“I need your car keys.” He didn’t give her a chance to question that. “Jett will move it someplace safe until you’re back here.”
Dare could tell that she didn’t buy that simplified version, but she went to a drawer in the kitchen and withdrew a spare key.
“Thanks.” Jett took it from her and stuffed it into his pocket.
Natalie had followed Molly in. She put her hands together, stared up at Dare and the tearful smile came. She opened her arms and embraced him tight. “Thank you, Dare. I’m so glad to know that she’s safe with you.”
Relieved that Molly at least had her sister’s support, Dare returned the hug with genuine affection. As Natalie stepped away from him, she turned her face and mouthed again to Molly, with even more exaggeration, Oh, my God.
Dare had no idea what her theatrics were about this time, but Molly nodded in dramatic agreement.
Shaking his head at the women, Jett said, “If there’s any news, let us know.”
“I will. Thanks.”
Jett kissed Molly on the cheek and, finally, escorted Natalie out of the apartment.
The second they were alone, Dare’s sexual desire sharpened. He went to the door and fastened the lock, then moved the chair to wedge it under the knob.
Seeing that, Molly’s face tightened with dread. “You’re sure those guys in the van are gone?”
“I watched them leave.” Dare came over to her. “But either way, I’m not going to let anyone touch you. You have my word.”
A sad smile flickered. “If anyone can make that promise, I believe you can.”
He needed to change the subject to lighten her mood. “What was all that oh-my-God business from your sister?”
Genuine humor brightened her smile a touch more. Molly poked him in the side. “Your hard body impressed her, that’s all.”
How ridiculous. “Meaning Jett is a slouch, huh?”
Now she laughed. “No, of course not. You saw him.”
Refusing to compliment another man’s physicality, Dare just grunted.
Molly wasn’t fooled. “You know he’s a prime specimen, Dare Macintosh. Don’t pretend otherwise.” She turned to look out the window, watching her sister and Jett leave the lot. “It’s just that you’re so far beyond average buffness, not many guys could ever compare.” She put a hand to the glass. “You’re beyond anything, I think.”
He knew his own ability, had always accepted it, but her excessive praise made his ears hot. “You’re being silly, Molly. I’m just a man.”
“No.” She shook her head, and Dare saw her shoulders slump a little. “You’re exceptional in so many ways. Natalie was just acknowledging it to me.”
Dare stood behind her, not touching her, but close enough to feel her heat and breathe in her scent. Keeping his hands off her challenged him. Even after her sister and Jett pulled out of the lot, she stood there.
“You okay, honey?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I am. It’s just…” She gave up her supervision from the window. “When will I get to see her again?”
What she really wanted to know was when would her life be returned to normal. Sometimes being an honest man sucked. He would have liked to lie to her, to promise her a quick resolution. But lying to her would never sit right. “I don’t know, baby. But I’m working on it.”
Soft breath left her in a sigh. She closed her eyes, but only for a second of grief. When she opened them again, the melancholy had been replaced with acceptance. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t do that.”
“I don’t mean to be a complainer. You’re doing so much already. And I know it’s going to work out eventually.”
“You are far from a complainer, Molly.” She was so damned accepting that it amazed him.
“I guess…being here, back at my apartment…” She waved a hand, at a loss for the right words. “I just see so many loose ends that I can’t really tie up, not while I have to keep looking over my shoulder.”
Her warmth drew him, so Dare trailed a knuckle along her jaw. “Will you tell your agent or publisher what happened?”
“God, no.” With an emphatic shake of her head, she said, “The fewer people who know, the better I like it. If it comes out, then it does. I won’t hide from it or be…be ashamed about it.”
“You have no reason to be.”
She agreed. “But this is one of those things that if I tell even a little of it, people will want to know more. They’ll start digging for every ugly detail.” Pride stiffened her spine. “It’s private, and I have no interest in advertising it.”
Dare got it. Many would pity her if they knew what she’d endured, and some would speculate on things that had not happened. Molly wasn’t the type to accept wrong assumptions or excess compassion.
But she wasn’t naive. She knew the truth would come out eventually. “I guess that’s not the kind of publicity you want.”
“Can you imagine?” She stepped up against him and wrapped her arms around him. “I already feel far too exposed without people talking about it.”
The perfect fit of her in his arms stirred Dare more, but right now what she wanted, what she needed, was comfort, so he only held her.
Through the window he saw that the black night had faded to gray. Before long, the sun would rise.