Page 36 of Dare You to See Me
“That’s fine, Dahlia. Just…do you think you can open the door for me? I lef–”
“I can get that for you.”
“Mr. Dare!” Dahlia shouts and I flip my head to look over my shoulder, and find Malik walking in our direction.
“Hello, my favorite student.” She launches herself at him, and he has the foresight to reach out and grab her. “You’ve got your hands full.”
I give him a small, embarrassed smile with a nod. “Yes. And I accidentally forgot to grab my purse. It’s not locked, I just don’t have the extra hand.”
With Dahlia in his arms, because she’s gripped onto him like a spider monkey, and takes both dishes from me like they’re simply made of paper.
“I got these. Grab whatever you need and I’ll show you back.”
I quickly reach in and grab my purse hanging from the back of my seat and my phone from the console. I take one quick look around to make sure nothing else gets left behind and quickly close and lock the door.
“Thank you. I can get those,” I tell him, holding out my hands for the dishes.
“Nonsense. Follow me.” He turns and walks holding the food and my daughter with comfortable ease as if they belong to him.
“Well at least put that little stinker down. She has two legs and they work just fine.”
“Never,” he shouts over his shoulder and keeps walking.
I follow behind him, across the carefully manicured lawn and driveway to a side gate that sits between the large garage and enormous house.
“Would you mind opening the gate for me? That may be pretty difficult to do with my toes.” He chuckles, and we both look down at his sneaker covered feet.
My eyes roll slowly up his body, taking in his jeans that fit just right. Not too tight, not too baggy. They hint at the sculpted legs that lie beneath. A crisp white t-shirt contrasts his beautifully olive skin and I inwardly moan. What is it about a guy in a white t-shirt that gets women so hot? It’s nothing fancy but damn does it look good.
My eyes finally meet his gorgeous face that holds a smirk and glint in his eyes. The eyes that are slightly shadowed by the brim of his hat that readsDARE Inc.Yeah…he’s wearing a fucking baseball cap.
“Soleil?” he says, bringing me out of my lust filled haze.
“Huh?”
“Could you get the gate?”
“Oh. Gosh. Yes. I’m sorry.” I fumble with the latch, my body hot with embarrassment, and hold it wide for him to pass through.
Boisterous laughter and talk can be heard as we get nearer, and a massive pool comes into view. Beautiful people mill about, and two kids are running as fast as their little legs will take them.
“Soleil. You’re here.” Dagen’s arms go up in a V and she walks over to greet me with a hug. “I’m so happy you made it.”
“Thank you for the invite. That was extremely nice of you.” She squeezes my arm with a warm smile.
“Miss Dagen. Is that your sister and brother?” Dahlia’s eyes are glued to the two young ones.
“It is. Do you want to come meet them?” Her head bobs so fiercely, the poor thing is liable to get a headache from the way her brain bounces about. “C’mon. I’ll introduce you.”
Dahlia is quick to hop out of Malik’s arms and grab on to Dagen’s hand.
The two trot off like the best of friends. If only I had the confidence and courage my five year old does.
“Come with me to put this food down and I’ll introduce you to Dagen’s parents. I’m sure they’ll want to meet the mother of their kids' new best friend.” He nudges his head in the direction of the house.
He makes quick work of dropping off food and shuffling me from person to person as I meet and get reacquainted with the guests.
It’s almost circuit overload. Normally I’m a bit more quiet and timid. Kyle is loud enough for the both of us, so I’ve never really had the need to stand out. But this…this feels nice. It’s their own little family and being away from my parents and without any siblings of my own, it’s something I could really use.
