The Dating Dare Read online

  “I’m sorry,” he mumbled, shifting to a sitting position beside her. “How long have you been sitting here?”

  “A few minutes. I was standing most of the time.” She pulled out her phone and checked the time. “About thirty minutes, I think.”

  “Sorry,” he said again. “And thank you.”

  “You were right here. So intensely focused on what you were doing.” Her expression grew thoughtful as she studied him. “And yet you felt so distant. Like you weren’t here at all.”

  “I was with you. I was with you through it all. Even when you changed from one vision to the next.” His gaze drifted away as he searched for a way to describe what happened to him in the last half hour. “I saw you in watercolor. I saw you in pastels. I saw you when you were nearly transparent. You’re all I saw.”

  His head swiveled toward her when he heard her sharp intake of breath. Had he said too much? Did he even make sense?

  “Will you … will you let me see the pictures?” she asked with a slight tremor in her voice.

  “Of course.” He couldn’t help but reach out and cup her cheek. “Anything you want.”

  With a soft sigh, she turned her head and kissed the palm of his hand. A shiver ran through his body, and Tara’s eyes darkened. Pushing up on her knees, she buried her hands in his hair and tugged him close until their lips met. It wasn’t like any other kiss they’d shared. Sure, there was passion, but this made him feel cherished. It was as though she saw something in him that was precious, and she poured out her awe and pleasure into the kiss.

  He drank what she offered, savoring every drop of her tender affection. He wanted this. Very badly. Seth realized he cared about Tara, and wanted her to care about him, too. Again, it wasn’t a feeling of fear or wariness that overcame him, but one of eagerness and anticipation. Helpless against the pleasure, he deepened the kiss, pulling her tightly against him. She moaned and ground against him as tenderness gave way to desperation.

  Seth wanted to push her against the soft earth and make love to her, but he couldn’t be that reckless. Nor could he wait much longer to have her. “Come home with me.”

  Tara froze, then slowly drew back. He relaxed his arms but didn’t let her go.

  “I … can’t,” she said with a faint frown.

  “Why?” She wanted him as much as he wanted her. There was no question about that. Why was she keeping him at arm’s length?

  “Well … I didn’t plan on counting our chance meeting as a date.” She spoke in a rush. “And you remember the rules, right? You have to keep your pants on during nondates.”

  “To hell with the rules,” he growled.

  Tara scrambled back, and Seth let his arms drop to his sides. She got to her feet and looked everywhere but at him, clearly panicked. What was she afraid of? Then a thought rushed into his head. No … she couldn’t be, but maybe …

  “Tara,” he said carefully so as not to startle her. “Have you … are you a … virgin?”

  “What?” Her eyes seemed to bug out of their sockets. Then she burst out laughing.

  “What’s so funny?” His eyebrows drew down into a frown because he had a feeling the joke was on him.

  “Oh, my gosh. I can’t even.” She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, and straightened up with her hands at her waist. “Was that the only reason you could think of? That I wasn’t jumping eagerly into your bed because I was a frightened virgin. Oh, no. The one-eyed monster.”

  “All right. Enough of that.” She had a point there. Heat rushed up until his cheeks and neck were pulsing with it. Maybe his ego really was a bit inflated. “Look, I was just trying to make sense of why you seemed so nervous every time things got heated.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She averted her eyes again, the merriment dimming slightly. “I don’t need a reason to not sleep with you.”

  “Fair enough.” He got to his feet, swatting dirt off his pants. “But what more reason do you need to sleep with me?”

  “I have a reason to sleep with you?” She raised a perfectly arched eyebrow.

  “You want me.” He smirked. “Desperately.”

  “Fair enough.” She smirked back at him with as much ego as he’d exhibited. “But what’s the rush? We’ve only had one date so far.”

  “As you well know, I’m leaving in little over three weeks. I’m in a rush,” he said with a subtle growl. “I’m losing my fucking mind from wanting you. You do realize that, don’t you?”

  “Yes.” A lovely pink blush blossomed on her cheeks.

  God, she is so beautiful.

  Then she glanced at her watch and genuine regret washed over her expression. “As fun as this was, I have a little thing called a job.”

  Seth shoved his hand through his hair. “Of course. I’ve taken up too much of your morning already. I really appreciate your help. I got some amazing pictures today.”

  “I’m not sure if it’ll be much help for the restaurant website,” she said shyly.

  “Don’t worry. I got some shots of the flowers, too.” He paused. She’d asked to see the photos, but he wasn’t ready to show them to her yet. “Oh, and I’ll go through the pictures I took of you, so you can see them the next time we meet to work on the website.”

  But more important than the nondates, he needed to schedule their second date, so he could seduce the hell out of her.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  He’s leaving.

  Tara reassured herself every time her heart tripped on the peaks of her anxiety. No matter what happened between them, her autonomy was safe. She had nothing to fear. So what was holding her back? Nothing. Nothing at all. It was a go. Green light to show Seth the time of his life.

  Wait. Time out.

  Why was she giving herself a pep talk to have sex with Seth? She was starting to annoy herself. If it happened, it happened. She should just be in the moment and go with the flow. When it came to Seth, she second-guessed herself at every turn. The beauty of the dating dare was the uncomplicated simplicity of it all. But she was ruining it by overthinking her every action.

  “Stop being such a loser,” she chided herself.

  “What was that?” Jack looked askance at her.

  Shit. Did I say that out loud?

  “Oh, nothing.” She sighed. “Just talking to myself like a lonely old lady.”

  “Just the usual then.”

  From his crouched position, her brother shot her a teasing smile before returning his attention to the table he was holding up with one hand. She felt a twinge of envy at how fit he was and surreptitiously flexed her arm. The barest definition showed up. She made a face and lowered her scrawny arm back to her side. But then again, that was why Jack was the one fixing the wobbly tables in the hall and not her. Thank you, scrawny arms.

  “Are you almost done with that?” she asked, walking around the bar to stand over him.

  “I think I have just one more to fix after this.” He squinted up at her. “Are you offering to help?”

  “Sure, I’ll help.”

  “I was just testing you. You passed.” He stood to his full height and stretched his back, twisting left and right. “How about I get the last table and you make us some food?”

  She pulled out her phone from her back pocket to check the time. It was past four. She noticed a text from Roger, but after a split second of hesitation, she deleted it. Texting with him while she was with Seth didn’t feel right. She didn’t analyze why she felt that way.

  “On it. You good with kimchi fried rice?” They needed to have their dinner before they opened at five.

  “I’m always good with kimchi fried rice. And can I have my egg sunny-side up?”

  “Duh. Of course.” Like she wouldn’t know her brother’s preferences. Jack liked his sunny-side up, Alex liked his over easy, and Tara liked hers over medium. “Coming right up.”

  She took care to make fragrant green-onion oil as the base before adding the kimchi to the lightly sizzling pan
. Once the kimchi was nearly translucent, she mixed in a spoonful of chili paste for its pretty red color and extra spice, then added some day-old rice into the mouthwatering sauté. After the rice and the sautéed kimchi were thoroughly combined, she lowered the heat to let the rice crisp on the bottom. While it did that, she fried up made-to-order eggs. Tara scooped up the finished fried rice into a rounded bowl, pushing it down compactly, then upturned it onto the waiting plate, and repeated. She lovingly placed the fried eggs on top of the perfect domes of deliciousness, then sprinkled some toasted sesame seeds on top.

  “Voilà,” she said with a chef’s kiss and carried the plates to the small table in the kitchen. Then she poked her head out to the dining hall. “Dinner is served.”

  Tara waited, spoon in hand, for her brother to join her. She was beyond ready to pop her yolk and take that perfect first bite.

  “This looks amazing. As usual,” Jack said, taking a seat across from her. “Your kimchi fried rice is the best. When are we going to add it to the menu?”

  “I’m the brewer, not the cook. The kitchen is still Mom’s domain.”

  “Don’t you think it’s getting a bit too much for her?” he said between bites.

  “Oh, my galloping horses. If you say that in front of Mom, you won’t even get a chance to say, ‘I’m too young to die!’” Tara joked, but she really didn’t like thinking about her parents growing old. Where they became the vulnerable ones who needed to be taken care of. They were her anchor. “She’s not even sixty yet. She has at least forty more years in her.”

  “I guess you’re right.” He’d already finished off his plate. “Besides, I am too young to die.”

  “Who’s too young to die?” Their mom bustled in from the side door. “Oh, Lord. Is someone sick?”

  Tara shot a glance at Jack, bringing her thumb and index finger just a hair’s width away from touching. Thiiiis close, she mouthed to him. Then turned to her mom, who was preparing to get agitated.

  “Mom, have you been binge watching that morning K-drama? No one is dying.”

  “But I heard Jack say something—”

  “It was just a figure of speech,” Jack said, clearing his dishes to the sink.

  “Fine, but don’t any of you dare keep secrets from me. If you do, I’m just going to assume the worst.”

  The guilt poking at her made Tara shift from foot to foot. “Course not.”

  “You know I’m an open book, Mom,” Jack said, but something in his voice made Tara shoot him a look.

  Was he hiding something, too? She tried to catch his eyes, but he wrapped a black apron around his waist and walked out to the bar. After pondering the possibility for a moment, Tara let it drop. She had too much going on in her confused mess of a brain right now to pursue a conspiracy theory against her sweet older brother.

  The after-work crowd steadily filled the pub with chatter and laughter, and Tara smiled with the satisfaction. The brewery was booming, and if she had anything to do about it, it would only grow more. The seasonal brews they’d introduced were being well received, and more craft-beer aficionados were taking notice of Weldon Brewery. Slowly but surely, they would leave their mark with the quality of their brews.

  Her cell phone vibrated in her back pocket, but she stubbornly ignored it. The pub was too busy for her to be distracted. Besides, she had a feeling she knew who it was, and he would be the biggest distraction. She’d already spent half the afternoon driving herself nuts with questions about what was happening between them. But every time she saw anything close to an answer forming in her mind, she shied away from it. The morning on the hill had felt as though it was more than a casual nondate. Something had changed between them. It was lust. Their desire for each other had reached another level. Like nuclear level. That had to be it.

  “Hello, gorgeous.” An unfamiliar man approached her at the bar with a slimy smirk that begged to be punched off his face. He appeared to be in his early twenties, brimming with the false confidence that came from the misguided belief that he was invincible. Oh, the follies of youth.

  She caught her brother’s eyes at the other end of the bar. His face was set in stone, which she recognized as the calm before the storm, but when she gave him a subtle shake of her head, he reluctantly turned his back to her with a frustrated huff. Her brothers and she had an agreement. They weren’t allowed to interfere unless she was in physical danger. She couldn’t have them bodily throw out every customer who hit on her. It was easier for her to handle things without the complications of testosterone overload.

  “What can I get for you?” she asked with polite indifference.

  “You can start by giving me your number.” He thought he was oh so clever.

  “My number’s not on the menu.” She pointed helpfully to the chalkboard menu above her head. “Why don’t you try again?”

  The guy’s cocky front crumbled a little, but he pulled himself together for a second try. “Playing hard to get? Not a problem. I’m a patient man.”

  “A man. Right. Just to be sure, may I see your driver’s license? You look a bit young to be sitting at the bar.”

  His eyes flared with indignation and injured pride. “You gotta be kidding me.”

  “Nope. Not at all. ID please.”

  He took out his driver’s license and threw it on the counter.

  “Great.” She squinted her eyes and inspected every minute detail before handing it back to him. “Thank you. May I recommend a customer favorite?”

  “Sure.” He retrieved his license with a sullen expression, likely realizing he didn’t have a chance in hell of picking her up.

  Once she sent away the mildly embarrassed customer with a stellar brew, she patted herself on the back for a job well done. Situation handled. And because she was a bratty little sister, she arched an I-told-you-so eyebrow at Jack, flashing a cocky grin.

  The rest of the evening passed in an uneventful but busy blur, but her phone had burned against her butt the entire night, refusing to be forgotten. Damn Seth with his handsome face and hard body. With only a few lingering customers left in the hall, she couldn’t resist anymore and pulled out her phone.

  SETH: Ready for our second date?

  Tara’s heart lodged itself in her throat before dropping down to her stomach. A date? Where he doesn’t have to keep his pants on?

  TARA: Sure. Why not?

  She was overheating. Why wasn’t he responding? It was past ten. Maybe he was asleep. She wanted to kick herself for not answering his text earlier. Full stop. Was she this desperate? Apparently.

  When ellipses finally appeared on the screen, she squealed before she could stop herself. Bye-bye, self-respect.

  SETH: Busy night at the brewery?

  TARA: Weldon Brewery is always busy. Thank you very much.

  SETH: I didn’t mean to text you while you were working. I just thought of you and didn’t notice the time.

  Damn. That was too sweet. Sucker alert. Sucker alert. Had she forgotten that she was dealing with a player? Yes. Lately, she frequently forgot that he was. He didn’t fit neatly into the playboy category like she’d thought. He was much too kind. Much too considerate. She didn’t know how to feel about that.

  TARA: Don’t worry about it. That’s what text messages are for. You text when you want, and I text back when I want.

  SETH: Still, I won’t make a habit out of it. But now that I have you, is there something you particularly want to do for our second date?

  Yes. I’d like to have sex. That was what she wanted to do on their date. There was no use denying it. She’d wanted him since he agreed to play the prince in the tower for a little girl at the park. No, maybe even sooner than that. Like the night of the wedding. How can I say that without making a complete fool of myself?

  TARA: Can you ski?

  SETH: Like James Bond.

  TARA: Watch yourself now. The Ego is stirring.

  SETH: Hahaha. So skiing?

  TARA: Yeah. I have this weekend
off and it’s the last week of ski season in Mammoth. We could leave early Saturday morning and come back Sunday evening.

  She held her breath as the ellipses rolled and rolled on the screen.

  SETH: Sounds fun. I’ll take care of the accommodations.

  She wanted to clarify that he was to get only one room. With one bed. But that would sound like she was throwing herself at him. Besides, Seth wasn’t a naive virgin. A woman didn’t propose a weekend getaway to stay in two separate rooms.

  TARA: Then I’ll get the lift tickets.

  SETH: Awesome. More details to follow later. Good night.

  TARA: Good night.

  She was so excited about their date that she doubted she would get much sleep for the rest of the week. She could only hope that thoughts of their first night together would keep Seth up at night as well.

  * * *

  Seth parked a block away from Tara’s house as instructed and hoped that he wouldn’t have to wait long. He didn’t want anyone to report him as a suspicious man parked on their street in the cover of darkness. But more importantly, he couldn’t wait to see Tara. He shifted in his seat but couldn’t get comfortable with so much restless energy coursing through him. Maybe he should sprint back and forth down the street. The neighbors would definitely report him if he ran around the street like his pants were on fire. Well, his pants were on fire, figuratively speaking.

  An overnight ski trip with Tara. He was looking forward to spending time with her, skiing and sipping Irish coffee. But tonight … he couldn’t even let himself think about it. The things he wanted to do to her. He was one dirty-minded bastard.

  Before he got himself too excited, he spotted Tara walking toward his car with a small duffel bag. He hurried to her and took the bag off her shoulder. Then, because he couldn’t help himself, Seth placed a soft kiss on her lips in a rush of affection. It was so good to see her. When he pulled back, Tara’s eyes were wide with surprise and her lips were curved shyly at the corners.

  Impromptu, lust-driven makeout sessions were one thing, but easy affection was somehow more intimate. It was as though they were a couple, who had the right to kiss each other whenever they wanted. He liked the idea of them as a couple, even if only for a few weeks. It felt right.