If She Dares (Contemporary Romance) by Tanya Michaels Page A

over dinner.”
    Riley leaned over to kiss her mother’s cheek. “Thank you.”
    “We haven’t agreed to anything,” Sheryl warned.
    “I know. Hey, Dad, would you mind taking Mags to run around in the backyard while I get some stuff for her out of the car? Just make sure to stay close. She’d probably look like an easy meal to any hawks in the area.”
    “Sure thing,” Larry agreed. He took the leash from Riley’s hand and spoke to the dog in a tone of voice normally reserved for cute babies. “I won’t let anything get you. No, I won’t.”
    Sheryl threw her hands in the air. “Wonderful. My oldest daughter is shaping up to be a con artist, and my youngest now sells underwear for a living.”
    “Try to look at it as job security.” Larry winked at Riley. “After all, everyone needs underwear.” With that, he took Mags to the back door and removed her leash so she could fully enjoy the fenced yard.
    “I’ll be right back,” Riley told her mother. She really did have stuff for Mags in the car, like her dinner and a ball for Larry to throw. And a dog bed that Riley was hoping to leave here. “Then I can help you with—”
    “Not so fast,” her mother said. “I’m afraid if I don’t ask you about this now, it might slip my mind.”
    That might be the closest her mother had ever come to telling a bald-faced lie. Sheryl Kendrick never forgot anything.
    Riley gave a smile that she hoped looked expectant rather than suspicious. “Yes?”
    “Lynne Granger across the street has a nephew visiting from Savannah this weekend, in town for the wedding of an old friend Saturday night. But Lynne unexpectedly caught a flight to Greenville today when her daughter went into early labor. She feels bad that Mitch will be at her house all alone, so I extended an invitation for him to have dinner with us tomorrow night. You should join us! Lynne says he’s thirty, so only a few years older than you. I’m sure he’d feel more comfortable with someone his own age here.” She narrowed her eyes. “And it will be an excellent opportunity for you to visit Mags.”
    So this was the price of temporarily fostering her dog at her parents’ house—accepting a blind date. She sighed. Would it be worth reminding her mother yet again that she wasn’t interested in dating, that she still fought the urge to recoil when someone touched her?
Well, in real life, anyway
. Her cheeks heated as she recalled flashes of last night’s hazy, sensual dreams.
    “Can we count on you for dinner tomorrow?” her mother prompted.
    Sitting through one dinner in exchange for Mags having a home while Riley fought the system? “Deal.”
    * * *
    I T WAS LONELY , driving back to her apartment and knowing that Mags wouldn’t be with her tonight. But if everything worked out the way Riley hoped, Mags would be hers in the long run. Plenty of amiable evenings ahead of them.
    Since the day’s mail hadn’t come yet before she headed to her parents, Riley detoured through the marble-tiled lobby toward the small alcove that held each tenant’s locked mailbox. She rounded the corner, drawing up short when she spotted Jack, his back turned to her. He looked crisp and professional in dark slacks and a dress shirt. Her fingers itched to rumple his dark hair and unknot his tie. How much would it take to get past the polished veneer and provoke an unrestrained male response?
    Inappropriate, Ry
. Giving herself a hard mental shake, she reminded herself that, outside a couple torrid dreams, she didn’t have any right to touch him. Or undress him with her eyes. So she tried to sound casual, and not ready to pounce on him, when she said, “Hey, there, neighbor.”
    He turned with a smile. “Hey, back.” Eyes dropping to her purse, he inched closer. Then he spoke out of the side of his mouth, sounding like a gangster from a 1930s black-and-white film. “What’s the score today, boss? We smuggling cockatoos? Ferrets? An Arabian Thoroughbred?”
    She