Read Dare To Love Series: Daring to Chance It (Kindle Worlds Novella) for Free Online

office.
    Sarah was rising from behind her desk when they walked in. Beau saw anger and resentment flash across her face before she smoothed it into a polite mask.
    He forced a calm he didn’t feel. “Hello, Sarah. It’s been a long time.”
    She dipped her head once, her expression giving nothing away. “Yes, it has. I was pretty sure I’d never see you again.”
    He pulled out his best Beau Perini smile. “Life has a funny way of arranging things, I guess.”
    “Well.” Ian looked from one to the other. “I’ll leave you two to get reacquainted.”
    Then he was gone, the door closing softly behind him. Now Beau was left alone with the woman who lived in his dreams constantly. He stared at her, memorizing this new, older, more sophisticated Sarah. More mouthwatering, although the original had been great. The silence between them grew until it was practically a living thing. Why didn’t she say something, even if it was to tell him to go to hell? Finally, he cleared his throat.
    “Good to see you again, Sarah.”
    “Is it?” Frost dripped from her words. She stood there behind her desk, pinning him with her gaze. “I’m surprised you’re not busy with your fan club. I’ve seen all kinds of pictures of you with your adoring fans clinging to you like leeches.”
    “Pictures can be misleading,” he told her. “Anyway, this was a media event. Something different, but you know that, right?” When she didn’t answer, he cleared his throat again and blew out a breath. Just get it out there, he told himself. “I’m sorry, Sarah. I am truly, truly sorry.”
    “Oh?” She lifted an eyebrow. “Exactly what is it you’re apologizing for?”
    Okay, asshole, put it in words.
    He blew out another breath and shoved his hands into his pockets, reaching for a calm he was far from feeling “I’m sorry I was such a jackass when we were together. That I walked out without saying a word. That I didn’t tell you exactly how much the night meant to me.”
    “Snuck out is more like it,” she sneered. “Somehow, I’d thought you had more manners than that. More class.”
    His cheeks heated. “I did. I do. I mean…. Oh, hell. Go ahead. I deserve whatever you’ve got to say to me.”
    She did the staring thing again. Beau wanted to tell her she had a look that could freeze the Pacific Ocean.
    “Okay.” He spread his hands out. “I was an asshole. Maybe the biggest one in the world. I spent the best night of my life with an incredible woman, and I snuck out like a thief in the night.” He shook his head. “Call me names. Hit me. Beat me. Whatever you want to do. My mother would tan my hide.” He took two steps closer to the desk. “But you’ve had your revenge, Sarah. Many times over because you have haunted my dreams every single night since then.”
    “Not enough for you to get in touch with me,” she pointed out. “In fact, you got married to someone else.”
    “Big mistake,” he told her. The sick feeling that always accompanied thoughts of his marriage swept over him, but he beat it back. “Big, huge mistake.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “There hasn’t been a night or a day since that night in New Orleans that I haven’t kicked myself in the ass and called myself all kinds of names. My only excuse, worthless as it is, is that I was young and irresponsible and too dumb to see what was right in front of me. So, my only excuse is no excuse at all.”
    “Is that a fact?”
    Well, at least she’d said something.
    “Yes. It is.” He took two more steps forward, standing right at the desk, only the flat surface of it separating them. “You have no idea how much I want the chance to talk to you, Sarah, even if it’s for nothing more than to apologize again. Could I possibly persuade you to have dinner with me?” When she didn’t say anything, he added, “Lunch? A drink? Anything at all?”
    She swiped her tongue over her bottom lip, a gesture he remembered from that night. It had