Page 64 of The Dating Dare

“What did you do to him?” Jack asked, watching the customer retreat.

“Nothing…” she hedged. “I just slammed down his glass on the counter like a bartender does to strangers in spaghetti westerns.”

“Right.” Her brother studied her face, and said blandly, “Should I avoid you tonight? I don’t want you jumping down my throat.”

“So you’re just going to avoid me? Don’t you even care why I’m feeling down?” Righteous indignation burned in her voice.

“You’re not feeling down. You are mightily pissed off about something, which means you can’t be reasoned with tonight,” he said matter-of-factly. “I’ll give you a big hug and pat your back when you’re a little less scary.”

“I amnotscary,” she growled. She might have shown some teeth.

“Of course, you’re not.” Jack backed away from her step by step. “I’ll go take some orders now.”

Traitor. And he was the nice one. If Alex were out front, he’d be pressing every button to raise her blood pressure even higher. He thought she was hilarious when she was cranky. She did come up with some creative curse words when pushed just right, and those could be pretty entertaining.

Jack took off in a jog once he was out of arm’s reach. Tara muttered unkind things about her brothers under her breath. Not reallydeserved, but she was in a black mood. And the fact that she was in a black mood put her in a worse mood.What is wrong with you?

Tara gasped. What was wrong with her was that she wanted to fix him. She wanted to mend Seth’s heart, so he could start his art again. She was going out of her fucking mind. Who was she to fix anyone? She had enough baggage to last her a lifetime without adding someone else’s to the load. All she would probably do was break him even more.

She was getting in too deep. It was time she admitted that Seth was different from her other flings. There was a connection between them that couldn’t be ignored, and being in his arms felt so right. She already missed him, even though she saw him earlier that day. What had she gotten herself into? How had she allowed him to get so close? Tara knew what would happen if she opened her heart to someone again. She couldn’t. Never again.

He’s leaving. She wanted to sob out loud. The mantra that had kept her feeling safe all this time now felt like a thousand needles in her heart. When he left, she would be safe again, but did she want to be safe if it meant Seth would be out of her life? She put down the glass she’d been drying after nearly dropping it.Do not answer that question.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Her mom came out from the kitchen wiping her hands on her apron. “Jack said that you were being scary.”

“It’s nothing, Mom.” But Tara ruined the reassurance by sobbing in the middle of it.

“It’s okay. Everything will be okay.”

Without further question, her mom enveloped her in a hug and did what moms do best—make everything better somehow. But they were out in the hall, so Tara backed out of her embrace. “Thank you. I… I just miss Aubrey a lot today.”

It was true. She needed to talk to her best friend, and figure out what was happening to her. At this point, keeping her dating dare with Seth a secret seemed foolish. Aubrey would never judge her. She knew how emotionally abusive Jason had been, and would understand Tara’s fears and tangled thoughts.

“Are you still struggling with your best friend being married?” Her mom squeezed her hand. “Your time will come soon.”

“Ha!” She clamped her hand over her mouth, but it was too late. She’d already spit in her mom’s face. Literally.

Her mom lightly slapped her arm. “I’m serious. Why do you make jokes out of everything? You’re twenty-eight years old. It’s time you started thinking about things like marriage.”

“Oh, Mom. Please don’t tell me to find a nice young man and settle down. I always brag to my friends that you are the coolest mom because you never ask me when I’m going to get married. At least not directly.”

“Just because I try my best to mind my own business doesn’t mean I don’t worry about you. And I don’t need to be a cool mom. I just want to be a good mom.”

Tara couldn’t help it. She gave her a quick, tight hug. “Youarea good mom. The best mom.”

“Oh, my baby girl.” She tapped her cheek gently. “Remember I’m always here if you want to talk to me.”

“I know,” Tara said. “Now let me get back to work. I think Jack secretly dropped off a bunch of orders to avoid direct contact with me.”

With her laughter lingering in the air, her mom returned to the kitchen. Although nothing was answered, Tara felt more like herself. She checked the counter, and her cowardly brother had indeed left a stack of orders for her. Laughing softly under her breath, shereturned to doing what she loved best. Sharing her brew with her customers and seeing happiness bloom on their faces.

She shouldn’t lose sight of her goals. She had new brews to perfect, rivals to beat, and the World Beer Cup to win. And two more dates with a lovely man before he walked off into the sunset.

Seth got out of bed and paced the floor. He was restless and couldn’t sleep. Maybe it was because the bed still smelled like Tara and he missed her. It hadn’t been more than twelve hours since he’d seen her. Had he ever yearned for somebody so much? No. Not even with Jessica. When she was off somewhere, he’d enjoyed the quiet, solitary time with his art.

Was it the lack of art in his life that made him so focused on Tara? His days were busy—the finishing touches on the restaurant were turning out to be quite time-consuming—but he still noticed her absence keenly. Opening up to her earlier in the day had been difficult but cathartic in a way. Her warm sympathy and respect for his space had touched him deeply, and he felt that much closer to her. And… it felt as though something had awakened in him.

He reached for the nightstand and opened the single drawer. It held his never-used but ever-present sketchbook and the pencil he kept sharpened to a point. He pulled both out and sat down on the bed with his back against the headboard. The restlessness seemed to settle into his hands and made them tremble… until he drew the first line. Then they became as steady as a surgeon’s and whirred across the paper in a storm of sketching.

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