Page 9 of Karma

Her eyes flickered in surprise.

She couldn’t be any more shocked than he was, since he was scheduled to have dinner at his brother’s house in an hour. But he wasn’t ready to let her go.

“Umm…” She seemed to struggle with the decision and he knew he’d bail on the family if it meant the chance to go out with her.

“I can’t tonight. I have to work. I need to put the final touches on a presentation I have in the morning.”

He nodded, understanding but still disappointed. “No problem.”

He wondered if he should take it as an outright rejection, then realized she hadn’t saidI can’t. She’d saidI can’t tonight.

“Maybe another time then.”

Her eyes widened, as if she couldn’t believe he’d push the issue.

“Maybe,” she said softly.

His heart jump-started inside his chest and his thoughts immediately turned to what Cara had said about turning things around. He’d always judged Liza harshly, but now he’d treated her to the real Dare and she’d softened.

“Can I walk you anywhere?” he asked, reluctant to let her leave.

She shook her head. “My car’s parked by my office,” she said, pointing down the tree-lined street.

“Be careful.”

“Always,” she said and treated him to a full-fledged genuine smile.

As he watched her jog toward her office, he realized something had shifted between them. And suddenly it didn’t matter who her brother was or what he’d done, Dare needed to get to know Liza better.

Liza reached her car. The BMW Z4 Roadster convertible was her baby. With its all-white outside with black interior, she loved the vehicle. She opened the car and grabbed the bottle of water she’d stowed in the back, guzzling it down, not caring if it gave her a cramp later. Her mouth was dry and her heart was racing—and the solid jog she’d been on before bumping into Dare Barron had nothing to do with it.

He did.

The man, in his gray Champion sweats that molded to his firm thighs and groin and the white T-shirt stained with dirt and sweat, had her drooling. She’d smacked right into him and he’d cupped her breasts, leaving them damp, her nipples hard and aching.

And then he’d asked her to dinner. As if the last time she’d seen him they hadn’t been adversaries arguing over the necessity of arresting her brother.

She wiped the sweat from the back of her neck and leaned over in an attempt to catch her breath. Because she knew she’d never regain her equilibrium ever again.

***

Dinner at themansion. Dare would give anything to eat alone and have time to think. Instead, he had to deal with the weekly family dinner, all the while pretending he wasn’t preoccupied with thoughts of Liza McKnight.

He ought to be glad she’d turned down his dinner invitation. This get-together wasn’t optional for anyone named Barron. And the only way he’d get through it was to force Liza to the back of his mind. He’d think about her and how he’d move forward later. Now he stared up at the mansion, reminding himself why he was here.

What had started as a strained weekly event to give his half sister, Tess, a sense of normalcy had morphed into something all three brothers enjoyed. Of course it helped that the two Barron wives, Faith and Kelly, insisted nothing short of death would be an acceptable excuse, but over time they’d all come to like the sense of family these dinners gave them. One they’d lacked for too long.

By now Dare ought to be used to the monster mansion Ethan owned, but the sheer size never ceased to amaze him. They’d grown up on the other side of town in a small house with three bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms, which was tiny compared to most homes in the area. Back then they’d been a family of five with their share of problems, including three rambunctious boys. Ethan, the oldest, caused his share of trouble and had had his own room. Dare shared his bedroom with Nash.

Everything had been normal until one night after Ethan turned eighteen and was arrested. Their parents went to bail Ethan out and were killed by a drunk driver on the way to the police station.

Had Ethan stuck around to raise his siblings?

Hell, no, he’d taken off for parts unknown, not coming home until ten years later.Almost one year ago,Dare thought. Time they’d spent first fighting, then forced to get along when Tess ended up on Ethan’s doorstep, the product of an affair nobody knew their father had had. She’d been a juvenile delinquent, dropped off by her half sister, Kelly Moss. She and Tess had the same mother.

A clusterfuck of a mess that somehow had brought them all together as a family. Including his middle brother Nash, who was now married to Kelly.

Shaking his head, Dare rang the doorbell, not surprised when the delinquent herself answered the door. Except Tess now bore no resemblance to that messed-up kid. Gone was the black hair with a purple stripe, eyebrow ring, and all-black clothing topped with an ever-present army jacket and combat boots she’d even worn in ninety-degree heat. Instead, she dressed in a pair of leggings and a concert T-shirt. Bare feet peeked out, toes revealing royal blue nail polish. And her hair was a light brown, her blue eyes pronounced in her tiny face.

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