Page 3 of The Dating Dare

Curse you, hyperintuitive, recently married woman.

“I have to pee. See you outside, Mrs. Kim.” Tara spun Aubrey around, zipped her back up, and pushed her toward the door. She had no desire to find out where the conversation would lead.

“Seth is a really good guy. You should talk to him. Just tell him to quit doing whatever it is that’s bugging you.” Aubrey ignored Tara’s not-so-subtle shoving to help zip up her dress, and pecked her on the cheek. Only then did her best friend turn to leave. “You know where to find me if you need me.”

When the door closed behind Aubrey, Tara sagged against the sink. The good thing was she didn’t feel light-headed anymore. The bad thing was she didn’t know what it was about Seth that annoyed her so much. There was no harm in some light flirting. So why did it bother her in this case? Maybe it was because of her heart-stuttering reaction to him…No.Her heart was not to be trusted. Ever. She blinked rapidly and pulled herself back from the darkness she was tiptoeing around.None of that tonight.

Where the hell was she going with this anyway? All she knew was that she was very bothered. And hot. She just needed to have a firm word with herself.There will be no hookup between the maid of honor and the best man tonight.There.

Tara liked men. She enjoyed sex with men. But she kept her love life completely separate from the rest of her life. The men in her life have never, ever crossed paths with her family. Serious relationships went against the very fiber of her being. There was no point in having her family meet men she had no intention of keeping. It would make her life unnecessarily complicated and messy. And she was so done with complicated and messy.

She liked things light and simple. Like with her traveling lover, Roger Stephens. He used to be Weldon High’s revered quarterback. He was a couple years ahead of Tara, and she’d had a giant crush on him. Then his family moved out of town, and she was heartbroken.Young, unrequited love.But until college, all she knew was love of the unrequited sort.

When he returned for a short stay at Weldon as a salesperson for a pharmaceutical company, he came into the brewery and they hit it off. He’d never noticed her in high school as a lowly freshman, but he seemed to appreciate the woman she’d become. Since then, they would get together a few times a year whenever he was in town. Sheliked and respected Roger and enjoyed their convenient, no strings attached arrangement. Even after three years, no one, other than Aubrey, knew of their dalliance, and that was how it was going to stay.

But with Seth, he’d already met everyone. Her parents, her older brothers, and of course Aubrey. And Tara had met his mom and Landon. Everyone knew everyone. It was much too cozy. It would be risky to get involved with him. It could bring her love life crashing into her real life, causing dimensional imbalance. It might mean the annihilation of her deliberately compartmentalized life, and create complete and utter chaos.

Was she being overly dramatic? Yes.

Did she want to risk annihilation and chaos?No, thank you.

Seth watched Tara walk away and disappear into the restaurant with hurried steps. Maybe she’d decided to hide from him after all. He chuckled under his breath. Had he really been that obvious? His playboy persona was usually much smoother than that. But maybe his persona had nothing to do with his interest in Tara. Maybe it was the real him.Ridiculous. He’d cultivated his playboy persona so the real him would never come into the picture. That was what he decided when he locked his broken heart away.

But Tara was a stunning woman, graceful and strong, and she captivated him beyond the physical. The hint of vulnerability she hid behind her prickly exterior called to him. It was as though something inside him recognized her as a kindred spirit. His chest constricted at the alarming thought. He gulped down the rest of his club soda and walked away from the bar. He wasn’t on the market for a kindred spirit.

He followed the throng of guests migrating indoors and settledbeside another bar near one end of the room. It gave him the best view in the house, so he could watch the wedding festivities from afar. People fascinated Seth. When he photographed his clients, he chatted with them throughout the shoot, not only to help them relax but also because learning about them allowed him to breathe life into their pictures. Everyone had their little flaws to make them perfectly imperfect. Thus, beautiful.

He spotted Tara almost immediately, laughing with a group of women, and willed himself to look away. But as champagne flowed and laughter imbued the air inside the dimly lit restaurant, her eyes met his and flitted away with increasing frequency.

This was a lighthearted, carefree wedding reception, where everyone was hell-bent on having a good time. There was no reason to overanalyze his feelings. He should just go and ask the beautiful woman to dance with him. Simple.

“Tara.” He tapped lightly on her shoulder. She’d declared herself off-limits, and he intended to respect that, but one dance was far from a hookup.

When she turned toward him, her gaze remained suspicious. “Seth.”

“If I stop being an asshole, will you dance with me?”

“Oh, is there an asshole switch you can turn on and off? I thought it was congenital.”

“Okay. I deserved that.” Seth laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Look, I didn’t realize my gawking was so obvious. You caught me off guard, and I covered my embarrassment with some defensive cockiness. I’m truly sorry.”

“I accept your apology.” A soft blush washed across her cheeks, but her expression remained resolute. “But still no hookup. Is that clear?”

“Yes, ma’am. No hookup. Just a dance.”

Tara smiled at last, and he wanted to puff out his chest and maybe pound on it a little. But he restrained himself and led her to the dance floor. They had seen the bride and groom off to their wedding night, and the crowd was dwindling. The band was playing a lazy jazz piece, but the band leader winked at Seth and transitioned to a sensuous, old-time ballad. He nodded his thanks to him.

When Seth pulled Tara close, his body reacted as though he’d touched a live wire. His smile faltered and was replaced by slack-jawed shock. Every hair on his arms and the back of his neck stood at attention, and the shiver running through his body felt hot and cold at once. He’d never felt desire so instantaneous and powerful before. What the hell was happening?

Tara stared back at him with eyes filled with alarm. She must’ve felt it, too, and was as startled as he was by the electricity humming through them. He wanted to reassure her… let her know this was something new for him, too.

“Wow,” he said, taking a small step back. “I… will you catch me if I swoon? My knees feel like Jell-O.”

Tara huffed a husky laugh, her chest rising and falling rapidly. “Each person to their own.”

He returned her smile and waited a moment before he pulled her close again. He shivered and she nestled her cheek in the crook of his neck, tightening her hold on him.Probably just in case I swoon. Her scent intoxicated him—citrus, cream, and aged oak. It was an unexpected but sexy-as-hell combination, and he couldn’t get enough of it. He couldn’t get enough ofher. But he intended to respect the line she drew. For tonight.

Seth was moving to Paris in a little over a month. He was rearing to start the next chapter of his life as an esteemed photographer inthe world’s fashion capital. It was the opportunity of a lifetime that he had every intention of exploiting. He already had most of his belongings packed and a lease on a condo in Paris.

---