If We Dare (Swoon Series Book 6) Read online

  “Oh my God, Lucas. You’re totally overreacting.” I shook my head slowly. “It’s not a real date. It’s a fake date. He needs a favor, so I told him I’d help out.”

  Lucas gave his head a shake. “A fake date?”

  “What’s a fake date?” Rylie asked as she came bouncing into the living room adjacent to the kitchen. She skipped her way over to me before snatching up a slice of apple with peanut butter and popping it in her mouth.

  “That’s a very good question,” Lucas said.

  I bit back a sigh. I suppose I should’ve explained better and considered that my ever curious niece might appear with nosy questions.

  “Okay. It’s a date, but we’re not dating. Romantically speaking,” I explained.

  Rylie finished chewing and leaned over to reach for the napkins in the center of the table. I stretched my arm out, nudging the stack in her direction. After wiping her mouth, she angled her head to the side. Like Lucas and me, Rylie had almost black hair and green eyes. Unlike me, her hair had a bit of a curl to it like her father’s.

  Rylie narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. “I don’t understand,” she said, her solemn tone almost making me laugh aloud.

  “Walker’s a friend,” I said, looking between them. “He did me a favor the other night and helped me out with a situation at the bar. I told him I’d be happy to return the favor. He needs a date to a wedding, so I’m going.”

  This was all starting to seem rather ridiculous. Plus, I couldn’t explain it completely in front of Rylie. What had tipped my hand to agree was learning that Walker’s ex had screwed around on him and would be at the wedding. After what Rylie’s mother had done to Lucas, well, I had feelings about that kind of thing. I couldn’t exactly discuss that in front of Rylie.

  Rylie wrinkled her nose and grinned. “That’s weird.”

  “Walker’s a friend. Just like I would go somewhere with Valentina because she’s my friend, I’ll do the same for Walker,” I explained.

  That explanation finally seemed to satisfy Rylie. Her attention shifted to her father. “Can I go outside?”

  Lucas nodded. “You know the rules.”

  With a squeal, Rylie dashed to the side of the kitchen. The screen door bounced behind her, and she skipped out into the yard, immediately heading over to the small tree house a few feet off the ground. Lucas had built that for her last month, and she loved it.

  Lucas watched as she disappeared into the tiny space before his gaze slid back to me. “Okay, what’s really going on? I couldn’t believe it when Walker mentioned he was taking you to the wedding.”

  I threw my hands up. “Nothing is going on. Like nothing. You weren’t there, but Walker stepped in and broke up a bit of a scuffle at the bar the other night. This asshole was getting out of hand with a girl there for her twenty-first birthday. You know me—”

  I paused when Lucas muttered, “Oh, I know you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Just that you never back down from a confrontation. Sometimes I worry about you because of that.”

  With a roll of my eyes, I continued, “Anyway, I tried to get him to back off and the guy was drunk enough that he grabbed me. Walker intervened and straightened things out. When he said he needed a date for the wedding, and I found out it was because his ex screwed around on him with his best friend’s brother, well, I’m all on board.” I left out the bit about Walker helping me out of the dumpster and finding my bracelet. Lucas didn’t need to know every freaking detail.

  Lucas chuckled softly. “And what exactly are you going to do?”

  “Make her fucking regret it,” I said flatly.

  “No need to take what happened with Melissa personally, Jade.” Lucas was referring to his late wife who died from an aneurysm. We found out after she died that she’d cheated on him with a friend for over a year. “In case you missed it, I’ve more than moved on. Valentina’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”

  “I know you have,” I said with a sigh. “Valentina is amazing and I adore her. But, I owe Walker a favor. If he needs a date to that wedding, I’ll do it. It’s totally platonic, so don’t read anything into it.”

  Lucas studied me, his gaze speculative. I crossed my legs, my thumb reflexively reaching to my opposite wrist to trace over the silver bracelet I wore there, the very bracelet Walker had rescued for me.

  “I thought you didn’t date,” he said with a subtle lift of his chin and the hint of a dare in his tone.

  I lifted my own chin in return, meeting his gaze head-on. “I don’t. Like I told you, this isn’t a real date. It’s not like that.”

  He angled his head to the side, staying quiet just long enough that I shifted my shoulders and uncrossed my legs only to cross the other leg over the top again.

  “You know, you had an opinion on my lack of a love life before I met Valentina,” Lucas commented, his tone casual.

  “So what if I did?” I managed in reply, clinging to the steely defiance that got me through most situations when I felt uncomfortable. Unfortunately for me, my brother wasn’t intimidated and knew me better than just about anyone else.

  “I’m just sayin’,” he drawled, “you gave me a lecture on how I should give someone a chance. Think you said something about keeping my options open, or some other nonsense like that.”

  “And? Look where it got you. You found Valentina. She’s amazing and we all adore her.”

  Lucas smiled slowly. “I did. And I just might be the luckiest man in the world. My love life isn’t the topic of conversation right now. Yours is. Or lack thereof, I should say.”

  I took a breath, willing the churning in my gut to stop. “I’m perfectly fine without any love life. Society places expectations on women, and I’m happy without anyone. I don’t need any pressure, much less from you,” I snapped.

  Lucas’s gaze sobered quickly. “Hey, I didn’t mean to hit a sore spot. You know I’ve got your back.”

  Few people knew much about one spectacularly shitty event in my life. Lucas was on the shortlist. He did have my back. I loved him all the more for it.

  The silver bracelet on my wrist was warming up with my thumb sliding over it mindlessly. My foot bounced, discharging all that restless energy hanging around inside me.

  “Walker is a good guy,” Lucas said, out of nowhere as far as I was concerned.

  “I know. He’s been around town long enough. All of you in the crew sure like him, so I trust him. You don’t need to go all big brother on me.”

  My brother’s far too piercing green gaze held mine. “I’m not going big brother on you, whatever the fuck that means. I just didn’t know what to think when Walker saw fit to tell me he was taking you away for a weekend. Case you were wondering, he explained it was a fake date. Or, as Jackson put it, a real fake date,” Lucas said.

  I didn’t want to think about why Lucas made the point that Walker was a nice guy. Nor did I want to contemplate just how sexy Walker was. Which I did every single time he came to mind. He was all man wrapped up in a package of tall, dark, and broody.

  If I had a type—which I totally didn’t—it wasn’t him. No matter what my body thought when he happened to be in proximity.

  Chapter Six

  Walker

  Jade lived right down the street from me. I knew this because I’d given her a ride home once last winter after she got a flat tire. I’d forgotten just how electric the small space in my truck felt for those roughly fifteen minutes from Stolen Hearts Lodge to her place.

  I told myself that was probably a fluke, something to do with the weather and the fact I’d been in a melancholic space right before the holidays. Last winter had been my family’s first holiday season without my father since he’d passed away. He went in the best way possible. According to the doctor he had a massive heart attack in his sleep. Mind you, I’m not saying heart attacks are a good thing. Just making the point that he lived a full life and if he was going to go, why not go like that? Quick and clean. No matter what, we all missed the hell out of him.

  I forced my thoughts back to the present as I turned the steering wheel into Jade’s driveway. She had a cute little house, practically out of a postcard. It was a small two-story house with gabled windows upstairs and a peaked roof with bright purple shutters. It was late spring with the flowers in full bloom in her yard. The scent of honeysuckle drifted around me as I walked past a cluster of it running along the side of her driveway.

  Through text, we’d agreed I would pick her up this afternoon. The wedding was north of here at a winery and hotel in the mountains. We needed to arrive with enough time to prep for tonight’s wedding rehearsal dinner. Jade had assured me she was more than ready to pull off an “epic” performance. That was her description, and I didn’t even know what to think. Beyond the question about just what the hell we were doing, I’d begun to wonder if this was such a good idea.

  Stepping onto the small porch, which had flower boxes on the railings, I knocked lightly on the purple door. I distantly heard Jade calling in return, “Be there in a sec!”

  As I waited, I let my gaze scan the mountain range in the distance. We had roughly an hour and a half drive ahead of us into Virginia where the landscape would be similar. The Appalachian Mountains stretched all the way up the East Coast. For now, the legendary blue haze over the mountains was shot through by the late afternoon sunshine, giving it a silvery halo. Although I hadn’t grown up specifically in Stolen Hearts Valley, I’d grown up a mere hour away in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and these views were home to me.

  At the sound of the door opening behind me, I turned back. The moment my eyes landed on Jade, my body tightened. To my point of wondering if this was a good idea. I was seriously doubting the wisdom of spending a weekend with J
ade.

  Her midnight hair fell loose around her shoulders. Her rich green eyes met mine, a sly glint in them. “Are we ready?”

  My confusion must’ve shown on my face because she clarified. “You know”—she circled her hand in the air—“to go to the wedding and make your ex look like the bitch she is.”

  Jade appeared a little too excited about this, but I couldn’t help but laugh. I shrugged. “You know, it doesn’t have to be a big deal.”

  Jade rested a hand on her hip, tapping the toe of one of her cowboy boots on the hardwood floor in her entryway. “Oh, yes, it does. I get your point. You’re over her, but there’d be more questions if you showed up alone while she’s there with the groom’s brother. I just prefer to make her regret it.” This was punctuated with a hard roll of Jade’s eyes.

  I chuckled again. “Yes, I’m ready. Do you need me to carry anything?”

  Jade shook her head, turning to fetch a bag to the side of the door. She stepped out, shooing my hand away when I reached for her bag. “I got it.”

  She walked at my side along the slate flagstones to where my truck was parked in the circular driveway. Her small hatchback was parked in front of the garage doors. She stopped in the gravel driveway. “Should I put my bag in the back?” She gestured toward the covered back of my truck.

  “No need,” I replied, opening the door to the backseat. She relinquished her bag, her fingers brushing mine as I took it from her, sending a hot sizzle of electricity up my arm.

  Once we were in the car, after I got another eye roll from her when I held the door open, she glanced my way as I started the engine. “How far away is this place?”

  “Hour and a half, give or take.”

  “I’ve heard it’s a nice resort,” she commented as I turned out of her driveway.

  “I’ve heard the same. Can’t say because I’ve never been there.”

  “Speaking of never being somewhere, where do you live on our road? You took me home that one time, but I’ve yet to see where your truck is parked.”

  I pointed as we passed by the driveway in question. “It’s that house. Parking is in the back, so it wouldn’t be obvious,” I explained.

  Quiet fell between us as I navigated from downtown Stolen Hearts Valley onto the highway that would take us north. Just when I was thinking perhaps quiet was best, if only because I could zone out and try to get my body’s response to Jade under control, she spoke up.

  “Okay, we need to make use of this time,” she announced.

  Sliding my eyes to hers, I arched a brow in question before facing forward to the highway again.

  “You’re bringing me to a wedding. This can’t be just like a casual date. We have to know something about each other. When it comes to things like this, it’s best if we just know the truth,” she explained.

  On the long list of things I hadn’t considered when I’d impulsively asked Jade to come with me to this wedding, I could now add being quizzed.

  “Have you done this before?” I asked.

  Jade’s husky laugh sounded too good and sent a sizzle down my spine. “Not specifically. When I was in college, I took every drama elective available just for fun, so I’m sure I can handle it.”

  “All right then, you tell me what we need to know.”

  “The basics. You know, from what we do to some details about our families. All I know about you is you work for Stolen Hearts Valley Emergency Response and at Stolen Hearts Lodge. You’re friends with my brother, and you can handle a bar fight with no trouble.”

  “Well, that seems like plenty, don’t you think?” I tossed that out there.

  “Oh, definitely not. I need to know where you’re from, and a little bit about your family so I can lie convincingly. Here, I’ll start. I’m from Stolen Hearts Valley, grew up with Lucas. We’ve got a pretty typical family, two parents and two kids. I suppose the atypical part is our parents are still together, and they’re actually still happy and in love. They also live in the same home where I grew up, which is only about five miles away from where I live. You know I bartend occasionally, but that’s not a full-time job. I’ve been filling in more lately since Delilah left. For the last five years or so, I did full-time daycare for Lucas’s daughter, Rylie. He and Valentina are a pretty new thing. Before Lucas met Valentina, he was a single dad. Rylie’s mom died when she was only one year old.”

  My question rolled off my tongue because I was genuinely curious. “Before you started doing daycare full-time for Lucas, what were your plans?”

  Jade let out a soft sigh. “I didn’t have any clear plan. I got my degree in horticulture because I always loved gardening. I suppose my plan was to eventually start my own landscaping business. Working for Lucas didn’t interfere because I needed to make some money. Our parents are great, but they aren’t wealthy enough to pay for college. I’d planned all along to take some time to pay off my student loans and save some money before I tried to start a business. That’s never cheap.”

  “Definitely not,” I agreed. “I’m assuming I don’t need to worry about any boyfriends.” I slipped that one in, curious enough about her rumored no-dating stance to wonder what she was going to tell me.

  Before she said a word, I could feel the tension suddenly hanging in the air. I flicked my eyes to the side, to see her jaw set in a tight line. She didn’t exactly seem angry, but she was definitely not appreciating my question. After a moment, she replied, “Of course not. I wouldn’t be here if I had a boyfriend. I don’t date, and I intend for it to stay that way.”

  I filed that detail away, sliding it into one of the drawers in my brain that I might open again if I ever thought she’d tell me why. Because in all honesty, it was a damn shame for someone like Jade to swear off romance for her entire life. She was the kind of woman who didn’t come along often. She was steely and feisty with an earthy sensuality that called to me.

  “While we’re on the subject, what about you? Here I am, apparently your fake date, but it’s not like you don’t have your pick of women,” she commented.

  “The same could be said for you,” I countered.

  “Events happened, and I don’t trust men. Unfortunately for me, I don’t bat for the other team, although sometimes I wish I did,” Jade replied.

  I almost choked, letting out a surprised huff of a laugh. Jade winked and her lips curled in a slight smile. The temptation to hold her gaze was strong, and I had to force my eyes back to the road. We were going close to sixty miles per hour on a mountain highway, and it just wouldn’t do for me to get lost in Jade’s eyes.

  “So, your turn,” she added.

  Keeping my gaze studiously forward, I offered a quick summary. “I grew up about an hour away from Stolen Hearts Valley. I enrolled in the Air Force and completed college while I was in the military. While I was overseas, my girlfriend, really the only serious one I’ve had, hooked up with my best friend’s brother. She didn’t ruin me, or anything like that. I won’t lie and say it didn’t sting my pride. Nobody likes to be made to look like a fool. But I figured it was for the best when all was said and done. Now, she can screw around on him. Back to my family. I grew up with two parents who actually loved each other. My dad passed away last summer after a heart attack.”

  Jade gasped. “I’m so sorry!”

  Looking sideways, I saw she’d put her hand to her chest, and her eyes were wide. “Thank you. It sucked, and I miss him, but he died in his sleep, so I can’t complain about that. I visit my mother every other month or so for a weekend.”

  “What brought you to Stolen Hearts Valley?”

  “The job. Keeps me sane to stay outside. Jackson wants to start some small flights too, and I’ve got my pilots license. That was an easy yes. Between the first responder crew and working at the lodge, it suits my personality.”

  “Any siblings?” Jade asked.

  “Nope. Just me. I’d like to say I was spoiled, but not really. My dad was ex-military and pretty strict. We got by, but money was tight.”

  “Tell me about your best friend who’s getting married. I need some details.”

  “I suppose that would help. It’s my buddy, Dave. We went to high school together. He’s a great guy. He’s marrying his college sweetheart, Jenny.”