Page 32 of The Dating Dare

“It’s nothing.” His heart plummeted as he prepared for her laughter. He reached for the laptop and tried to shut it closed, but Tara pushed his hands aside and blocked the laptop with her shoulders.

“Hey, stop that,” she said, her eyes never leaving the screen.

As he sat beside her, the blood draining from his face, she scrolled through more of his photos from that day.

“Seth,” she said again, clutching at the front of her shirt. “These are… They’re alive.”

Something fierce burst into life inside of him. She didn’t laugh. Her surprise… her awe. It wasn’t because she thought his work was ridiculous. She liked it.

“It… I… sometimes… something comes over me,” he said in a low, halting voice. “It feels as though I’m transported to another place. Maybe a different dimension. Everything around me changes but is the same. It just becomes filled to the brim with life and beauty. My camera captures the other world, and that’s why those photos look… different.”

What the hell was he going on about? Even he could tell howodd that might sound to someone. His heart thundering, he slowly turned his gaze to Tara. She was staring at him with admiration and wonder in her eyes.

“I’ve seen your work. Your fashion magazine photos. They are so vibrant and full of life, and they always convey what you want to say through them. I’m no professional, but even I could tell that you have talent,” she said, not breaking eye contact. She was so close. Sometime during their struggle with the laptop, Tara had gotten closer to him, her leg and hip pressed against him. Her warmth and her scent assailed his senses, but he could only listen to her words. “But these… these are more than just pictures snapped by a talented photographer. They touch my soul and steal my breath. They’re works of art.”

He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to taste those precious words, not just hear them. His veins pumped with an inexplicable emotion, too hot and sharp for his body to contain. Was it joy? Was it lust? Maybe a combination of both, but it intensified to the point where his nerves lit up. He clenched his fists until his knuckles turned pale, his bones pushing against his skin. He couldn’t kiss her now.

But it was too much. It was the first time since his one-and-only exhibit that he’d shared a part of his art with anyone. These photos were mere shadows of what he wanted to do with them. They were the barest outline. Still, he’d shown her a part of himself that he’d guarded with his very being.

“Come with me.” He hardly recognized his own voice. It was so low it rumbled in his chest.

“What? Where?” she said. He shifted to the edge of the booth and took ahold of Tara’s hand. “Wait. Our stuff—”

“Leave them. We won’t be long.”

Tara tugged her hand free but followed him closely. Once outside, Seth grasped her hand again, and moved quickly to the alleywaybehind Comfort Zone. He stood close to her but shoved his hands into his pockets so he wouldn’t grab her.

“Please. I need to kiss you,” he rasped. His whole body was on fire, and his mind screamed just one word. “Tara.”

She placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed herself up on her toes. That was all the answer he needed. He backed her against the wall and planted both his palms above her head, and crushed his mouth against hers. A sound between a moan and a groan tore from him.

She tasted so good—like cherries and coffee. He used his tongue to lick her softly parted lips, coaxing her to open wider. She tilted her head to give him full access.God.He delved into her, soaking up the wet warmth of her mouth and the sweet sound of her moans. He pressed his body against hers, letting her feel the extent of his arousal. She made a throaty sound of approval and ground her hips against him. He hissed against her mouth, rational thought a thing of the past.

When her hands snuck under his shirt to roam over his chest and stomach, he jerked helplessly against her touch. He smoothed his hand down her arm, then cupped the fullness of her breast. She pushed herself against his palm, asking for more. He brushed his thumb over her peak, and she mewled. She actually fucking mewled like a fucking kitten.

His hand slid down her thigh, and he brought her leg around his waist and pressed his hardness into her center. It was only when she cried out that he remembered they were hiding behind his sister-in-law’s bakery, and someone could lumber down the alleyway at any moment.Shit. He was so close to taking her against the wall after promising her that he would keep their relationship a secret.

“We need to stop,” he said, tearing his lips away from Tara.

She growled and pulled him back, and he kissed her helplessly for a few desperate seconds, then lifted his head again. When she finally opened her eyes to look at him in a haze of desire and confusion, it took all of his willpower to step back from her.

“If we’re still keeping our dates a secret, I shouldn’t take you against the wall in an alleyway,” he said as he fought for breath.

Tara’s eyes widened with something like alarm, but when she blinked, it was gone. It was with a measured albeit winded voice that she said, “Dammit. I can’t believe I forgot what happened the last time we kissed in the park. I shouldn’t have kissed you.”

“I kissed you. I dragged you out here with the single-minded intention to kiss you.”

“You think I didn’t know that?” Tara pressed the back of her hands against her flushed cheeks. “Fine. We both wanted to kiss, but we both should’ve known better than to kiss like this in public.”

“Now what?”

“What do you mean now what? We’re going to pretend like we had an important business discussion and go back inside Comfort Zone. We’ll finish our dessert like civilized people. Then I’ll leave and go back to the bar. You could stay a bit longer to work on the website, then leave as well.”

“You’re going back to the bar?” He couldn’t hide the disappointment and longing in his voice.

“I have to,” she said, placing her hand on his arm. He clasped his hand over hers. “I can’t play hooky to go to bed with you. Not when we’re trying to be discreet.”

“Of course not,” he said valiantly. “Let’s get back before too many people notice we’ve been gone.”

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