Dare Me Excerpt

“But…?”
“How do you know there’s a but?”
“Arianna, please. There’s always a but.”
“Fine. But…my previous concerns still stand. If things don’t work out, do we really want to be living in the same building?”
“What if they work out perfectly? Have you thought about that? Why are you so sure that it won’t?”
“Will…”
“Don’t you think it’s crazy how we met? We had the most perfect day ever and thought we’d never see each other again, but then ended up on the same flight!”
“I know, but…”
“And what were the odds that I’d know your brother or that I’d be making plans with him to go into business together?”
“Yeah, that was definitely a weird coincidence, but…”
“We meet hundreds of people in our live, Arianna. You’re the first one who the universe keeps putting in my path. That tells me that we can work.”
She whispered his name. “We’re doing it again.”
“Doing what?”
“The deep dive.”
“Maybe there’s a reason for that.”
Her only response was a yawn.
A loud one.
She made a sleepy sound then, and he took the hint.
“You sound tired, so I’ll let you go,” he said softly.
“Kind of hating this couch after sleeping with you the last two nights.”
“Even on the bouncy mattress?” he teased.
“Didn’t matter. I just enjoyed sleeping curled up with you.”
“Me too, beautiful girl.” He paused and wanted to tell her he’d come and get her and she could stay with him tonight, but he had an early morning with Liam. “Get some sleep and I’ll talk to you tomorrow night, okay?”
“Mmm…okay. Night, Will.”
“Night, Arianna.”
When he hung up, he let out a long breath and wondered at all the changes in his life.
For so many years, everything was regimented and there weren’t many surprises. Deployment always had its fair share of them, but for the most part, there was always a plan—a strategy—in place. And in his personal life, there had been zero surprises because he didn’t have one. Now that he did, he was finding it to be exhausting.
He wanted the business.
He wanted small town life.
And he wanted the girl.
“I want it all,” he murmured and swore silently because he should be able to. He’d served his country, made sacrifices, and now it was his turn, dammit.
He just didn’t know how to handle such an opinionated group as the Donovans. Everything they did was with love, but their methods and their delivery left a lot to be desired.
Staring up at the ceiling, he began to relax and knew he just needed to close his eyes and get some sleep. But his last thoughts of the night were how he was possibly looking at this the wrong way.
Dealing with the Donovans—all the Donovans—needed to be treated like a military mission. He needed a plan. A strategy. There was no need for any kind of hostile maneuvers. He just needed to find the best way to go about proving that not only was he a good guy who was worthy of their trust, but worthy of their daughter.
Arianna, not Ryleigh—lovely though she was.
With a small laugh, Will rolled onto his side and got even more comfortable. And now that he knew what he needed to do, he’d start working on it right away.
Or…first thing in the morning.