Page 52 of The Dating Dare

Thankfully, she was finally back on her feet and working, but he was fast losing it. The temptation to snatch her and lock them in his bedroom for their last two weeks was growing stronger by the minute.

Not for the first time, he resented the time stamp on their relationship. Was moving to Paris that important?Of course, it is. Stop letting your dick steer the ship.He’d worked hard for the opportunity and couldn’t give it up lightly. Besides, Tara had made it clear that she didn’t want anything lasting.

His eyebrows burrowed together at the thought, his anger surfacing again. That douchebag ex of hers must’ve done a number on her. Her luck with love and relationships wasn’t much better than his. He knew there had to be more to the story to have made her so insistent that he was a playboy and all they deserved were four dates. To have made her determined not to give him anything more than that. He didn’t like it.

Sure, he’d cultivated his playboy image and never dissuaded anyone from believing it. And hadn’t he been the one to suggest they have four dates? Yes, but he was damn sure she was keeping him at arm’s length for reasons of her own.

Whatever the case, he wanted to convince her otherwise. He didn’t care if he was contradicting himself. And he definitely wasn’t ready to analyze why he wanted more. But he wanted more of her than their half-joking dare and one-month expiration date. They only had two damn weeks left.

But all that mattered right now was that he had to see her. He didn’t have a third date planned yet, so he needed to come up with a good reason for another nondate. They’d made good progress on the website and it was nearly finished, so that wasn’t going to cut it.

He righted his chair and ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated in every sense of the word. This was getting ridiculous. He should just call her and ask her to come to the house for a sleepover. His cell phone vibrated just in time to save him from grabbing his keys to go barge into the brewery.

“Hey, Aria,” he said, his frustration dropping a few notches. It was always great to hear from her. “How are you?”

“Awesome as usual. How are you doing with the restaurant and housesitting gig?”

“It’s going a bit too smoothly. I’m getting a little bored over here,” he drawled.

Which was a complete lie. Being with Tara was far from boring. He had no idea why he said that. Maybe it was because Aria was like a bloodhound when it came to sniffing out romance. He had to keep his relationship with Tara a secret from her.

“That’s perfect, because Lucien and I are coming for a visit,” she announced.

“Today?”

“No time like the present. If you’re free, that is.”

“My evening is wide open.” He was thrilled about Aria and Lucien’s sudden visit even as his suspicions grew.

“I am absolutely not coming over to check up on you,” she said as though she’d read his mind. “Landon would never ask me to do something like that. He trusts you because you’re a big grown-up now.”

Seth rolled his eyes. Landon couldn’t help himself. He would hover and fuss over him until they were both old men with walkers. “Do what you gotta do, Aria. Landon’s an asshole, but this will just go to show him that he could finally lay off. The restaurant is coming along incredibly well.”

“I think Landon wanted to make sure you were doing okay with such a big change coming up in your life. He wouldn’t have trusted you with overseeing the completion of the restaurant if he didn’t trust you with his life,” she said, loyally defending her friend. “Besides, I want to get my fill of you before you abandon all of us for Paris.”

“I can’t wait to see you guys.” Seth chuckled. He adored Aria, and he definitely wanted to spend time with her and Lucien before he moved. “Is it safe to assume that you’re covering dinner as usual? Because all I could manage for a dinner party is takeout.”

“Don’t you dare ruin my fun. I’m just going to throw some things together for us.”

Which translated into a gourmet feast. Tara loved Aria’s cooking.That’s it.He could invite her over for a dinner with their friends. He was actually surprised that Aria hadn’t suggested it yet. And it was definitely nondate territory. “And by us, you’re including Tara, right?”

“Of course. How could I forget Tara? I would love to invite her gorgeous twin brothers, too, but I don’t think they can shut down the brewery for the night to come play with us.”

Seth heard Lucien’s muted voice in the background say, “The gorgeous twins can’t come? That’s a damn shame.”

“Don’t be jealous, baby,” Aria told her husband. “You’re handsomer than the two of them combined. I was just saying. You know, objectively speaking.”

“Stop with your lovers’ spat,” Seth cut in. “So should I ask Tara to join us around seven?”

“Yes, we’ll be there by four to prepare dinner, but we can eat around seven.”

“Should I get the wine?”

“Are you trying to insult Lucien?” Aria made a good show of sounding horrified. “We’ll be bringing a box of his vineyard’s finest wines. But do ask Tara to bring a few growlers of her best ales. I’ll make some beer-friendly appetizers to pair with them.”

“Got it. I’ll see you guys soon,” Seth said.

“We can’t wait, sweetie.” Sometimes she seemed to forget that he wasn’t the gawky teenager he was when they’d first met.

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