Page 39 of The Dating Dare

“On it. You good with kimchi fried rice?” They needed to have their dinner before they opened at five.

“I’m always good with kimchi fried rice. And can I have my egg sunny-side up?”

“Duh. Of course.” Like she wouldn’t know her brother’s preferences. Jack liked his sunny-side up, Alex liked his over easy, and Tara liked hers over medium. “Coming right up.”

She took care to make fragrant green-onion oil as the base before adding the kimchi to the lightly sizzling pan. Once the kimchi was nearly translucent, she mixed in a spoonful of chili paste for its pretty red color and extra spice, then added some day-old rice into the mouthwatering sauté. After the rice and the sautéed kimchiwere thoroughly combined, she lowered the heat to let the rice crisp on the bottom. While it did that, she fried up made-to-order eggs. Tara scooped up the finished fried rice into a rounded bowl, pushing it down compactly, then upturned it onto the waiting plate, and repeated. She lovingly placed the fried eggs on top of the perfect domes of deliciousness, then sprinkled some toasted sesame seeds on top.

“Voilà,” she said with a chef’s kiss and carried the plates to the small table in the kitchen. Then she poked her head out to the dining hall. “Dinner is served.”

Tara waited, spoon in hand, for her brother to join her. She was beyond ready to pop her yolk and take that perfect first bite.

“This looks amazing. As usual,” Jack said, taking a seat across from her. “Your kimchi fried rice is the best. When are we going to add it to the menu?”

“I’m the brewer, not the cook. The kitchen is still Mom’s domain.”

“Don’t you think it’s getting a bit too much for her?” he said between bites.

“Oh, my galloping horses. If you say that in front of Mom, you won’t even get a chance to say, ‘I’m too young to die!’” Tara joked, but she really didn’t like thinking about her parents growing old. Where they became the vulnerable ones who needed to be taken care of. They were her anchor. “She’s not even sixty yet. She has at least forty more years in her.”

“I guess you’re right.” He’d already finished off his plate. “Besides, I am too young to die.”

“Who’s too young to die?” Their mom bustled in from the side door. “Oh, Lord. Is someone sick?”

Tara shot a glance at Jack, bringing her thumb and index fingerjust a hair’s width away from touching.Thiiiis close,she mouthed to him. Then turned to her mom, who was preparing to get agitated.

“Mom, have you been binge watching that morning K-drama? No one is dying.”

“But I heard Jack say something—”

“It was just a figure of speech,” Jack said, clearing his dishes to the sink.

“Fine, but don’t any of you dare keep secrets from me. If you do, I’m just going to assume the worst.”

The guilt poking at her made Tara shift from foot to foot. “Course not.”

“You know I’m an open book, Mom,” Jack said, but something in his voice made Tara shoot him a look.

Was he hiding something, too? She tried to catch his eyes, but he wrapped a black apron around his waist and walked out to the bar. After pondering the possibility for a moment, Tara let it drop. She had too much going on in her confused mess of a brain right now to pursue a conspiracy theory against her sweet older brother.

The after-work crowd steadily filled the pub with chatter and laughter, and Tara smiled with the satisfaction. The brewery was booming, and if she had anything to do about it, it would only grow more. The seasonal brews they’d introduced were being well received, and more craft-beer aficionados were taking notice of Weldon Brewery. Slowly but surely, they would leave their mark with the quality of their brews.

Her cell phone vibrated in her back pocket, but she stubbornly ignored it. The pub was too busy for her to be distracted. Besides, she had a feeling she knew who it was, and he would be the biggest distraction. She’d already spent half the afternoon driving herself nutswith questions about what was happening between them. But every time she saw anything close to an answer forming in her mind, she shied away from it. The morning on the hill had felt as though it was more than a casual nondate. Something had changed between them. It was lust. Their desire for each other had reached another level. Like nuclear level. That had to be it.

“Hello, gorgeous.” An unfamiliar man approached her at the bar with a slimy smirk that begged to be punched off his face. He appeared to be in his early twenties, brimming with the false confidence that came from the misguided belief that he was invincible. Oh, the follies of youth.

She caught her brother’s eyes at the other end of the bar. His face was set in stone, which she recognized as the calm before the storm, but when she gave him a subtle shake of her head, he reluctantly turned his back to her with a frustrated huff. Her brothers and she had an agreement. They weren’t allowed to interfere unless she was in physical danger. She couldn’t have them bodily throw out every customer who hit on her. It was easier for her to handle things without the complications of testosterone overload.

“What can I get for you?” she asked with polite indifference.

“You can start by giving me your number.” He thought he was oh so clever.

“My number’s not on the menu.” She pointed helpfully to the chalkboard menu above her head. “Why don’t you try again?”

The guy’s cocky front crumbled a little, but he pulled himself together for a second try. “Playing hard to get? Not a problem. I’m a patient man.”

“A man. Right. Just to be sure, may I see your driver’s license? You look a bit young to be sitting at the bar.”

His eyes flared with indignation and injured pride. “You gotta be kidding me.”

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