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.Great, though.""It would be great, but Mrs.Harrington says Wesley needs a special school for gifted children so he can be truly challenged and still be in an environment appropriate for his age and emotional development.Needless to say, there aren't any such schools around here.""Where are they? San Francisco?""And other big cities.But I can't move Wesley.I can't uproot him.This is where he feels safe and loved."Now he saw her problem, and saw it more clearly than she had probably intended."This is where you feel safe and loved," he said quietly "Isn't that the real problem?""I'm a horrible person," she whispered, "always putting myself before everyone else.I've got to stop doing that.""You're not a horrible person.You've made a good life for yourself here, and you don't want to leave.""But by staying I might be denying Wesley the education he deserves.""You know what?""What?""You need some time to think about what you want to do.It's been a rough year.Give yourself a break.You don't have to do anything about Wesley's schooling right this second, do you?""Not this second, but probably sooner than I want, which would be when Wesley is eighteen years old.I'm not even sure I'll be able to let him go then.Carly seems to think my hold on people is the same as a death grip."He gave her a grin."What do younger sisters know?""More than you wish they knew.""True.""Are you close to any of your stepsisters?""Grace and I keep in touch.She's the baby of the family.She never knew a life without me in it, so she accepted me as her brother.The other two always felt like I was an interloper.""Where is Grace now?""San Diego.She's a mom, has a two-year-old of her own.Married a great guy.And they'll live happily ever after.""You could have the same."He laughed."Not tonight I couldn't.""I wasn't talking about tonight.""Well, that's all I want to think about right now.In fact, I have another idea.""Another one," she groaned."I don't think I can handle any more of your ideas.""This one is easy.Darts.""Darts?""Gary said you were pretty good, but I have my doubts." He tipped his head toward the dartboard in the corner of the bar area."What do you say?""I'd say I'd have to know if the stakes were worth playing for.""Stakes, huh? Five dollars?""I don't think so.""A hundred bucks.""Jeez, how about something in between?""What do you want, then?"She leaned forward slightly.He could see the swell of her breasts as her low-cut blouse shifted slightly.His body immediately tightened.He didn't know what the hell she wanted, but he knew what he wanted."A dance," she said."I don't dance.""To my choice on the jukebox.""And if I win?""Well, if you really want to waste time thinking about that possibility.""You go flying with me," he said with a snap of his fingers."One hour over your apple farm and your beautiful valley."She tensed."I don't think so.""Hey, I thought you were confident," he challenged."I am, but I don't want to fly.""Why not? Are you afraid of crashing? Because I promise I won't let anything happen to you.""I like my feet on the ground.""You won't know you love flying until you try it.Hey, you're not going to lose anyway, right?""That's right.Fine.You're on." She got up from the table and pointed to the opposite wall."By the way, see that board over there?"Dylan turned his head to see a list of names on a plaque, one name repeated over and over again, Rachel's name."Five years running.Annual Darts Champion," she said with a confident smile of her own."I'll get the darts from Uncle Harry.You better warm up.Make sure you have a steady hand."He wanted to tell her that he was already warm.He took another drink, finishing the beer in his glass.So much for a steady hand.Hell, who was he kidding? His hands hadn't been steady since Rachel had come back into his life.Rachel handed him the darts a few minutes later."What do you want to play? Three-zero-one, Cricket?"He raised an eyebrow."I assume those are games.""Yes, they're games.Three-zero-one begins by hitting a double.Then the score is determined by subtracting from three-zero-one the score of each dart thrown.You have to reduce your score to exactly zero to win.""That sounds complicated.""You can go first.I'll explain as we go.""Maybe I don't want to go first," he said warily."I sense you have a strategy.""And I sense you're chicken," she said with a little laugh."Okay, now I'm mad.""So get even.Beat me.""Maybe I will.""I doubt it.""Awfully cocky, aren't you? How about we do just three darts, high score wins?""Fine.Throw your first dart.Show me up."He rotated his arm a few times in an exaggerated warm-up."The center dot is what I want, right?" he asked."It's called a bull's-eye, remember?""It's coming back to me." He drew his arm back and threw.He hit the bull's-eye dead center and heard Rachel gasp at the same time the dart stuck in the board.He turned his head to see her jaw drop."What was that?" she demanded."I think it was a bull's-eye.Actually, I think it was a double bull's-eye.""And I think you've been hustling me.""Me?" he asked innocently."Hustling the five-time world champion?""Hardly world," she said, annoyed with herself for having believed his innocent routine.The man had already demonstrated his prowess with a paper airplane.She should have figured he'd be just as good at darts."Go on, let's see what else you've got.Maybe you were just lucky."He quirked an eyebrow at that."Luck had nothing to do with it.It's all skill.""We'll see." But as Rachel watched him pull back his arm and take aim, she began to worry.If he did somehow beat her, she'd have to go up in an airplane with him.She didn't want to do that.She couldn't.So she cleared her throat just as he threw.It startled him enough to hit the outer ring, worth only eighteen points."You did that on purpose," he accused."I had something stuck in my throat.""Yeah, it was your pride.But I've still got one dart left." He twirled it in his fingers."Want me to try it with my eyes closed this time?"What she wanted was to find his arrogant smile irritating, but in truth she was enjoying this relaxed side of Dylan.He was clearly having a good time.Of course, it was at her expense, she reminded herself.And if he didn't mess up this last shot, she had a terrible feeling she'd be soaring over the valley as early as tomorrow.She simply could not let him win.Drastic measures were called for.But what?He was looking at her, waiting for her to make some remark about his dare."Actually, I don't want you to close your eyes at all," she said, her fingers rolling around the top button of her shirt.In one quick movement, she undid it, impulsively revealing the top of her lacy white bra.It was the most audacious thing she could do.But it had the desired effect.Dylan's eyes fixed on her fingers as they played with the next button on her shirt."Go ahead, take your last shot."He started, as if he'd suddenly remembered where they were.When he drew his arm back, it was nowhere near as steady as it had been.The last dart went wide of the board altogether."Oh, too bad," she said."But still a good score." She walked over to the board and removed the darts."That wasn't fair.You distracted me.And I must say I'm shocked."She laughed at his outrage."All's fair.""In love and war.Which is this?"She ignored that question."My turn." She threw her first dart before he could do anything to distract her."Bull's-eye.""Not bad," he said grudgingly."But you've got to hit at least two more to beat me.""How about this one?" she said, landing her second shot with unerring accuracy.Of course, Dylan didn't know how many hours she'd spent playing darts while growing up."You know I can't dance," he told her."I'll probably step all over your feet
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