare could only imagine what he was saying.

“When Dare was a teenager?” Her eyes lit up and she met Dare’s gaze.

Crap.

“I remember you. You’re the boy who broke my baby’s heart.”

Yep. Looked as though Grams remembered what had happened fifteen years ago, although he knew she wouldn’t remember if she’d taken her medicine that morning or not.

“So, why’re you callin’ him now? You wanna play slap and tickle with him again?”

A laugh erupted from him and he bent over, gasping for air. Grams always did have a way with words.

“
You
don’t
? Then why’re you callin’ my boy? He ain’t good enough to play slap and tickle with?”

He almost felt bad for Noah. He would have if it hadn’t been quite so entertaining.

Silence ensued and Dare could only imagine what Noah was saying to get out of this one. Although they’d dated for more than two years back then, Dare had never introduced Noah to Grams. Somehow he’d managed to keep his two worlds separate and it had worked for him. Sure, he’d told Grams about Noah and Noah about Grams, but he’d been a little leery of introducing them. Now, he kind of wished he had.

“Yes, he’s right here. And he’s laughing like a maniac.” Grams was scrutinizing Dare from her seat at the table. “Of course you can talk to him.” She sighed heavily as though Noah’s question was the most absurd thing she’d ever heard. “You called him, didn’t you?”

Grams held out the phone for him to take. Dare reached for it at the same time she smiled innocently and said, “It’s Noah. He wants to talk to you.”

“Thanks, Grams.” Dare took the phone and headed for the living room for a little bit of privacy. “Hey.”

Noah cleared his throat and then his raspy voice came through the phone. “I didn’t… I guess I didn’t expect that.”

Dare chuckled. “That makes two of us. What’s up?” He remembered that Noah had texted a while ago, but he’d been talking to Grams so he hadn’t stopped to text him back. “Sorry I didn’t get back to you earlier. I’ve been with my grandmother.”

“I … uh…”

Lowering his voice, Dare moved a little farther from the kitchen. “You’re thinkin’ about me, aren’t you? Thinkin’ about playin’ slap and tickle?”

Noah laughed, but it sounded a little nervous. “Something like that. I was actually calling to see if I could take you out tonight.”

Dare glanced at the clock on the wall. “With Cam still on his honeymoon, I’ll be at the marina until about seven. Probably not a good night to go out.”

Noah didn’t respond.

“I’m not blowing you off,” Dare assured him. “You’re more than welcome to come by the marina if you’d like. We could hang out for a bit.”

There was a slight pause before Noah responded. “I’d like that. Text me the address?”

“Will do.” Dare turned to make sure Grams hadn’t snuck up on him. “And I look forward to playing slap and tickle with you again. I’ll be the one doing the slapping.”

Noah’s laugh seemed less stressed that time, making Dare feel better. He wasn’t sure whether the conversation with his grandmother had thrown Noah off or if it was something else. One way or the other, he would have to remember to ask him about it later.

“See you in a bit.” Dare disconnected the phone when Grams stepped into the doorway.

Not wanting to go into detail about his recently reestablished relationship with Noah—although it really wasn’t a relationship—Dare headed over and gave her a hug. “I really need to get back to the marina. I left Roan there all alone.”

“Sure,” she said sweetly, her blue eyes meeting his. “But you and I
will
be talking about this more.”

“I know.” And he did know. That was one thing about Grams, she wanted to know what was going on with him. She’d always been that way, and it was more of a friendship than anything else, which was why Dare had shared what had happened with Noah all those years ago. Grams was the one person in his life he could rely on no matter what. She didn’t judge him, didn’t look down her nose at him. And he loved her for that.

Like he’d said, he was lucky.

Dare headed to the door and Grams followed. He stepped out onto the porch and smiled back at her.

“You have condoms, right? No sense playin’ slap and tickle if you don’t protect yourself.”

Dare felt his face heat. It took quite a bit to embarrass him, but somehow Grams always managed to. “Yes, ma’am. All stocked up on condoms.”

Grams nodded. “Be good!”

“Always.”

Slap and tickle.

Noah still couldn’t get his conversation with Dare’s grandmother out of his head, even now as he headed for the marina. The old lady had definitely taken him by surprise. Then again, she’d also managed to give him something other than Dare to think about.

Only now he was envisioning himself tickling a naked Dare.

Not nearly as romantic as he’d thought it would be.

As he pulled into the gravel parking lot of Pier 70 Marina, Noah took it all in. The sun was still high, sparkling off the water. There wasn’t much wind, so the water looked like glass, reflecting back the brilliance of the afternoon sky. If first impressions were anything to go by, this place was one he would visit frequently.

After parking his truck, Noah climbed out and looked around. There were a few people scattered about, most of them down by the water. The lake itself looked empty. No boats or Jet Skis on this side at least. It was peaceful.

The door to the small building opened and he peered over. The horrendous roar of dogs growling and snarling sounded from somewhere close by, and his fight-or-flight instincts kicked in. Noah spun around looking for the threat, but he saw nothing. He heard a laugh, followed by Dare’s voice. “Whatever. I’m not changin’ it. Get over it. I’ll be back in a bit.”

Noah’s eyes settled on Dare.

Have mercy. The man was … incredible.

He looked noticeably different than he had the last time he’d seen him … yesterday. Wow. Had it really been yesterday? It seemed like so much time had passed already. Gone were the jeans and polo, replaced by a pair of swim shorts and a white T-shirt with the marina’s logo across the front. He was barefoot and wearing a ball cap turned backward, and he looked so fucking good it was almost painful to stare at him for too long.

That was the Dare he’d fallen in love with. Twice. Carefree and happy, with a seductively charming smile. Noah didn’t think Dare realized how incredibly sexy he was.

“You caught me at a good time,” Dare called out as he approached, clearly expecting him though he was early. “You wanna take a walk down to the lake?”

Before he could respond, Dare got right into his personal space and … kissed him.

For a second, Noah thought his knees would give out. That wasn’t a chaste greeting, that was an all-out mouth fuck, and now he wasn’t sure he could pull away. He cupped the back of Dare’s head and fondled his tongue with his own, devouring him right there for God and everyone to witness.

By the time Dare pulled back, Noah was out of breath, and his dick was threatening to break out of his jeans.

“Hi,” Dare said softly, grinning.

“Hi.” Noah barely managed to get the word out.

“Come on. We’re kinda slow today. We can find a little privacy this way.”

When Dare took his hand, Noah allowed him to lead him across the parking lot, then past a grassy area that was set up with picnic tables and barbecue grills. They continued walking until they were off the main path and had ventured into the shadows of the surrounding trees.

Before Noah could ask where they were going or what Dare had in mind, Dare spun on him, backing him up against a tree and once again attacking his mouth. Although startled, Noah gave in almost immediately, wrapping his arms around Dare and pulling him flush against him.

“God, I missed you.”

Noah’s heart kicked hard in his chest at Dare’s words. “I missed you, too.”

“Can’t think of anything else but this.” Dare’s hand quickly worked the button and zipper on Noah’s shorts free, and that was when the reality of Dare’s statement hit him.

Dare hadn’t missed
him
. Dare had missed the sex.

Dare’s mouth trailed up to Noah’s ear. “I need to feel you in my mouth. Wanna watch as you come down my throat.”

Although Noah was a little taken aback by the turn of events, he couldn’t deny that Dare’s words turned him on. His dick swelled, throbbing as Dare wrapped his hand around him, stroking him firmly.

“Can I?” Dare asked.

Noah knew it wasn’t really a question that needed an answer, because Dare was already dropping to his knees in front of him. He immediately pulled Dare’s hat from his head so he could twine his fingers in his hair, holding him as Dare worshipped his dick. As much as he wanted to tell him they couldn’t make this only about sex, it was incredibly difficult to resist Dare’s wicked mouth.

Noah pressed his back into the tree, pushing his hips forward as he kept his eyes locked on Dare’s face. “Fuck… I love your mouth.”

Dare lapped at him with his tongue, teasing him, tormenting him, driving him out of his mind. He didn’t even care that they were outside, and although they seemed to have some privacy where they were, that wasn’t to say that someone couldn’t stumble upon them at any time. That made it a little hotter, actually. So much so that Noah got caught up in the moment.

Reaching down with his other hand, Noah cradled Dare’s jaw, halting him momentarily. “Stay like that.”

Dare stopped moving, his lips wrapped firmly around Noah’s cock.

“Seeing you on your knees…” Noah pushed into Dare’s mouth as far as he could, then retreated. “Makes me want to come right down your throat.” Noah pushed in again. “Take all of me, Dare. That’s it, baby. Let me feel your throat.”

Keeping his movements slow and even, Noah fucked Dare’s mouth like that, slow and deep, working the head into the back of Dare’s mouth as far as he could go.