Page 436 of Hate Mates

Daniel nodded, extending his arm across the small table between them. Brianna's fingers traced the intricate lines, marveling at how they seemed to shimmer and move under her touch. The contact sent a jolt of electricity through her, and she could have sworn she felt Daniel's pulse quicken beneath her fingertips.

"They're beautiful," she murmured, reluctantly withdrawing her hand. "Your girlfriend must love them."

Daniel's expression shifted, a flicker of something – pain? regret? – crossing his face. "Actually, we... we broke up. About a month ago."

"Oh," Brianna said softly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

Daniel shook his head, taking a long sip of his whiskey. "No, it's okay. It was... it was for the best. We wanted different things, I guess."

A heavy silence fell between them, filled with unspoken possibilities. Brianna thought about Sam back home, of the loneliness that had driven her to this moment. She looked up to find Daniel watching her intently, his gaze heavy with something that made her breath catch in her throat.

"What about you?" he asked, his voice low. "Anyone waiting for you back home?"

Brianna swallowed hard, her fingers tightening around her glass. "Not anymore," she admitted. "I ended things with my boyfriend before I left for this trip."

Daniel nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving hers. "So we're both... unattached."

Brianna felt herself leaning forward, drawn in by the intensity of Daniel's gaze. "It seems we are," Brianna replied, her voice barely above a whisper. She moistened her lips, noticing how Daniel's eyes followed the movement.

“I’ve read some of your work.” Daniel leaned back, enjoying Brianna’s surprise. “It’s quite good.” He nodded innocently, eyes squinting as he considered his next words. “We should write together.”

The suggestion hung in the air between them. Brianna felt a flush creep up her neck, her mind racing with the implications of Daniel's words. Writing together could mean so many things. "Oh?" she managed, her voice slightly breathless. "What did you have in mind?"

Daniel's eyes darkened, and he leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a low murmur. "I was thinking... a collaboration. Your romance, my fantasy. Imagine the worlds we could create together."

How he said "together" sent a shiver down Brianna's spine. She took another sip of whiskey, savoring the burn as she considered his proposal. The idea was intoxicating—or maybe that was just the alcohol and Daniel's proximity. "That could be... interesting," she replied, matching his tone. "But how would we manage it? You live up here in your mountain retreat, and I'm down in Alabama."

Daniel's lips quirked into a half-smile that made Brianna's heart skip a beat. "Well," he said, leaning in even closer, "I happen to have a spare room in that mountain retreat. If you're interested in a... writing retreat of your own."

Brianna knew she should be cautious and should think this through. But the whiskey was warming her blood, and Daniel's eyes pulled her in like gravity. "A writing retreat," she repeated, testing the words on her tongue. The idea was both thrilling and terrifying. Brianna's fingers traced the condensation on her glass, her mind racing. "That's quite an offer, Daniel. But we hardly know each other."

Daniel's eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled. "Isn't that the point? To get to know each other better? As writers, as... collaborators. Besides, we’ve talked at these events before."

Brianna felt a flush creep up her neck. "And what exactly would this collaboration entail?" she asked, her voice low.

Daniel leaned in closer, close enough that Brianna could feel the warmth of his breath on her cheek. "Whatever we want it to," he murmured. "We could start with character development, work our way up to... world-building."

The double entendre wasn't lost on Brianna. She bit her lip, considering. The responsible part of her brain was screaming caution, but the whiskey and the heat in Daniel's gaze drowned it out. "And your cabin," she said slowly. "It's... secluded?"

Daniel nodded, his eyes never leaving hers. "Very. Just the mountains, the trees, and us. No distractions."

Brianna's heart raced. She thought of her empty apartment back in Alabama, of Sam's things packed and gone. Of the loneliness that had been gnawing at her for months. She took a deep breath, decision made.

"Alright," Brianna said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Let's do it. A writing retreat."

Daniel's eyes lit up, a slow smile spreading across his face. "Really?"

Brianna nodded, feeling reckless and alive. “When?”

Daniel shrugged. “In two weeks, after the Vegas event. You come up here instead of going home. We’ll spend a weekend working through things and see what happens between us—with our writing.”

They clinked glasses, talked, and laughed the rest of the night before parting ways at midnight, both looking forward to the opportunity.

Over the next two weeks, before meeting in Vegas, the two communicated through emails and video calls, discussing story ideas, characters, and world-building. They agreed on the hero and heroine. Brianna would write as the female character, Daniel as the male character. The world was set in a dystopian future. Brianna’s main character, Sasha Sandoval, a princess who was restricted to never leaving her father’s castle, sneaks out one night and explores the massive village around her father’s kingdom. While traversing the dark streets, the eighteen-year-old Sasha is cornered by three men in an alley.

Daniel’s hero, Carson Shaw, a twenty-year-old farrier to whom everyone in the village took their horses, has dreams of grandeur. He dreams of the day he can rescue his love at first sight from a lion, tiger, or bear.

“So, you want this to be love at first sight?” Brianna asked and adjusted her laptop’s camera. She’d been in too manyrelationships to believe in love at first sight. Because she didn’t believe in it, she never wrote about it.

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