He opened the door for her and she slid into the car. He climbed in beside her, then the car moved away from the curb and into the traffic.

“Thanks for picking me up.”

She’d barely finished the word when she was in his arms, his lips moving on hers, his tongue gliding into her mouth, claiming her completely. She melted against him, giving herself over to his powerful masculine authority.

Her desire for him surged and she fully expected him to press her down on the seat and take her right here.

Her heart pounded. She wanted him to.

He released her lips and smiled. “My pleasure. I’m happy to pick you up anytime.”

“Um … thanks. Where are we going?”

“Back to my place.”

She eased away from him. “Uh, no. I was hoping we could go out for a drink.”

He smiled. “We can have a drink at my place.”

“No, I’d rather go out.” She did not want to be alone with him. Talking would turn into something more intimate and she didn’t want that. Not until she figured out a few things.

“All right.” He told the driver to take them to a bar she hadn’t heard of before. They arrived about five minutes later.

Dare opened the door and she stepped into the classy bar. The walls were a rich burgundy with the bar and tables in glossy dark cherry wood. The chairs around the tables were upholstered with armrests and looked really comfortable. The hostess guided them to a table by the window, overlooking a garden with a lovely view of rich pink peonies and tall purple-and-yellow-bearded irises in full bloom.

“Nice place.” Ashley sat in the chair Dare pulled out for her.

Dare sat down and ordered a bottle of champagne.

“Champagne?”

He smiled. “I closed a business deal today. I want to celebrate.”

“Oh, does that mean you’ve finished what you came here for?” she asked.

“Ash, I’m not going to suddenly leave, I promise you that.”

“But you will leave.”

He rested his hand on hers, sending warmth washing up her arm and through her entire body. “We’ll figure it out, Ash. Together. I know we can make something work.”

The waitress appeared with the bottle and popped the cork, then poured the bubbly liquid into tall flutes and placed one in front of each of them. She put the bottle in an ice bucket by the table, then left.

“To us.” He clinked his glass against hers.

“To your business deal.” She sipped her wine. It was a delicate, delightful flavor. Like nothing she’d ever tasted before. Of course, it was probably very expensive.

“Dare, I don’t want to ruin your celebration, but I have something to talk to you about.”

He frowned. “It sounds like something I don’t want to hear. If you’ve decided on Adam over me, I’ll warn you, I’m not going to give up.”

“It’s not that. It’s just … Helen came to talk to me about something and I just wanted to understand some things.”