Page 69 of Dare Me

“Mmm…go on.”

“And how—like you—I’ve been looking forward to this all day,” he went on. “I love getting to spend time with you.”

“I love that too. I kept thinking about walking around the town and looking at the art and maybe dancing a little, but then you went and threw the whole decadent dessert and wine in bed thing and now I think we can come back for the art festival next weekend.”

She had an impish grin on her face and, as much as he knew she was keeping it light, he also knew she was serious.

There would be other art festivals, and he was more than okay with it.

Three hours later, they made their way up the four flights of stairs, hand in hand. Will had the bottle of wine in his free hand while Arianna carried the doggie bag that contained a slice of death by chocolate cake and a slice of salted caramel cheesecake. They were both pleasantly full and for all their talk of coming home and having dessert in bed, neither were in a rush to get there. They were just leisurely enjoying the night.

Although right now, he’d kill for an elevator.

As if reading his mind, Arianna let out a soft whine. “Why did I think moving here was a good idea? All the other places were ground floor or only on the second one.”

“Where’s the girl who walked all over San Francisco with me? She didn’t let a couple of stairs put a damper on her day,” he teased.

“That girl didn’t just eat her weight in surf and turf…ugh…so good, but so full right now.”

“We’re almost there.” At the top of the stairs, they walked down the breezeway to their doors and stopped. “Your place or mine?”

“You have steps in yours, so…mine,” she replied softly.

Inside, Will took the dessert bag from her and put it in the refrigerator for later and placed the wine on the counter. When he walked back to the living room, Arianna was sitting on the pink sofa and kicking her shoes off. The sofa was completelyfeminine and he felt utterly ridiculous every time he sat on it, but it was so completely her that he kept his thoughts to himself.

Sitting beside her, he motioned for her to put her feet in his lap and settled in to give her a foot massage.

“Oh my goodness. If I wasn’t already in love with you, this might have sealed the deal,” she said with a throaty moan. “That feels amazing.”

“I aim to please.”

“You do,” she said with another moan. “You seriously do.”

“See? Aren’t you glad you accepted the dare that day at brunch? If your friends hadn’t pushed you to come over and introduce yourself, where would you be now?” he lightly joked.

“Oh, I didn’t need the dare. I truly believe I wouldn’t have been able to leave the café that day without introducing myself.”

“Hmm…sort of takes some of the fun out of the whole truth or dare thing…”

Grinning, she sat up a little. “Okay. We haven’t played in a while, so…truth or dare?”

“Arianna…”

“No, no, I’m serious. Truth or dare?”

He knew she’d be disappointed if he stopped massaging her feet, so he went with truth.

“I was hoping you’d pick that,” she said. “Okay, truth. Are you sad we didn’t do the art festival tonight?”

Chuckling, he shook his head. “Um, no. And you must be tired if that’s the best you can come up with.”

“Baby, I’m just getting started,” she cooed.

“Ooh…I’m intrigued, but it’s my turn. Truth or dare?”

“Sadly, I’m going to have to go with truth because I refuse to let this foot massage end.”

“I knew you were thinking that,” he said with a bark of laughter. “That’s why I chose truth!”

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