Page 37 of The Dating Dare

“No, I don’t think so.” He looked across the field, taking in the stunning ocean of flowers. “Even the biggest bouquet wouldn’t do them justice, and snapping away their vibrant life doesn’t feel right either.”

“Maybe you’re right.” She walked out to the clearing on the edge of the hill and stared out at her town. “I’d forgotten how beautiful this place was.”

In that moment, the sun hit her from exactly the right angle, and the world changed around her. She turned into something unquantifiable. Solid but transparent. Glowing but shadowed. Sharp and smudged.

“Stay right there,” he said and rushed to his car. He popped open the trunk and pulled out his camera.

“What? Why?”

“Just don’t move. Please.” He ran back to where she was standing, and took shot after shot before she could even speak. “You could sit or stand or crouch, and look anywhere you want. But do it in that spot.”

Tara blushed slightly, tucking her hair behind her ear. “All right. I guess.”

Time stood still. A hundred years passed. She was ever present and ever changing, and he couldn’t breathe. The light shifted but it didn’t diminish her beauty. It merely re-created her into something else.

When he came back enough to notice his surroundings, he was lying flat on his back with his head on the dirt. He adjusted the lens and took the shot he believed he meant to take. Tara was sitting with her knees drawn to her chest and her arms wrapped around them.She was staring out into the panorama. This time, she didn’t seem pensive or faraway. She seemed serene and content.

“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 ofher 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.”

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