Dare to Love (Young Adult Romance) Read online

  “Why do you want to be a deputy?” I asked him.

  “Well, my grandfather was a cop, my dad, my uncle...” He paused. “I guess it’s in the blood.”

  “Maybe you should consider getting a transfusion,” I mumbled.

  “You don’t like law enforcement officers?” he asked curiously. “I mean, your dad is the sheriff, after all.”

  “Don’t remind me.”

  “You really don’t like cops,” he persisted.

  “I like cops,” I responded levelly. “I just don’t, well… Oh, I don’t know.”

  Dare shook his head slowly. “It probably isn’t easy being the sheriff’s daughter, is it?”

  “You can say that again. It’s especially tough when your father looks the part.” Dad, at well over six foot tall, was a pretty imposing figure. He had towered over my mother.

  Dare smiled. “Your dad is a pretty big guy,” he acknowledged. “I’d hate to be on his bad side.”

  You and most other boys I know, I thought.

  “How do you handle having a cop for a father?” I asked him.

  “My dad was killed on duty when I was little,” he answered.

  “I’m really sorry.” Our eyes locked in a silent communication. “My mom died last summer ... in a car accident.”

  I was surprised to hear the words from my own lips. I hadn’t talked about Mom to anyone, not even Jennifer. Dare nodded his head slowly, and then surprised me by draping his arm around me. He gave me a gentle squeeze.

  Suddenly, I needed to break the spell of heaviness that enveloped us, so I stood up and moved to stand at the water’s edge. Briefly, I scanned the area, and then moved toward a boulder high above the water.

  Carefully, I climbed the rock and then positioned myself at the edge. I glanced down at Dare, who had stood up. “What are you doing?” he demanded.

  I didn’t answer him but instead dove into the deep pool below. The water felt wonderfully cold. I swam to the edge of the pool and hoisted myself out of it, intending to repeat the dive.

  “What are you doing?” Dare shouted. “You’re going to kill yourself!”

  “I do it all the time,” I told him grinning, surprised by his outburst.

  He shook his head, outraged. Raking his hand through his hair, he said in an accusing voice, “This is how you handle your problems, isn’t it? Instead of talking about your mom, you just go for the adrenaline rush to…”

  “Shut up,” I hissed. “What do you know about it?”

  Instantly, I regretted the words. “I’m sorry.... I didn’t mean ... but...”

  I didn’t finish speaking since we were suddenly joined by two other explorers. The boy I didn’t know, but the girl, there was no mistaking—Courtney.

  “Dare, where have you been?” she asked in a pouty voice. “You were supposed to meet us back at the Blazer ten minutes ago.”

  “Sorry,” he said. “I’ve been busy.”

  Courtney glanced in my direction and watched me coldly. “I see. Well, we’d better get going.”

  Dare looked at me, then strode purposefully toward my clothes. He scooped up all my stuff, walked back to me, and promptly handed everything to me.

  “Get dressed,” he said in a gruff voice.

  “Excuse me,” I said angrily. I couldn’t believe his tone!

  “You heard me. Get dressed. We’ll walk you to your car.”

  I considered arguing with him, but I really didn’t want a scene in front of Courtney and the other explorer. But who did he think he was?

  I pulled my long t-shirt over my head and then stepped into my flip-flops. I grabbed my towel and began walking toward my car. Dare fell into step beside me.

  “Get lost,” I muttered under my breath.

  He didn’t say anything and soon we reached my car. I was about to climb in when he called to the other explorers, “Tell Lieutenant Hudson I’ll be riding back with Laura.”

  I whirled around and was about to protest, but before I knew it, he had climbed into my car. I glanced at the other two explorers. Courtney was watching me hostilely, her mouth set in a grim line and her eyes narrowed.

  I knew I couldn’t physically remove Dare from my car, or anywhere else for that matter. I reconciled myself to my fate as I climbed into my car for the long ride back to town.

  Chapter Four

  As we neared town, I realized I didn’t know where to drop Dare off. We hadn’t spoken the entire ride home. “Well, where to?” I asked him.

  “The lady speaks!” he exclaimed.

  I shook my head. “Well, I didn’t hear you talking either,” I pointedly reminded him.

  “Thought I’d give you time to cool off,” he said with a grin. “Are you still mad at me?”

  I shrugged and turned toward him. He was watching me with a big, dopey smile on his face. “How can you stay mad at this face?”

  I had to admit, it wasn’t easy. His sky blue eyes twinkled merrily and I hadn’t noticed before, but when he smiled, dimples appeared on his cheeks. Nudging me with his elbow, he asked, “Well?”

  I shrugged resignedly. “I’m not mad.”

  “Great, where are you taking me for lunch?”

  My eyes leapt in surprise. “Lunch?”

  “Yeah, I’m starving,” he declared. “How about pizza? Actually, I’ll even treat.”

  I glanced at his uniform, and he read my thoughts. “We’ll have to stop by the station so I can change and then we can go. Whatdaya say?”

  I hesitated for a few seconds. “Well ... okay. Pizza sounds good.”

  When we reached the station, I watched him as he climbed out of my car. “Coming in?” he asked me.

  “I’ll wait here,” I told him. I didn’t want to risk seeing my dad. I figured he was still pretty angry with me.

  “Okay,” he said with a smile. “I’ll be right back.”

  I studied his retreating figure. He sure looked good in a uniform. It was so hard to believe that yesterday, I was being hauled off to jail by him, and today, we were going out for pizza together.

  As I sat there, I thought about what had happened at the river. Dare had scared me to death with his tactics, but he had taught me a lesson. Maybe Dad and Jennifer were right. Maybe I was reckless.

  I wasn’t allowed to ponder the thought for long, however, since I spotted Dare leaving the building. He was dressed in baggy cargo shorts, a t-shirt, and brightly colored skater shoes. He looked even better in civilian clothes than in a uniform!

  When he reached my car and was about to climb in, Courtney and the other explorer pulled up beside us. Dare hesitated before getting into my car.

  “We’re going to pizza,” he told them. “Wanna come?”

  I winced. Just what I needed. Lunch with Courtney.

  The boy, who was driving, turned to Courtney, then back to Dare. “Sure, where?”

  Dare leaned into my car. “Where to, Laura?”

  I shrugged. “Uh, how about Leonardo’s?”

  He nodded, and then swung back around to talk to the boy. “Leonardo’s?”

  “Sounds good,” the boy said, “we’ll meet you there.” He and Courtney climbed out of the Blazer then.

  “Okay,” Dare called out as he climbed into my car.

  I was about to start the car when Courtney hurried over and peered into the passenger side window. She didn’t bother looking at me but she flashed Dare her most dazzling smile. “Are you sure you don’t want to ride with us?” she asked him. Then her voice softened to a whisper. “What if she gets pulled over again?”

  “I’ll keep a close eye on her,” he whispered conspiratorially. “I think she’ll be okay.”

  I was about to get really angry, but Dare turned and winked at me. Then he turned back to Courtney. “We’ll see you at the pizza parlor.”

  Her eyes widened in surprise and she drew back from the window. “Well, okay,” she said, and then walked huffily into the station.

  As I backed my car out, I shook my head. “I can’t
imagine why she wants to be a deputy,” I commented. A statuesque brunette with emerald green eyes and a knock-out figure, Courtney hardly fit the profile. “Isn’t she afraid she might break a nail?” I asked in a saccharin tone.

  “They do tend to get in the way when we go target shooting,” Dare said, smiling, “but actually, she does seem to know her stuff.”

  I found that hard to believe but decided to get off the subject of Courtney. She just wasn’t one of my favorite people. Apparently, Dare had the same idea. “Anyway,” he continued, “let’s not talk about her. Let’s talk about you.”

  Suddenly, I felt very uncomfortable. “Let’s not,” I said with a nervous laugh.

  “Really,” he urged, “tell me about yourself.”

  I turned toward him briefly and heaved an exasperated sigh. “What do you want to know?”

  “Whatever you want to tell me,” he replied. He was watching me intently, and I felt my face go red. I glanced away and he chuckled. “Man, Laura, is that you or the sunburn?”

  Flustered, I stared straight ahead.

  “Well?”

  “What?” I asked confusedly. I knew I was acting like a real air head, but he was making me so nervous.

  “Tell me about yourself,” he urged again.

  “Let’s talk about you,” I suggested brightly, eager to divert the conversation away from me.

  He raised his eyebrows and watched me speculatively. “What do you want to know?”

  Do you have a girlfriend? The errant thought popped into my mind. Fortunately, my lips hadn’t formed the words but they had certainly come close. I swallowed over a lump in my throat.

  “What do you want to know?” he asked me again, smiling widely. I glanced at him for a split second, then resumed staring straight ahead. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he’d read my mind.

  “Uh...well,” I mumbled, racking my brain, “I know! How did you get the name Dare?”

  He grinned. “Everyone asks me that.”

  “Well?”

  “My dad named me.”

  I nodded. “Is it short for something?”

  “Nope. I was named for a place. Dare County, North Carolina. My mom says it was Dad’s favorite place in the whole world.”

  “Oh. I thought maybe you were named for D.A.R.E.” I spelled the word, and Dare’s brows furrowed into a frown. “You know, the acronym for Drug Abuse Resistance Education.”

  “Oh, right,” he said, smiling. “But no, I wasn’t named for that.”

  “Do the explorers do anything for the D.A.R.E. program?” I asked, although I really didn’t care one way or another. It was simply my attempt to keep the conversation moving.

  Dare frowned. “I don’t know.”

  “D.A.R.E. is one of my dad’s favorite programs,” I told him, grateful to have something to talk about. “He likes to go around to elementary schools and talk to little kids about the dangers of drugs.”

  “You know, that sounds really interesting,” Dare acknowledged. “If you’d like, you could talk to Lieutenant Hudson about it.”

  I nodded, though I wasn’t especially eager to talk to Lieutenant Hudson about anything. He had arrested me for speeding, after all, and because of him, I’d been forced to join the explorers. I was lost to my thoughts, so Dare’s next words startled me.

  “Why so quiet all of a sudden?”

  I shook my head, relieved to see we’d reached the restaurant. Hastily, I parked the car and got out. I quickly rounded the car and collided with Dare, who had also gotten out of the car in record time. “Oops,” I mumbled, “sorry.”

  “No problem,” he replied, grinning. I moved to step around him but he moved at the same time. “What’s your hurry?”

  Glancing up at him, I realized he was teasing me. Flustered, I asked, “Are we going in or what?”

  “Or what,” he quipped.

  I ignored him and hurried into the pizza parlor. I grabbed the first available table and promptly began studying the menu. Dare slid into the booth beside me. I was surprised that he didn’t take the seat across from me.

  “Interesting reading?” he asked, after I’d spent a good five minutes with my nose in the menu.

  I glanced up and our eyes met. He grinned devilishly at me and I resumed staring at the menu. He took it from me and folded it closed. “Man, Laura, you’re a fake,” he declared.

  “What?” I asked, thoroughly confused by the remark.

  “You try to play such a tough girl but you’re really shy.” He nudged me in the ribs. “You’re a marshmallow.”

  “I am not,” I huffed.

  “Yes, you are,” he said smugly.

  “I am not!” I insisted.

  “You may be a thrill seeker, but you’re a marshmallow.”

  Exasperated, I declared, “I am neither a thrill seeker nor a marshmallow...”

  “But you are a lawbreaker,” Courtney said importantly as she slid into the booth.

  The remark caught me off guard and I could only stare at Courtney, who was watching me haughtily.

  “Don’t mind her,” the other explorer said as he sat down. “She sometimes forgets that she’s only an explorer. We have to keep reminding her she doesn’t have any real police powers.”

  “Oh, shut up, Keith,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t mean to be rude, but really, you and Dare know as well as I do that we’re not allowed to associate with lawbreakers.”

  “Ah, give it a rest,” Keith said, and smiled apologetically at me. “Hi, I’m Keith.”

  “I’m Laura.”

  I liked Keith immediately. He really knew how to put Courtney in her place.

  “I hear you’re going to be joining our ranks soon,” he said with a grin. Turning slowly toward Courtney, he watched her reaction with a self-satisfied gleam in his eye.

  “What?” Courtney shrieked. “She can’t!”

  Dare smiled crookedly at her. “Why not?”

  She glared at me. “I really don’t mean to be rude, Laura, but you have had several traffic violations. And I really doubt that anyone has conducted a background check...”

  Dare laughed and Keith shook his head, amazed.

  “Are you for real, Courtney? She’s the sheriff’s daughter,” he reminded her.

  “Well, just because she’s the sheriff’s daughter, does not mean she should get preferential treatment.”

  “Okay, Court,” Keith said tiredly, “just chill out. What kind of pizza do you want?”

  “Do not call me Court,” she said angrily. “My name is Courtney.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” he said as he stood from the table, “pepperoni or Canadian bacon?”

  “Neither,” she replied as she followed him to the order counter.

  Dare turned to me. “We’ll have to get right to that background check,” he said smiling. “But first, how about some pizza?” He slid out of the booth. “Pepperoni or Canadian bacon?” he asked me.

  “Half and half.”

  “Good idea,” he said, then turned and headed for the order counter.

  I remained seated but watched as Dare moved to stand beside Keith and Courtney, who were in line to order. I continued to watch the threesome, who were quite animated as they spoke to one another.

  Soon, they returned. Dare carried a tray with a pitcher of soda and four glasses full of ice. He slid into the booth beside me and Courtney and Keith took their places across from us.

  Dare began pouring our pop into the glasses. He passed me my soda and our eyes met. “I was just telling Keith and Courtney about your question earlier about D.A.R.E.,” he said. “When you mentioned the D.A.R.E. program, it sort of got me to thinking.”

  He passed Courtney and Keith their sodas, then turned his attention back to me. “Every year, each explorer club takes part in some community service activity. Last year, for example, my old club sponsored a toy drive for needy kids at Christmas time.”

  “We haven’t figured out what we’ll be doing this year,” Keith told m
e.

  “That’s right,” Dare agreed, “but I think it would be a good idea to do something with the D.A.R.E. program.”

  I watched him curiously. “You mean, like visit schools and talk to little kids about drugs like my dad does.”

  He nodded enthusiastically.

  “I think it’s a really good idea,” Keith said. “Little kids tend to listen to older kids, even more so than to adults. My little brother’s ten, and he follows me around like a puppy—drives me crazy.”

  Courtney nodded. “Keith’s right. I really think kids would be more receptive to us than to adults. We might even want to talk to older kids—middle school kids, maybe even high school.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Dare said eagerly. “We’ll have...” His words dwindled as a waitress brought four plates to our table. “Thank you,” he said politely. When she’d gone, he resumed talking. “We’ll have plenty of time to develop a program. Of course, it will involve some research. We’ll want to get a lot of information about the damaging effects of drugs, and we’ll probably want to do some skits or role playing—show kids how to say ‘no’ to drugs...”

  “Whoa, Dare,” Keith interrupted as the waitress brought our pizza, “let’s talk about this later. It’s Laura’s idea, so we’ll let her present it to Lieutenant Hudson. For now, let’s eat.”

  My idea? I mean, it sounded like a good one, but I certainly wasn’t qualified to approach Lieutenant Hudson about it. Technically, it was Dare’s idea anyway. Besides, I hadn’t even attended an explorer meeting yet. And I wasn’t particularly eager to become an explorer. It wasn’t as if I’d volunteered. I’d been drafted.

  I was about to say as much when Lieutenant Hudson suddenly appeared at our table. “Well, hello, gang,” he said.

  “Hey, Lieutenant,” Dare greeted him. “Taking a lunch break?”

  The lieutenant smiled ruefully and glanced at his watch. “We’ll see if I can make it through lunch without interruption. It’s a rare occurrence, I’ll tell you.”

  Dare nodded. “I know. My dad used to say the same thing. Hey, can you sit down for a minute? We’d like to talk to you about something.”

  “Sure,” Lieutenant Hudson said as he reached for a chair behind him. He pulled it up to our table and sat down.