Dante pulled his truck into her driveway and turned off the engine before turning to her, his expression astonished. “Who doesn’t know how to ride a bike?”
Sarah shrugged uncomfortably. “Me.”
“Christ! Don’t you ever do anything just for the hell of it?”
“Not usually. But I’ve done a lot more things here than I did in Chicago. I walk just because I can. It makes no sense and it wastes time, but I do it because I like it, and I love all the little shops on Main Street. I get together with some of the friends I’ve made here, and I volunteer at the youth center. I love the classics, but lately I’ve been devouring every romance novel I can find.” Sarah unbuckled her seat belt and hopped out of the truck. Maybe she shouldn’t have said anything. Maybe now he thought she was a freak. Hastily, she dug for her house keys and pulled them from her purse, then grabbed Coco as she hopped into the seat that Sarah had just vacated. Once the dog was on the ground, she let Coco off the leash, allowing her to explore her own territory.
She hurried to the door, not realizing Dante was behind her until he took the keys from her hand and trapped her between his massive body and the wall beside the door. Looking up at his face, Sarah could see his volatile expression.
“What kind of mother never gets her kid a doll, teaches her to ride a bike, or lets her play any games as a kid? Shit! I thought I was screwed up because I had an abusive, alcoholic father, but even we had games. And because we were filthy rich, we had the best of everything, including bikes. If we didn’t, it would have hurt the old man’s image as one of the elite.” His nostrils flared and his breathing grew ragged. “I think you’d be the most fuckable woman on the planet wearing anything or nothing, but red is sexy. Do you have a red dress?”
Sarah nodded hesitantly. She had one, but she’d never worn it, an impulse buy when she’d been shopping with Randi and Emily.
“Wear it when we go out for dinner,” Dante instructed. “I’ll teach you to ride a bike. I’ve seen some incredible bike trails here. Hell, I’ll even let you kick my ass at chess. I play, but I have no doubt you’re better.”
Sarah looked up him warily. “Why?”
“Because it’s about time you experienced life. I know what it’s like to be wrapped up in your job, making it your entire world, so I can’t say I’m not guilty of doing the same thing. But there have to be certain moments where you make time for other things. Pleasurable things. The best memories I have of Patrick were going out fishing for the day, or getting on our motorcycles just to get out of the city. I haven’t balanced my life very well, but I plan on starting. Patrick used to tell me that life was too short not to take the time for guilty pleasures. I think he was right. And now I’m not just living my life for me; I’m living it for him. I’m going to do all of the things I’ve always talked about doing but never had the chance. I think he’d like that.”
Sarah’s eyes filled with tears as she watched Dante’s expression turn from angry to regretful. He wasn’t over his partner’s death, but he was moving in the right direction. “I think he would, too,” she told him solemnly, moving her hand up to cup his cheek.
“Are you ready to take a few chances?” A slow grin formed on Dante’s face, growing steadily larger. “I’m a very willing teacher.”
He was right. Her upbringing and history had kept her from doing a lot of things she’d wanted to do. Although she’d grown emotionally once she’d moved away from her mother, she was still a long way from really breaking out of the shell of isolation she’d surrounded herself with during her childhood and adolescence.
She wanted to spend more time with Dante, explore these new emotions and her sexuality. Her ethics would have eaten her alive if he was still her patient, but now that he’d solved that problem, she was free to explore this—whatever it was—thing with Dante. “Since you’re not my patient anymore, I think I’d like that. Although Dr. Samuels isn’t nearly as good a doctor as I am,” Sarah teased. Honestly, Dr. Samuels was a fine doctor who’d been in practice for at least twenty years, but she couldn’t resist giving Dante a hard time for dropping her services.
“I’d rather settle for a mediocre doctor than have you keep protesting and refusing to spend time with me,” Dante rumbled impatiently.
Sarah opened her mouth to speak, but Dante swiftly captured her lips in a demanding assault that made her immediately forget whatever it was that she wanted to say. His embrace was brief, but rough and dominant. By the time he let her breathe again, her body was already clamoring for him to give her more.
“Go inside before I take you right here against the wall,” Dante said rigidly as he unlocked the door and opened it before handing her back her keys.
“You’re not well enough for that,” Sarah argued, still gulping for air as she caught the grim expression on his face.
“You’d be surprised,” Dante replied ominously.
Sarah stepped through the door, still dazed from Dante’s kiss. But in less than a heartbeat, her mood went from hazy to horrified.
“Oh my God!” The first glance at her tiny, adorable cottage left her mouth hanging open in fear and revulsion, unable to say anything else. It literally looked like a bomb had exploded. Her cute little lamps and anything else made of glass was shattered, the shards of glass scattered on the floor. All of her furniture was shredded, every picture on the wall destroyed. In the place of the pictures that were now on the floor, only one thing remained . . . a message.