Dare to Love by Tara Taylor Quinn

herself for a final time before coming to this meeting. It was wrong, but she’d wanted to look good for Doug Avery. She’d wanted to look like a woman.
    â€œFor misjudging you the other day. I don’t know what you were doing when you appeared to be sleeping, but it’s obvious you didn’t miss a word of that lecture.”
    He nodded his head in acknowledgment of her apology and then proceeded to the other end of the couch, slouching down in the corner, his jeans stretching taut against his hips. He fiddled with his wristband for a moment, and then let his arm drop to the couch.
    â€œSo what’s this all about?” he asked, gesturing between the two of them.
    Andrea tried not to notice the biceps bulging from the sleeves of the black cotton T-shirt he wore. They were not the issue here. Somehow she was going to have to convince herself of that fact.
    â€œI just thought it was time we talked again. I’ve had sessions with the rest of your teammates. It’s your turn.”
    He shrugged, folding his arms across his chest. Andrea’s stomach sank. She’d been hoping to open him up, not close him off.
    â€œYour speech today was pretty intense.”
    The cold mask she’d come to know settled across his features. The jagged scar at his temple stood out as he clenched his jaw. Again he acknowledged her words with a single incline of his head.
    Andrea was waiting for some sexual innuendo, some little zinger designed to throw her off. So far, he’d come up with them every time she got too close. She hoped she was prepared not to let it succeed this time.
    â€œI was wondering where you did your research—besides Saturday’s lecture, I mean. Some of the stories you told had to be true.”
    â€œMaybe.”
    â€œSo, where did you meet those people?”
    â€œAround.”
    â€œDo you still know them?”
    â€œNope.”
    He wasn’t giving an inch, but he wasn’t evading her question, either. Andrea grasped onto that fact with everything she had inside of her.
    â€œSo do you think there’s hope for any of them?”
    â€œThe kids, you mean?”
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œBefore or after?”
    â€œI think we both know there’s hope before they get hooked or we wouldn’t be here. What about afterward?”
    Again he shrugged, and slipped further down into the couch, stretching his long legs out in front of him. Andrea was beginning to suspect that sometimes Doug’s lazy posture was just a cover for his sharp mind.
    â€œYeah, there’s hope. Not much. But there’s hope.”
    That was more of an admission than Andrea had ever dared expect.
    â€œHave you ever seen anyone make it?”
    â€œYou mean after they’re hooked?”
    Andrea nodded. She was afraid to say too much in case she shut him down.
    â€œYeah, I’ve seen one or two. ‘Course, I’ve seen hundreds who didn’t.”
    She had, too. Which is why it took a special person to notice the one or two that did make it back after an addiction to drugs.
    â€œWhat would you do if you ever came across a kid personally who had a habit?” Andrea asked, holding her breath. This was what it all really boiled down to. Was it really each man for himself, or would Doug stick his neck out to help someone else?
    â€œKick the stuffing out of him.”
    Andrea released her breath and smiled. Doug cared. Whether he knew it or not, he cared. He wouldn’t just walk away.
    He was watching her through narrowed eyelids, but even so, Andrea noticed the instant his mask slipped. She saw the warmth seep into his eyes as the muscles around his jaw unclenched.
    â€œWhat are you smiling at?” he asked.
    â€œI think that beneath all of your gruffness you’re a good man, Officer Avery.”
    He looked startled and somewhat skeptical as his dark brown eyes met her open stare. Andrea felt herself being swallowed up by the depth of his