Page 25 of The Dating Dare

“No, you’re not,” she said, looking over her shoulder. “We have eyes on us, remember?”

“We’re getting out of town for our second date,” he said darkly, glaring at her for being unfairly beautiful. She blushed and opened her mouth, but whatever was on the tip of her tongue didn’t get a chance to roll off.

“Ahh!” Gwen screeched, running toward them. “The dragon has put a spell on the prince. She’s trying to eat him.”

Tara snorted but turned to face the girl with a scowl on her face. “You dare disturb me? I will fly away with the prince. Leave me in peace.”

She then stuck her arms out and flapped them around like great, sweeping wings and chased the little princesses around. They scattered, giggling and screaming. The gremlins forgot which side they were on and chased Tara around, approaching her as close as they dared and then retreating. Despite their standoffish attitude toward the evil dragon in the beginning, the kids clamored to her for more.

In the end, the kids went off for some snacks and juice. They forgot about the prince locked away in the tower altogether. Seth jumped down from the branch and strode over to Tara. She met him halfway, her face infused with pink after all the running around.

“So you defeated all my rescuers, huh?”

“They never had a chance.” She smirked. “Besides, why should the princesses always get the prince? Dragons deserve happily ever afters, too.”

“You’re absolutely right,” he said, taking a step closer to her. Seeing Tara like this made something in his heart clench tight, and he liked it. “Well, are you going to claim your prize?”

“My prize?” She widened her eyes much too innocently. “Oh, you mean the rest of our dessert. First one to the blanket gets to eat it all.”

She took off before he could respond. Her long legs carried her quickly across the grass, and Seth barely caught up with her. He tackled her and dragged her down with him, landing on his back to break her fall.

“We have a tie,” he said when she lifted her face from his shoulder. “We’re going to share our dessert like civilized people.”

“Are you sure about that?” Her triumphant grin had him twisting his torso to see where her outstretched arm went. Her index finger was poking into the picnic blanket. “Ha! I won. It’s all mine.”

He lay back down on the grass in defeat, but Tara didn’t get offhim right away. She smiled down at him for a moment before lowering her head to plant a kiss on his cheek. He nearly swallowed his own tongue. Weren’t they supposed to appear platonic?To hell with platonic.He felt the caveman in him rise, and his fingers dug into her waist. Their eyes met, and their breath quickened. He lifted his head off the ground, and Tara lowered hers, her silky hair forming a curtain to one side.

“You guys. You guys.” Gwen’s clear, ringing voice interrupted them once more.Dammit. What happened to his alone time with Tara? “My mom says we have to go now. Thanks for being the prince, Seth, even though you really didn’t do much other than sit on a tree branch. But, Tara, you were such an awesome dragon. I want to be a ferocious dragon next time. It’ll be so cool.”

“We had fun, too.” Tara smiled warmly at the little girl.

“It was great meeting you,” Seth said sincerely. She and her friends were too adorable. “Sorry I wasn’t more interesting, locked away in the tree. Next time, I’ll recite a poem or something.”

“You’re silly.” Gwen giggled into her hand. “I have to go now. You could go back to kissing or whatever.”

Belatedly, Seth realized he was still holding Tara firmly by the waist as she lay on top of him. Not that he minded. They should listen to Gwen and go back to kissing or whatever. But as anticipated, the moment was over and Tara scrambled off him and dusted imaginary grass off her leggings.

Needing a moment to gather himself, Seth sat down on the picnic blanket and set out the desserts for Tara. “You won fair and square, so here’s your bounty.”

“I’m not a total monster,” she said, settling down across from him. “I’ll let you have one bite.”

“That’s all right. I’m happy to watch you eat all the dessert,” he said in a low, teasing voice. “Just remember to do it slowly.”

“Shush for a minute. This is going to be fun.” Tara rolled her eyes, but color blossomed on her cheeks. “There’s this Korean food-fighter show where one contestant doesn’t get to eat with the rest of his friends. But as he watches them eat delectable, mouthwatering entrée after entrée, he can choose to ask for one bite. Only one. Basically, he piles up a spoon with all the food he can fit on it, and shoves the giant spoonful into his mouth all at once. You’d be amazed how much food can be piled onto a spoon. Anyway, that’s my offer. The one bite chance.”

“That does sound fun.” He grinned widely. Watching her lick and moan her way through all the desserts was tempting, but a bite of dessert was always welcome. He had his eyes on the brownie with salted caramel. “I’m game.”

With a smile that lit up her face, Tara opened the container that held her first choice, Japanese cheesecake with a hint of yuzu. She tucked in fluffy morsel after fluffy morsel of the moist, light-as-air cheesecake with ecstasy on her face. His mouth watered with hunger and lust. She then moved on to her next indulgence, chestnut mousse cake.

“This is so good,” she moaned. “Man, you’re really missing out. You sure you don’t want one bite?”

“No, thanks. I’m not that tempted.” He was tempted. He wanted to bury his tongue in her mouth and taste the sweet nuttiness she held within.

“Your loss.” Humming happily, she demolished dessert number 2.

She finally moved on to her third dessert, the salted caramel brownie. His absolute favorite. But he couldn’t just watch this time.He was so turned on, he couldn’t sit still. With the children and their moms gone, they had this side of the park to themselves. It should be safe to have their date be more date-like.

“Let’s change up the game a little.” He looked at her with hooded lids, not bothering to hide his desire. “This time, I get to feed you.”

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