Page 61 of Dare Me

Ryleigh: More than you even know

Arianna: What are you doing tomorrow night?

Ryleigh: *eye roll*

Ryleigh: What do you need me to be doing?

Arianna: We’re actually doing dinner and a movie

Ryleigh: What movie?

Arianna: Um…

Ryleigh: Just be sure to let me know in case anyone asks. I can always Google what it’s about

Arianna: You are the BEST! I love you!!

Ryleigh: Have fun!

Of course, not every date required her sister’s help, but it was nice to know that they could use her as a decoy.

Eventually they’d have to come clean—or Will and Ryleigh would have to announce that “things didn’t work out,” but for right now, it was working.

When Arianna got home from work on Friday, there were a ton of packages waiting for her at her door and she couldn’t wait to open them all.

She was bent over scooping them up when Will came up behind her. His arms wrapped around her and the pose was incredibly naughty considering her position, and she couldn’t help but scream.

Loudly.

“Oh my God! You scared me!” she cried, and then burst into a fit of laughter. “Can you imagine what people would have thought if they’d seen us?”

Fortunately, Will didn’t scare easily and he laughed with her as he collected as many of the boxes as he could and carried them inside. Carefully, he placed them all on the sofa before reaching out and kissing her properly. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she replied softly as she melted into him and moved in for another kiss. When they broke apart, Arianna immediately started opening packages. “Have you decided where you want to eat tonight?”

“Really didn’t have time to think about it. Liam and I had a rather eventful day.”

That got her attention. Straightening, she looked at him. “Really? What happened?”

Sitting down on the end of the pink sofa and stretching his arm along the back, he gave her a cocky smile. “We bought the property for the fishing resort!”

“Will! That’s amazing! Congratulations!!” Climbing into his lap, she gave him a hug and another kiss. When she pulled back, she asked, “Do you need to be out celebrating with Liam tonight? Because I would totally understand.”

“We had a celebratory lunch before he went out of town.”

“Out of town? Again? Where to this time?”

“The friend who got married two weeks ago is back from his honeymoon and invited everyone out for the weekend.” He shrugged. “Don’t quote me on this, but I think he’s feeling the heat from your mom too and was looking for an excuse to head out of town for a few days.”

That pleased her more than it should because it meant that something she’d said to her mother last week had sunk in.

About damn time…

“I can tell by the look on your face that you’re enjoying this,” he said with a hint of amusement.

“Oh, I am definitely enjoying it. For many reasons.” Climbing off of him, she went back to opening boxes. “However, I would love for us to have a fairly Donovan-free weekend. We can go out to dinner and see a movie tonight like we had planned, but now we don’t have to involve anyone else in our weekend plans because Liam’s not home.” She pulled out a set of wine glasses and showed them to him. “My dining set and bedroom stuff is being delivered tomorrow, so why don’t we plan on me making you dinner tomorrow night?”

His eyes actually lit up. “Really? You…you want to make dinner for me? Or did you mean we’d get take out and eat here?”

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