Page 13 of The Dating Dare

As soon as she’d agreed to Seth’s dating dare, Tara had been filled with a bubbling excitement. It wasn’t a big deal. Just four dates. But it had felt like the promise of an adventure. Now she’d gone and ruined it by getting sloppy drunk. How was she going to salvage her tattered pride?

Besides, there would be nothing to salvage if they’d slept together. She’d told Seth repeatedlyno hookuplast night. Even if she’d thrown herself at him as she imagined, he should have resisted. But what if he couldn’t? She could be very persuasive. Tara snorted out loud. Did she think she was irresistible? Talk about having an inflated ego. No matter how hard she came on to him, he shouldn’t have given in. After all, they had their dating dare. He should’ve waited to be seduced properly when she was sober and horny.

Her thought train came to a screeching stop. Why was she gettingworked up over an unlikely hypothesis? Even if he was a playboy, Seth was a decent man. She shouldn’t assume the worst of him. But then why was she naked?Grrr.

When she walked up to the bar, she found something that reinforced her assessment of Seth as a good guy. She’d expected there to be a pitcher, peanuts, and glasses strewn across the counter, but there wasn’t a speck of peanut crumble. When she went around the counter to inspect further, she discovered the neatly rinsed glassware in the sink. He’d cleaned everything up before taking her to the hotel.

Despite her urge to blame someone else for her guilt and frustration, blaming Seth didn’t sit right in her gut. She couldn’t assume the worst of him. And she had to resolve this if she wanted to go forward with the dating dare. It was a much-needed distraction that she couldn’t give up easily.Just call him, silly woman. But what would she say?Hey, Seth. This is Tara. I don’t remember shit from last night. Did we fuck?

“What the hell am I supposed to do?” she asked the sturdy, reclaimed-wood columns in the pub. They stood silent. “Some help you are.”

If Seth had something to say, or explain, he was going to have to call her himself. There was no way she was calling first.

Seth woke up the next day with morning wood that felt more like iron, but the woman responsible was nowhere in sight. Disappointment slapped him in the face, but understanding soon eased the sting. She was probably too embarrassed to see him after throwing up and passing out on him, so she’d made an early-morning escape.

He would give her some time and wait for her to call him. Once she got over it, she would probably want to apologize or thank him or whatever. Not that he wanted any of that. He just couldn’t wait for their first date. His heart took off on a gallop at the thought of spending more time with Tara.

But he had to tie up some loose ends before he treated himself to a date with her. He had to get back to Santa Monica to finish packing up his condo, and finalize the leasing arrangements with his real estate agent. He didn’t plan on coming back to the States anytime soon, but his condo was the first home he’d bought, and he felt too attached to it to sell it outright.

Seth flipped back the bedsheets and heaved himself out of bed. Yawning long and loud, he trudged to the bathroom. After his shower, he needed some strong coffee to make up for his late night.

His mom had stayed with Landon and Aubrey last night, and was planning to stay for the rest of the week to help them prepare for their monthlong honeymoon. Well, he wasn’t sure how much of a honeymoon it would be with a three-month-old baby with them, but his brother was an industrious man.

Landon’s restaurant was opening in about eight weeks, and he wouldn’t get a chance to take long vacations until the place was established, so this was their last chance to get away for a while. Aubrey’s bakery, Comfort Zone, was a well-oiled machine with her sous-chef, apprentice, and other employees holding down the fort. As for Landon’s restaurant, there was still cosmetic construction to finish and other minor utility work to be done, so Seth had agreed to oversee the final touches. He also solved the problem of their empty house by staying there while he was around.

And as a wedding present, he’d offered to create the restaurant’s website. Landon could’ve hired anyone to build the website, but Sethwanted it to be centered on photographs of the restaurant—around Landon’s dream. His brother should share what the restaurant means to him with his future patrons.

He was looking forward to all of it, especially now that it included spending time with Tara. Seth felt as giddy and excited as a schoolkid the night before a field trip. He whistled while he shampooed his hair, and stepped out of the shower feeling refreshed and motivated. With a promise to visit again soon, Seth checked out of Lola’s and headed to Landon’s before his long drive home.

Springtime in Southern California was ridiculous. With temperatures in the high sixties and low seventies, it was as though they were living in an ecosphere set to perfect weather. Seth pulled into Landon’s driveway and parked in front of the house. He jogged up the steps and rang the bell, humming under his breath.

“Good morning, love,” his mom said in a singsongy voice, opening the front door with Morgan carefully cradled against her chest. Holding up one of her little hands, she waved it at him. “Good morning, Uncle Seth.”

“Morning, Mom.” He bent to peck his mom’s cheek, and planted a kiss on Morgan’s forehead with a loud smack. “Morning, gorgeous.”

“Come in and close the door. The wind isn’t good for the baby.”

“It’s close to seventy degrees out there,” he said mildly as his mom fussed over the cheerful baby girl, who did not seem the least bit bothered by the wind. But he obediently shut the door behind him before he removed his shoes in the foyer.

“The wind might get into her lungs.” His mom shot him a warning look.

“Come on, Mom. You’re the coolest, most forward-thinking person I know until it comes to Morgan. Then you start spewing superstitions about wind getting into her lungs. Wewantair in her lungs.”

She relented with a smile and slapped him on the arm. “We have to heed our ancestors’ wisdom sometimes. When she turns one, I’ll relax on the mumbo jumbo, but until then you have to humor me.”

“Of course,” he said, giving her a one-armed hug. “Actually, I’m surprised you’re okay with Landon and Aubrey taking her to Asia for a month. They’ll be out and about withpeopleand everything.”

“Who said I was okay? But I’m not going to meddle in their parenting just because I get unreasonably overprotective around my baby girl sometimes. That’s my problem.”

“Ah, there’s the amazing woman who raised me.”

“Stop with your teasing and go find your hyung. See if he needs any help.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He rubbed his nose against Morgan’s tiny nub of one and was rewarded with a happy gurgle before he walked off in search of his older brother.

He poked his head into the nursery, the study, and the master bedroom but couldn’t find Landon anywhere. “Bro, where are you?”

“I’m over here.”

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