Love Me If You Dare (Safe Haven) (5 page)

“Oh.”
I swallowed hard. Shit, I’d thought Dylan was sexy as a mechanic. The thought
of him in a firefighter’s uniform, those muscles rippling as he used his body
to extinguish flames, as the heat made sweat run over his skin...

Hold
up.
I ordered myself. I had no business
thinking about Dylan that way. Never had.

“Well.
That’s good for him.” I finally managed. I didn’t know what else to say.

“Yeah.
He’s all goody goody now. No smoking. Has a house and a dog.” Jax rolled his
eyes at me, clearly trying to make me smile. I did, grateful that he was giving
me a moment to compose myself before I turned back to my friends.

“Hello,
hottie.” Maddy suddenly whispered. I jolted, startled, as she nudged me in the
ribcage—I hadn’t heard her approach. “Tell me you know him. And that he’s
single.”

Chill
bumps broke out over my skin before melting away in a wash of steam.

I’d
been back in town for two days, but I was already completely attuned to Dylan’s
presence.

Slowly,
I turned around, found him standing just inside the open garage door. Though he
was turned as if he was going to speak to Jax, his eyes were fastened on me.

“Ladies.”
Just the one syllable, then he turned his attention to Jax—or to an outsider,
it would seem that he had.

He
was still oriented towards me, or maybe it was me to him.

“Hi,
Dylan.” My face flushed and I looked down at my toes. The green varnish was
chipped, not the norm for me. I liked to be groomed and polished, to show
something shiny and perfect to the outside world.

“Oh.”Beside
me Maddy and Serena exhaled their comprehension in unison. I looked away from
my toes to glare at them. They gave me wide eyed stares of innocence in return,
but I knew that they’d put two and two together.

I
silently willed them to behave. Dylan wasn’t just some hot guy from my home
town. No, there was so much more between us than that.

So
much, and yet it could all fall away into nothing.

“That
part for my bike come in, Jax?” Dylan extracted a small paper bag from the pocket
of his battered jacket, then slid the garment down his shoulders. Beneath it he
was wearing a short sleeved T-shirt that showed only half of his tattoo and a
lot of sinewy muscle.

The
tattoo involved flames of some kind. Now it made sense.

From
the corner of my eye I saw Maddy’s eyebrow lift in appreciation. I felt a
snaking tendril of... not jealousy, not exactly. Possessiveness, even though I
knew she’d never make a move on someone that I had any kind of connection with.
Neither would Serena, even if she wasn’t crazy in love with her own guy.

All
I could think of was the way his bare torso had looked only hours ago, when
he’d stripped off his T-shirt so that I could be warm. The way the early
morning sunlight had played over the golden skin that stretched tightly over
those muscles, muscles that had only been a promise that last time I’d seen
them.

The
way his lips had looked when he’d pulled me towards him like he had a right.
When he’d almost kissed me.

It
was better than it had been before. And that was saying something.

“Yep,
it’s on the bench there.” Jax rubbed his hand over his nose, leaving a smear of
engine grease behind. I saw his eyes flick back and forth between me and Dylan,
but I swallowed hard and shoved it back.

“Awesome.
What do I owe you?” Before grabbing the part, he tossed the small paper bag my
way, not even looking to see if I caught it, which I did, after a fumble.

The
guys’ voices became background noise as, curious, I opened the small bag.
Inside was a pile of small dark rectangles—the unmistakeable scent hit my
senses like a sucker punch, and I felt my insides go as soft and gooey as the
contents of the bag.

Licorice.
He’d brought me a bag full of black licorice.

I
looked up, caught his gaze. He winked at me once, solemnly, before turning his
attention back to Jax.

“Oh,
shit.” I whispered to myself. I was a goner.

“I
take it you and Joel are off again?” Serena elbowed me discreetly, whispering
as she adjusted the elastic on her ponytail.

I
noted distractedly that she rarely hid behind the long curtain of her hair
anymore, like she had for years, but then her words sank in and my mouth went
dry.

Yes,
Joel and I were off again. Forever off. But that didn’t mean that there was
anything between me and Dylan.

And
that was a bald faced lie. There was something between us, absolutely. But more
than that were the things that would keep us apart.

“We
should get going.” Pasting a bright smile on my lips, I turned to Maddy and
Serena, stuffing the offensive bag of licorice into my right pocket as I did.
It would be a big gooey mass by the time I pulled it out, but I couldn’t handle
the sight, the smell of it, the reminder of Dylan.

Just
like the licorice, he was sweetness hidden beneath a bit of a bitter flavor.
And it didn’t matter how much I loved the taste, I wasn’t about to consume more
than I should.

“Don’t
you want to stay?” Maddy cast a puzzled look from me to Dylan, then back to me.
I knew why she was surprised. A gorgeous guy, and Joel and I weren’t currently
together. Normally this would be a recipe for me to start playing the hookup
game.

A
quick glance told me that Dylan was watching me well, his expression infuriatingly
calm. I started to shake my head, but before I could even move Jax was grinning
at me, wiggling his eyebrows obscenely from behind Dylan’s back.

“Come
on ladies, stay. I’m just about to bust open a case of beer.” To prove his
point, he opened the door of the battered fridge that sat beside his work bay
and pulled out a trio of frosty cans. With enviable aim he tossed them our way,
one at a time.

“It’s
barely noon, Jax.” I didn’t miss the startled look that passed between Serena
and Maddy at my words, or the slight smile from Dylan.

Jax
raised his eyebrows at me. “Nothing booked for the rest of the afternoon. And
you’re home. I’d say that’s cause for celebration.”

I
wavered. Damn it, just being back in Fish Lake was changing me back to the way
I was.

“Don’t
make me drink alone with this ugly mo fo.” Jax gestured to Dylan with a cock of
his head, and I frowned at the insult to Dylan. Jax grinned again, and I knew
I’d been caught out.

I
could feel the blush sweeping over my skin, the curse of a redhead. Damn it.

In
a rush, I made up my mind. “Beer me, then. I’m always up for some fun.”

From
the corner of my eye I thought I saw Dylan scowl at my words. My heart
stuttered.

Didn’t
he like it that I was more fun now than I’d been before? Wasn’t that what he
wanted?

Not
that what he thought mattered, not when it was what
I
wanted.

“If
that’s an ugly mo fo, then I want one.” Not waiting for me to say anything
else, Maddy popped the top on her beer, then lifted it towards Jax with a
flirtatious smile. “Thanks for the drink. I’ll owe you one.”

I
was a little surprised that his answering smile didn’t hold any flirtation back
even on Maddy’s second attempt—at least, anything that packed any punch. Maddy,
with her long dark hair and toned back that displayed gorgeous floral tattoos,
would have struck me as exactly his type.

Though,
come to think of it, I’d never really seen Jax with a girl, so I couldn’t have
said what, exactly, his type was.

Dylan
accepted a beer from Jax and popped the top. I watched as he lifted it, as his
lips closed over the opening, the muscles of cheeks and throat working as he
sipped, then swallowed.

A
surge of heat flooded down between my legs, embarrassing the hell out of me. I
looked away quickly, only to find that Maddy and Serena had settled right in,
and were talking with Jax like they’d known him for years.

That
left me. And Dylan.

Me
and Dylan.

Together.

As
if I had no say in the matter, my stare was dragged back to him. Gawd, he was
just ridiculously sexy, in those torn jeans and that fitted grey T-shirt, with
his hair all messy and that tattoo just peeking out the edge of his sleeve.

He
smiled at me then, long and slow, and I shivered. He didn’t have to speak to
tell me what he was thinking.

You’re
going to be mine.

Lifting
the icy can of beer to my lips, I chugged until my head hurt. The feelings that
had tugged us together before I’d left for college were still there, and if
anything were stronger than before. I still didn’t understand them.

The
kind of girl that Dylan had always gone for was the partier, like Ella had
been. Like I was now.

Except
now that I’d started to channel my sister, it seemed like he’d gone in the
other direction, started to grow up.

I
craved Dylan so badly that it hurt, but it didn’t look like we were going to
get our acts together anytime soon.

I
wasn’t the kind of person who was strong enough to deny myself something that I
wanted so much, not anymore. And that told me that I was in for a world of
heartbreak.

I’d
been back in town for two days... I’d be here for another four months. Already
I could hear Ella’s voice in my head, urging me on.

Stop
worrying about the right thing to do. You’ve cleaned up enough messes. Take
what you want
.

Except
it couldn’t have been Ella’s voice, because she would have screamed at the
thought of me with her best friend.

Damn
it.

How
long was I going to be able to hold out?

***

O
ne
beer had turned into three. Music was blasting, a song by Muse, which I liked
and that made me want to dance. Several of Jax’s other mechanics had shown up,
and Maddy was flirting with one of them, a teddy bear of a guy with arms the
size of my head.

I
wouldn’t be surprised if she wound up at his place for the night. I’d already
given her the thumbs up—I couldn’t remember the guy’s name, but he’d been a few
years ahead of me in school, had worked for Jax for years, and had never gotten
into any kind of trouble.

If
he had, I’d know. Fish Lake was just that kind of town.

Serena
was in a corner, clutching her beer and giggling at something Jax was telling
her. He wasn’t hitting on her, and I wasn’t surprised—she all but had ‘taken’
tattooed on her forehead.

I
had taken my eyes off of Dylan for a couple of minutes, trying hard not to be
stalker creepy. But he’d disappeared.

Disappointment
was heavy, weighing me down. I wanted to be around him, wanted to be with him,
even if I wasn’t about to admit that to anyone but myself.

I
was the worst sister in the world. Being with Dylan, even just for that single
kiss, had been the biggest mistake of my life. Why was I looking to repeat it?

“You
look sad.”

I
jumped and screeched when the words, spoken in that low, whiskey rough voice
whispered against my ear. Beer sloshed from the can onto my hand, an icy cold
against the sudden flush of heat.

“Don’t
sneak up on me like that.” I pushed as much irritation as I could into the
words, but I was feeling anything but.

My
body was chanting
yes yes yes
, urging me to press myself against that
rock solid frame.

No.
Bad Kaylee.

“It’s
not sneaking if I wasn’t trying to be quiet.” He watched me, his expression
bemused. “Not my fault you weren’t paying attention.”

I
opened my mouth, then closed it again when I could come up with nothing to say.

“So.”
Dylan took a step towards me; I backed away. One more step and my back was
pressed against one of the workbenches, the sharp edge of the counter digging
into the tender flesh just below my spine.

He’d
trapped me with two steps and a devilish smile. I could slip to the side to
free myself, but wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing how nervous he
made me.

“So.”
I echoed, narrowing my eyes at him. I didn’t like being cornered, feeling
trapped.

It
reminded me of how I’d felt for most of my life, trapped in that house, that
family, stuck in the role of the good daughter.

“What
are we going to do about this, Kaylee?”

My
mouth fell open. Surely he wasn’t talking about... well...
this
.

I
eyed him. He regarded me calmly.

This
was exactly what he was talking about—about
us.
Trust Dylan to lay it
all out on the table, while I did my best to make it go away.

“We’re
not going to have this conversation, Dylan.” At that point I did try to slip to
the side, away from him.

Suddenly
his arms were on either side of my ribcage, pinning me in. My heart raced as
that long, hard body pressed up against me, and at the same time anger flashed,
hot and fast, that he would dare do it.

“Let
me go, Dylan.” I glared.

The
look would have been a lot more convincing, I knew, if the flush of arousal
wasn’t painting my skin pink.

“There’s
something between us still, Kaylee. Are you just going to ignore it?”

Hell
no
, my body screamed, urging me to rub
myself all over him.
Oh yes
—that was my brain, reminding me of all the
bad things that had happened the last time I’d let Dylan McKay put those rough,
amazing hands on me.

“Yes.”
My brain won out. “And you should, too. It’s the smart thing to do.”

“So
the old Kaylee is still in there somewhere, buried under the sexy red bikini,
huh?” He chuckled when I glared up at him, infuriated by his words. “But you’re
all feisty now. I like it.”

I
slapped my hands onto his chest. He gently, gently covered them with his own.