Page 2 of Dare to Love

“Agree to what?” He asked as I sucked in a huge breath and vowed in that moment that Paisley would pay for this moment—maybe not now but one day in the future she’ll realize she made a huge mistake here. “Hope I was just on time… Paisley asked me to pop in.” He leaned over the countertop closing the gap. Everyone knew the story of heartbreak this guy had encountered and it being the apparent cause of why he was grumpy all the time. Reid hated love—he thought that it didn’t exist and that it was just for fools. It was a known reason why the women of the surrounding area flocked over him and tried to break the hold that whoever had over him. “Now do you need to ask me something before we are disturbed by another customer. I mean that would make all this null and void.” He sharply cut out. “I have a persona to admire.”

“Yeah, the rude, grumpy asshole of a lawyer.” I snapped back at him as she got to work making me a shot of espresso—the perfect drink to match his heart—black and uncaring. “You love to fight and destroy people.”

“Never denied anything of the sort. People deserve what they’re given—the best.” Reid cockily replied back as I rolled my eyes at him and continued with the task at hand. “But I am sick of the constant women chasing my tail and not understanding that maybe being alone is fine.” He said honestly to me before curling his lip at me. “I do love it though when they talk dirty. I’m after all a hot-blooded man.”

“Maybe some women, but not me. I’m not like them.” I exclaimed as I placed his drink in front of him and he handed me a crisp bill allowing our fingers to graze one another. “I’m…”

“Exactly. That’s why you’re perfect for this task.” He announced back before trailing his eyes over me. “We’ll besolving each other’s issues and you avoid having to do a forfeit. The perfect trick and enticement for people to back off.”

“I assume that means me too.” Paisley cut in as I turned to her having forgotten she was here for a moment. I mean it was unusual for her presence to not take over the whole room whenever she was in it. “Lilian completes the dare and no forfeit. That’s the rules set for the tradition of the holiday. I won’t be moving that bar.”

“She is a stickler for all the rules.” I confirmed as Paisley shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

“Then that’s decided then, the next two weeks you’re mine.” Reid shouted out as Mireille or Miri as she was nicknamed started to cross the road with her boss Evander. A daily visitor who always knew how to ensure to cheer up my day with her wicked banter and sense of humor. “I’ll catch you later. Thanks Paisley.” He held his drink up in salute as he turned on his heel toward the door and rushed out without a care that it shut just as Miri and Evander had paused to enter.What an asshole!

“Do I want to know what that was all about?” Miri asked, walking toward me as Evander continued his conversation into his cell allowing the odd agreement and grunt to leave his throat whilst making his way to their regular seats. “He looked pissed…”

“Lover’s tiff.” Paisley stated as she made her way to my side and smiled widely.

“I need all the details… like yesterday.” Miri demanded as she admired the chocolates that I had placed inside the glass counter already. “Black coffee with no sugar for Evander and a hot chocolate for me with a few of those salted caramels. Then tell me all…”

“There’s nothing much to tell.” I stated as I walked toward the entrance to the kitchen and allowed Paisley to start makingtheir order as she fake coughed. “Nothing really to tell…” I stared at her as her lip upturned.

“Really… Lilian.” She exclaimed, holding her heart. “You have to tell people and stop hiding your love for one another.”

“No…” Miri pointed at me and then to the chocolate shop door before covering her mouth in shock. She slowly removed it away as Paisley nodded and I waited for the words I never thought would be combined in a sentence to hit my ears. “Lilian Raeflower, you’re dating Reid Belgrave?”

I forced the nod and turned on my heel before sucking in a deep breath and pausing in the partition between the two rooms and glanced over my shoulder at her.

“I am. You heard it first, Miri. Reid and I are a couple.”

CHAPTER 2

Reid

I knowpeople referred to me as the rude, grumpy asshole lawyer of the firm. It didn’t bother me in the slightest normally but when I heard it today leaving Lilian Raeflower’s lips it hit me deeply in the chest. It was as if someone had cut into my blackened heart and made me hurt more than I have ever done in the past.

People said words can cut deep… they weren’t fucking wrong in the slightest.

My best friend and colleague at Spivey & Associates - Starlight Bay, fellow divorce lawyer Grant Thomas on the other hand was the high shine praise for everyone that walked into the building. I may have been known as the guy who dealt with the cut-throat hardship cases but he had a level of compassion in which he could draw from the jury and everyone around him.

One thing was for certain though I knew I had a great sense of character judgment—it came with the job. So, when Paisley approached me with her ridiculous plan involving Lilian, I should have shut it down immediately. Yet for some reason I couldn’t. In my heart something had called to me and insteadhere I was, walking beside the auburn-haired and blonde streaked chocolatier, trying to convince the entire town we were madly in love with each other.

“You don’t have to grip my hand so tightly,” Lilian whispered through a forced gritted smile as we strolled past the harbor. Despite the slight chill in the air, she grazed at a slow pace with her soft and warm fingers intertwined with mine. “We’re supposed to be dating, not engaging in some kind of hand-crushing competition.”

I loosened my grip slightly but didn’t let go, the nerves getting the better of me. “Sorry,” I muttered, as the wind whistled through the tree branches on our route as I attempted to adjust to the unfamiliar sensation. It made me question when was the last time I’d reached out and held anyone’s hand out of instinct or want? Three years? Maybe four? “I’m just trying to make it look convincing. You know what the town gossip can be like.”

“Well, let’s try not to break my fingers in the process. I need them intact for all my delicate finery with my craft and all,” she replied, back with voice light but with an edge of annoyance to it. I couldn’t help but notice that tone seemed to accompany most of our interactions we had undertaken together since this dare had been agreed. Lilian may have a bounce and brilliant air of sunshine in all she does but with me—I add a layer that she can’t help but want to itch and hide away from. Was I the guy that mothers warned their daughters to steer clear of? It may explain a lot about me as a whole. I sighed, making Lilian squint and glance at me for all of two seconds before turning back to the view straight out in front of us.

I had expected this whole dare thing to be awkward between us but we’d had moments where time passed so quickly. After all, I was pretending to be in a relationship with Lilian, someone I had only known casually through association of living in thesame town and her delicious coffee. I would have been blind to have not noticed the undeniable tension building between us as we walked through the small town together though. At first, the act of holding her hand felt forced, but there was something about the way her smaller hand fit into mine that felt... unexpectedly right. Her soft fingers against mine and the slight pressure of her palm made my breath hitch and my stomach flip at moments that it was difficult at times to remember that all for show.

“Everyone’s staring,” she murmured, as she flicked her gaze up to the few locals who had stopped to gawk at us. I had expected her to cower but instead she held her head high holding her own.

“That’s the point, isn’t it?” I replied back, trying to sound nonchalant before waiting until the coast was clear and we were alone. “People are meant to believe the two of us are together. If they’re staring at the two of us then we must be doing something right, hey?”

“I guess you’re right. It’s just that—” she sighed as we continued our walk. “I hadn’t anticipated becoming the town’s main attraction.”

As the time passed by, Mrs. Henderson, who recently started working at Blooms at the Bay near my office, crossed our path. Her eyes widened at the sight of the two of us together and I could practically see the gossip forming in her mind.

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