Page 37 of Dare Me

“Really? That’s impressive! What did you catch?”

“Striped bass,” she said proudly. “And my brothers have been trying for years to break my record, but none of them have. My cousins too. I’m kind of a legend, really.”

That made him laugh. “I’ll bet you are. How many cousins?”

“Well, let’s see…total I have somewhere around eighteen on the Donovan side, but only a handful of them have ever gone fishing with us. My Uncle Ronan’s kids used to when they were younger, but it’s been years since we’ve all gone out like that.”

“Where do they live?”

“They’re all mostly up in Virginia. Uncle Ronan and Aunt Marie divorced about six years ago and he moved here and sort of just showed up for work one day at the pub and never left. My dad loves having him here, but we’re not supposed to ask about what happened.”

“That kind of sucks.”

“Big time. What about you? Any cousins?”

He shrugged. “A few, but we were never close and they’re scattered all over the country. I have two aunts who are still in California, but neither have kids.”

“I don’t even know what that must be like. We’re a huge family. My dad has five siblings and my mom has three, so even if we just got together with all of them and their kids, wecould probably populate the entire town!” With a soft chuckle, she added, “Fortunately, they’re scattered around a bit too—primarily here in the Southeast, but one of my uncles and his family live up on Long Island.”

“So then you’re pretty much an East Coast family.”

She nodded. “Yup. That’s why going to California was so much fun for me. I got to see a part of the country I’d never seen before and didn’t have to worry about any wayward Donovans coming out of the woodwork to spy on me.”

It was adorable how dramatic she was about this, but then again, Will honestly had no idea what it was like to come from such a large and close-knit family. Having spent the last few years listening to Liam talk about it and now hearing Arianna’s perspective taught him one very important thing: no two people looked at their family situation the same way.

He knew Arianna loved her family, she just wanted them to respect her. It was a completely reasonable request, but he had no idea how to make that happen.

“How much time have you spent on the East Coast?” she asked, interrupting his thoughts.

“Um…I got stationed here around four years ago, but I never spent a lot of time actually living here. I was deployed a lot and volunteered for a lot of things that kept me on the move.”

“How come?”

Shrugging again, he told her, “There were so many guys who had wives and families to come home to. I didn’t.”

Pulling back, her eyes were wide. “Will! But…that’s crazy! So you were just willing to sacrifice yourself?”

When she said it, it sounded crazy. But when he did it, it felt like a selfless thing to do.

Before he could respond, Arianna shifted and maneuvered until she was straddling him.

And a naked Arianna straddling him was the sexiest thing he had ever seen.

Reaching up, her hands cupped his jaw. “You are an amazing man,” she said, her voice soft and a little husky. “I hate the thought of you thinking someone else’s life was worth more than yours.” Leaning in, she kissed him and it was slow and sweet and full of promise. “I don’t think you realize how incredible you are.”

There wasn’t anything he could say to that, so he let his hands gently grasp her hips as he rocked her over him. Arianna’s breath hissed as her eyes closed with a sexy little moan.

“Truth or dare?” he murmured as he kissed his way along her jaw.

“Dare…”

Hell, he wasn’t even sure what he was going to ask of her because he was completely entranced by the sight of her right now. Her movements became a little more urgent as she panted his name.

“Take me, Arianna,” he gruffly commanded.

And she did.

Chapter Six

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