Page 62 of The Dating Dare

“You were?” Tara’s eyes were wide and shining. “You wanted to spend more time with me, too?”

“Yes, and you provided the perfect excuse.” Seth tapped the tip of her nose. “We make quite a pair, don’t we?”

“Yeah. A pair of cowards. Why didn’t one of us just say, ‘Hey, let’s hang out more’?”

“It was the beginning of the dating dare, and we had game rules to follow. And I think neither of us wanted to scare the other off.”

She cupped his cheek and asked, “Have I scared you off now?”

“No, you can’t scare me off. I’m going to spend every day I have with you like it’s the last day of the world.”

She leaned over and gave him a kiss as sweet as honey. But he really needed to get out of bed before he was tempted to make love to her again. He gave her a quick kiss in return, and reluctantly rolled out of bed.

“Nice ass,” Tara said appreciatively as he picked up his clothes off the floor. “You sure you need to cover that up?”

“Are we having that conversation again?” he said, pulling on his boxer briefs. “We won’t get anything done without clothes on.”

“Boo,” she said with an adorable pout. “We would totally get things done. Dirty, fun things.”

He pulled on his shirt to another resoundingbooand reached to get her clothes off the floor. She was all covered up in the bedsheets, but he knew she was naked under there. If she didn’t get dressed now, he was going to fail adulting today. But he couldn’t let Landon down.

“Please put some clothes on before I jump you. I really need to work on that website before I go to the restaurant.”

“Oh, fine,” she said, picking up her panties from the top of the pile. “Well, don’t just stand there. Go away so I can get dressed.”

“What? You let me undress you but you’re not going to let me watch you get dressed?”

“That was different. Now we’re trying to unsex things.” She nibbled her lower lip. “Go. I’m feeling shy, okay?”

“Boo,” he said as he closed the bedroom door behind him.

The coffee had gone cold so he made another carafe and poured it into two mugs. Tara drank her coffee black, but he added a teaspoon of sugar and a splash of half and half into his. The Parisians would probably laugh at him, but he didn’t plan on changing his ways. He had a sweet tooth and he was a sucker for all things creamy.

He took the steaming mugs, set them out on the living room coffee table, and brought out some oatmeal cookies from Comfort Zone to earn brownie points with Tara. His laptop had fallen asleep on the sofa, so he plopped down next to it and woke it up. A picture of Tara filled his screen. He’d been going through the pictures he took of her in the hills to select a few to show her. But the one on the screen… His heart was bare on that one. She looked like an angel in a dream, radiant but untouchable. The yearning that exuded from the photo was not something he was ready to share with Tara.

“Seth?” Her voice came from right behind him. “Is that me?”

Shit. Would she be spooked by how much he longed for her? He hoped she saw it as just another picture of herself, where she studied her smile and the angle of her face with overly critical eyes like everyone did. He coughed into his fist. “Um… yeah.”

“Is that… is that how you see me?” She spoke in a soft whisper as though she might break the spell.

The awe in her voice made something flare in his heart. A small spark of happiness that she saw it as more than just a picture. Like the soaring joy he used to feel when someone appreciated a piece of his art.

“Yes.” There was no use lying. The picture was taken through the lens of his soul. Something he hadn’t done since college.

“I don’t know what to say.” She came around the sofa to sit beside him. “The picture is breathtaking. It feels funny saying that about a picture of me, but it’s more than that. Something about it just grips me, and its beauty touches me viscerally. It’s as though I’m seeing a glimpse of your dream. The intimacy of it… I feel like I should look away, but I can’t.”

Seth cleared his throat for the tenth time. She saw him, but she wasn’t spooked. She was enthralled. Blood pounded loudly in his ears. “Do you want to see some more?”

Tara looked at the pictures he showed her with gasps of delight and whispers of praise. When they were done, she had tears in her eyes. “Thank you for sharing that with me. I’m honored.”

“It was my pleasure,” he said, realizing he’d really enjoyed showing her the pictures. He shifted on the sofa to see her face clearly. She didn’t look upset. She probably didn’t catch that those pictures of her were infused with his feelings for her.

“Why did you stop pursuing art?” She trailed the back of her hand down his cheek. “Your fashion photos are spectacular and artistic,but what you just showed me felt like yourart. Something you love. I don’t understand.”

He put aside his laptop and cradled his coffee in his hands. “It’s something I put aside a long time ago, and don’t intend to resume.”

“But why?” She wasn’t going to let it slide this time. She’d shared an important part of her past with him. He should offer her the same consideration and explain what happened.

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