Page 27 of Dare to Love

“What would that be?” he asked, enjoying her way too much.

“I have to tell Alex, and I have to do it my way. He won’t be happy, and I need him to understand. I need him in my corner. That’s nonnegotiable.”

Ian closed his eyes and groaned, not because he objected to how she handled his half brother and her friend, but for far more serious reasons. “I think that may be a problem,” he told her.

She stiffened and pulled back. “Ian, I said nonnegotiable, and I meant it. Alex isn’t just my friend, he’s myfamily.” Her entire body trembled. “For a long time, he was the only person I had in my life who protected me.” She flinched at her own words. Obviously she hadn’t meant to reveal that much.

But she’d said it, and now he wondered.Protected her? From whom?There was a story there, Ian knew, and if they had time, he’d ask her about it.

“The point is, if you can’t give me that, then—”

“I’d give you time to talk to him if I could, but it’s too late. That call I got this morning? It was about this.”

He grabbed his iPhone from the counter and opened the e-mail that had come in earlier, a link to a well-known sports blog that had posted a photo of the two of them taken last night as they exited the restaurant.

Her cheeks were flushed. Her hand in his. There was no doubt they were together. Or intended to be.

She took the phone and stared at the photo filling the screen. “Oh God.” She jumped up from her seat.

“My phone. I need my phone from your car.” She started for the door, then turned back to him. “Why didn’t you tell me about the picture before?”

“It’s only been ten minutes since I found out. I was trying to find out how far it spread.”

“And?” she asked.

“It’s gone viral, in the Miami sports blogs anyway.”

She winced. “What are they saying? What’s the caption?”

“Is it important?” he asked, not wanting to get intothat.

She eyed him warily. “The fact that you asked that tells me it is,” she said in a cool voice.

He met her gaze. “‘Miami Thunder President Ian Dare and his latest fling. What are the odds this one makes it beyond the weekend?’”

“Wonderful,” she muttered.

He refused to lose her over something he couldn’t control. “It only matters what goes on between us, and we’ve already had this conversation. You don’t need to worry.”

“It’s not me I’m worried about,” she said, her expression panic-stricken. “I need to call Alex.”

Of course she did. Somehow he managed to stop the words from coming out of his mouth. “Use my phone,” he said.

When she hesitated, he said, “It’s faster than waiting for my car to be brought around.”

She swallowed hard. “Thanks.” She dialed and waited for the other man to answer.

Ian knew he ought to give her privacy, but he couldn’t bring himself to walk out. He didn’t like being in the dark, and when it came to Riley and Alex, he wasn’t just the one being blacked out, he was entirely on the outside looking in. The thought turned his stomach.

“Hi, it’s me,” she said.

“Dammit, Riley—I’ve been calling you all night. Then I wake up this morning to that photo of you and Ian?”

Ian stood close enough to Riley that Alex’s voice carried from the other end, and he clenched his hands at his sides.

“I was waiting until you came home from your trip to tell you in person.” She glanced at Ian and turned away. “He offered me a job with the Thunder.”

“And he’s fucking you at the same time?” Alex yelled.