Dare to Succeed [The Dare Series 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  “That she could make something custom for us where she would work from our home and where we could make her feel more comfortable and perhaps see if she’s attracted to us, too.”

  “Exactly. Interestingly enough, I asked her about opening up her own storefront and selling her creations. She seemed cautious in her response and when I mentioned someone backing her up financially like a partner she all of about smashed that idea. I wonder if your theory about her trying and failing at a business was accurate. Maybe someone hurt her. I don’t know, but since she said yes to coming by our place and seeing the potential job, I’ll take it and see where it leads for us.”

  “That does sound promising and intriguing. We can push for more info as she gets comfortable,” Monroe said.

  “If she takes the job. She didn’t seem too enthusiastic about it.”

  “Well if what we think is true and that someone hurt her or that she has financial problems then we’ll find out and we’ll help her. She’s the kind of young woman that needs reassurance and to feel she can trust the people she is with. Why do you think she’s always with Marlena, Mercedes, and Adele? They’re all pretty quiet and shy.”

  “Well, this is our opportunity to let her get to know us. So, what else is going on? How is the construction going? Have you spoken to Richie?”

  “Sure did. Looks like the foundations will be poured next week. I need to talk with Hank about some aspects of the construction. The Gianero family that is opening up the pizza parlor and small restaurant would like to have a second floor and balcony overlooking the streets in the front and the gardens in the back. I think it’s possible but we’d have to alter some of the other designs a bit. Maybe change up the final drawings. I kind of like the idea.”

  Caldwell chuckled.

  “Well, Hank is the one to talk to. I guess I’ll catch up with you later. I want to go over the landscape proposals and designs to see how we’re going to do the layout. I’ll send you over anything I need confirmation on.”

  “I’ll be back at the house by late afternoon. I have some meetings and some calls to make.”

  “No problem. Catch ya later.”

  Monroe smiled as he leaned back in his chair. Caldwell got them the opportunity they’d been waiting for. Alicia was going to be coming to their home and possibly working there. What better opportunity to get to know her and for her to get to know them. She should feel comfortable and at ease in no time. He felt the excitement immediately. He’d never felt like this before. Monroe never liked a woman so instantly and never one that wasn’t throwing herself at him and his brothers. Alicia was different. She was sweet, sincere, and seemed timid. He felt an instant protectiveness over her just like his brothers did. He had to make sure that things went right. She was perfect for them and they needed to prove that to her.

  * * * *

  Alicia stared at the construction site from the hilltop down the street. She jogged here, just like she did every Wednesday and Friday before work. It was so exciting to see them begin to lay out the site and plan where the buildings would sit. She imagined what the strip on the outskirts of Chance would look like once they were complete. The town was expanding, and who knew how many more residents and storefronts there would be. This location could be prime. She just knew it.

  She swallowed the lump of emotions in her throat along with the sensations of anxiety. She knew in her heart that this could be a great opportunity, yet every time she considered taking that next step to achieve her lifelong goal of being a storeowner and entrepreneur, she thought about Tony and what he had done to her. Hell, she thought about the criticism she would receive from him and how he would have the gall to come out here and insult her or worse, see the potential in the area and in her store and try to push his way in. As much as she wanted to believe she’d have the nerve to tell him no, she knew otherwise. Once he got Alvin involved and they tag-teamed her, she would collapse under their control.

  Her vision blurred from filling with tears as she thought about Tony, thoughts of him taking over her ideas and ultimately owning her. In a lot of ways Tony believed he did own her. When he said she was special, and that there would always be a special place in his heart for her, she knew it was his way of saying he owned her. A part of her at least that no other man could ever have. Her virginity. He was so screwed up for doing that. Why couldn’t he just let her go? He was the one that cheated on her. She recalled seeing that jerk just a month ago while at a convention in Dallas. He was so pompous and acted like he had every right to touch her, to flirt and behave like she had been so important to him at one time. He even suggested going up to his hotel room and “talking.” She almost fell for his lies, but the creepy way he made her feel when he touched her or caressed her arm made her push him away and head home early. He was such a controlling, slimy skunk. How could she have been so stupid?

  Then she realized, as she watched him mix and mingle, that he was like that with all women. He flirted, he seduced, he manipulated, and she saw him in action. Why did he have such a hold on her? She knew she needed to ignore his advances, and his hurtful comments that always seemed to hit her so hard. How did he have the ability to make her feel weak and not good enough?

  Because he took my virginity? Who the hell cares? Plenty of women have multiple sexual partners before they find that special one. Why should it be different for me? He destroyed my confidence and til this day I can’t make a firm decision on my own. I just keep working, creating my stained glass pieces, and hope to get discovered. That might never happen.

  She came back from that trip frustrated, but also hurt. She had thought that she loved Tony and he loved her. They talked about their dreams and investments together. They seemed to be on the same page and equally determined. He built her up. He made her believe in herself and when she felt as if she were flying, heading toward success, he pulled the rug out from underneath her in more ways than one. Aside from the material things—the business sold out from underneath her, the future and her career—he tore her heart out. Even after time had passed and she saw him, Tony had a way of making her feel like somehow she was to blame. Like without him she couldn’t succeed. Deep down she knew it wasn’t right, but her self-confidence withered. Seeing him a month ago she realized that Tony still had a hold of her. That he could make her question her own judgment, her own decisions and her own capabilities. It didn’t help that Tony was her brother’s best friend.

  Her brother, Alvin, hadn’t been much help when things went wrong. Alvin thought the world of Tony. When Tony said that the buyout was out of his control, her brother believed him. Alvin saw Alicia as weak, passive and unable to do anything on her own. That was what got her to finally leave Dallas and head this way. Finding Chance where no one knew her or where she came from gained her the ability to be more independent and prove she didn’t need Tony or anyone else to succeed in life. That was the plan, but looking at the construction again, feeling the determination to give this risk a try on her own, had her shaking in her sneakers and wondering if she were cut out to be anything other than Alicia Waltz, eBay shop owner of stained glass art work.

  She thought about Caldwell and how she was supposed to meet him and his brothers at their house today. She didn’t think it was a good idea, but she could use the money. She had enough set aside to rent a new building on the site she stared at in front of her. If only she had the courage and drive. Where had that drive gone? That determination, that pride and self-confidence in her art and her own capabilities?

  She knew the answer. She lost focus. She allowed the past to still hold power of her now and nothing seemed to help her get through those walls and fight. Nothing.

  Feeling defeated and emotional, she took a deep breath and prepared to head back to reality. She was nervous. She didn’t know what to expect going to the home of three men who individually represented qualities, personalities, and abilities she feared. Why had she said yes to going? Why?

  She stood up, stretched out her legs, and prepared for the run back home to her studio and two-bedroom loft above Dr. Anders’s garage. His wife, Lisa Marie, and his brothers, Mitchel and Troy, were friendly, likable people. They had the kind of relationship that ran rampant around Chance. Alicia was envious in many ways.

  Alicia smiled to herself. It was amazing how many ménage relationships she had been exposed to coming to Chance. It seemed like those involved with them were so happy. Like they found their perfect matches and truly adored one another. That was something else she could never have. A relationship with a man or men where she felt she could trust them fully without constantly fearing and worrying about when they would hurt her or disappoint her, never mind leave her. Tony did some serious damage to her heart and her confidence. She knew that, but in a way it made her more aware, maybe even more analytical of men in general. She took them as she saw them, and if she got a funny sensation in her gut, she ran as far as she could.

  She placed her earbuds back into her ears then pressed the button on her small clip on iPod. The pop music filled her ears and she prepared for the four-mile run back home. She thought about the construction site and picked up speed heading down toward the roadway. The trees lined the road and she would need to slow down to take the blacktop the rest of the way back toward Chance. She was running so fast, too absorbed in the loud music and not paying any attention to anything else. As she ran down the hill and toward the roadway, she never expected to see the sheriff’s patrol truck, and he apparently didn’t expect someone to come running from the trees and straight into the road in front of his truck.

  The loud screeching sound pulled her from her daze and she jerked to the right at the same time then jumped and tumbled out of the way and down into the dirt.

  She felt the sting to her thigh and the hard thump to the roadway as she cried out.

  She knew she was cut and scraped up badly but she never expected a car or anyone to be on the road this early and on this side of town.

  “Goddamn it! Are you out of your mind?” She heard the loud roar of anger and then glanced toward the street and the dark shadow of the sheriff strutting across the front of his truck toward her.

  She cringed and turned away. She was embarrassed and hurt. As if he realized that she must be injured because she was crying, he ran to her immediately.

  “Oh hell, Alicia. You’re hurt. Jesus, woman, you scared the crap out of me. I could have run you over. Hell, I could have killed you,” he said, still sounding like he was reprimanding her.

  She didn’t know what scared her more—the aches and burning she felt as she wondered if something were broken and how screwed she would be considering she had no health insurance, or the intense electrifying feeling shooting through her skin as the sheriff’s large hands caressed her bare arms.

  Sheriff Max Gordon scared her. He was older, intimidating, and so damn powerful around this town that she knew to stay clear of him. It was only a few months back that he and his brothers acted like guardians to her while Marlena was in danger.

  “I’m fine. I’m sorry. I hadn’t expected anyone to be on the road. No one is usually on the road.”

  She turned to move and attempted to get up then cringed and moaned.

  His hand landed on her knee and the other on her hip.

  “Don’t move. You have road burn, and dirt and scratches all over your upper thigh.”

  She was lying on her hip and in a very sexy position, her breasts nearly flowing from her top and her running shorts high to her groin. Even she knew she was exposing more skin than she should be with a man as sexy and intimidating as the sheriff. She felt embarrassed.

  “Ah hell, baby,” he said in a deep Southern tone that seemed to hit her directly in her pussy. She shivered as he held her gaze with those stunning deep brown eyes of his. The gruff on his face was even sexy and of course she was frozen in place with those big, hard, callused hands of his against her skin.

  He was born and raised in South Carolina and came from a family of law enforcement officers. He had dark brown eyes that seemed to go from sweet to intense in a flash. His muscles were big, the gruff on his face an indication of how mature the man was and how masculine. Some men couldn’t wear a shadow of a beard and look so lethal. The sheriff sure could. That dark expression of his as he stared at her and looked her body over had her feeling naive and stupid for nearly getting hit and having to face him. He was someone that intimidated her big time. Sheriff Max Gordon was badass and then some.

  “I’ll be fine. I just need to get up.”

  “You’re not fine. I’m carrying you to the truck. I’ll give you a ride back.”

  He went to lift her and she protested.

  “No. Don’t be silly. You’re working, and it was partially my fault. I can get back fine.”

  “It was your entire fault, not partially, and on the four-mile trek back I can explain to you a little about safety precautions so you don’t break your pretty little neck. Now let me get you into the truck.”

  She was shocked and went to protest, to tell him off, but her mouth opened and no words came out. The stinker had a sparkle in his eyes but his expression remained hard and firm as he lifted her up into his great big strong arms and held her against his chest.

  She froze, unable to move, to touch him as every fiber in her body felt hot and aroused. The she prayed she didn’t smell because she was so sweaty and now dirty too.

  “Put your arm around my shoulder so I can get up this incline,” he said. The scent of his cologne attacked her senses. The feel of his hard body beneath hers and the way his forearms felt against her skin made her pussy burn with desire. The ache she felt in her thigh and the burning sensation now that she was moving didn’t seem to compare to the affect the sheriff had on her body. This wasn’t good.

  She was shocked and she needed to speak in order to not come across as some damsel in distress or even weak. “I can take care of myself, sheriff. Really, I’ll be fine if you just set me down.”

  He ignored her. His expression firm. His face tense as he held her with one arm and opened the truck passenger side door with his other hand.

  Even that impressed her.

  When he set her down and her leg hit the leather seat she gasped.

  He cursed under his breath.

  “Lean to the side and toward the driver’s side. You can lean on me.”

  He carefully closed the door and she heard him mumble something as if he were talking to someone, she wasn’t sure. As he opened the driver’s side door, she tried pulling back to make room for him which only aggravated her thigh more. She couldn’t help but close her eyes to block the tears from falling. She’d really hurt her leg and scraped it up badly. She prayed it didn’t leave a terrible scar.

  In her mind she thought about Tony. He would call her a klutz, say she was unladylike for working out, and he would yell at her for damaging her perfect skin. She lifted up on her elbow and cringed again.

  “Quit moving around and lay on my thigh,” he ordered her.

  “No. I’m fine like this.”

  “Alicia, quit being stubborn and do as I say. Lean on me. I’m here for you,” he scolded her. She should have flipped out about the way he ordered her around, commanded her to do as he said, but then his last words lingered in her mind and played havoc with her thoughts.

  Lean on me. I’m here for you. Really?

  * * * *

  Max was at his wits’ end. He was practically shaking. He nearly ran over and killed the one woman he and his brothers set their sights on as theirs. She was stubborn, distant, quiet, shy, unreadable at times and it drove him insane. So badly he wanted to look her up in the computer system to find out anything he could about her life, but he knew better. That wasn’t a way to start off a potentially promising relationship. He had trust issues. He knew that. He accepted it, but many people took offense to his hard ways and standoffish attitude. He really didn’t care.

  Besides, he and his brothers were tough men to deal with. They expected respect, control, and authority. Monroe and Caldwell were businessmen, entrepreneurs who were always in charge and used to it. He was the sheriff of Chance. There was a lot for them to consider.

  When Alicia moved to Chance he noticed her immediately. There was an instant spark and attraction, but she didn’t seem to feel the same way about him or his brothers. Then he found out through the grapevine that she left Dallas, had some bad relationship with some guy and left. It seemed to him that Alicia didn’t trust easily either. Perhaps this guy, whoever he was, hurt her, broke her heart, maybe gave her the impression that men couldn’t be trusted.

  He and his brothers could be trusted.

  He wasn’t sure, but he knew other men found her attractive and were interested. He and his brothers were ready to take action. Providing protection for her a couple of months ago gave them the opportunity to start gaining that trust. Things had changed between them, but right now it seemed Alicia would rather feel pain and discomfort than lean on him for support.

  He glanced at her as he put the truck into drive and headed down the road.

  “Stop being so stubborn. Lay your head on my thigh and take pressure off that leg.”

  He gulped looking at her long, tan, sexy thigh and how she curled up on the seat. He imagined her like this on his couch, next to him and his brothers at their place, minus the cuts and bruises of course.

  He licked his lower lip. Her scent was appealing, her shampoo alluring as it consumed his senses.

  He gripped the steering wheel tighter the moment her head landed on his thigh.

  He glanced down. So badly he would love to caress his fingers through her brown hair. Feel the softness of her skin on her cheek. He often thought about what her skin felt like to touch, to kiss, and of course explore.

  His cock hardened but he wouldn’t shift no matter how uncomfortable he was. If she felt his erection she might panic and jump out of the moving vehicle. He exhaled.

  -->