Dare Me (Dare Me Series Book 1)

Part Me (Part 49 - Colby)

I pull up to the curb across the street from the coffee shop I half own and get out of the car.

I own a fucking coffee shop. Never in a million years would I have bought this place if it weren't for that pretty, smart-mouthed girl walking around in there now. I stand, leaning against my door. She's refilling coffee mugs and talking with her customers. She wears a burnt orange mini skirt with a white long-sleeved shirt tucked into it.

She smiles at a kid who's sitting on the floor beside a high-back velvet chair his mom occupies. I see her bend down to his level, and he looks up at her with wide curious eyes. She says something that makes his whole face light up, and then she stands and walks to the counter.

I find myself doing this shit all the time.

Watching her.

Studying the way she moves and the things that make her smile. I've never cared about a woman like this before. I feel like a teenager who just got his first crush. I want her to pay attention to me, and I love teasing her so she'll laugh.

I'm a needy fucker when it comes to my girl, and I don't give a shit.

If this is how my dad felt, then I finally understand. I get why he was the way he was. I look up to the vast gray sky. "I get it, Dad," I murmur before I push off the car and head inside so I can be near her and tell her the news.

Where there once was a bell, there is now a witch's laugh when you step into the shop. K looks up from the kid she's talking to again, and I see he now has a sucker.

"Hey, baby," she says, standing.

Hey, baby. She's never called me that before. Damn, I love it.

I clear my throat. "Hey." The place is busy today. Several people occupy the chairs and tables. Some sit in the more comfortable chairs on their laptops while others browse the bookshelves. It's a little crowded in here.

"What brings you by?" she asks me as she walks behind the counter. I follow.

"I can't come see my girl?" I ask playfully.

"You can come see me anytime you want, actually. Especially since you kinda own the place." She reaches under the counter and twisted orange and purple lights come on along the walls.

"We own the place," I correct her.

"Yes. We," she says with a small smile, standing back up.

I grab her hand. "That's not all I own, though."

"Really?" she replies with a quirked brow.

"Yes, really. Come here."

"Hold on." She holds up a finger. "Becca, watch the front for me, please," she says over to the young college girl who's putting up more decorations. This place is starting to look like Halloween threw up.

"You got it," Becca replies before I pull Lexi away from prying ears, through the hanging beads toward her office. I shut the door behind us, locking it before quickly pushing her up against it. She sucks in a breath of air just before my lips smash against hers. I kiss her roughly while running my hand up the side of her thigh, lifting her skirt, pleased that she has on a thong. I grab a handful of her ass and suck on her lip. I've missed her, and I just had her last night in the alleyway in the front seat of my car. My mind goes back to leather seats, sweet moans, and her riding my cock. She smells like warm caramel, and I know it's the lotion she bought when I took her shopping the other day because she made me smell like twenty bottles of that shit. I let go of her ass and break our kiss only a tad. "Come home with me," I say. She laughs. "I'm working." "No, I mean the place where I grew up. The ranch. I want you to meet my family." She pulls back from me a little, her eyes widening. "Really?" she asks.

"Yes, really. They're all dying to meet you."

"Do you talk about me that much?" she questions with a grin.

"You're all I talk about," I say in all seriousness.

She smiles more and then bites her lip. Looking a little nervous, she murmurs, "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah," she says. She looks so damn sincere it makes my chest fill with some unexplainable feeling.

I nod. "Good. We'll leave early in the morning." I unwillingly let her go so she can fix her skirt.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about something," she says, her bracelets clinging together as she straightens herself out. Her hair is braided to the side, and she puts a loose piece of hair behind her ear. As she does, I notice she has on dangly ghost earrings.

"What's that?" I ask, leaning back against her desk.

Her face gets all serious-like. "Well, you see how crowded it is out there. We're gaining new customers. We've got a sale on pumpkin-spiced coffee, and now that I've made the Wi-Fi free, all the college kids are practically living here." She walks around her desk, and my eyes follow. I shift my body and see her pick up a piece of paper she's sketched on. It's actually pretty good. "I wanna expand," she says, handing the paper to me. "And start selling food."

My eyes shoot to hers, and I think back on when I had that idea myself. "That's a big step."

"I'm aware, but I'm not talking fine dining or anything. Just small stuff. That way we'll have more business in the evenings.

"The building next door just went up for sale, and if we rip down the wall that connects us," she shows me on the sketch, "we can have a small kitchen, have a bigger seating area where people can have study groups, and have more plug-ins for laptops. Maybe even host a reading night for kids. What do you think?" I smirk at her enthusiasm. She really does love this place, and that would be a good thing to put the money she's been giving me into. I want that for her. I want everything for her. "Okay." I hand her the sketched paper back. "Seriously?" she asks, half-smiling. "I'll get my real estate guy on it." "Damn, that was easy." I lift a brow. "You thought I'd put up a fight?" "When do you not?" she asks. "Only when you don't do what I ask." "Oh, baby, you're going to be sadly disappointed if you think that's ever going to happen." "Baby?" I ask, loving that she's called me that twice now. "Is that corny?" She laughs as I walk around the desk. "Colby," she warns, backing up toward the wall and putting her hands against my chest. My eyes look down at her body. How easy would it be to lift that skirt and bend her over? "Stop looking at me like that." Her back hits the wall and I put my hands up beside her head, caging her in. "I like that you call me baby." "Really?" she asks. I nod and kiss her before letting her walk out of the office to continue her day. She opens the door. "Oh shit," she says, putting her hand over her heart. "I forgot that was there." I look around her and see a black reaper with glowing eyes hanging from the ceiling. "I think you're getting out of hand with this shit," I say a little freaked out myself about the thing. She laughs. "You're not scared, are ya?" "Fuck off," I say, smacking her ass. She laughs harder, and I know I love this girl.