Page 7 of Dare to Love

“Well, you’re still rude and occasionally grumpy,” I replied, nudging him with my shoulder. “But maybe slightly less of an asshole than I originally thought.”

“I’ll take it,” he chuckled as his hand found mine in the darkness. It felt natural now as if I needed this casual touch between us and that our bodies had forgotten that this was all pretend. We reached my building all too soon and I found myself strangely reluctant to say goodnight.

“Thank you for dinner,” I said, suddenly feeling awkward, like a teenager after a first date as the two of us stood at the front door of my apartment as I shifted the weight between my feet unsure what I was meant to do at that moment.

“Thank you for the company,” he replied, back. “Same time tomorrow?”

“Sure. Paisley would kill me if I backed out now.” I meekly replied as the words became stuck in my throat, hyper-aware of his proximity and the warmth of his hand still holding mine.

“Right. Paisley. Wouldn’t want to face that forfeit.” He uttered in the dim light of the entryway.

“Definitely not,” I agreed furrowing my brow as I wondered what had suddenly come over Reid, after all this was the purpose of the two of us being together, wasn’t it? He leaned forward and as my breath caught in my throat he turned and pressed a gentle kiss to my cheek, his lips lingering just a beat longer than necessary.Had I done something wrong?

“Goodnight, Lilian,” Reid murmured, his breath warm against my skin.

“Goodnight, Reid,” I whispered back.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” He uttered, pulling his hand back from mine before turning on his heel and watching him walk away disappearing into the night. I brought my hand to my cheek where his lips had been and a sea of emotions began swirling inside me of how Reid had played the game differently in front of people and when we were alone. This was supposed to be simple—a dare, a pretence, a means to an end but then at other times it seemed like he was waiting for me to make a move and step forward too.

Once inside I leaned against the door and took in a deep breath and stared at a picture from my grandmother on the wall in front of me as I thought deeply how I couldn’t shake the feeling that what had started as a simple dare was becoming something far more complicated and potentially far more dangerous to my heart.

CHAPTER 4

Reid

I was neverone to enjoy or decide on going on a picnic. The concept itself seemed preposterous—deliberately sitting on the ground to eat when perfectly good tables and chairs existed in the world. Yet here I was, hauling a wicker basket filled with sandwiches, fruit and wine up the winding path to Starlight Bay’s lighthouse all because Lilian had mentioned offhandedly that she’d never had a proper picnic there despite living in town for years. That’s right I wanted to please her…

“Are you sure this is necessary?” I called ahead to her as she bounded up the path with far more enthusiasm than the steep incline warranted. Her auburn hair with blonde streaks shimmered against the sunlight as she turned around to look back at me.

“What’s wrong, counselor? Can’t keep up?” she teased me as her eyes sparkled with mischief. “I thought lawyers were supposed to be sharks, all predatory and full of endless amounts of energy and endurance.”

“That’s in the courtroom, my dear.” I replied back, adjusting my grip on the basket. “Not when we’re scaling cliffs with perishable goods and trying to keep our balance intact.”

“It’s hardly a cliff. And the view is worth it, I promise.” She responded laughing loudly as the breeze carried the sound in waves back to me. “I could always take you mountain climbing if you’d prefer. My cousin’s best friend has an obsession with hiking.”

I slowly paced behind her watching her come alive in the open surroundings knowing that I would never admit it out aloud but I was beginning to think doing anything would be worth it if it made her smile like that. Over the past half week of our relationship together, I’d found myself increasingly looking forward to our arranged public outings. What had started as a strategic ploy was becoming something I genuinely enjoyed and looked forward to even though I was hoping the meal with the mayor and his wife could be avoided if possible. We reached the top of the path and I had to concede that Lilian was right about the view. The lighthouse stood tall and proud and its white exterior gleamed in the sunshine. The grassy area near the lighthouse offered the perfect vantage point for a picnic with Starlight Bay visible in one direction and nothing but endless sea in the other.

“See? It was worth it,” Lilian said smugly, taking the basket from me and setting it down on the grass as she pulled out a checkered blanket from her tote bag she’d brought with her.

“I’ll reserve judgment until after I’ve recovered some feeling back in my arms,” I replied even though there was no real bite to my words. If I was honest, it was becoming harder to maintain my usual grumpy facade around her and all I wanted to do was allow her to see some of the cheeky, fun Reid that I had buried in the past. As Lilian arranged the blanket on the grass, I couldn’t help noticing the way the breeze was picking up and tugging atthe corners of the fabric. The weather forecast had mentioned increasing winds in the afternoon, but I’d assumed we’d be done with our little charade by then.

“Here, let me help,” I said as I moved to hold down the corners of the blanket as Lilian tried to smooth it out.

“Thanks,” Lilian replied, flashing me a grateful smile that did something strange to my chest. “I think we may need some rocks to weigh down the corners. I could use the picnic basket to help too.” She uttered as she began rearranging the set up. I quickly found a few suitable stones nearby while Lilian began unpacking the food so that all our hard work coming here didn’t go to waste.

“You didn’t have to go to all this trouble,” I said as I set the rocks on the corners of the blanket, moving the items she’d used temporarily in my absence to keep everything in place.

“Trouble? This is nothing,” she replied as she waved her hand dismissively at me. “You should see what I do when I’m really trying to impress someone. I would have made?—”

“And you’re not trying to impress me?” I asked her, raising an eyebrow as she gave me a look that was both playful and challenging.

“Why would I need to impress my fake boyfriend?” She replied back as the word fake hit me hard with a sharp reminder of the reality of our situation. Before I could dwell on it, however, a particularly strong gust of wind sent one of the napkins flying out of Lilian’s hand. “Shit!” she exclaimed, lunging for it, but the wind carried it just beyond her grasp. I moved to help, but as I stood, another gust tore across the hilltop, this one strong enough to dislodge one of the rocks and send a corner of our blanket flapping upward and knocking the bottle of wine across the spread of food she’d laid out. “No, no, no!” Lilian cried out reaching for the bottle, but it was too late. The golden liquid was already seeping into the bread and soaking through the paper wrapping of the sandwiches.

I grabbed the bottle, setting it upright but the damage was already done. If on cue, the wind picked up even more, now whistling around the lighthouse with determined ferocity.

I found myself laughing harder as the blankets as if on cue flew away. The thing was Lilian’s laugh made everything feel so effortless all at the same time as she chased after a wayward sandwich that was tumbling across the grass as her hair whipped across her face. Despite it all though there were no tears—no anger—she was pure and full of life and laughter. Not a polite chuckle or a restrained giggle, but a full-bodied laugh that seemed to come from somewhere deep within her.

“We should have checked the weather!” Lilian shouted over the wind before she made another dive for the sandwich only to miss it by inches as it continued its journey toward the cliff edge. My heart leapt in my stomach knowing she could potentially get hurt.

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